FINDING AID AVAILABLE
Mary Lou Williams "Music on My Mind" documentary collection.
- Title
- Mary Lou Williams "Music on My Mind" documentary collection.
- Format
- Archival mix
- Author
Collection information
Finding aid
The finding aid is a document containing details about the organization and contents of this archival collection. Archival collections may require an appointment to view and use on-site.
Items in the library and off-site
Displaying all 3 items
| Status | Container | Access | Call number | Item location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Status Available by appointment at Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives. See the finding aid for details. | ContainerBox 3 | AccessUse in library | Call numberSc MG 922 Box 3 | Item locationSchomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives |
| Status Available by appointment at Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives. See the finding aid for details. | ContainerBox 2 | AccessUse in library | Call numberSc MG 922 Box 2 | Item locationSchomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives |
| Status Available by appointment at Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives. See the finding aid for details. | ContainerBox 1 | AccessUse in library | Call numberSC MG 922 Box 1 | Item locationSchomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives |
Details
- Description
- 1.4 linear feet (2.5 archival boxes)
- Summary
- The collection contains materials used to create the Mary Lou Williams documentary, "Music on My Mind," directed by Joanne Burke. "Music on My Mind" focuses on Williams's enduring contribution to American culture as a jazz pianist, composer, and vocalist. This collection includes a short autobiography (incomplete), transcripts of interviews, information on the financial support of the documentary, film technical edits, reel catalog, and an information kit about the documentary.
- Subject
- Williams, Mary Lou, 1910-1981.
- Burke, Joanne.
- African American women jazz singers.
- African American jazz musicians.
- African American musicians.
- African American women entertainers.
- African American women in popular culture.
- African American women singers.
- Jazz musicians -- United States.
- Jazz singers -- United States.
- Women jazz musicians.
- Women singers -- United States.
- Popular music -- United States -- 1971-1980.
- Independent filmmakers -- United States.
- Documentary films -- Production and direction.
- Call number
- SC MG 922
- Language
- English
- Source (note)
- Joanne Burke
- Biography (note)
- Mary Lou Williams was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1910 and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a child she taught herself to play piano and began working in vaudeville at the age of thirteen. In the 1930s, Williams began performing with Andy Kirk's the Clouds of Joy, a Kansas City band. She also composed for bandleaders such as Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. In 1942, she settled in Harlem, New York City where she performed at a Greenwich Village nightclub. Williams was known for Incorporating bebop style in her music, and creating longer pieces, such as "Zodiac Suite." In the late 1950s, Williams converted to Catholicism which served as the inspiration to compose sacred pieces and several masses, including "Mary Lou's Mass."
- Williams passed away at the age of 71 on May 28, 1981, due to bladder cancer. She left behind more than 350 compositions, and is primarily noted as one of the first African-American woman to gain prominence in jazz.
- Type of content
- text
- Type of medium
- unmediated
- Type of carrier
- sheet
- volume
- Connect to:
- Local subject
- Black author.