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Title: Wayne Corbitt videotapes
Dates: 1992-1994
Collection Number: 2012-01
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 1 carton
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: This collection consists of the master videos for “Blackbird’s Boogie in the Black Moonlight,” a theater piece written and
performed by black San Francisco poet, performance artist and playwright Wayne Corbitt in the early 1990s. A flyer for the
show describes it as a “provocative, moving collection of poetry” that “explores Corbitt’s creative sources -- his experiences
in the South of Market scene in the 1980’s, his battle with HIV, and his childhood as the son of a ‘preacher woman.’”
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item]. Wayne Corbitt videotapes. Collection Number: 2012-01. GLBT Historical Society
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of the master videos for “Blackbird’s Boogie in the Black Moonlight,” a theater piece written and
performed by black San Francisco poet, performance artist and playwright Wayne Corbitt in the early 1990s. A flyer for the
show describes it as a “provocative, moving collection of poetry” that “explores Corbitt’s creative sources -- his experiences
in the South of Market scene in the 1980’s, his battle with HIV, and his childhood as the son of a ‘preacher woman.’” The
video was produced and directed by Gary Shepard. Corbitt was born in 1952, moved to San Francisco from Indianapolis in 1976
and died of AIDS in 1997. Videotape formats include VHS, Betacam SP, Umatic 3/4”; there is also a reel-to-reel audiotape of
music for the performance. The collection also includes materials related to “Blackbird’s Boogie,” including a script, some
autobiographical writings, promotional materials and video logs. GSSO linked terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_003728;
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_007675; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001039; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001601;
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_004301; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_006371; http://semanticscience.org/resource/SIO_000297;
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000521; http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/MESH/D008091
Black people
AIDS (disease)
Theater
Motion pictures
Literature
African Americans
People of color