Aaamc Issue 8 Chrono

From the Desk aaamc mission: of the Director The AAAMC is devoted to the collection, preservation, and dissemination of materi- The AAAMC continues to move for- als for the purpose of research and study of ward toward achieving its mission of African American music and culture. collecting, preserving, and making photo by Fernando Orejuela materials on African American Music www.indiana.edu/~aaamc and Culture available to students, scholars, performers, and the general public. Over the past nine months, we focused on advancing our educational No. 8 mission by presenting selected collec- (Fall 2002/Spring 2003) tions of the Archives in public lectures and performances. We co-sponsored renowned music educator and ethno- IN THIS ISSUE: musicologist Dr. Luvenia George’s workshop on the Duke Ellington Letter Project for the Smithsonian Institution, • From the Desk of which includes a multi-disciplinary L-R: Brenda Nelson-Strauss, Stephanie Shonekan, Tangera Sharp, Portia K. Maultsby, and Daniel Smith. the Director education kit housed in the AAAMC’s Educational Resource Collection. We director of the Dutch Rock & Pop institutions as well as those that also co-sponsored a performance by Institute in Amsterdam, who involve music research, production, In the Vault legendary opera singer Camilla expressed interest in collaborating on and marketing. The Archives provides • Donations Williams (with accompaniment by video productions that would feature opportunities for students to obtain • Featured Borislav Bazala) in conjunction with a Dutch musicians involved in the per- valuable experience, meet legendary Collection: class on “Black Women in Music” formance of black music (see story figures in black music and culture, and Black Radio taught by Assistant Director Dr. inside). Van Beusekom was our second interact with individuals of similar Stephanie Shonekan and organized visitor from the Netherlands in the last interests. Two of these students, Daniel around the Archive’s general collection two years (see Liner Notes #6/7 for Smith and Tangera Sharp, graduated Events (see stories inside). The question and more details). in spring 2003. On behalf of the • Camilla answer sessions that followed each Each year, the AAAMC invests a AAAMC’s staff, I take this opportunity Williams event provided first-hand accounts of major portion of its resources in pro- to express my appreciation for their in Concert the lives and careers of George and cessing collections and developing valuable contributions and commit- Williams, and they inspired members finding aids. The staff completed the ment. Both contributed to Liner Notes of the audience to inquire about • Luvenia latter for the Smithsonian Black Radio and served the Archives with distinc- George archival materials for further study. Collection (see story inside). The oral tion. We will miss them and we wish Lectures at Given the success of these and similar histories and air-check tapes included them much success in all future events held earlier, we will continue to in this and related collections allow endeavors. Indiana sponsor programs that bring life to the patrons to travel back in time to the In closing, I am pleased to announce University legends and collections housed in the 1950s and 1960s to experience the the appointment of Brenda Nelson- Archives. music, stories, and “jive” talk of the Strauss as archivist/head of collec- • Jaap van The AAAMC’s collections are valu- pioneering personality DJs that influ- tions. She brings seventeen years of Beusekom able resources for scholarly endeavors enced the style of contemporary dee- valuable experience that will be an as well as for various forms of creative jays such as Tom Joyner, host of the asset to our daily operations. Her pres- • Michael Dyson activity. Our general collection of pop- syndicated Tom Joyner Show. A valu- ence will help launch us into a new era ular music, for example, provides our on Hip Hop Music able companion resource to the black of archiving and collection develop- and Culture featured research associate Tyron radio collection is the Johnny Otis ment (see story inside). Cooper, director of the Indiana Collection, which includes radio pro- University Soul Revue, with record- grams featuring on-air conversations People ings of rhythm and blues, soul, and and performances with rhythm and funk music used in the development of • New Head of blues artists from the 1940s, 1950s, and Collections: the “Old School” component of the 1960s (see Liner Notes #1 for a descrip- ensemble’s repertoire. IU Soul Revue’s Brenda tion of this collection). Nelson- performances expose audiences across The AAAMC depends on the expert- Strauss the country to the sources of today’s ise and talents of its full-time staff and neo-soul and rhythm & blues musical its part-time staff of graduate and styles, as well as hip-hop samples and undergraduate students to fulfill its • AAAMC Research various genres that comprise classic mission. Students assist patrons, Associate: soul and R&B. process collections, work on special Tyron Cooper The research and educational mission projects, and cover events sponsored of the Archives continues to generate by or relevant to the collections and interest for collaborative projects with research of the Archives. Most of them established national and international are interested in careers related to cultural institutions. This spring archives, museums, and other cultural AAAMC hosted Jaap Van Beusekom, Portia K. Maultsby Director In the Vault Gotee Records Malcolm Shaw Compact discs for the Bobby L. Jones Collection Material on Arizona Dranes; Jazz and Ragtime Recent Donations Records (1897–1942) compiled by Brian Rust Kate Greer and edited by Malcolm Shaw Photographs and publicity material on leg- Blackberry Records endary jazz singer Adelaide Hall Rachel Hughes Slansky Gospel compact discs and audio cassettes for Correspondence for the Jack Gibson Collection the Bobby L. Jones Collection EMI Christian Music Group Compact discs for the Bobby L. Jones Collection Smithsonian Institution Bobby L. Jones Educational kit, Jazz Age in Paris Additions to collection Indiana University Press CD-Rom Music and Culture of West Africa: The Uprok Records Carnegie Hall Education Department Straus Expedition Compact discs for the Bobby L. Jones Collection Educational kits, Global Encounters: Sounds Along the Silk Road; Global Encounters: South Debbie May Michael Woods African Sounds Videos related to gospel music Additions to the Michael Woods Collection of original compositions Collection Highlight: Black Radio: Keep on Tellin’ It Radio is perhaps the most ephemeral of all media. photo by Stephanie Shonekan Newspapers are preserved on microfilm and many televi- sion programs are offered on videocassette. Radio, howev- er, is a passive medium that provides background music while we perform other activities. Those of us who taped songs off the radio in the past rarely thought to preserve the shows of the personality deejays of the 1950s and 1960s, much less the commercials, news reports, and call letter jingles. Most of this broadcasting history is lost forever, but the AAAMC fortunately has preserved some important material related to black radio. Founded in 1991, the AAAMC houses both audio and visual materials chronicling the history of black radio. Much of this material was compiled for the groundbreaking radio program, “Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was.” Produced by Events Radio Smithsonian, the program chronicles the intriguing history of black radio from its beginnings Camilla Williams in Concert through the 1990s. The AAAMC holds copies of much of the raw audio material used in creating the program. As a young child Camilla Williams loved to perform and sing. She The collection features rare and insightful interviews with was one of the leading members of the generation of African pioneers of black radio such as Jack Cooper, acknowledged as American singers who broke down racial barriers in opera. Williams the first black radio announcer; Al Benson, Chicago radio’s studied voice and piano and graduated from Virginia State College “Old Swingmaster,” whose blues-laden playlists revolution- in 1941. She then moved to Philadelphia for advanced voice study ized black radio; and Georgie Woods, who used his populari- and won scholarship awards from the pioneering black soprano ty as a disc jockey to rally his audience to the cause of civil Marian Anderson. At one solo recital, Williams was heard by the dis- rights. Some stories are truly bizarre, such as the experience of tinguished opera singer Geraldine Farrar, who became her mentor. announcer Vernon Winslow. Winslow created a jive-talking Through Farrar’s influence, an audition was arranged for Williams radio character known as “Poppa Stoppa” for a New Orleans at the New York City Center Opera (now the New York City Opera). radio station, but he could not perform as Poppa Stoppa him- The company’s artistic director cast Williams in Puccini’s Madama self because he was black. Winslow was hired to train white Butterfly, and she made her operatic debut as Cio-Cio San in May announcers to “sound black” so that they could accurately 1946. She performed many leading roles in major operas over the portray the hipster character. One evening, when the regular years, including Puccini’s La Boheme, Bizet’s Carmen, Gounod’s white announcer failed to show up for work, Winslow went Faust, and Verdi’s Aida. She has sung for several American presi- on in his place and was promptly fired. dents and other world leaders. She also sang for the March on In addition to audio materials, the AAAMC holds a multi- Washington in 1963. tude of visual materials, much of it donated by radio person- Williams retired from alities from their private collections. This material enables opera in 1971. scholars to see the faces belonging to these familiar voices and History repeated itself to experience a period when radio announcers were very on November 6, 2002, important figures in the black community.

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