| Description |
1.67 linear feet (5 boxes ) |
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Arranged in series: I. Opera and related subjects, 1942-1975; II. Vincenzo Bellini biography, 1931-1976. |
| Summary |
The Joseph Boromé research and writings on opera consist primarily of Boromé's correspondence, research materials, and manuscript drafts of published and unpublished writings on opera and related topics in music history. Among the files in the Opera and related subjects series is material on the nineteenth century impresarios Max Maretzek and Fernandino Palmo, as well as Boromé's graduate school thesis on the history of opera presentation in New York City. Also contained in this series are files with background material and manuscripts for program notes written by Boromé during the 1960s for various operas staged by the American Opera Society (the folder on The Mother of Us All includes some letters from its composer, Virgil Thomson). The largest portion of the collection, however, documents Boromé's efforts to do research for a proposed biography of the composer, Vincenzo Bellini, as well as to find a potential publisher. Included are several manuscript drafts of what appear to be sections of the biography, as well as research and writings on individual Bellini operas. Although the collection contains no personal material on Boromé, it does include information that may be of interest to researchers studying the bel canto revival of the mid-twentieth century, as well as the economic aspects of nineteenth century opera performance history. |
| Biography |
Joseph Alfred Boromé (1919-2002) was a longtime professor of history at City College in New York, who specialized in African American and Caribbean studies, but who also had other research interests, including library history and music history. Born in New York City, Boromé's parents were from the island of Dominica. He worked as a page at the Schomburg Library and received an associate's degree from City College in 1942. Boromé earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at Columbia University, where he also worked as a librarian from 1943 to 1950 (serving as head of the Burgess Library from 1949 to 1950). His master's thesis, Popular Priced Opera in New York City: A History and Analysis, was completed in 1945. Boromé was awarded fellowships from the Julius Rosenwald Fund and the American Council of Learned Societies in the late 1940s to undertake research on the nineteenth century librarian and historian Justin Winsor, the research topic of his dissertation. He also published a biography, Charles Coffin Jewett (1951), and was a reviewer for Library Journal and New York History magazine. Boromé served on the faculty of City College from 1950 to 1984 and compiled and edited the correspondence of such diverse figures as John Candler, Hiram Revels, and Toussaint Louverture. He also wrote extensively on Dominica and other Caribbean countries. |
| Location of Other Archival Materials |
See also Joseph Boromé collection and Joseph Boromé papers (SC MG 714) in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. |
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See also Joseph Alfred Boromé papers (Native American Collection, #9164) in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library. |
| Language |
While English predominates throughout the collection, there is a significant amount of correspondence and research materials in Italian, as well as some items in French, German, Russian, and Spanish. |
| Indexes |
Collection guide available in repository and on internet. |
| Subject |
Boromé, Joseph Alfred, 1919-2002.
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Bellini, Vincenzo, 1801-1835 -- Biography.
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Thomson, Virgil, 1896-1989 -- Correspondence.
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Thomson, Virgil, 1896-1989. Mother of us all.
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African American historians -- New York (State) -- New York.
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African American scholars -- New York (State) -- New York.
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Bel canto.
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Opera -- 19th century -- History and criticism.
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Opera -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
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Opera -- Economic aspects -- United States -- 19th century.
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Opera -- New York (State) -- New York -- 19th century.
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Opera -- New York (State) -- New York -- 20th century.
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| Genre/Form |
Correspondence.
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Manuscripts (documents)
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| Occupation |
Historians. |
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College teachers. |
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Scholars. |
| Added Author |
Bellini, Vincenzo, 1801-1835.
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Maretzek, Max, 1821-1897.
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Palmo, Ferdinand, 1783 or 4-1869.
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Thomson, Virgil, 1896-1989.
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American Opera Society.
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American Music Collection.
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| Call No. |
JPB 06-23
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| Research Call Number |
JPB 06-23
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