Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Angelou, Maya
2. Baldwin, David, Jr.
3. Brando, Marlon
4. Delaney, Beauford, 1901-1979
5. Dodson, Owen, 1914-1983
6. Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
7. Haley, Alex
8. Hansberry, Lorraine, 1930-1965
9. Happersberger, Lucien, 1932-2010
10. Harding, Vincent
11. Hutson, Jean Blackwell, 1914-1998
12. Jackman, Harold, 1901-1961
13. Kazan, Elia
14. King, Coretta Scott, 1927-2006
15. Meriwether, Louise
16. Morrison, Toni, 1931-2019
17. Nemiroff, Robert
18. Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994
19. Painter, Mary, 1920-1991
20. Pakay, Sedat
21. Seale, Bobby, 1936-
22. Simone, Nina, 1933-2003
23. Styron, William, 1925-2006
24. Leeming, David Adams, 1937-
25. Lantz, Robert
26. Karefa-Smart, Gloria

Description

1. 29.85 linear feet (81 boxes, 2 oversize folders)

Summary

1. Personal Papers include biographical sketches, correspondence, interviews, awards, travel records, and fan mail. The files contain a copy of "The Douglass Pilot" (1938), a high school literary journal edited by Baldwin which also features some of his earliest writings. The correspondence includes letters from friends and associates and sometimes includes carbons copies of Baldwin's responses. Correspondence with David Baldwin, artist Beauford Delaney, and close friends Mary Painter and Lucien Happersberger is restricted until 2036.
2. Writings are divided into two subseries, published and unpublished; each subseries is further divided into subgroups which include novels, plays, nonfiction and essays, short stories, poetry collections, screenplays, collaborative works, and other writings. Nearly every subseries contains drafts of handwritten manuscripts, typescripts, notes, reviews and other correlative materials including "Go Tell It On the Mountain" and Giovanni's Room," the plays "The Amen Corner" and "Blues for Mister Charlie." Files for Baldwin's unfinished script, "Remember this House," used as the basis for the 2016 documentary, "I Am Not Your Negro," are restricted until 2026.
3. Business Records consist of contracts, correspondence, proposals, royalty statements, telegrams, carbons of Baldwin's letters, and other records pertaining to Baldwin as a writer and public speaker. There are files for literary agents, publishers, lawyers, as well as invitations to speak, and other records covering nearly four decades.

Subject

1. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987
2. African American authors
3. African American dramatists
4. African American gay men
5. African American political activists
6. American literature -- African American authors
7. American poetry -- African American authors
8. Political activists
9. Harlem (New York, N.Y.)

Genre/Form

1. Interviews.
2. Awards.
3. Sketches.
4. Notebooks.
5. Contracts.
6. Correspondence.
7. Drafts (Documents)
8. Financial records.
9. Scores.
10. Scrapbooks.
11. Writings.
12. Letters.

Call number

1. Sc MG 936

Note

1. Audio materials transferred to Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.
2. Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.

Access (note)

1. Special restrictions apply. Selected correspondence is closed. See finding aid for further details.

Funding (note)

1. The James Baldwin Archive was acquired through the generosity of the Ford Foundation, Katharine J. Rayner, James and Morag Anderson, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and New York Life. Support for processing has been provided by the Arcus Foundation.

Terms of use (note)

1. No personal photography, scans, or photographs are permitted.

Source (note)

1. Estate of James Baldwin

Biography (note)

1. Born in Harlem, James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an African American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic of international renown. He is lauded as one of the most important writers of the 20th century and his books have been translated into several languages. Baldwin was a prolific author of six novels, seven nonfiction works, two plays, a book of poetry, a children's book, and several essays and reviews. His first novel, "Go Tell It on the Mountain," was published in 1953, and his last, "Just Above My Head," was published in 1979. Baldwin's first play, "The Amen Corner," was produced in 1955 at Howard University, directed by Owen Dodson and later at the Actors Studio in New York. His first two nonfiction collections, "Notes of a Native Son" and "Nobody Knows My Name," published in 1955 and 1961, respectively, established Baldwin as an eloquent critic of race, sexual and class issues in the United States. His third nonfiction work, "The Fire Next Time," first published in The New Yorker in 1963, and then later by Dial Press, was a best-selling essay that spent 41 weeks among the top five of the New York Times Best Sellers List.
2. Baldwin was also active in the civil rights movement and tirelessly used his speaking and writing platforms to raise awareness about the deleterious effects of racism on Americans, particularly African Americans. "Remember This House," an unfinished manuscript focusing on racism in the United States and the author's relationships with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers was adapted for the cinema as the 2016 documentary, "I Am Not Your Negro."
3. In 1986, Baldwin was awarded La Légion D'Honneur by French President François Mitterand. A year later, he succumbed to stomach cancer in St. Paul de Vence, France, at the age of 63. He is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.

Author

1. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.

Title

1. James Baldwin papers, 1936-1992.

Type of content

1. text

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. sheet
2. volume

Access

1. Special restrictions apply. Selected correspondence is closed. See finding aid for further details.

Terms of use

1. No personal photography, scans, or photographs are permitted.

Funding

1. The James Baldwin Archive was acquired through the generosity of the Ford Foundation, Katharine J. Rayner, James and Morag Anderson, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and New York Life. Support for processing has been provided by the Arcus Foundation.

Biography

1. Born in Harlem, James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an African American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic of international renown. He is lauded as one of the most important writers of the 20th century and his books have been translated into several languages. Baldwin was a prolific author of six novels, seven nonfiction works, two plays, a book of poetry, a children's book, and several essays and reviews. His first novel, "Go Tell It on the Mountain," was published in 1953, and his last, "Just Above My Head," was published in 1979. Baldwin's first play, "The Amen Corner," was produced in 1955 at Howard University, directed by Owen Dodson and later at the Actors Studio in New York. His first two nonfiction collections, "Notes of a Native Son" and "Nobody Knows My Name," published in 1955 and 1961, respectively, established Baldwin as an eloquent critic of race, sexual and class issues in the United States. His third nonfiction work, "The Fire Next Time," first published in The New Yorker in 1963, and then later by Dial Press, was a best-selling essay that spent 41 weeks among the top five of the New York Times Best Sellers List.
2. Baldwin was also active in the civil rights movement and tirelessly used his speaking and writing platforms to raise awareness about the deleterious effects of racism on Americans, particularly African Americans. "Remember This House," an unfinished manuscript focusing on racism in the United States and the author's relationships with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers was adapted for the cinema as the 2016 documentary, "I Am Not Your Negro."
3. In 1986, Baldwin was awarded La Légion D'Honneur by French President François Mitterand. A year later, he succumbed to stomach cancer in St. Paul de Vence, France, at the age of 63. He is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.

Connect to:

1. NYPL Digital Collections
2. Finding Aid

Local subject

1. Black author.

Added author

1. Angelou, Maya.
2. Baldwin, David, Jr.
3. Brando, Marlon.
4. Delaney, Beauford, 1901-1979.
5. Dodson, Owen, 1914-1983.
6. Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
7. Haley, Alex.
8. Hansberry, Lorraine, 1930-1965.
9. Happersberger, Lucien, 1932-2010.
10. Harding, Vincent.
11. Hutson, Jean Blackwell, 1914-1998.
12. Jackman, Harold, 1901-1961.
13. Kazan, Elia.
14. King, Coretta Scott, 1927-2006.
15. Meriwether, Louise.
16. Morrison, Toni, 1931-2019.
17. Nemiroff, Robert.
18. Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994.
19. Painter, Mary, 1920-1991.
20. Pakay, Sedat.
21. Seale, Bobby, 1936-
22. Simone, Nina, 1933-2003.
23. Styron, William, 1925-2006.
24. Leeming, David Adams, 1937-
25. Lantz, Robert.
26. Karefa-Smart, Gloria.
27. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Amen corner.
28. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Another country.
29. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Blues for Mister Charlie.
30. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Devil finds work.
31. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Evidence of things not seen.
32. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Fire next time.
33. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Giovanni's room.
34. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Going to meet the man.
35. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Go tell it on the mountain.
36. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Gypsy & other poems.
37. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. If Beale Street could talk.
38. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Jimmy's blues.
39. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Just above my head.
40. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Little man little man, a story of childhood.
41. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. No name in the street.
42. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Nobody knows my name.
43. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Notes of a native son.
44. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. One day when i was lost.
45. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Price of the ticket.
46. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. Tell me how long the train's been gone.

Research call number

1. Sc MG 936