Research Catalog

Elliot Carpenter papers

Title
Elliot Carpenter papers, 1922-1979.
Author
Carpenter, Elliot (1894-1982)
Supplementary Content
Finding aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

16 Items

StatusContainerFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
Box 1Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 599 Box 1Offsite
Box 2Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 2Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 3Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 3Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 4Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 4Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 5Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 5Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 6Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 6Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 7Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 7Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 8Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 8Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 9Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 9Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 10Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 10Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 11Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 11Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 12Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 12Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 13Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 13Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 14Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 14Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives
Box 15Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 599 Box 15Offsite
Box 16Mixed materialUse in library Sc MG 599 Box 16Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives

Details

Description
8.7 lin. ft.
Summary
The Elliot Carpenter Papers document his musical career and consists of personal and professional correspondence, handwritten music, programs, lyrics, scripts, and newsclippings.
Donor/Sponsor
Schomburg NEH Blacks on Stage: African-American Theater Arts Collections Project.
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Musical scores.
  • Scripts.
  • Scrapbooks.
  • Lyrics.
Note
  • Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.
Source (note)
  • Helen Armstead-Johnson
Biography (note)
  • Elliot James Carpenter was a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and song stylist with a career that spanned much of the twentieth century. Born in Philadelphia, he was educated at the Temple School of Music in that city. In the 1920's he furthered his studies in France, where he also performed with the James Reese Europe Orchestra. A band he formed, known as the Red Devils, toured Europe under the management of the Clef Club Singers and Players.
Provenance (note)
  • The collection was donated to Helen Armstead-Johnson by Elliot Carpenter, and subsequently donated by her, along with other theater related collections, to the Schomburg Center.
Linking Entry (note)
  • Forms part of: Helen Armstead-Johnson Theater Collection.
Processing Action (note)
  • Processed
  • Cataloged
Call Number
Sc MG 599
OCLC
NYPW00-A141
Author
Carpenter, Elliot (1894-1982)
Title
Elliot Carpenter papers, 1922-1979.
Biography
Elliot James Carpenter was a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and song stylist with a career that spanned much of the twentieth century. Born in Philadelphia, he was educated at the Temple School of Music in that city. In the 1920's he furthered his studies in France, where he also performed with the James Reese Europe Orchestra. A band he formed, known as the Red Devils, toured Europe under the management of the Clef Club Singers and Players.
Carpenter's primary musical style was popular, but he also wrote and performed swing music. Although he wrote a substantial amount of original music, only a modest number of pieces were published. He was a prodigious arranger of music authored by both Black and white composers, and also wrote lyrics.
Among Carpenter's accomplishments are his 1937 collaboration with Clarence Muse for the film "Spirit of Youth," his arrangement of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "The Mikado" into a swing piece called "Swing Mikado," 1939, and his performance of the sound track for "As Time Goes By" in the film "Casablanca" and as the playing hands of Sam, the character played by Dooley Wilson, 1942.
A collaboration with Langston Hughes produced a song entitled "America's Young Black Joe," which was published. Some of the many collaborators with whom Carpenter worked are Karen Bank, Bill Boyd, Everett F. Briggs, Dove See, Frank Lowry, Flournoy Miller, and Kahl Ra-Faun.
Provenance
The collection was donated to Helen Armstead-Johnson by Elliot Carpenter, and subsequently donated by her, along with other theater related collections, to the Schomburg Center.
Linking Entry
Forms part of: Helen Armstead-Johnson Theater Collection.
Connect to:
Finding aid
Research Call Number
Sc MG 599
View in Legacy Catalog