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Guide to the Rhonda White-Warner Papers
MS 144
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Table of contents
Title: Rhonda White-Warner papers
Dates: circa 1950s-1996
Bulk Dates: 1980-1996
Collection number: MS 144
Creator:
White-Warner, Rhonda.
Collection Size:
12.5 linear feet
(11 boxes + 1 oversized box)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Abstract: The Rhonda White-Warner papers consist of consulting project files, subject files, photographs, back issues and administrative
files of Tidbits magazine, administrative files and theatrical programs of the Oakland Ensemble Theatre, and assorted printed
material largely documenting the African American performing arts community in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s and
1980s.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Permission to publish from the Rhonda White-Warner Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.
Rhonda White-Warner papers, MS 144, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Donated on February 17, 1999 to the African American Museum & Library at Oakland by Rhonda White-Warner.
Processed by Sean Heyliger, September 21, 2017.
Biography / Administrative History
Publisher and media consultant Rhonda White-Warner (1951-2014) was born on July 7, 1951 in Oakland, California. After graduating
from Oakland Technical High School in 1969, she attended California State University Hayward graduating with a bachelor of
science in child development in 1975. She began her career in the Oakland arts community in 1974 as a program director for
the Alameda County Neighborhood Arts Program coordinating and offering technical assistance to Alameda County cultural organizations.
In 1977, she was hired as a public information specialist for the City of Oakland’s Office of Parks and Recreation writing
press releases and advertising the department’s cultural and recreational programs. By 1981 she created her first media consulting
and event planning agency, Authenic Vint’age Promotions, contracting with local artists to assist with graphic design, media
advertising, and event planning.
The agency was renamed Rhonda White-Warner & Associates and was contracted to assist with promoting and coordinating many
African American political and cultural events in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s. She served as a marketing consultant
for the Center of Hope Community Church, Ebony Museum of Arts, Inc., Western Addition Cultural Center, and the Graduate Theological
Union. She also was media consultant for the local fundraising dinner for Jesse Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns,
Bay Area Black United Fund Dinner, the West Coast 1988 debut of the Boy Choir of Harlem, and the City of Oakland’s Festival
at the Lake.
In 1988, she launched
Rhonda White-Warner’s Tidbits, a magazine dedicated to promoting African American arts and culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. The magazine featured
articles, interviews, and an events calendar focused on the African American dance, theater, and visual arts community. The
magazine was published until it ceased publication in 1993. In addition to her work as a publisher and consultant, she was
also active in a number of cultural and political organizations in Oakland. She was a founding member of the Oakland Ensemble
Theatre, where she started the theater’s newsletter and established its first youth drama workshop. She was also an active
member in the Oakland Chapter of the Niagara Movement Democratic Club serving many years as its membership chair. Later in
life, she returned to school and earned a divinity degree from the American Baptist Seminary of the West in 2006. She helped
to establish the East Bay Faith Collective, a group of HIV/AIDS advocates that worked to educate local African American ministers
on HIV/AIDS issues.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Rhonda White-Warner papers consist of consulting project files, subject files, photographs, back issues and administrative
files of Tidbits magazine, administrative files and theatrical programs of the Oakland Ensemble Theatre, and assorted printed
material largely documenting the African American performing arts community in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s and
1980s. The collection is organized into seven series: Series I. Biographical materials, Series II. Public relations consulting,
Series III. Tidbits magazine, Series IV. Oakland Ensemble Theatre, Series V. Subject files, Series VI. Photographs. Series
VII. Assorted printed material.
Biographical materials include Rhonda White-Warner’s resume and biographical sketch, and a short essay titled, “Autobiography
of Rhonda White-Warner (or why I have to create jobs for myself).” Also included in the biographical series are materials
documenting the life and funeral service of Rhonda White-Warner’s mother Elise Mae Boyd White. The public relations consulting
series are project files created by the public relations firm Rhonda White-Warner & Associates that specialized in event planning
and marketing. The project files are arranged chronologically and include contracts, marketing and publicity material, reports,
and correspondence documenting the firm’s outreach and event planning for mostly African American cultural events in Oakland,
California in the 1980s. Also included are White-Warner’s project files for her work with the Oakland Parks and Recreation
Department, Oakland Technical High School’s class of 1969 reunions, and local fundraisers for Jesse Jackson’s 1984 and 1988
presidential campaigns.
Tidbits magazine series consists of back issues of the publication and administrative files documenting the magazine’s production
and membership. The administrative files are arranged alphabetically by format and include advertising and membership files,
correspondence, a business plan, and organizational chart. The Oakland Ensemble Theatre series is arranged alphabetically
by format and consists of administrative files such as advisory committee meeting minutes, correspondence, and press releases.
Publicity material includes theater programs and flyers for theatrical productions and biographical sketches of the cast and
crew.
Subject files are arranged alphabetically by organization or subject and were likely maintained as reference in the production
of Tidbits magazine. The files include brochures, programs, flyers, correspondence, and publicity material for various African
American performing arts organizations and topics chiefly in Oakland, California in the 1980s. Photographs in the collection
are organized into subseries: dance, theater, visual arts, 1990 Oakland Black Business Exchange Holiday Expo, and personal
photographs of Rhonda White-Warner. Dance and theatre photographs are mostly of Oakland dance and theater productions, while
1990 Oakland Black Business Exchange Holiday Expo features Oakland black businesses and their booths at the expo such as Your
Black Muslim Bakery and the Black Business Listings.
Assorted printed material is arranged alphabetically by format and includes flyers, restaurant menus, resumes, periodicals,
monographs, programs, brochures, publicity booklets, and scripts related to the African American performing arts community
in Oakland, California.
Series I. Biographical material
Series II. Public relations consulting
Series III.
Rhonda White-Warner’s Tidbits magazine
Series IV. Oakland Ensemble Theatre
Series V. Subject files
Series VI. Photographs
Series VII. Assorted printed material
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
African American theater--California--History.
Dance--California--San Francisco Bay Area--History--20th century.
Oakland (Calif.)--Drama.
Oakland Ensemble Theatre
White-Warner, Rhonda.