Research Catalog

James Baldwin papers

Title
James Baldwin papers, 1936-1992.
Author
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.
Supplementary Content
Finding Aid

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StatusContainerFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
Box 1Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 1Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 2Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 2Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 3aMixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 3aSchomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 3bMixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 3bSchomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 4Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 4Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 5Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 5Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 6Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 6Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 7Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 7Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 8Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 8Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 9Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 9Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 10Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 10Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 11Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 11Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 12Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 12Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 13Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 13Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 14Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 14Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 15Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 15Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 16Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 16Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 17Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 17Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 18Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 18Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 19Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 936 Box 19Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives

Details

Additional Authors
  • Angelou, Maya.
  • Baldwin, David, Jr.
  • Brando, Marlon.
  • Delaney, Beauford, 1901-1979.
  • Dodson, Owen, 1914-1983.
  • Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
  • Haley, Alex.
  • Hansberry, Lorraine, 1930-1965.
  • Happersberger, Lucien, 1932-2010.
  • Harding, Vincent.
  • Hutson, Jean Blackwell, 1914-1998.
  • Jackman, Harold, 1901-1961.
  • Kazan, Elia.
  • King, Coretta Scott, 1927-2006.
  • Meriwether, Louise.
  • Morrison, Toni.
  • Nemiroff, Robert.
  • Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994.
  • Painter, Mary, 1920-1991.
  • Pakay, Sedat.
  • Seale, Bobby, 1936-
  • Simone, Nina, 1933-2003.
  • Styron, William, 1925-2006.
  • Leeming, David Adams, 1937-
  • Lantz, Robert.
  • Karefa-Smart, Gloria.
  • Baldwin, James, 1924-1987..
Description
29.85 linear feet (81 boxes, 2 oversize folders)
Summary
  • Personal Papers include biographical sketches, correspondence, interviews, awards, travel records, and fan mail. The files contain a copy of "The Douglass Pilot" (1938), a high school literary journal edited by Baldwin which also features some of his earliest writings. The correspondence includes letters from friends and associates and sometimes includes carbons copies of Baldwin's responses. Correspondence with David Baldwin, artist Beauford Delaney, and close friends Mary Painter and Lucien Happersberger is restricted until 2036.
  • Writings are divided into two subseries, published and unpublished; each subseries is further divided into subgroups which include novels, plays, nonfiction and essays, short stories, poetry collections, screenplays, collaborative works, and other writings. Nearly every subseries contains drafts of handwritten manuscripts, typescripts, notes, reviews and other correlative materials including "Go Tell It On the Mountain" and Giovanni's Room," the plays "The Amen Corner" and "Blues for Mister Charlie." Files for Baldwin's unfinished script, "Remember this House," used as the basis for the 2016 documentary, "I Am Not Your Negro," are restricted until 2026.
  • Business Records consist of contracts, correspondence, proposals, royalty statements, telegrams, carbons of Baldwin's letters, and other records pertaining to Baldwin as a writer and public speaker. There are files for literary agents, publishers, lawyers, as well as invitations to speak, and other records covering nearly four decades.
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Interviews.
  • Awards.
  • Sketches.
  • Notebooks.
  • Contracts.
  • Correspondence.
  • Drafts (Documents)
  • Financial records.
  • Scores.
  • Scrapbooks.
  • Writings.
  • Letters.
Note
  • Audio materials transferred to Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.
  • Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.
Access (note)
  • Special restrictions apply. Selected correspondence is closed. See finding aid for further details.
Funding (note)
  • The James Baldwin Archive was acquired through the generosity of the Ford Foundation, Katharine J. Rayner, James and Morag Anderson, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and New York Life. Support for processing has been provided by the Arcus Foundation.
Terms of Use (note)
  • No personal photography, scans, or photographs are permitted.
Source (note)
  • Estate of James Baldwin
Biography (note)
  • Born in Harlem, James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an African American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic of international renown. He is lauded as one of the most important writers of the 20th century and his books have been translated into several languages. Baldwin was a prolific author of six novels, seven nonfiction works, two plays, a book of poetry, a children's book, and several essays and reviews. His first novel, "Go Tell It on the Mountain," was published in 1953, and his last, "Just Above My Head," was published in 1979. Baldwin's first play, "The Amen Corner," was produced in 1955 at Howard University, directed by Owen Dodson and later at the Actors Studio in New York. His first two nonfiction collections, "Notes of a Native Son" and "Nobody Knows My Name," published in 1955 and 1961, respectively, established Baldwin as an eloquent critic of race, sexual and class issues in the United States. His third nonfiction work, "The Fire Next Time," first published in The New Yorker in 1963, and then later by Dial Press, was a best-selling essay that spent 41 weeks among the top five of the New York Times Best Sellers List.
  • Baldwin was also active in the civil rights movement and tirelessly used his speaking and writing platforms to raise awareness about the deleterious effects of racism on Americans, particularly African Americans. "Remember This House," an unfinished manuscript focusing on racism in the United States and the author's relationships with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers was adapted for the cinema as the 2016 documentary, "I Am Not Your Negro."
  • In 1986, Baldwin was awarded La Légion D'Honneur by French President François Mitterand. A year later, he succumbed to stomach cancer in St. Paul de Vence, France, at the age of 63. He is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.
Call Number
Sc MG 936
OCLC
982197164
Author
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.
Title
James Baldwin papers, 1936-1992.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
sheet
volume
Access
Special restrictions apply. Selected correspondence is closed. See finding aid for further details.
Terms Of Use
No personal photography, scans, or photographs are permitted.
Funding
The James Baldwin Archive was acquired through the generosity of the Ford Foundation, Katharine J. Rayner, James and Morag Anderson, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and New York Life. Support for processing has been provided by the Arcus Foundation.
Biography
Born in Harlem, James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an African American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic of international renown. He is lauded as one of the most important writers of the 20th century and his books have been translated into several languages. Baldwin was a prolific author of six novels, seven nonfiction works, two plays, a book of poetry, a children's book, and several essays and reviews. His first novel, "Go Tell It on the Mountain," was published in 1953, and his last, "Just Above My Head," was published in 1979. Baldwin's first play, "The Amen Corner," was produced in 1955 at Howard University, directed by Owen Dodson and later at the Actors Studio in New York. His first two nonfiction collections, "Notes of a Native Son" and "Nobody Knows My Name," published in 1955 and 1961, respectively, established Baldwin as an eloquent critic of race, sexual and class issues in the United States. His third nonfiction work, "The Fire Next Time," first published in The New Yorker in 1963, and then later by Dial Press, was a best-selling essay that spent 41 weeks among the top five of the New York Times Best Sellers List.
Baldwin was also active in the civil rights movement and tirelessly used his speaking and writing platforms to raise awareness about the deleterious effects of racism on Americans, particularly African Americans. "Remember This House," an unfinished manuscript focusing on racism in the United States and the author's relationships with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers was adapted for the cinema as the 2016 documentary, "I Am Not Your Negro."
In 1986, Baldwin was awarded La Légion D'Honneur by French President François Mitterand. A year later, he succumbed to stomach cancer in St. Paul de Vence, France, at the age of 63. He is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.
Connect to:
NYPL Digital Collections
Finding Aid
Local Subject
Black author.
Added Author
Angelou, Maya.
Baldwin, David, Jr.
Brando, Marlon.
Delaney, Beauford, 1901-1979.
Dodson, Owen, 1914-1983.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
Haley, Alex.
Hansberry, Lorraine, 1930-1965.
Happersberger, Lucien, 1932-2010.
Harding, Vincent.
Hutson, Jean Blackwell, 1914-1998.
Jackman, Harold, 1901-1961.
Kazan, Elia.
King, Coretta Scott, 1927-2006.
Meriwether, Louise.
Morrison, Toni.
Nemiroff, Robert.
Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994.
Painter, Mary, 1920-1991.
Pakay, Sedat.
Seale, Bobby, 1936-
Simone, Nina, 1933-2003.
Styron, William, 1925-2006.
Leeming, David Adams, 1937-
Lantz, Robert.
Karefa-Smart, Gloria.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Amen corner.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Another country.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Blues for Mister Charlie.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Devil finds work.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Evidence of things not seen.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Fire next time.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Giovanni's room.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Going to meet the man.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Go tell it on the mountain.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Gypsy & other poems.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. If Beale Street could talk.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Jimmy's blues.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Just above my head.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Little man little man, a story of childhood.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. No name in the street.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Nobody knows my name.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Notes of a native son.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. One day when i was lost.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Price of the ticket.
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.. Tell me how long the train's been gone.
Research Call Number
Sc MG 936
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