The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Remembers Stanley Crouch

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and The New York Public Library honor the life of iconoclastic and influential social critic Stanley Crouch, who passed away on September 16 at the age of 74. A writer of wide-ranging interests and talents, Crouch contributed to the Village Voice throughout the 1980s, helped to found Jazz at Lincoln Center, and reflected on the life and works of many key Black American writers, artists, and musicians of the 20th century, including Charlie Parker.

The Schomburg Center is pleased to serve as the home of Stanley Crouch’s personal and professional papers. This collection, acquired before his passing, documents a lifetime of work, and includes writings, correspondence, and photographs from various points in Crouch’s long career. Of special interest to admirers of Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker are the audio recordings and typed transcripts of over 150 interviews that Crouch conducted in writing this towering biography of the great jazz musician. Interviewees include Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Rebecca Parker, and others who helped Crouch to shape his account, and serve to capture, first-hand, the birth of bebop.

At a time when readers may be inclined to revisit Crouch’s work, his archive will provide new lights by which to consider his essays, interviews, and biographies. Examining his social and professional networks through his correspondence, his creative process through his notes and early drafts of essays and poetry, and his gift of building rapport through his interviews, his collection at the Schomburg Center encourages continued reflection on the making and meaning of Black history, art, and culture.

As the Library’s phased reopening continues, we look forward to welcoming visitors back to the Schomburg Center, where Stanley Crouch’s papers will be accessible to researchers in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books reading room. Find more information about research at the Schomburg Center.

For press inquiries, please contact Amy Geduldig at AmyGeduldig@nypl.org.