John Povey papers, 1958-1992

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Summary

Creators:
Povey, John F., 1929-1992
Abstract:
The papers of UCLA professor John Povey consist of manuscripts, notes, printed material, publications, drawings, and correspondence related to his teaching, research, and administrative activities, including the editorship of the journal African Arts.
Extent:
17.5 linear feet (35 boxes and 1 oversize box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Povey Papers (Collection 452). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of manuscripts, notes, printed material, publications, drawings, and correspondence related to his teaching, research, and administrative activities, including the editorship of the journal African Arts. Notable items include promotional materials from galleries empasizing African art, research files on Nigerian Shona artists, and personal correspondence with Tayo Olafioye, Dumile, and Dennis Brutus. The files document Professor Povey's varied interests, including English literacy through literature, and African art.

Biographical / historical:

John Frederick Povey was born April 5, 1929 in South London. Povey was educated at St. Dunstan's College in London during the Blitz. After World War II, Povey was employed in a gold mine in South Africa under a plan that allowed him to study at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, where he completed a B.A. in English (1956) and an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language (1960). In the United States, Povey completed his Ph.D. in Third World Literature in English at Michigan State University (1964), after which he joined the faculty at UCLA. His areas of research included South African and Nigerian literature, comparative world literature, language planning and policy, ESL/TESL, and investigating symbols and rituals in African art. John Povey's career at UCLA was distinguished. He was director of the African Humanities Institute, chair of the ESL Section of the English Department, chair of the Africa Committee of the UC Education Abroad Program, Associate Director of the African Studies Center, and Project Director for numerous in-service teacher training programs in the United States and Africa. He authored eight books and texts, 20 chapters for edited volumes, and more than 100 reviews and articles on African literature, art, and culture. His field research took him to Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Zaire, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Togo, and Liberia. One of his most signifigant acomplishments at UCLA was his notable editorship of African Arts, in which he served from Fall 1967 until his retirement in 1991. His tireless efforts to have all forms of African art included in the major canon of art history promoted the work of talented African artists globally. He died of cancer on May 3, 1992.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Gail Povey, February 1996.
Processing information:

Processed by Deirdre Cooper Owens, with assistance from Laurel McPhee, Summer 2004.

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's Library Collections and Archives.

Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  1. Student theses and dissertations, 1973-1991
  2. Research and teaching, 1958-1992
  3. African Arts, 1965-1992
  4. Publications and manuscripts, 1965-1991
  5. Miscellaneous professional papers, 1968-1992

The collection was initally sorted and boxed by Gail Povey prior to acquisition by UCLA Special Collections. For processing, files were removed from the labeled cartons, rehoused, and organized into five series reflecting the original order of the papers as found in the cartons.

Physical location:
Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Povey Papers (Collection 452). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website