Exploring the Research Divisions
The Schomburg Center is organized by material format. This means that appointments to view photographs, art work, and audiovisual materials need to be made separately. Click through the tabs below to learn about the types of materials in the Art and Artifacts, Moving Image and Recorded Sound, and Photographs and Prints Divisions.
Primary Source Research at the Schomburg Center
The Photographs and Prints Division of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, contains both documentary and fine art photographs, which document the history and culture of people of African descent worldwide as well as the work of photographers of African descent. The collection of over 300,000 images ranges from mid-eighteenth-century graphics to contemporary documentary and art photography.
Additional collection materials can be identified with the help of the reference librarian. Please contact them directly at SchomburgPhotography@nypl.org
- Cab Calloway portrait collection [graphic]. Portraits and views of jazz musician, singer and bandleader Cab Calloway from 1930 to the 1970s, consisting of individual portraits of Calloway, mostly studio portraits used for publicity purposes; candid shots and views of Calloway performing or during recording sessions; and group portraits showing Calloway with others at events and gatherings. Calloway is depicted performing at the Cotton Club, the Apollo Theater, Regine's, and other theaters. Among those depicted with Calloway include Bill Robinson, Bobbi Humphrey, Donald Byrd, Dupree White, William Toles, and Nuffie Calloway.Call Number: Sc Photo Calloway, Cab
- Duke Ellington portrait collection [graphic]. Views of composer and pianist Duke Ellington, approximately dated between 1923 and 1974. Collection includes quarter, half and full-length portraits as well as many group portraits. Some are publicity stills, some are candid shots. Promotional stills include Ellington at the piano, some are of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Group portraits show Ellington with other entertainers and musicians including W.C. Handy, Basil Cameron, Percy Grainger, Billy Strayhorn and Arthur Fiedler; at restaurants; at unidentified events; his birthday party; and include interior and exterior shots. Collection also includes portraits of Ellington in a hospital bed; in recording studios; and in various concert performances; also a movie still from Cabin in the Sky; caricatures of Ellington and photographs promoting the book Duke: A Portrait of Duke Ellington. Also included are photos of 78 RPM recordings by Ellington, a sheet music cover and a photo of daughter Gaye Ellington receiving a plaque from ASCAP in honor of Ellington's book, "Duke Ellington in Person."Call Number: Sc Photo Ellington, Duke
- Meet you at the coda : a Latin-jazz monograph / Jose Antonio Vazquez. Depictions of Latin jazz performers, some of whom are of African descent from the United States and Latin America, in New York City during the 1980s, consisting of individual and group portraits of musicians and singers; candid shots and views of performances in clubs, recording studio sessions, and television appearances; candid shots of musicians in clubs either before or during breaks in sets; views of club patrons dancing; and a candid shot of an activist and journalist. Many of the individuals depicted are Americans of Puerto Rican descent, Cubans who moved to the United States, and Brazilian nationals, including Bahians, who were performing in New York. Individuals depicted include Marcus Miller, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Flora Purim, Dizzy Gillespie, Gilberto Gil, Felipe Luciano, Caetano Veloso and Chico O'Farrill, among others.Call Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (Vázquez, J.A. Meet you at the coda)
- Nat King Cole photograph collection The collection depicts aspects of the personal life and professional career of singer, musician and actor Nat King Cole, from the 1930s to the 1960s, and his wife, singer Maria Cole, from the 1940s to the 1990s, as well as the lives of their children Carole, Natalie, Kelly, Timolin and Casey, mainly from the 1940s to the early 1970s. The collection, much of which is contained in photo albums and scrapbooks, consists of studio and group portraits of Cole and his family, including publicity photographs of Nat, Maria and Carole; candid shots of Nat and Maria Cole at home, attending events, and during tours; candid shots of the Cole children during family activities and social gatherings; portraits of Nat and Maria's families; group portraits and views showing Nat with other entertainers and celebrities; views of concerts, recording sessions and press conferences; views of public ceremonies and tributes; views of wedding ceremonies and receptions; film and television stills; and views of tour stops and fans. The collection also consists of news clippings and ephemera items, such as report cards and correspondence, attached to scrapbook pages.Call Number: Sc Photo Nat King Cole Collection
- The New Orleans jazz funerals Depictions of African Americans participating in jazz funerals in New Orleans, Louisiana, during 1969 to 1970, consisting of candid shots and views of musicians, pallbearers and mourners in funeral processions; views of spectators waiting for funeral processions; and individual views of the second line dancers following a burial, a tuba player going home after a funeral, and a mourner carrying the deceased musician's double bass at the burial site.Call Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (Touchet, L. The New Orleans jazz funerals)
- Newport Jazz Festival Depictions of the film production and performers at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, in Freebody Park, Newport, Rhode Island, during the filming of Bert Stern's documentary "Jazz On a Summer's Day, " consisting of candid shots and views of director Stern; candid shots of jazz musicians rehearsing or backstage; views of performances; and a view of the crowd. Among those depicted include Mahalia Jackson, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Dinah Washington, Big Maybelle, Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Jimmy Rushing, and Billy Strayhorne. Also included is an overhead view of Stern and co-director and film editor Aram Avakian in discussion, surrounded by sealed film canisters and shipping boxes.Call Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (Davidson, B. Newport Jazz Festival)
- New York Jazz Museum photograph collection The New York Jazz Museum was founded in 1972 to preserve the history of jazz and to educate the public about jazz. The Museum closed its doors in June 1977 after a series of financial difficulties. The New York Jazz Museum Photograph Collection documents some of the activities of the Museum as well as segments of the history of jazz. The collection includes an extensive portrait collection of jazz artists (195?-197?) and some documentation of the Museum's programs and activities (1972-1977).Call Number: Sc Photo New York Jazz Museum
- Photographs / Sulaiman Ellison. Depicts primarily African American jazz musicians and singers, mostly in New York City, during the 1970s to the 1990s, consisting of candid shots and views of musicians and singers in performance; views of bands and ensembles performing; and candid shots of musicians during set breaks. Some musicians and vocalists are also associated with blues, rhythm and blues, and popular music. Some of the individuals depicted include Betty Carter, Dexter Gordon, Chico Hamilton, Charles Mingus, Esther Phillips, Gil Scott-Heron, and Sun Ra, among others. Also included are a group portrait and individual portraits of Black historians and scholars (1979 and 1982), a view of a sunset on the Niger River, Mali (1980); and views of priests, pilgrims and a church building related to the Orthodox Tawahedo Church in Ethiopia (1982,1984).Call Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (Ellison, S.)
- Photographs of jazz pianistsCall Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (Reeves, J.)
- Portraits of jazz musicians and women singers Studio portraits of American jazz musicians and women singers, captured mostly in 1957 and 1958, consisting of trumpeters Louis Armstrong and Art Farmer, vocalists Big Maybelle and Dinah Washington, saxophonists Jimmy Giuffre, Gerry Mulligan and Sonny Stitt, clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman; drummers Chico Hamilton and Max Roach; guitarist Sal Salvador; pianist George Shearing; and trombonist Jack Teagarden. Also included are group portraits of Art Farmer with Steve Swallow and unidentified, and the Chico Hamilton Quintet, featuring Hamilton, Eric Dolphy, Wyatt Ruther, Nathan Gershman and Dennis Budmir; contact sheets of Gerry Mulligan and French model Monique Chevalier from a photo shoot for Vogue magazine (1962); and contact sheets of scenes from Stern's 1959 film "Jazz on a Summer's Day," documenting the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. Stern appears in some contact sheet images.Call Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (Stern, B.)
- Ron Carter portrait collection Portraits of jazz musician Ron Carter ranging from the 1960s to the 1980s. Collection includes promotional stills as well as views of Carter playing bass. Carter is in several group portraits, one with McCoy Tyner and Sonny Rollins as the Milestone Jazzstars, and another taken in front of Sweet Basil with several unidentified men. Included in the collection are full, three quarter, half and quarter-length views.Call Number: Sc Photo Carter, Ron
- Sonny Rollins photograph collection The collection primarily depicts activities and events related to the musical career of jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, from the late-1940s to 2013, consisting of portraits of Rollins; views of musical performances; award ceremonies and events; Rollins with colleagues, friends and family; views of tours and foreign travel; portraits of musicians and celebrities; views of domestic settings; and pets. Depictions of Rollins' family are limited; Rollins' personal life before the 1960s is not depicted.Call Number: Sc Photo Sonny Rollins Collection
- Stanley Crouch photographs. Stanley Crouch (1945-2020) was a Black American music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, and biographer. Crouch's photographs date from 1928 to 2012 (bulk dates 1940s-2012) and contain prints, negatives, and slides that primarily depict his professional and personal life during the 1990s and 2000s. Also included are photographs of jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker that Crouch used for his book, Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker.Call Number: SCP 186200
- Vermont Jazz Festival, August 6-7,1977 Depictions of the jazz performers and crowds at the second annual Vermont Jazz Festival, held at the Glen Ellen ski area near Waitsfield, Vermont, on August 6-7, 1977, consisting of candid shots and views of pianists John Cassel, Chick Corea, and McCoy Tyner, trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, vocalist Roberta Flack, saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, flautist Herbie Mann, and jazz-funk group Stuff; and views of the mostly young adult crowd gathered on the slope of the festival grounds.Call Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (Shneberg, J.)
- [Photographs] / Anthony Barboza. Collection consists mainly of studio portraits of prominent African American and African figures in music, literature, the visual arts and film making, from the early 1970s to the mid-1990s. Two individual images are candid shots. Images range from head shots to three-quarter length views. Among those depicted are musicians Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela; writers James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Ntozake Shange and Wole Soyinka; artists Benny Andrews and Romere Bearden; photographer James VanDerZee; and filmmakers Gordon Parks and John Singleton.Call Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (Barboza, A.)
- [Photographs] / Ming Smith. Depictions of persons of African descent consisting of personalities, local women, and participants at a rally, during the 1970s to the 1990s, consisting of posed portraits of writer Larry Neal and composer Edward Boatner; a group portrait of the World Saxophone Quartet (David Murray, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and Hamiet Bluiett); and views of jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders performing (ca. 1978), singer Grace Jones dancing at a club; a mother and daughter calling from a pay phone, three women from the Order of Eastern Stars - one of whom is Miss Star of Hope, 1978-79 - walking down a Harlem avenue (ca. 1978); and speakers and participants at an unidentified outdoor rally in Harlem (1998). Also included is a portrait of bandleader Duke Ellington taken from a television.Call Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (Smith, M.)
- [Photographs] / Roy DeCarava. Depictions of prominent African Americans, and residents and views of Harlem, New York, from the late 1940s to the early 1970s, consisting of a studio portrait of historian John Henrik Clarke (ca. 1972); candid shots of actor Sidney Poitier during the filming of "A Raisin in the Sun" (1960); a portrait of saxophonist John Coltrane, with drummer Elvin Jones in background (1960); a group portrait of four African American men (1964); a portrait of an African American boy (ca. 1950s); a view of a dimly lit tenement hallway, entitled "Hallway" (1953); and a view of a young woman in a gown standing amid the rubble of an inner city block, entitled "Graduation" (1949).Call Number: Sc Photo Portfolio (DeCarava, R.)
The following is a sample of materials in the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division that documents the history of jazz. These materials include albums, oral histories, performance recordings, documentaries, and other audio visual materials that capture the history, present, and future of jazz.
Additional materials can be identified with the help of the divisional staff. Please contact them directly at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org
- Alberta Hunter interviews and performances collection [sound recordings]Call Number: Sc Audio C- Originals in Sc Audio TC-
- Archie Shepp : je suis jazz, C'est ma vie = Archie Shepp : I am jazz, it's my life / directed by Frank Cassenti. Archie Sheppe, multi-instrumentalist, composer, poet, playwright and educator discusses, in both French and English, the African origins and revolutionary purpose of jazz and the social invisibility and insolation of blacks. His versatile club performances add even more color to this intelligent film.Call Number: Sc Visual VRA-408
- Born to swing : the movie about the alumni of the Count Basie Band of 1943 / directed by John Jeremy. This video recaptures the richness of swing music in general and the delights of the Count Basie Band in particular. It celebrates the soloists--Dicky Wells, Buck Clayton, Buddy Tate, Earle Warren, Jo Jones. These fine jazzmen gave the Count Basie Band its unique sound, and in the film, they are joined for an impromptu session by fellow musicians Eddie Durham, Snub Mosley and others. Recollections by drummer Gene Krupa, veteran band leader Andy Kirk and producer John Hammond round out this portrait of the Basie Band.Call Number: Sc Visual VRA-405
- Machito : a Latin jazz legacy [motion picture] / presented by Nubia Music Society. Biographical documentary on the life and achievements of the Cuban-born singer, jazz musician, and composer Machito (real name Frank Grillo, 1908-1984). The program traces his musical roots in Cuba, then examines his contributions to the development of Latin music in the U.S., particularly the combination of Afro-Cuban music and jazz. Dance promoter Federico Pagani, bandleader Tito Puente, and musicians Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Barreto, and Dexter Gordon are among the contemporaries who comment on his work. The program contains numerous scenes of social and theatrical dancing in venues such as the Savoy Ballroom, the Palladium, and the Apollo Theater. Dance forms represented include tap dancing, the rumba, swing dancing, the mambo, and others.Call Number: Sc Visual VRA-264
- Oral history interview with Art Farmer.Call Number: Sc DVD-1064
- Ron Carter audio and moving image collection : 123 items. Forms part of: the Ron Carter archive. Papers can be found in the Manuscript & Rare Books Division: Ron Carter papers, 1954-1997. (Sc MG 90).Call Number: Sc MIRS Carter 1981-07
- Sonny Rollins audio and moving image collection Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7th, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Harlem born and raised, Rollins is considered among the players to have defined the instrument through his prolific practicing, performing and recording over a career that spans sixty decades and more than eighty albums. Created and collected by Sonny Rollins, the 2475 item audio and moving collection includes interviews, profiles, live performances, practice sessions and studio recordings. The holdings are available in the Moving Image and Recorded Sound (MIRS) Division.Call Number: Sc MIRS Rollins 2017
- The sound of jazz / directed by Jack Smight. Originally broadcast as an episode of the "Seven Lively Arts" television program, 1957.Call Number: Sc Visual DVD-222
- Space is the place / directed by John Coney. Jazz musician Sun Ra returns to Earth, after being reported lost after his last European tour, and focuses his concern on the fate of humanity and the rights of African Americans. "The 40th anniversary edition of Space is the place contains both known versions of the film, a new producer commentary, copious notes from cast, crew, and Arkestra members, a CD of the soundtrack--including two previously unreleased tracks--and dozens of never-before-seen photographs"--Back cover.Call Number: Sc DVD-2097
- Dizzy Gillespie [motion picture] / a film by Les Blank. Focuses on the trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie, who, along with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and others, sparked the change from jazz into "bop" in the 40's. Dizzy talks about his beginnings, his viewpoints and theories regarding jazz. Footage includes Dizzy performing in various clubs with his quintet: James Moody, saxophone and flute; Kenny Barron, piano; Chris White, bass; Rudy Collins, drums. Also included is rare footage of Gillespie and Stan Kenton rehearsing the Los Angeles Neophonic Orchestra for the February 1, 1965 concert.Call Number: Sc Visual VRA-263 Service copy
The Art and Artifacts Division collects, documents, preserves, and interprets art and artifacts by and about peoples of African heritage throughout the world. Fine and applied art and material culture objects from the seventeenth century to the present are collected, with emphasis on the visual arts of the twentieth century in the United States and Africa.
A painting, "Jenkins Band/Orphan Band" by Malvin Gray Johnson, is displayed in the slideshow to the right. This is a painting depicting a jazz scene that is part of the Painting & sculpture collection.
For more information on resources in their division, please email schomburgart@nypl.org.
- Music poster collection [graphic]. Posters manufactured between the 1870's and 1980's. Music posters in the collection are primarily advertisements for concerts. Some are posters of musical entertainers, musicians and cast ensembles in theatrical musical productions. Posters represent entertainment in popular musical genres. Included are posters advertising minstrel shows featuring Blind Tom. There are posters featuring big bands -Duke Ellington, Count Basie; jazz ensembles - Archie Shepp, Wynton Marsalis; R&B - Gladys Knight, James Brown; gospel music advertisements for the Southernaires, musical parody; - Phillipa Duke Schuyler; folk singer Odetta; Blues festivals featuring B.B. King; announcements for shows in the United States and in Europe featuring Alberta Hunter; and operas performed by Roland Hayes and Marian Anderson to name just a few. Also included are posters representing African music as well as Cuban and one handbill from 1872 advertising a concert by celebrated black pianist Olmstead Luca.Call Number: Sc Art Posters - Music
- Jazz immortals [graphic] : pencil paintings / John W. Heard. Percy Heath -- Thelonious Monk -- Ella Fitzgerald -- Ron Carter -- Sonny Rollins -- John Lewis -- Billie Holiday -- John Coltrane -- Sarah Vaughn -- Art Tatum -- Bessie Smith -- Charles Mingus.Call Number: Sc Art Portfolio Heard
Moving Image and Recorded Sound LP Collection
Below is a small sampling of some jazz LPs available in The Schomburg Center's Moving Image and Recorded Sound division. With more than 25,000 long-play (LP) albums, the recorded sound collections cover the various traditional and contemporary music genres from across the diaspora. The holdings range from the earliest recordings of classic blues singers and jazz bands through gospel, rhythm and blues, and a growing collection of rap and hip-hop music.
While there is not an exhaustive list of their holdings, we encourage researchers to email the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org to inquire further about their holdings.
