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Inventory of the Don Lee White Collection, 1772-2010, bulk 1980-2010
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Title: Don Lee White Collection, 1772-2010
Contributing Institution:
California State University, Dominguez Hills
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
35.0 boxes
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1980-2010
Date (inclusive): 1772-2010 inclusive, 1980-2010 bulk
Abstract: This collection contains the papers, photographs, videos, and musical recordings related to organist, conductor, and musicologist
Dr. Don Lee White. The collection documents African-American church music, church history, and the evolution of spiritual
music in African-American churches. It also includes several compilations of hymns along with audio and video recordings of
church and classical performances.
creator:
Lee, Don Lee, d.2010
Don Lee White was born in Los Angeles, CA, on October 25, 1926 and attended both Los Angeles City College and California State
University, Los Angeles before earning his Master’s degree in Music in 1958 from the University of Southern California (USC)
where he majored in Church Music. White completed some graduate work towards his doctorate in Musical Arts at both USC and
Stanford University, and was given an honorary doctorate in 1984 by the University of Monrovia, West Africa. In his early
career, White was a professor of music and the college organist at Prairie View A&M University in Texas for five years. Upon
his return to Los Angeles he taught organ, piano, choral music, conducting and music appreciation at California State University,
Los Angeles for 27 years. White also served as the organist and musical director of the Grant African Methodist Church, Los
Angeles, for over 38 years. Under his leadership, the Grant A.M.E. adult choir achieved national recognition for their musical
versatility. They performed throughout the United States and recorded several albums. In 1988, White took a leave of absence
from Grant A.M.E. and organized the D.L.W. Community Chorale, whose purpose is to perform the extended compositions of African
American composers. White was an active member in many music organizations, among them the National Association of Negro Musicians
and the American Chorale Directors Association. In addition he was often requested to give lectures and workshops across the
country. He passed away on September 16, 2010.
The Don Lee White Collection (1772-2010) contains material and papers documenting White’s long career in African-American
church music as both an organist and choir director. Most of the material revolves around his work with Los Angeles area churches,
particularly his main church and choir at Grant A.M.E. Church. When possible, White’s original folder names have been retained.
A good deal of the material is undated.
The Personal series includes such items as his professional writings, his transcript from USC, military record, various awards
and correspondence. In the Scrapbooks series there are two scrapbooks given to White that show his personal and professional
life from those who knew him, as well as a scrapbook about the history of the D.L.W. Community Chorale. The next five series
involve his research on various churches. (It begins with general information and papers regarding) the African Methodist
Church as a whole (Churches—AME), then delves into his more intensive research on Historic Black Churches (Churches—Historic).
This series starts with a focus on the 19th century, but later opens up to include the 18th century as well. The Churches—Los
Angeles series is similar to the historic series, but focuses on the Los Angeles area. To support White’s studies on the churches
there are two series of research material. The next series, Cultural Reference, is a small collection that focuses on African
American history.
The series entitled People contains White’s large collection of material regarding African American musicians and singers.
Two highlights of this series include records and biographies of local Los Angeles musicians, as well as an annotated biography
of African American composers and arrangers that he created in 1970.
A large part of the collection consists of sheet music, ranging from handwritten pieces by White and others, to choral pieces,
to compilation books featuring historic spirituals. The Music-Hymns series includes compilations of hymns as well as supporting
material used in lectures about hymns. In addition there are a number of series to do with reference material that White collected
over the years during his research. There are also several multimedia series that contain records, audiocassettes, CDs, Reel-to-Reel
tapes, videotapes and DVDs. These contain performances of White’s various choirs as well as musical performances he admired.
Additional smaller series include Organs, which contains information about various notable organs in churches as well as African-American
organists; Photographs, which mostly consists of recent photos of church performances, but also has some from White’s early
life; and Programs which contain various programs from performances both by White’s choirs and others. Lastly there is a small
collection of 3x5 floppy disks that contain various documents White used to keep track of church information and choir members.
The files from those disks were transferred to a CD for ease of use.
Arranged in thirty-two series:
- Series I. Personal, 1946-2009
- Series II. Scrapbooks, 1926-2008
- Series III. Churches-AME, 1891-2010
- Series IV. Churches-Historic, 1772-1998
- Series V. Churches-Los Angeles, 1800-2010 Series VI. Churches-Los Angeles Research, 1922-2010
- Series VII. Churches-Historic Research, 1922-2010
- Series VIII. Cultural Research, 1922-2010
- Series IX. People, 1890-2010
- Series X. Photographs, 1924-2010
- Series XI. Programs Related to DLW, 1944-2010
- Series XII. Programs, 1944-2010
- Series XIII. Music, 1967-2010
- Series XIV. Music-Hymns, 1930-2006
- Series XV. Organs, 1900-2009
- Series XVI. Compositions for organ (including 2 by DLW), 1902-2009
- Series XVII. Compositions by DLW, 1972-2008
- Series XVIII. Sheet Music, 1882-2004
- Series XIX. Sheet Music-Compilations, 1882-2004
- Series XX. Reference-Education, 1912-2005
- Series XXI. Reference-Spirituals, c.1801-2010
- Series XXII. Reference-General Music/Church Music, c.1875-2007
- Series XXIII. Reference-Books & Journals, 1910-2007
- Series XXIV. Oversized Material, 1937-2009
- Series XXV. Multimedia-Records, 1954-1965
- Series XXVI. Multimedia-Videotapes, 1982-2003
- Series XXVII. Multimedia-Reel-to-Reel, 1974-1981
- Series XXVIII. Multimedia-Audiocassette, 1946-2004
- Series XXIX. Multimedia-8mm Video, 2004
- Series XXX. Multimedia-CD, c.1978-2012
- Series XXXI. Multimedia-DVD, 2007-2008
- Series XXXII. Floppy disks, 2004
[Title of item], Don Lee White Collection, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. University Library.
California State University, Dominguez Hills
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
La Brew, Arthur R.
National Association of Negro Musicians (U.S.).
Whalum, Wendell
African American churches
African Methodist Episcopal Church
Choral music
Church music
Hymns