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Table of Contents
- Descriptive Summary
- Biographical / Historical
- Scope and Contents
- Arrangement
- Administrative Information
- Controlled Access Headings
- Collection Inventory
- Series 1: Programs
- Series 2: Retrospective materials
- Series 3: Magazines
- Series 4: Baker in advertisements
- Series 5: Music
- Series 6: Photographs
- Series 7: Posters
- Series 8: Letters
Additional Resources
Charles L. Blockson collection on Josephine Baker, 1928-2003
9328
Collection Overview
Title: | Charles L. Blockson collection on Josephine Baker |
Dates (Inclusive): | 1928-2003 |
Creator: | Blockson, Charles L. |
Creator: | Blockson, Charles L. |
Abstract: | This collection consists of programs of Josephine Baker's original shows, photographs, and magazine articles, plus a variety of retrospective exhibition notices and derivative uses of her name and image. |
Collection Number: | 9328 |
Size: | 1.36 Cubic feet |
Location: | For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library catalog. | Repository: | Special Collections Library. Pennsylvania State University. |
Languages: | English |
Biographical / Historical
Charles LeRoy Blockson was born on December 16, 1933, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, to Charles E. Blockson and Annie Parker Blockson. He excelled in football and track at Norristown High School, selecting to attend Penn State, where he received a football scholarship and graduated with a degree in Physical Education in 1956. He served in the Army, 1957-1958, after which he started a janitorial business. As the Civil Rights movement led to wider employment opportunities for African Americans, Blockson became an advisor for human relations and cultural affairs at the Norristown Area High School. However, it was his passion for African American history that prepared him for cultural leadership in the 1970s. He co-founded the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia in 1976 and published the seminal Black Genealogy with Ron Fry in 1977. He donated his large private collection of African-American history materials to Temple University in 1984, and served as curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection. He also served on the Pennsylvania State Historical and Record Advisory Board, and directed the Black History Advisory Board in the 1980s. In 1989, he launched a project to establish sixty-four African American historical markers in Philadelphia. In the 1990s he lectured internationally, and consulted on the establishment of black study programs in many schools and colleges. In 2006 he donated a large collection of published and manuscript materials to Penn State.
Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 3, 1906. She began touring with as a comic as early as 1919. In 1925 she traveled to Europe with La Revue Negre, dancing practically nude to the exotic "Danse Sauvage." She remained in France, dancing at the Folies-Bergeres Theater in a famous costume consisting of 16 bananas. She became an overnight sensation and a muse for authors and artists such as Langston Hughes, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Pablo Picasso. Her success coincided with the Arts Deco movement and a renewal of interest in ethnic forms of art. She learned four languages and developed an operatic voice of power and beauty. She took the lead role in a 1934 revival of Jacques Offenbach's opera La Creole and starred in three silent films successful in Europe: The Tropics (1927), Zouzou (1934) and Princesse Tam Tam (1935). Her career thrived in the integrated Paris society; she was one of the most photographed women in the world, and by 1927 she earned more than any entertainer in Europe. However, American critics excoriated her when she visited the United States to star in the Ziegfield Follies in 1936. Returning to Europe, under the cloud of war, she served in the French Underground and raised 12 adopted children, before returning to the United States to tour in the 1950s, performing until the last years of her life.
Scope and Contents
The Josephine Baker Collection contains a selection of publicity materials, programs, photographs, autographs, and recordings, as well as materials that reflect her cultural impact.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in eight series: Program, Retrospective materials, Magazines, Baker's Name and image in advertisements, Music, Photographs, Posters, and Letters.
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Copyright Restrictions
Copyright, where it persists, is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Item Title], Charles L. Collection on Josephine Baker, RBM 9328, Special Collections Library, University Libraries, Pennsylvania State University.
Acquisition Information
Purchased from Charles L. Blockson, 2006.
Processing Information
Processed by Special Collections staff.
Controlled Access Headings
Personal Name(s)
- Blockson, Charles L.
- Blockson, Charles L.
Collection Inventory
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