Bernth and Judith Lindfors collection concerning Ira Aldridge, Paul Robeson, African, and African American performers
Overview
Printed and visual material concerning Ira Aldridge, Paul Robeson, African, and African American performers collected by Bernth and Judith Lindfors.
Dates
- Creation: 1789-1938
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English, German, French, and Croatian.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
1.1 linear feet (1 flat box, 1 pf box, 1 oversize folder)Collection includes approximately 200 prints, broadsides, photographs, programs, and manuscript and printed ephemera.
Biographical / Historical
Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) was an African American stage actor who made his career largely on the London stage and in Europe, especially in Shakespearean roles. Aldridge used the stage name Mr. Keene and was known as "the African Roscius" until he reverted to his family name in 1832.
Paul Robeson (1898-1976) was an African American stage and screen actor, singer, and activist.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series: I. Ira Aldridge, II. Paul Robeson, and III. Other actors, performers, and entertainers
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2016MT-8. Purchased with funds from the Beatrice, Benjamin and Richard Bader Fund in the Visual Arts of the Theatre and the Bayard Livingston and Kate Gray Kilgour Fund; received: 2016 July 1.
Processing Information
Accessioned by: Melanie Wisner Processed by: Ashley Nary
- Title
- Lindfors, Bernth, collector. Bernth and Judith Lindfors collection concerning Ira Aldridge, Paul Robeson, African, and African American performers, 1789-1938 (MS Thr 1507): Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02774
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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