Research Catalog

Title

Armstead-Johnson Foundation for Theater Research records, 1974-1994.

Author

Armstead-Johnson Foundation.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Johnson, Helen A.

Description

3.2 lin. ft.

Summary

The Armstead-Johnson Foundation for Theater Research records document the activities of the Foundation including the administration, research requests, exhibition planning, and collection development.

Donor/Sponsor

Schomburg NEH Blacks on Stage: African-American Theater Arts Collections Project.

Subjects

• African American theater
• Theater > History > 20th century
• Museums > New York (State) > New York
• Museum exhibits
• Armstead-Johnson Foundation for Theater Research
• Museum directors > New York (State) > New York
• Johnson, Helen A
• Museums > Acquisitions > New York (State) > New York
• Theater > United States > Exhibitions
• Theater > History > 19th century
• Exhibitions
• Traveling exhibitions
• Fund raising

Note

• Photographs transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division.
• Audiotapes transferred to Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.

Source (note)

• Helen Armstead-Johnson;
• Helen Armstead-Johnson

Biography (note)

• The Armstead-Johnson Foundation for Theater Research was established in 1974 by theater historian Helen Armstead-Johnson for the purpose of collecting, preserving, documenting and exhibiting the history of African-American contributions to the American stage. The Foundation was supported financially by Dr. Johnson from her university salary, lectures and exhibition fees, and with a few small grants and modest private donations.

Linking Entry (note)

• Forms part of: Helen Armstead-Johnson Theater Collection.

Processing Action (note)

• Processed
• Cataloged

Call Number

Sc MG 599

OCLC

NYPW00-A191

Author

Armstead-Johnson Foundation.

Title

Armstead-Johnson Foundation for Theater Research records, 1974-1994.

Biography

The Armstead-Johnson Foundation for Theater Research was established in 1974 by theater historian Helen Armstead-Johnson for the purpose of collecting, preserving, documenting and exhibiting the history of African-American contributions to the American stage. The Foundation was supported financially by Dr. Johnson from her university salary, lectures and exhibition fees, and with a few small grants and modest private donations.

Theatrical history from slavery to the 1980's is represented in the collection. Most of the items were acquired through donations, although Dr. Johnson also purchased some material and gathered contemporary articles to supplement older material. Among the materials which were collected by the Foundation are correspondence, scripts, programs, production files, rare books and pamphlets, posters, broadsides, contracts, scrapbooks, costumes and costume designs, playbills, musical instruments, family memorabilia, photographs, phonograph records, taped interviews with well-known entertainers, newsclippings and trophies.

The Foundation was housed adjacent to Dr. Johnson's apartment in the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan. There, she put together a small museum in 1975 for the display of some of the objects she had collected. When the museum closed to the public after a few years, Dr. Johnson promoted the objectives of the Foundation through the preparation of exhibitions using the material she had collected. The exhibits traveled to a variety of venues over the twenty year period between 1975 and 1993 exposing thousands of people to the history of blacks in the performing arts.

Linking Entry

Forms part of: Helen Armstead-Johnson Theater Collection.

Connect to:

Finding Aid

Added Author

Johnson, Helen A.

Research Call Number

Sc MG 599