Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963.
2. Razaf, Andy, 1895-1973.
3. Shreeve, Eunice C.
4. Tyler, Lottie.
5. Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964.
6. Walker, Aida Overton, 1880-1914.
7. Williams, Bert, 1874-1922.
8. Williams, Lottie Cole Thompson.

Description

1. .84 linear feet (3 boxes )

Summary

1. The Philip Sterling research materials on Bert Williams primarily contain clippings, correspondence, notes, and other research materials compiled by Sterling, mainly between the years, 1959-1962, a period in which he was preparing to write a biography of the African American entertainer.

Subject

1. Minstrel shows
2. Printed ephemera
3. Correspondence
4. Williams, Bert, 1874-1922
5. Entertainers
6. African American entertainers
7. Sterling, Philip, 1907-1989
8. Clippings
9. Photographs
10. Biographers

Genre/Form

1. Correspondence.
2. Clippings.
3. Photographs.
4. Printed ephemera.

Call number

1. *T-Mss 1991-026

Access (note)

1. Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Source (note)

1. Sterling, Dorothy

Location of other archival materials (note)

1. Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries.

Biography (note)

1. Philip Sterling (1907-1989) was a writer and a public relations executive who worked for the Columbia Broadcasting System for many years.
2. Bert Williams (1873-1922) was one of the most influential African American entertainers of the early years of the twentieth century.

Indexes/finding aids (note)

1. Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Author

1. Sterling, Philip, 1907-1989.

Title

1. Philip Sterling research materials on Bert Williams, 1899-1981 (bulk 1959-1962)

Restricted access

1. Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Biography

1. Philip Sterling (1907-1989) was a writer and a public relations executive who worked for the Columbia Broadcasting System for many years. Born Philip Shatz in New Rochelle, New York, he worked as a copy editor and journalist for several newspapers in the Midwest and suburban New York from 1926 through 1931. During the 1930s, he found employment with government agencies, including serving as an associate editor for three years on the Film Index, a unit of the Federal Writers Project. Sterling, who legally changed his surname in 1936, began as a writer for CBS Radio in 1945. In 1959, he became the assistant director of press information. He later worked for CBS Television until his 1965 retirement. After 1960, Sterling published several books, primarily biographies and children's literature. Among his most well-known works was Sea and Earth (1970), a biography of environmentalist Rachel Carson for young adults, which won a Christopher Award. Sterling, like his wife Dorothy (the former Dorothy Dannenberg, who also was a prolific writer of children's books), was particularly interested in researching and writing about prominent figures in African American history and the civil rights movement. His works for children on these topics include Four Took Freedom (1967) and The Question of Color (1973). Sterling also was interested in African American humor and vaudeville, editing the anthology, Laughing On the Outside: The Intelligent White Reader's Guide to Negro Tales and Humor (1965) and conducting extensive research on Bert Williams and his associates during the early 1960s.
2. Bert Williams (1873-1922) was one of the most influential African American entertainers of the early years of the twentieth century. Born Egbert Austin Williams in Nassau, Bahamas, Williams spent much of his childhood in Riverside, California. He developed a comedy act with George Walker, whom he had met in San Francisco in 1893. By 1895, the two had made their way to the East Coast, eventually breaking into vaudeville in New York City. In keeping with the conventions of minstrelsy, Williams, as the comedian of the act, performed in blackface makeup. By appropriating demeaning stereotypes, however, the pair was able to break new ground and to exert greater creative control over their own material in such Broadway hits as In Dahomey (1902), Abyssinia (1906), and Bandanna Land (1906). Following Walker's retirement in 1909, Williams began appearing as a solo artist. He became the first African American performer to be featured in the Ziegfeld Follies (1911), playing in editions of the Follies regularly throughout the decade. Williams also became a successful recording artist. Having signed with the Shubert Brothers in 1920, Williams was touring with an all-black show, Under the Bamboo Tree (1921), at the time of his death.

Location of other archival materials

1. See also Philip Sterling papers (AX 751) in the Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries.

Indexes

1. Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Theatre Division Special Collections material
2. Finding Aid

Occupation

1. Correspondence.
2. Biographers.
3. Entertainers.

Added author

1. Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963.
2. Razaf, Andy, 1895-1973.
3. Shreeve, Eunice C.
4. Sterling, Dorothy, 1913- Donor
5. Tyler, Lottie.
6. Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964.
7. Walker, Aida Overton, 1880-1914.
8. Williams, Bert, 1874-1922.
9. Williams, Lottie Cole Thompson.

Research call number

1. *T-Mss 1991-026