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Guide to the Eudora C. Proctor Papers
MS 28
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Table of contents
Title: Eudora C. Proctor papers
Dates: 1921-1991
Collection number: MS 28
Creator:
Proctor, Eudora C., 1917-1993.
Collection Size:
3.75 linear feet
(7 boxes)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Abstract: The Eudora Proctor Papers includes photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, musical programs, song books, and legal
and financial records related to Proctor’s career as an entertainer, member of the USO, cosmetologist, and creator of the
Eudora National S.L. E. Organization.
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 Eudora C. Proctor Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.
Eudora C. Proctor papers, MS 28, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Processed by Sean Heyliger, 04/27/2013.
Biography / Administrative History
Eudora “Dodo” Proctor (1917-1993) was born on September 29, 1917 to Clyde Proctor and Ellen Proctor. Her father, a musician
and baseball player, traveled frequently which eventually led her mother to move Eudora and the rest of the family to Fresno,
California to live with Ellen Payne’s father, William Payne, in 1920. In 1924, Eudora moved to Oakland, California and moved
into the Fannie Hall Children’s Home and Day Nursery. After learning to dance from Bill Robinson’s radio programs, she began
working at The Barbary Coast night club at age 12.
In 1939, Proctor landed a role in the Golden Gate International Exposition’s production of
The Swing Mikado. While performing in the
The Swing Mikado, Proctor and three other members of the production, Milton Lovett, Harry Villa, and Eloise Clay, formed their own song and
dance group Lovett, Villa, and the Rhythm Queens. During the early 1940s, the group toured around the U.S. and Canada performing
shows in night clubs with notable performers including Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and Nat King Cole.
In the early 1940s at the suggestion of Fats Waller, the group changed its name to The Four Kit Kats, and Proctor was promoting
herself as the Queen of the Taps or the Queen of Rhythm.
With outbreak of World War II, Milton Lovett was drafted into the army and Harry Villa joined the merchant marines forcing
a hiatus of The Four Kit Kats. Proctor eventually joined USO Troop #339, one of only two African American USO troops during
the war, and traveled to Liberia, Egypt, and the Middle East perform shows for African American soldiers. The troop consisted
six members, Dave and Wittye Wiles as master of ceremonies and singers, Cora Green, singer, Dodo Proctor, dance, Chauncey
Lee, guitarist, and Lillian Thomas, pianist.
Following the war, Proctor continued to work as a performer and dance instructor, and she also worked as various positions
as a nurse’s aide, clothing designer, and a beautician, eventually opening her own beauty parlor, Eudora’s House of Beauty,
in Oakland in the 1950s. In the 1970s, she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematous which forced her to retired as a
cosmetologist and led her to start a non-profit organization, Eudora National S.L. E. Organization, dedicated to providing
support and care to those suffering from lupus.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Eudora Proctor Papers includes photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, musical programs, song books, and legal
and financial records related to Proctor’s career as an entertainer, member of the USO, cosmetologist, and creator of the
Eudora National S.L. E. Organization. The papers are organized into six series: entertainer, biographical, Eudora’s House
of Beauty, Eudora National S.L. E. Organization, assorted photographs, and printed material. The bulk of the collection are
photographs, including publicity stills inscribed by various entertainers that were given to Proctor, photographs of Proctor’s
African American USO troop performing shows and traveling in Liberia, Egypt, and the Middle East during WWII, and a large
number of photographs of Proctor’s family and friends in the 1950s-1980s.
The entertainer series includes contracts, musical programs, photographs, newspaper clippings, and a scrapbook documenting
Proctor’s time in the USO and as a member of the tap dance group The Four Kit Kats in the 1950s. The biographical series consists
of Proctor’s personal correspondence, financial and legal records, notes related to her research into her family’s genealogy,
and manuscript and typescript drafts of her autobiography. Both the Eudora’s House of Beauty and Eudora National S.L. E. Organization
series contain mostly administrative records, including Eudora’s House of Beauty’s financial records, a small number of letters
related to financial matters, and business cards. The Eudora National S.L. E. Organization series includes a few of the organization’s
reports, a membership roster, a handwritten draft of a speech delivered by Proctor, and four short testimonials of individuals
living with lupus.
Series I. Entertainer
Series II. Biographical
Series III. Eudora’s House of Beauty
Series IV. Eudora National S.L.E. Organization
Series V. Assorted photographs
Series VI. Printed material
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
United Service Organizations (U.S.)--1940-1950.
The Four Kit Kats (musical group).
World War, 1939-1945--African Americans.
World War, 1939-1945--Africa, North.
Lupus erythematosus, Systemic--Personal narratives.
Beauty culture--United States--History--20th century.
Hairdressing of African Americans--History.