The Edward Mapp collection consists of approximately 1,200 posters and 0.5 linear foot of manuscript material. The collection contains miscellaneous correspondence; programs, invitations, and publicity announcements for various exhibitions of posters from Mapp's collection; his dissertation; photographs; and a separately housed collection of posters. The posters document African-American performers and directors in films intended for black audiences as well as mainstream Hollywood productions.

Edward Charles Mapp (b. 1929) was born in New York City and received a B.A. from the City College of New York in 1953, an M.S. from Columbia University in 1956, and a Ph.D. from New York University in 1970. Mapp began his career as a teacher in 1957 and was later dean of faculty at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) for four years, then vice chancellor for the City Colleges of Chicago for a year before returning to BMCC in 1983 as a professor of speech and communications. Among his writings are his dissertation, "The Portrayal of the Negro in American Motion Pictures, 1962-1968"; "Blacks in American Films: Today and Yesterday"; "Directory of Blacks in the Performing Arts"; and "A Separate Cinema," which he co-authored. Mapp's interest in film led him to collect posters of both black films and films with black characters. Eventually he amassed more than 900 posters, and his collection became one of the pre-eminent sources of information on black films. In 1995 the Academy acquired his poster collection for the Library. Mapp is professor emeritus at BMCC and continues to collect posters.

0.5 linear ft. of papers 1238 item(s) of posters

Property rights to the physical object belong to the Margaret Herrick Library. Researchers are responsible for obtaining all necessary rights, licenses, or permissions from the appropriate companies or individuals before quoting from or publishing materials obtained from the library.

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