Collection Guide
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Osumare (Halifu) papers
BANC MSS 2019.198
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Halifu Osumare papers
Creator:
Osumare, Halifu
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 2019.198
Physical Description:
4.6 Linear Feet
(3 cartons, 2 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): circa 1967-2018
Abstract: This collection documents the professional and artistic career of scholar, educator, arts administrator, community activist,
dancer, and choreographer Halifu Osumare and her contributions to African American dance. Osumare divided her collection into
10 categories: career overview files; materials related to her memoir, “Dancing in Blackness”; Malawi and Central Africa files;
community cultural activism files; choreography projects; the Stanford University years; materials related to Black Choreographers
Moving toward the 21st Century and Black Traditions in American Modern Dance; color slides; and videotapes. The papers include
administrative records, choreography projects, correspondence, lectures, manuscript drafts, newspaper and magazine articles,
lots of photographs and slides, programs, publication files, reviews, and teaching and research files.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Cartons 1-2, Box 1, and Oversize Folder 1A are open for research. Carton 3 and Box 2 contain videotapes and are being processed.
Future additions are expected.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Halifu Osumare papers were given to The Bancroft Library in 2019 by Halifu Osumare, Ph.D.
There are no alternative forms of this collection.
Halifu Osumare is Professor Emerita in the Department of African American and African Studies at the University of California,
Davis. She is a choreographer, dancer, arts administrator, and a scholar of Black popular culture. Osumare holds a Ph.D. in
American Studies from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and an M.A. in Dance Ethnology from San Francisco State University.
She is a protégé of Katherine Dunham and a certified teacher of Dunham Dance Technique. Osumare has performed, taught, and
done research in the United States, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya, and Brazil and is recognized as one of the foremost scholars
of global hip-hop.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Access to audio-visual materials may be restricted due to technical limitations.
[Identification of item], Halifu Osumare papers, BANC MSS 2019/198 ,The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Arranged to the folder level.
Processed by Marjorie Bryer in 2019.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection documents the professional and artistic career of scholar, educator, arts administrator, community activist,
dancer, and choreographer Halifu Osumare and her contributions to African American dance. Osumare's original order was maintained.
She divided her collection into 10 categories: career overview files; materials related to her memoir, “Dancing in Blackness”;
Malawi and Central Africa files; community cultural activism files; choreography projects; the Stanford University years;
materials related to Black Choreographers Moving toward the 21st Century and Black Traditions in American Modern Dance; color
slides; and videotapes. The collection includes administrative records, choreography projects, correspondence, lectures, manuscript
drafts, newspaper and magazine articles, lots of photographs and slides, programs, publication files, reviews, and teaching
and research files.
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Osumare, Halifu -- Archives.
Dunham, Katherine.
African American women dancers.
African American dance.
African American dance -- History.
African American dance -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area.
African American dance -- New York (State) -- New York.
Modern dance -- United States -- History.
Dancers
Choreographers -- United States.
Dance -- Malawi.
Dance -- Ghana.
Dance -- Kenya.
Memoirs.
Photographs.