Religious Material

Consists of books, bibles, hymnals, prayer books, pamphlets, and mass cards that were either acquired by or given to Duke Ellington. Most of the materials were given to Ellington by friends and fans. Many items contain inscriptions and notations written to Ellington. Of particular interest are fifteen issues of Forward Day by Day, a religious serial, spanning June 6, 1968 to January 31, 1973. Each of these pamphlets contains non-musical notations made by Ellington including underlining, question marks, words and other markings. The religious materials are organized by type of material, and then arranged in alphabetical order either by author or title. Publisher and publication dates have been included whenever possible. Notes on various aspects of religion and religious services have been left in the pages of many of the bound materials when possible.