Research Catalog

Title

Opal Cooper collection, 1915-1974.

Author

Cooper, Opal, 1889?-1974.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Cooper, Opal, 1889?-1974.
• Johnson, Helen A.

Description

1.4 lin. ft. (1 archival box, 3 flat boxes)

Summary

The records contain personal and professional papers comprised of biographical materials, letters, writings, programs, music, a scrapbook and miscellaneous items. The Personal Papers consist of various forms of identification, letters and an obituary, among other items.

Donor/Sponsor

Schomburg NEH Blacks on Stage: African-American Theater Arts Collections Project.

Subjects

• Actors
• African American musicians
• Singers
• Johnson, Helen A
• Helen Armstead-Johnson Collection
• African American composers
• African American in the performing arts
• African American actors
• Cooper, Opal, 1889?-1974
• Composers
• African American entertainers
• African American singers
• Sheet music
• Musicians

Genre/Form

Sheet music.

Note

• Photographs transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division.

Source (note)

• Helen Armstead-Johnson;
• Cora Cooper

Biography (note)

• Opal Cooper was a singer, pianist and actor who performed in the United States and parts of Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. He first appeared in the musical comedy "Darkydom" at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, New York in 1915 and in the play "The Rider of Dreams" in 1917. Following his United States Army service in World War II, Cooper remained in Europe and from 1920 to 1939, "Ole" Cooper, as he was sometimes known, worked as a singer and musician in various theaters and restaurants in Paris, other parts of Europe, and in India.

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

• Finding aid available.

Provenance (note)

• The collection was donated to the Armstead-Johnson Foundation for Theater Research by Cooper's widow, Cora. It was subsequently donated by Helen Armstead-Johnson, 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

OCLC

NYPW00-A200

Author

Cooper, Opal, 1889?-1974.

Title

Opal Cooper collection, 1915-1974.

Biography

Opal Cooper was a singer, pianist and actor who performed in the United States and parts of Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. He first appeared in the musical comedy "Darkydom" at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, New York in 1915 and in the play "The Rider of Dreams" in 1917. Following his United States Army service in World War II, Cooper remained in Europe and from 1920 to 1939, "Ole" Cooper, as he was sometimes known, worked as a singer and musician in various theaters and restaurants in Paris, other parts of Europe, and in India.

Cooper returned to the United States in the early 1940s and resumed his career performing in clubs in New York City and in Hartsdale, New York. He performed with a number of bands during his career including the James Reese Europe's Octette of Singers and Players, the Five Red Devils, and the International Four.

Provenance

The collection was donated to the Armstead-Johnson Foundation for Theater Research by Cooper's widow, Cora. It was subsequently donated by Helen Armstead-Johnson, along with other theater related collections to the Schomburg Center.

Indexes

Finding aid available.

Linking Entry

Forms part: of Helen Armstead-Johnson Theater Collection.

Connect to:

Finding Aid

Added Author

Cooper, Opal, 1889?-1974.

Johnson, Helen A.