The Center for Black Music Research Collection contains materials reflecting many areas of black music including composers, ethnomusicologists, music researchers, music journalists, scores, published music, and audiovisual collections across all genres. These collection guides, or finding aids, provide access to information about held archival special collections. Each guide describes the organization and scope of a collection and offers content information, allowing researchers to discover relevant information.
Many musical works listed in these collection guides are handwritten; those listed with a publisher's name are printed. Please check the guides for more information
Additional collection guides will be added as they are completed.
To make inquiries or ask questions, please contact archives@colum.edu
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Guide to the William A. Brown Collection
Columbia College Chicago
William A. Brown was a founding member of the Center for Black Music Repertory Ensemble and a Distinguished Professor of Voice at the University of North Florida. He was a tenor and a recitalist and his collection includes concert programs, promotional materials, photographs, correspondence, and media chronicling his career.
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Guide to the William C. Banfield Collection
Columbia College Chicago
William “Bill” Cedric Banfield is a professor and director of the Africana Studies/Music and Society initiative at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. The collection contains his compositions, including songs and jazz works, but is especially strong in concert music, correspondence, writings, and flyers and programs documenting his career.
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Guide to the Zenobia Powell Perry Collection
Columbia College Chicago
Zenobia Powell Perry was a professor, pianist, and composer of classical music. The collection is comprised entirely of Perry’s unpublished scores and music manuscripts, and the collection was arranged by her biographer, Jeannie Gayle Pool.
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Richard 'Dick' Wang Collection
Columbia College Chicago
Richard Wang was a musician, historian, and educator specializing in jazz. The collection consists of a series of arrangements by Mary Lou Williams, a jazz pianist, arranger, and composer, and an interview he conducted with Charles Suber, a jazz critic, educator, journalist, and Down Beat columnist.