Research Catalog

Title

Tom Feelings papers.

Author

Feelings, Tom

Publication

1919-2006, bulk 1960 - 2004.

Supplementary Content

Finding aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Feelings, Muriel L.
• Angelou, Maya.
• Clarke, John Henrik, 1915-1998.
• Greenfield, Eloise.
• Grimes, Nikki.

Description

19.11 linear feet (42 boxes, 3 oversize folders)

Summary

• Born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, in 1933, Feelings was drawn to art at a very young age. From 1951-1953, Feelings attended the Cartoonist and Illustrators School (now School of Visual Arts) in New York City, after which he joined the United States Air Force (1953-1957) as an illustrator in the Graphics Division in London, England. After his service, while continuing his studies at the School of Visual Arts (1958-1960), Feelings created the comic strip, "Tommy Traveler in the World of Negro History" which was published in the Harlem-based "New York Age", and mostly depicted the urban Black community (the comic strip would be published as a book in 1991). From 1959-1964, he worked as a freelance artist and traveled to New Orleans for "Look" magazine and "The Reporter" magazine for featured articles titled “The Negro in the USA” and "Images of the South," respectively. After returning to Brooklyn and being inspired by the children of New Orleans, Feelings shifted his focus to illustrating children and began visiting schools in Bedford-Stuyvesant to encourage children to draw. In 1964, Feelings moved to Ghana to work as an illustrator for "African Review Magazine" and to teach illustration at the Ghana Government Publishing House; his work was inspired by the complexity and beauty of Africa. Upon returning to the States in 1966, Feelings began freelance illustration for books of African stories including "Bola and the Oba’s Drummers"(1967), "The Tuesday Elephant" (1968), and "Black Folktales" (1969). In 1971, Feelings was invited by the government of Guyana to work as a consultant and teacher for the Ministry of Education; he trained young artists in textbook illustration and oversaw the creation of children’s books. Also during this time, Feelings collaborated with his then-wife, Muriel Feelings, on three children's books, "Zamani Goes to Market" (1970); "Jambo Means Hello" (1971), a Caldecott Honor Book (1972); and "Moja Means One: A Swahili Counting Book" (1974), another Caldecott Honor Book (1974). In 1974, Feelings returned to the United States and illustrated and wrote a number of renowned works such as his illustrated autobiography "Black Pilgrimage" (1972); "Something on My Mind", with Nikki Grimes (1978), for which he won the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration; "Daydreamers", with Eloise Greenfield (1981), which received a Coretta Scott King Honor Award; "Now Sheba Sings the Song" with Maya Angelou (1987); and "Soul Looks Back in Wonder", with various authors (1993), which received the Coretta Scott King Award for Children's Literature. Feelings is best known, however, for "The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo", with an introduction by John Henrik Clarke (1995). While it took him many years to complete the book, the end result is a "wordless book" illustrated in sixty black-and-white narrative paintings. The book, which depicts the reality and horrors of the forced journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean, won Feelings his fourth Coretta Scott King Award in 1995.
• Feelings was the recipient of numerous other awards and citations, including an honorary doctorate from the School of Visual Arts in 1996. A documentary based on his life, "Head and Heart"(1977), written by Jimmie Mannas, won the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award for Best Overall Film and Best Documentary. Feelings exhibited and lectured nationally and internationally; published articles in "Journal of African Children's and Youth Literature" and "The Horn Book Magazine", among others; contributed to other publications such as "Junior Great Books" (1992) and "Talking with Artists"by Pat Cummings (1992); and served on various boards and committees, including The Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage and the National Conference of Artists. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Studio Museum in Harlem and Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, among others. In 1990, Feelings moved to South Carolina, where he was a professor of art at the University of South Carolina until 1996. Feelings died of cancer in Mexico in 2003.
• Tom Feelings was an internationally known artist, children's book illustrator, educator, and activist. The Tom Feelings papers consist mostly of materials related to his art and writing, both published and unpublished.
• The Tom Feelings papers consist of materials related to the personal and professional life of this artist, educator, writer, and activist. Materials include personal papers, such as resumes, a high school yearbook, awards and honors, family correspondence, and a family tree; and correspondence (personal, professional, and fan mail) with such notable individuals as Maya Angelou, Jacob Lawrence, Julian Mayfield, and Sonia Sanchez, among many others. Art and writing makes up the bulk of the collection; files consist of business records related to the sale and marketing of his artwork, publishing contracts, and mailing lists. Additionally, there are reproductions of published artwork, published and unpublished writing (which includes drafts, edited manuscripts, and final printed versions), and writing by other authors. Professional documents include materials related to Feelings's positions in Ghana and Guyana, roles on various boards of directors and committees, participation in conferences and workshops, events (exhibitions, readings, and book signings), and teaching. There is printed matter, which contains reviews of Feelings's various publications, interviews, and various clippings on or about Feelings and his work. Finally, there are subject files of various individuals, organizations, and topics, generally consisting of printed matter and most likely used by Feelings as research for his art and writing.

Subject

• Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000
• Mayfield, Julian, 1928-1984
• Morrison, Toni
• African American artists
• African American authors
• African American civil rights workers
• African American college teachers
• African American illustrators
• African Americans > Comic books, strips, etc
• African Americans > Civil rights
• Authors, Black
• Children's books
• Comic books, strips, etc
• Illustrated children's books
• Middle Passage
• Slave trade > United States > History
• Slavery > United States
• Transatlantic slave trade
• America > Race relations

Access (note)

• Student files closed until 50 years after most recent date; materials with personally identifying information have been redacted.

Source (note)

• Purchased from Kamili Feelings, executor of the Tom Feelings Estate, 2010.

Location of Other Archival Materials (note)

• Head and Heart: Tom Feelings [motion picture] / edited and directed by Jimmie Mannas, Sc Visual VRA-224, Moving Image and Record Sound Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Tom Feelings artwork, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Archives at Yale University

Call Number

Sc MG 875

OCLC

1343766947

Author

Feelings, Tom, creator.

Title

Tom Feelings papers.

Production

1919-2006, bulk 1960 - 2004.

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

Restricted Access

Student files closed until 50 years after most recent date; materials with personally identifying information have been redacted.

Location of Other Archival Materials

Head and Heart: Tom Feelings [motion picture] / edited and directed by Jimmie Mannas, Sc Visual VRA-224, Moving Image and Record Sound Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Tom Feelings artwork, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Archives at Yale University

Materials Separated from the Resource: Transferred to the Art and Artifacts Division: posters and drawings. Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division: audio and moving image materials. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270. Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.

Source

Purchased from Kamili Feelings, executor of the Tom Feelings Estate, 2010.

Connect to:

Finding aid

Added Author

Feelings, Muriel L.

Angelou, Maya.

Clarke, John Henrik, 1915-1998.

Greenfield, Eloise.

Grimes, Nikki.

Research Call Number

Sc MG 875