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Finding Aid

Center for the Study of Black Literature and Culture Records UPB 160

Access to collections is granted in accordance with the Protocols for the University Archives and Records Center.

Summary Information

Prepared by
Theresa R. Snyder, revised by Kaiyi Chen
Preparation date
1992, 2010
Date [bulk]
Bulk, 1983-1994
Date [inclusive]
1970-1994
Extent
7.0 Cubic feet

PROVENANCE

Transferred to the University Archives in 1999.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection has been arranged alphabetically by subject.

HISTORICAL NOTE

The Center was founded in 1987 with these major objectives: to “generate and promote scholarship about the Black Diaspora”, “to provide space and facilities for writers, artists, and academics” to promote interdisciplinary research in black literature and culture, “to bring results of academic research to public attention,” and “to assist the inner City schools with specialists’ expertise.” Houston A. Baker, Jr., a Penn faculty of the English Department since 1974 and Director of Afro-American Studies at Penn from 1974 to 1977, was appointed its first Director.

Since its opening, the Center has hosted seminars by renowned critics, organized presentations by visiting scholars, housed Rockefeller Fellows, and initiated publication of series of black literature and culture. The University of Pennsylvania, the William Penn Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Xerox Foundation have provided the funding to the Center.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

This collection documents the operations of the Center for the Study of Black Literature and Culture since its founding in 1987. It includes following major subjects and groups: the Afro-American Studies at Penn, a file of conferences the Center Director attended up to 1990, a file of course offerings and recruitment of the English Department, General Correspondence of the Center, files of graduate students that worked with Professor Baker as well as lectures by Baker, the Minority Presence Development Program at Penn, a National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar of 1985, the Program for Assessing and Revitalizing the Social Sciences, a 1987 “Retreat for the Study of Afro-American Literature: an Agenda for the 1990s,” files of the Rockefeller Foundation Residency Fellowship Program from 1986 to 1994, files of a Scholars of the Next Generation Series, a 1989 Summer Program for Teachers, and a file of correspondence between the Center and various departments of the University of Pennsylvania.

Inventory

 

General File 

Box

Folder

Afro-American Literary Study at Penn, 1989-1990 

1

1

Abington Friends School, 1990 

1

2

Advisory Board meeting, 1990 April 3, minutes and agenda 

1

3

Advisory Board meeting, Correspondence, member nomination, 1989-1990 

1

4

Afro-American Literary Study at Penn, 1989-1990 

1

5

Afro-American Studies at Penn 

1989 

1

6

Curriculum Development Program, 1988 

1

7

Faculty Coordinating Committee, 1986-1987 

1

8

Report, 1985-1987 

1

9

Summer Institute, 1988-1989 

1

10

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1985 

1

11

Annual Report, 1987-1988 

1

12

Annual Report, 1989 

1

13

Baldwin, James, memorial service, 1988 

1

14

Black Music Research Journal, 1989 

1

15

Black Resources Center Director search, 1988 

1

16

Board of Directors, Correspondence, 1989-1990 

1

17

Brochure material, 1988-1989 

1

18

Calendar, 1985-1987 

1

19

California Black Faculty and Staff Association, 1988 

California Black Faculty and Staff Association, 1988 

1

20

Grand Opening, 1987 

1

21

Initial correspondence with the University of Pennsylvania administration, 1987-1989 

1

22

Press release about its establishment, 1988 

1

23

Proposals, 1986-1987 

1

24

Colgate University, Invitation to Houston Baker for teaching in spring 1991 

1

25

College Language Association, Convention, 1989 

1

26

Commonwealth Center for the Study of American Culture (at the College of William and Mary) 

Advisory Board meeting, 1989 

1

27

Conference Planning Committee meeting, 1990 

1

28

Correspondence, 1989 

1

29

Planning session at William and Mary, 1990 

1

30

Conferences 

1988-1990 

1

31

Corridos Contest (University of Arizona), 1990 

1

32

Iowa College, 1989-1990 

1

33

Madison Center, “Restoring American Education,” 1989 

1

34

National Council of Teachers of English, Summer Institutes, 1988 

1

35

National Museum of American History, 1986-1987 

1

36

Radford University, 1990 

1

37

University of Michigan, 1989 

1

38

Williams College, 1988 

1

39

Applications, 1988 (1) 

1

40

Applications, 1988 (2) 

1

41

Applications, 1988 (3) 

1

42

Core faculty, Curriculum and research interest 

1

43

Dana Foundation Program on Preparing Minorities for Academic Careers (Duke University), Selection Committee, 1990 

1

44

De Prospo, Richard, “Practicing Theory Readings in Contemporary Literary Theory,” 1988 

1

45

Discussion Group, Moore, Carlos, 1990 

1

46

Distinguished Lecture Series, 1989-1990 

1

47

DuBois Institute Working Group, 1989-1990 

1

48

English Department 

American Literature senior position search, 1987 

1

49

Correspondence, miscellaneous, 1988 

1

50

Courses 111, 299, and 998, 1988-1989 

1

51

Courses 299, 514, 569, 1987 

1

52

Course 570, 1986 and 1988 

1

53

Course 770, 1988-1989 

1

54

Course 998, 1988-1989 

1

55

Course description and Field Examination, 1987 

1

56

Course offerings, 1988 

1

57

Evaluation Committee, 1986 

1

58

Graduate Student Recruitment, 1988 

1

59

Junior hiring, 1987 

1

60

Recruiting, 1988-1990 

1

61

Senior hiring, 1987-1989 

1

62

Tenure and teaching, 1988 

1

63

Equipment, 1986-1988 

1

64

Equipment, 1989 

1

65

Evaluation of Teaching Fellows, 1988 

2

1

External Review 

Brown University, Pembroke Center, 1988-1989 

2

2

University of California, Santa Cruz, 1988 

2

3

University of Guyana, 1987 

2

4

Ford Foundation, Center for the Study of Black Literture and Culture proposal and Foundation staff site visit, 1990 

2

5

Ford Foundation Project in Southern Studies, 1986 

2

6

General correspondence 

1985-1989 

2

7

1991 January 

2

8

1991 February 

2

9

1991 March 

2

10

1991 April 

2

11

1991 May 

2

12

1991 June 

2

13

1991 August 

2

14

1991 September 

2

15

1991 October 

2

16

1991 November 

2

17

1991 December 

2

18

George Mason University, Employment opportunity, 1979-1988 

2

19

Germantown Friends School, “Visions/Re-visions,” 1988 

2

20

Golden Legacy Magazine Series, 1983-1988 

2

21

Graduate Assistant, Recruitment, 1989 

2

22

Graduate students 

A-H 

2

23

Al 

2

24

Ba, 1988-1989 

2

25

Br, 1988-1989 

2

26

El, Fontaine Fellowships, 1989 

2

27

Kin 

2

28

Kinn 

2

29

List, and “flow chart,” n.d. 

2

30

Pe, dissertation proposal, 1989 

2

31

Ro, 1990 

2

32

Sc, dissertation proposal, 1989 

2

33

Ta, 1989 

2

34

Wi, 1988-1990 

2

35

Harvard University, English Institute, Board of Supervisors, 1990 

2

36

Houston Baker 

Greenfield Intercultural Center , Advisory Board nomination, 1987 

2

37

Greenfield Professorship, 1984-1985 

2

38

Greenfield Professorship, 1986, 1988 

2

39

Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Fellows Archive Survey, 1987-1988 

2

40

Honorary degree nominations, 1989-1990 

2

41

Publicity, 1988-1989 

2

42

Howard University, Alumni Award recipients, 1985 

2

43

Independent study candidates, 1989-1990 

2

44

Institute for the Study of Black Literature and Culture (ISBLAC), Proposal and support from Xerox Foundation, 1986-1989 

2

45

Interviews, 1990 

2

46

Journals, Miscellaneous, 1986-1989 

2

47

Journals, Obsidian II (Black Literature in Review), 1988 

2

48

Journals, Social Identity and Culture, n.d. 

2

49

Lectures by Houston Baker 

1986-1987 

2

50

1987 

2

51

1988 

2

52

1988 

2

53

1988 

2

54

1989 

2

55

1989 

2

56

1990 

2

57

1990 

2

58

Albright College and Amherst College, 1989 

2

59

Baruch College, 1987; Beaver College, 1989 

2

60

Berea College, 1988 

2

61

Brown University and Bucknell University, 1987-1988 

2

62

CLA (College Language Association) convention, 1988 

2

63

Columbia University and Colgate University, 1990 

2

64

Dillard University (New Orleans), 1988 

2

65

Dobbins High School Alumni Association, 1987 

2

66

Eighth Annual African Literature Conference, 1989 

2

67

English Institute, The, 1989 

2

68

Fairfield University, 1986-1987 

2

69

Florida Endowment Fund, 1990 

3

1

Florida State University, 1989 

3

2

Glassboro State College, 1989 

3

3

Jesus College, Oxford, 1988-1989 

3

4

Penn institutions, 1988 

3

5

Poetry Project, 1989 

3

6

Prairie View A and M University, 1989-1990 

3

7

Rutgers University, 1989 

3

8

The Mail on Sunday, London, 1990 

3

9

UCLA, 1988-1989 

3

10

University of Arizona, 1988-1990 

3

11

University of California, Santa Barbara, 1986 

3

12

University of Kentucky, 1987 

3

13

University of Michigan, 1986 

3

14

University of Mississippi, 1989 

3

15

University of Tel Aviv, 1988 

3

16

University of Wisconsin, 1988 

3

17

Virginia Polytechnic, 1988 

3

18

Whitney Humanities Center, 1987 

3

19

Woodrow Wilson Foundation, 1988 

3

20

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, 1988 

3

21

Lloyd Richards Dinner, 1988 

3

22

MELUS (Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States) convention, 1989-1990 

3

23

Minority Permanence (Development) Oversight Committee 

1987 

3

24

1989-1990 

3

25

Report, 1990 

3

26

Minority Presence Development, 1988 

3

27

Minority Presence Development Fund, 1986-1989 

3

28

Minority Traineeship in Race and Public Policy, Proposal, 1989 

3

29

Modern Language Association of America 

1988 

3

30

Constitution, amendments, 1988 

8

1

Convention, 1987, 1989 

3

31

Executive Council, 1990 

3

32

Nominating Committee, 1989-1990 

3

33

Responsibility for Literacy, 1990 

3

34

Moonstone, Inc., 1987-1990 

3

35

Mudimbe, V. Y., 1988 

3

36

Nassau Fund Faculty Advisory Committee, 1987 

3

37

National Endowment for the Humanities, Seminar proposal and correspondence, 1984-1986 

3

38

National Endowment for the Humanities 1985 Seminar, participants 

Ba 

3

39

Bo 

3

40

Ho 

3

41

Li 

3

42

Ma 

3

43

Mi 

3

44

Recommendations for participants 

3

45

Ro 

3

46

St 

3

47

Yo 

3

48

National Humanities Center, 1987-1989 

3

49

National Humanities Center, Applications, 1987 

3

50

New Directions Lecture Series, The, 1989-1990 

3

51

New York Times, Book review by Houston Baker, 1987 

3

52

News articles 

Miscellaneous, 1970-1989 

3

53

Penn journals, 1985-1988 

3

54

Philadelphia Inquirer, 1987-1989 

3

55

Oxford Center for African Studies, 1989 

3

56

Papers by Houston A. Baker, Jr. and Mae G. Henderson, n.d. 

3

57

PARSS (Program for Assessing and Revitalizing the Social Sciences) 

1987-1988 

3

58

1990-1991 

3

59

Administrative information, 1987-1988 

3

60

Afro-American Intellectual History and Thought seminar, 1988-1989 

3

61

Afro-American Intellectual History and Thought seminar, participants, 1988-1991 

3

62

Financial information, 1988 

3

63

Kennedy, Randall, 1989 

3

64

Seminar, etc., 1987-1988 

3

65

Visiting lecturers, 1987-1988 

3

66

Pennsylvania Secretary of Education’s Commission on History, Citizenship and Values, 1988-1989 

4

1

Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Celebration of Black Writing workshop, 1988 

4

2

Poet’s House, 1989-1990 

4

3

Publisher 

University of Chicago Press, 1986-1990 (1) 

4

4

University of Chicago Press, 1986-1990 (2) 

4

5

University of Wisconsin Press, 1987-1988 

4

6

Reference letters by Houston A. Baker, Jr., Eagleton, Terence F., 1990 

4

7

Retreat “Sites of Colonialism: Afro-American Literary and Legal Studies and the Woman’s Question” 1990 

Correspondence, 1989-1990 

4

8

Reimbursement 

4

9

Retreat for the Study of Afro-American Literature: an Agenda for the 1990s, [1987] 

Correspondence with the School District of Philadelphia, 1986 

4

10

Participant list 

4

11

Participants and their presentations 

4

12

Participants correspondence, 1987-1988 

4

13

Participants’ file, G-K 

4

14

Participants’ file, L-Q 

4

15

Participants’ file, R-Z 

4

16

Presentations 

Afterword 

4

17

Andrews, William L., and Genevieve Fabre 

4

18

Benston, Kimberly W., Stephen E. Henderson, and Cheryl A. Wall 

4

19

Correspondence, 1989 

4

20

Gates, Henry Louis, etc. 

4

21

Introduction, by Houston Baker and Patricia Redmond 

4

22

McDowell, Deborah 

4

23

McKay, Nellie 

4

24

Rampersad, Arnold, Michael Fabre, and Robert G. O’Meally 

4

25

Traylor, Eleanor W. 

4

26

Yarborough, Richard 

4

27

Rockefeller Foundation Residency Fellowship application 

Appendix to proposal, A-F, 1986-1988 

4

28

Application requests and inquiries, 1988 

4

29

Application requests, 1988-1989 

8

2

Application requests, 1989 

8

3

Application requests, 1989-1990 

8

4

Application requests and inquiries, 1989-1991 

8

5

Correspondence, 1989 

4

30

Proposal, with correspondence, 1986-1988 

4

31

Questionnaire and correpondence, 1988 

4

32

1989-1990 

Bi 

8

6

Cha 

4

33

Co 

4

34

Coop 

4

35

Di (I) 

4

36

Di (II) 

4

37

Ec 

4

38

Eli 

4

39

Fat 

4

40

Hen 

4

41

Jac 

4

42

Las 

4

43

Mo 

4

44

Ob 

8

7

Ok 

4

45

Re 

4

46

Th 

4

47

Ts 

4

48

1990 

Ad 

4

49

Al 

8

8

An 

4

50

Any 

4

51

Applicants asking for extension 

8

9

Ba 

4

52

Bo 

4

53

Br 

4

54

Ch 

4

55

De (I) 

5

1

De (II) 

5

2

Wat 

5

3

1990-1991 

Bl 

5

4

Da 

8

10

Ga 

5

5

Gl 

5

6

Nw 

5

7

Og 

5

8

On 

5

9

Pe 

5

10

Ro 

5

11

St 

5

12

Wa 

5

13

1991-1992 

Az (I) 

5

14

Az(II) 

5

15

Ba 

5

16

Co 

5

17

Dan 

5

18

Dat 

5

19

Eb 

5

20

Gi 

5

21

He 

5

22

Incomplete applications 

5

23

Ki 

5

24

Lak 

5

25

Law 

5

26

Ma 

5

27

Mc 

5

28

Mi 

5

29

Mo 

5

30

5

31

Ok 

5

32

Rog (I) 

5

33

Rog (II) 

5

34

Sm 

5

35

Um 

5

36

Wa 

5

37

1992-1993 

Az 

5

38

Ba 

8

11

Fl 

5

39

Incomplete applications 

5

40

La 

5

41

Le 

6

1

Na 

6

2

Pa 

6

3

Pod 

6

4

Por 

6

5

Tr 

6

6

1993-1994 

Ba 

6

7

Ca 

6

8

Col 

6

9

Con 

6

10

Coo 

6

11

Cop 

6

12

Da 

6

13

Di 

6

14

Gu 

6

15

Hal 

6

16

Haz 

6

17

Hi 

6

18

Ja 

6

19

Je 

6

20

Kei 

6

21

Key 

6

22

La 

6

23

Mc 

6

24

6

25

Ob 

8

12

Og 

6

26

Oh 

8

13

Re 

6

27

To 

6

28

Tu 

6

29

Um 

6

30

Vi 

6

31

Wa 

6

32

Yo 

6

33

Scholars of the Next Generation Series, 1989 

Announcement 

6

34

participants, Blount, Marcellous 

6

35

participants, Fuss, Diana 

6

36

participants, Grewal, Inderpal 

6

37

Summer Program for Teachers, 1989 

Applicant list and correspondence 

6

38

Applicants (1) 

6

39

Applicants (2) 

6

40

Application form 

6

41

Correspondence 

6

42

Dinner Meeting 

6

43

Evaluation and report 

6

44

Lesson plan 

6

45

Schedule, reading list, etc. 

7

1

University of Chicago Press, Black Literature and Culture Series, 1989 

7

2

University of Pennsylvania 

Black Presence Steering Committee, 1986 

7

3

Black Presence Steering Committee, 1988 

7

4

Black standing faculty, 1988-1989 

7

5

Center for Cultural Study, 1986, 1989 

7

6

Committee on Amendments to the Constitution, 1988 

7

7

English Department, correspondence, 1988-1989 

7

8

Graduate and Professional Study Opportunities for Minority Students, 1988 

7

9

Miscellaneous, 1988-1989 

7

10

School of Arts and Sciences, Dean’s Search Committee, 1985-1988 

7

11

School of Arts and Sciences, faculty meeting, 1989 October 

7

12

University Council Ad Hoc Committee on South Africa, 1981 report 

7

13

Ursinus College, Convocation, 1990 

7

14

USSR correspondence, 1983 

7

15

Visiting lecturers and scholars 

A-C 

7

16

G-N 

7

17

O-W 

7

18

Visiting lecturers and scholars 

7

19

Williams College colloquium, 1989-1990 

7

20

Worldnet dialogue, 1989 

7

21