Object Details
Summary
Publicity photographs of musicians and entertainers, mostly jazz musicians, such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Dizzy Gillespie, but including many rock and even a few classical performers. The collection also contains tape recorded radio interviews conducted between 1970 and 2003. In addition there are posters relating to musical performances.
Scope and Contents
Collection was formed by W. Royal Stokes in the course of his professional work as a music and arts critic. It consists primarily of publicity portraits of musical performers, both single acts and groups. The emphasis is on jazz musicians and singers, although many rock stars and groups, and other popular musical performers are included. Even a few classical musicians are represented. The images are primarily mass-produced black and white publicity photographs distributed to newspapers, writers, etc., by agents for entertainment personalities. Some prints were made from the original negatives, while others clearly were made from copy negatives after typography was stripped together with a print and re-photographed. However, there are some rarer original photographs included in the collection, such as personal color snapshots and higher quality prints by art photographers. Nearly all the prints are unmounted, and are 8 x 10 inches or smaller in size. The bulk of the photographs date from circa 1970 to 2000 with earlier prints included as well as slightly later examples.
sova.nmah.ac.0766
Interviewee
Sun Ra (1914-1993)
Gaskin, Leonard, 1920-
Taylor, Billy
Collector
Stokes, W. Royal, Dr., 1930-
Interviewee
Sullivan, Maxine, 1911-1987
Wells, Ronnie
Whiting, Margaret
Towers, Jack
Venuti, Joe, 1903-1978
Pullen, Don, 1941-
Roney, Wallace
Pizzarelli, Bucky, 1926-
Pizzarelli, John, 1960-
Shaw, Artie, 1910-2004
Shepp, Archie, 1937-
Sanders, Pharaoh
Grant, Felix, 1918-1993
Scott, Jimmy
McPhail, Jimmy
McPartland, Marian
McFerrin, Bobby
Krall, Diana
O'Connell, Helen
Mulligan, Gerry
Metheny, Pat
McShann, Jay
Horn, Shirley, 1934-
Hinton, Milt, 1910-2000
Hill, Andrew, 1937-
Hendricks, Jon, 1921-
Keane, Helen
Kaminsky, Max, 1908-
Jordan, Sheila, 1928-
Humes, Helen, 1913-1981
Hampton, Lionel
Harris, Eddie, 1934-
Heath, Jimmy, 1926-
Frishberg, Dave
Ennis, Ethel
Farmer, Art, 1928-
Flanagan, Tommy, 1930-
Hampton, Slide
D'Rivera, Paquito, 1948-
Daniels, Billy
Davison, Bill
Donegan, Dorothy, 1922-
Crouch, Stanley, 1945-2020
Conyers, John, 1929-
Cruz, Celia, 1924-2003
Byard, Jaki
Brown, Ruth
Carter, Betty, 1930-
Byron, Don
Betts, Keter, 1928-
Bellson, Louis
Bowie, Lester, 1941-
Blakey, Art, 1919-1990
Allen, Steve, 1921-2000
Adderly, Nat, 1931-2000
Bailey, Benny, 1925-
Names
Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971
Davis, Miles
Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974
Gillespie, Dizzy, 1917-
Topic
Entertainers
Jazz musicians -- 1950-2000 -- United States
Musicians
Portraits -- Musicians
Popular music -- 20th century -- United States
Publicity
Rock music
Provenance
Donated by W. Royal Stokes to the Archives Center in 2001.
Interviewee
Sun Ra (1914-1993)
Gaskin, Leonard, 1920-
Taylor, Billy
Collector
Stokes, W. Royal, Dr., 1930-
Interviewee
Sullivan, Maxine, 1911-1987
Wells, Ronnie
Whiting, Margaret
Towers, Jack
Venuti, Joe, 1903-1978
Pullen, Don, 1941-
Roney, Wallace
Pizzarelli, Bucky, 1926-
Pizzarelli, John, 1960-
Shaw, Artie, 1910-2004
Shepp, Archie, 1937-
Sanders, Pharaoh
Grant, Felix, 1918-1993
Scott, Jimmy
McPhail, Jimmy
McPartland, Marian
McFerrin, Bobby
Krall, Diana
O'Connell, Helen
Mulligan, Gerry
Metheny, Pat
McShann, Jay
Horn, Shirley, 1934-
Hinton, Milt, 1910-2000
Hill, Andrew, 1937-
Hendricks, Jon, 1921-
Keane, Helen
Kaminsky, Max, 1908-
Jordan, Sheila, 1928-
Humes, Helen, 1913-1981
Hampton, Lionel
Harris, Eddie, 1934-
Heath, Jimmy, 1926-
Frishberg, Dave
Ennis, Ethel
Farmer, Art, 1928-
Flanagan, Tommy, 1930-
Hampton, Slide
D'Rivera, Paquito, 1948-
Daniels, Billy
Davison, Bill
Donegan, Dorothy, 1922-
Crouch, Stanley, 1945-2020
Conyers, John, 1929-
Cruz, Celia, 1924-2003
Byard, Jaki
Brown, Ruth
Carter, Betty, 1930-
Byron, Don
Betts, Keter, 1928-
Bellson, Louis
Bowie, Lester, 1941-
Blakey, Art, 1919-1990
Allen, Steve, 1921-2000
Adderly, Nat, 1931-2000
Bailey, Benny, 1925-
See more items in
W. Royal Stokes Collection of Music Photoprints and Interviews
Accruals
Interview tapes, transcripts and additional photographs were donated by Mr. Stokes to the Archives Center in 2007 and 2008.
Biographical / Historical
Born in Washington, DC, W. Royal Stokes served in the United States Army and then embarked on an academic career, teaching at the University of Pittsburgh, Tufts University, Brock University, and the University of Colorado. He left the academic profession in 1969 and became a writer, broadcaster, lecturer, journalist, critic, and authority on jazz music. A follower of jazz since his teens in the 1940s, Stokes has written about music for publications such as /title>, and hosted the public radio shows "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say . . ." and "Since Minton's". Today he is the editor of the quarterly Jazz Notes, and is the author of The Jazz Scene: An Informal History From New Orleans to 1990 and Swing Era New York: The Jazz Photographs of Charles Peterson.. He is also the author of Living the Jazz Life: Conversations with Forty Musicians about Their Careers in Jazz (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000). Dr. Stokes lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Extent
10 Cubic feet (39 boxes, 13 Map-folders)
Date
1925-2005, undated
Archival Repository
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier
NMAH.AC.0766
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Black-and-white photographic prints
Publicity photographs
Citation
W. Royal Stokes Collection of Jazz Musicians' Photographs, circa 1970-2000, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into nine series.
Series 1: Photographs of Musicians and Ensembles, circa 1970-2000; undated
Subseries 1.1: Musicians and Ensembles, 1925-2000, undated
Subseries 1.2: Recording Company Photographs, circa 1970-2000
Subseries 1.3: Unidentified Musicians, circa 1970-2000
Series 2: Photographs of Performances, 1987-2002; undated
Subseries 2.1: Music Festivals, 1987-2002; undated
Subseries 2.2: Concerts, Music Clubs, and Other Venues, 1920s-1990s; undated
Series 3: Formal and Informal Groups, circa 1980s-2000; undated
Series 4: Photographs of Musicians in Films, Radio, Television, and Theater, 1940s-2000; undated
Series 5: Photographs of Subjects and Products related to Musicians and Music, 1970-2000; undated
Series 6: Photographs of Non-Musicians, circa 1980s-2000; undated
Series 7: Interviews with Musicians, 1970-2003
Series 8: Audiovisual Materials, 1970-2003
Subseries 8.1: Audio Cassettes Tapes, 1977-2003
Subseries 8.2: Audio Reel to Reel Tapes, 1970s-1984, undated
Subseries 8.3: Miscellaneous Interviews and Broadcast Shows, 1976-2005
Series 9: Posters, 1976-1990; undated
Processing Information
Collection processed by David Haberstich, archivist, April 2002; Vanessa Broussard-Simmons archivist, November 2011; Anne Jones, volunteer, July 2012; and Ramona Williamson, volunteer, July 2012.
Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Genre/Form
Audiotapes
Black-and-white photographic prints -- Silver gelatin -- 1950-2000
Publicity photographs
Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
NMAH.AC.0766
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8b79b5a94-c967-451e-bafb-e62dc2d8ff45
NMAH.AC.0766
ACAH
Record ID
ebl-1503511614282-1503511614284-0