Albert Murray papers

Comprised of the various compositions authored by Murray as well as business and personal correspondence, research files, documents from his personal papers, photographs, clippings, audiovisual material, teaching materials, and the many degrees and honorary degrees that he received. Series I - Compositions, includes an array of compositions by Murray such as 32 Changes on Soul, Souls, and Souling , Count Basie , The Devils of Nada , Duke Ellington , From the Briarpatch File , Freedom Bound , Good Morning Blues , The Good Old Boys , The Hero and the Blues , The Magic Keys , The Negro Revolution and the Reconstruction of Robert Penn Warren , A Note on Henrietta Buckmaster , The Omni-Americans , Paris Blues Suites , Seven League Boots , South to a Very Old Place , The Spyglass Tree , Stomping the Blues , Trading Twelves , Train Whistle Guitar . Also included are his lectures such as the Morocco lectures and unpublished handwritten manuscripts.

Series II - Correspondence, includes correspondence from Murray’s longtime friendship with “Invisible Man” author, Ralph Ellison. Letters to his wife, Mozelle, as well as newspaper clippings of the New York literati, Murray, and Ellison. Also included are the playbills and programs from the various theatrical, and arts and entertainment performances he attended such as the 92nd St. Y – Unterberg Poetry Center and Lincoln Center. Ralph Ellison, Penn Faulkner, Romare Bearden, and Thomas Frederick are all among the pieces of correspondence that are contained within. Contained within this series are correspondence papers regarding some of his speaking engagements such as the Symposium on the American South, Colgate University, Washington and Lee University, and the University of North Carolina. In addition, there are correspondence and research materials on Clifford Thompson, Alex Eliot, Jacqueline Modeste, Lawrence P. Jackson, Reid Badger, Shelby Foote, and Thomas Mann. His other projects include the Dillard Project, Alabama Writers’ Forum, An International Celebration of Southern Literature from Agnes Scott College, and The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture.

Series III – Interviews and Press, includes documentation of Murray’s interviews, reviews, press releases and publications throughout his illustrious career. Included also are the many publications and clippings regarding other authors, artists, musicians of interest that Murray saved for his own enjoyment. Contains a variety of clippings of newspaper and magazine articles including Hemingway, and of Mobile, Alabama. Magazine covers and postcards are also here.

Series IV – Awards and Education, contains the certificates, awards, and degrees bestowed on Murray from various organization such as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Callaloo Award, Colgate University, Hamilton College, State University of New York, Tuskegee Institute, and Yale University.

Series V – Photographs, highlights the encounters spent by Murray with the military, musicians, artists, authors, family, friends, and travels that he engaged with throughout his life.

Series VI - Personal and Family Papers includes papers belonging to both Albert and Mozelle Murray, including degrees earned by Mozelle, estate planning information, one of Murray’s New York Driver’s license, birth and marriage records, poems, real estate information, recipes, a Tiffany and Company Diamond Certificate, and more. There is also bookmarks, calendars, as well as travel information, journal entries magazine articles, as well clippings, pamphlets and information stemming from his time spent as far away as Morocco to times spent locally such as Monroeville, Alabama. There are notebooks from personal summer trips from 1988, travel information for Canada, France, and various destinations domestic and.