Finding Aid for the Ephemera from the Arthur B. Spingarn Collection of Negro Literature LSC.0923

Finding aid prepared by Dennis Tyler with assistance from Laurel McPhee, Fall 2004; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé and edited by Josh Fiala, Laurel McPhee and Amy Shung-Gee Wong.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2023 March 23.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
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Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Collection of material from the Arthur B. Spingarn Collection of Negro Literature
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0923
Physical Description: 2.5 Linear Feet (5 boxes and 1 oversize box)
Date (inclusive): 1912-1964
Abstract: The collection consists of pamphlets, brochures, advertising material, and newspaper and periodical clippings related to African Americans.
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.

Restrictions on Access

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

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

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], Ephemera from the Arthur B. Spingarn Collection of Negro Literature (Collection 923). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Items in this collection were removed from the Arthur B. Spingarn Collection of Negro Literature at Howard University.

Processing Information

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.
Processed by Dennis Tyler with assistance from Laurel McPhee, Fall 2004.
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 Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections. 

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9942328053606533 

Biography

Arthur B. Spingarn was born on March 28, 1878 in New York City; AB (1897), AM (1899), and LL.B (1900), Columbia University; LL.D, Howard University, 1941; L.H.D., Long Island University, 1966. He began practicing law in 1900 and became chairman of the national legal committee, then vice-president (1911-40), and president (1940-66) of the NAACP. He collected books about African Americans and was a member of bibliographic societies in London, Oxford, Cambridge, and Virginia. He founded the Spingarn Collection of Negro Literature at Howard University before his death on December 1, 1971.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of ephemera including pamphlets, photographs, programs, invitations, newspapers, and clippings related to African Americans, especially African American literature and the struggle for equality and civil rights. Notable items include single issues of early civil rights newspapers, promotional literature from the NAACP advocating membership, recruitment, and suffrage, and exhibition programs for African American artists.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in the following series:
Series I: Africa, 1932-1964.
Series II: Arts and culture, 1928-1963.
Series III: Civil rights, 1912-1964.
Series IV: Literature, 1943-1964.
Series V: Miscellaneous, 1930-1964.
Series VI: NAACP, 1914-1964.

Related Material

Arthur Barnett Spingarn papers (Collection 1476).  Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

African Americans -- Civil rights.
African Americans -- History -- Sources.
Spingarn, Arthur B. (Arthur Barnett), 1878-1971.

 

Series I: Africa

box 1, folder 1

Africa. 1945-1962

General Physical Description note: 13 items.

Scope and Contents note

Pamphlets, brochures, programs, and printed material related to African history and culture.
Includes:
  • W.E.B. Du Bois' "Africa: Colonialism, Racialism, Imperialism".
  • Copies of "New Africa", programs from the American Society of African Culture
  • English-Kamba.
box 1, folder 2

Buganda. 1953

General Physical Description note: 1 item.

Scope and Contents note

A.B. Mukwaya pamphlet: "Land Tenure in Buganda: Present Day Tendencies".
box 1, folder 3

Congo. 1961 May

General Physical Description note: 1 item.

Scope and Contents note

Resolutions du Premier Congres de l' UGEC.
box 1, folder 4

Ethiopia. n.d.

General Physical Description note: 1 item.

Scope and Contents note

Program: "The visit of His Majesty Haile Selassie I Emperor of Ethiopia".
box 1, folder 5

Ghana. 1962 September

General Physical Description note: 1 item.

Scope and Contents note

K.A. Ghedemah pamphlet: "'It will not be work and happiness for all'! An open letter to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah".
box 1, folder 6

Kenya. 1950

General Physical Description note: 2 items.

Scope and Contents note

Pamphlets: "A Girl's Education", and "Some Thoughts on Native Tribunals in [Kenya]".
box 1, folder 7

Liberia. ca. 1962

General Physical Description note: 3 items.
  • Brochure, "Liberia Today".
  • The Liberian Review.
  • Letter from W.V.S. Tubman, President of the Republic of Liberia.
box 1, folder 8

Nigeria. 1945-1964

General Physical Description note: 6 items.
  • Pamphlets and brochures about education, politics, and culture in Nigeria.
  • Letter from George S. Schuyler.
box 1, folder 9

Senegal. 1959-1961

General Physical Description note: 3 items.
  • Congres Constitutif du P. F. A. (parti de la Federations Africaine).
  • Pamphlet on African Socialism.
  • Address by Leopold Sedar Senghor (President) to Fordham.
box 1, folder 10

South Africa. 1932-1957

General Physical Description note: 5 items.
  • "Africa South"
  • D.D.T. Jabavu pamphlet: "Native Disabilities in South Africa".
  • "South Africa Behind Bars".
 

Series II: Arts and Culture

box 1, folder 11

Art and exhibitions (1 of 2). 1933-1963

General Physical Description note: 20 items.

Scope and Contents note

Exhibition catalogs and promotional materials for Robert S. Duncanson, Selma Burke, Charles White, Beauford Delaney, William Johnson, Yemi Bisiri, Roth Brall, and other African American artists.
box 1, folder 12

Art and exhibitions (2 of 2). 1928-1962

General Physical Description note: 19 items.

Scope and Contents note

Exhibition catalogs and promotional materials for Kofi Antubam, Charles McGee, and other African American artists.

General note

See Box 6 for oversize items about Haitian artists and exhibition poster for Wifredo Lam.
box 2, folder 1

Theater. 1947-1961

General Physical Description note: 9 items.

Scope and Contents note

Programs and playbills for African American dramatic productions, including "Our Lan'", "The Trial of Hitler", "Phyllis Wheatley", "A Raisin in the Sun", and plays by Tennessee Williams, Langston Hughes, and Ogali A. Ogali.
box 2, folder 2

Music. 1945-1962

General Physical Description note: 5 items.
  • Critique of Duke Ellington.
  • Festival program, "Sing America".
  • Leaflet, "I glorify the colored race".
box 2, folder 3

Photographs. 1941-1962

General Physical Description note: 6 items.
  • Black and white photographs of Robert Russa Moton, Herbert Gorman, Zora Neale Hurston, Septima Poinsetta Clark and Harry Golden.
  • "Negro Slave Singing" clay.
 

Series III: Civil Rights

box 2, folder 4

Education. 1917-1964

General Physical Description note: 7 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted printed materials regarding equality in education.
box 2, folder 5

Housing. 1958-1960

General Physical Description note: 3 items.
  • Pamphlet, "In Search of Housing".
  • Urban segregation.
box 2, folder 6

Legal system and laws (1 of 2). 1942-1955

General Physical Description note: 14 items.
  • Pamphlets and printed materials about the court system (including the Supreme Court), Article One, legislators, and Congress.
  • Includes writings by Thurgood Marshall.
box 2, folder 7

Legal system and laws (2 of 2). 1941-1947

General Physical Description note: 2 items.
  • Historical Papers of The Trinity College Historical Society: "The Road From Monticello, A Study of the Virginia Slavery Debate of 1832" by Joseph Robert Blake.
  • Report: "To Secure These Rights."
box 2, folder 8

People's National Movement. 1956-1963

General Physical Description note: 10 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted printed materials on the People's National Movement, including programs, speeches, and addresses by Eric Williams.
box 2, folder 9

Protest movements. 1956-1963

General Physical Description note: 6 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted printed materials regarding freedom marches and boycotts.
box 2, folder 10

Public Affairs pamphlets. 1945-1958

General Physical Description note: 4 items.

Scope and Contents note

Pamphlets on race riots, segregation, and neighborhoods.
box 2, folder 11

Race and religion. 1954-1960

General Physical Description note: 5 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted printed materials reflecting on civil rights and religious beliefs, including religious perspectives on school integration.
box 3, folder 1

Race relations (1 of 2). 1912, 1927-1963

General Physical Description note: 18 items.
  • Assorted pamphlets on race relations and civil rights, including discrimination, police brutality, African American women, "Negro liberation", and politics.
  • Includes "The Negro at work in New York City", by George Edmund Haynes.
box 3, folder 2

Race relations (2 of 2). 1945-1964

General Physical Description note: 16 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted pamphlets on race relations and civil rights, including job discrimination, lynching, the Smith Act, "Negro liberation", Jim Crow, and the South.

General note

See Box 6 for newspaper, "Jim Crow schools".
box 3, folder 3

Suffrage. 1954

General Physical Description note: 2 items.
  • Zora Neale Hurston article, "A Negro Voter sizes up Taft".
  • "Southern Negroes at the Ballot Box".
 

Series IV: Literature

box 3, folder 4

Book lists. 1943-1954

General Physical Description note: 11 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted lists and catalogs of African American literature.
box 3, folder 5

Book reviews. 1946-1964

General Physical Description note: ca. 60 items.
  • Clippings of book reviews for African American literature.
  • Includes reviews for Eric Williams, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, William A. Nolan, and many others.

General note

See also Box 6 for oversize clippings of book reviews and dustwrappers.
box 3, folder 6

Literary materials. 1945-1960

General Physical Description note: 10 items.
  • Assorted booklets and pamphlets of a literary nature.
  • Includes writings by Henry Miller, Elizabeth Lawson, George Schuyler, Kobena Nortey, Clyde Black, Archie Waters, James A. Ivy, Emmett Campbell, Mary White Ovington, and others.
box 3, folder 7

Poetry. 1950-1963

General Physical Description note: 5 items.
  • "Freedom Train" by Langston Hughes.
  • Invitation for a Leroi Jones reading, "When Me Mudder Used to Make Dat Kalaloo" by F. Nicholsen".

General note

See also Box 6 for a 1942 original of the Carmel Pine Cone, with a woodcut of Langston Hughes.
box 3, folder 8

Press releases. 1946-1964

General Physical Description note: ca. 30 items.
  • Assorted press releases for African American authors and texts.
  • Includes releases for Langston Hughes and many [others].
 

Series V: Miscellaneous

box 4, folder 1

Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. 1953, 1962

General Physical Description note: 3 items.

Scope and Contents note

Seating list and program for the annual breakfast.
box 4, folder 2

Caribbean and South America. 1942-1963

General Physical Description note: 14 items.
  • Assorted printed materials on travel, politics, and race relations in Haiti, Trinidad, Brazil, and the West Indies.
  • Includes memorandum on federation and self-government of the West Indies.

General note

See Box 6 for article by John Hearne re British.
box 4, folder 3

Magazines, newspapers, and periodicals. 1963

General Physical Description note: 2 items.
  • Ebony special issue (100th anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation).
  • Newsweek.

General note

See Box 6 for civil rights newspapers: The Union (1950), The Nation (1954), El Combate (Puerto Rico, 1958), and Bags and Baggage (1941).
box 4, folder 4

Medicine. 1930-1953

General Physical Description note: ca. 30 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted reprints and pamphlets on African Americans and the practice of medicine.
box 4, folder 5

Miscellaneous. 1954-1962

General Physical Description note: 6 items.

Scope and Contents note

Miscellaneous programs, letters, and leaflets.
box 4, folder 6

Obituaries. 1953-1959

General Physical Description note: 4 items.

Scope and Contents note

Clippings and a pamphlet commemorating the passing of Alain Leroy Locke, Paul Laurence Dunbar, George Padmore, and J.E. Amos.

General note

See Box 6 for W.E.B. Du Bois.
box 4, folder 7

Talladegan. 1942-1948

General Physical Description note: 4 items.

Scope and Contents note

Original copies of the Talladegan, a publication of Talladega College.
box 4, folder 8

World War II. 1944

General Physical Description note: 3 items.
  • 92nd and 93rd Division summaries of operations.
  • The history of the struggle in the East and West (Chinese) by K. Mitsukawa.
box 6

Clippings, book reviews, and an art exhibition poster. 1941-1964

Scope and Contents

This box contains oversized materials that are related to other series in this collection.
 

Series VI: NAACP

box 5, folder 1

Civil rights. 1952-1961

General Physical Description note: 6 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted printed material on civil rights, including pamphlets published by the NAACP and the American Jewish Congress.

General note

See Box 6 for original copy of the NAACP Bulletin (September 1948).
box 5, folder 2

Conferences and conventions. 1947-1962

General Physical Description note: 14 items.
  • Programs, brochures, and assorted printed material from NAACP events.
  • Includes addresses by Roy Wilkens and Author Spingarn, seating lists, and materials on civil rights.
box 5, folder 3

Crisis (The). 1945

General Physical Description note: 1 item.

Scope and Contents note

Single issue includes articles on collective bargaining, college news, Waldemar Rannus, and an Arthur B. Spingarn bibliography on African-American texts.
box 5, folder 4

Du Bois, W.E.B. 1947-1964

General Physical Description note: 6 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted printed material by, or relating to, Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois and the NAACP.
box 5, folder 5

Lynching. 1919-1921

General Physical Description note: 4 items.
  • Chronological listings of lynchings.
  • A statement from Governor Hugh Dorsey.
  • Thirty years of lynching in the United States.
box 5, folder 6

Membership pamphlets (1 of 2). 1945-1963

General Physical Description note: ca. 30 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted membership, voting, and recruitment brochures.
box 5, folder 7

Membership pamphlets (2 of 2). 1945-1963

General Physical Description note: ca. 30 items.

Scope and Contents note

Assorted membership, voting, and recruitment brochures.
box 5, folder 8

Reprints (1 of 2). 1914-1962

General Physical Description note: ca. 20 items.

Scope and Contents note

Reprinted pamphlets and reports about the NAACP and African American issues by various authors, including Mary Ovington White, Roy Wilkens, Thurgood Marshall, and others.
box 5, folder 9

Reprints (2 of 2). 1940-1960

General Physical Description note: 20 items.

Scope and Contents note

Reprinted pamphlets and reports about the NAACP and African American issues by various authors, including Roy Wilkens, Walter White, Chester Davis, and Ruby Hurley.