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University of the Arts | First-Year Writing Capstone Project Primary Sources

“Interview with Yaoundé Olu: Artist, Writer, Astrologer, Uniphysician” (1977)

Teaching Notes

Multi-disciplinary artist and educator Yaoundé Olu, who is most often associated with Afrofuturism, on inspiration and craft. Image of Olu can be accessed here.

                          

Reference note

Art primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Zora Neale Hurston Correspondence” (1936)

Teaching Notes

Iconic writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, who wrote the classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), in a letter to folklorist Alan Lomax about a research trip to Haiti.

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Reference note

Creative writing primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Broadside, No. 6: ‘We Real Cool’” (1966)

Teaching Notes

Broadside document designed by Cledie Taylor for writer Gwendolyn Brooks’s famous poem “We Real Cool,” which was originally published in the influential collection The Bean Eaters (1960).

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Reference note

Creative writing primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

Pistol/Pistil: Botanical Ballistics (1997)

Teaching Notes

Artist book by Ann Kalmbach and Tatana Kellner as part of an artist residency program.

                          

Reference note

Art primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

All-American News (1945)

Teaching Notes

Produced for African American audiences by documentary filmmaker and producer William Alexander, this episode of one of the earliest television news programs begins with a segment on sculptor Selma Burke.

                             

Reference note

Film primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

Anime for All: Kihara Hirokatsu and Diana Garnett (2019)

Teaching Notes

Voice-over artist Diana Garnett and Kihara Hirokatsu, a writer and former Studio Ghibli producer, share career trajectory highlights and present on the process of creating animated films.

                           

Reference note

Film primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

Katherine Dunham on Dunham Technique (1983)

Teaching Notes

Documentary film with legendary dancer, choreographer, and ethnographer Katherine Dunham and dancer-instructor Rachel Tavernier.

                             

Reference note

Dance primary source. Click reference link for full access to source. 

"Interview with Darlene Blackburn about Her History with Dance" (1977)

Teaching Notes

Interview with choreographer Darlene Blackburn and her dance troupe members that touches on dance, race, community, self care, and the business of dance.

                             

Reference note

Dance primary source. Click reference link for full access to source. 

"Jam Session" (1942)

Teaching Notes

Rare “soundie,” a kind of early music video that used very specific viewing and listening technologies, featuring jazz musician and composer Duke Ellington.

                           

Reference note

Music primary source. Click on reference link for full access to source. 

Samurai, Hip-Hop, & History: A Samurai Champloo Panel (2019)

Teaching Notes

 Entrepreneur and artist EyeQ’s interview with Shing02, Marcus D, and Substantial about hip-hop cultures and musical forms, including the music created for the popular animated series Samurai Champloo.

                           

Reference note

Music primary source. Click on reference link for full access to source. 

“Recording of the Musical Purlie” (1977)

Teaching Notes

Interview and cast recording of excerpts from Purlie―a musical based on director and actor Ossie Davis’s 1961 play Purlie Victorious―with the Experimental Black Actors Guild, or X-BAG. Image from 1970 theatrical production poster here.

                         

Reference note

Theater primary source. Click reference link for full access to source. 

“Drafts of Langston Hughes’s Poem ‘Ballad of Booker T.’” (1941)

Teaching Notes

Hand-marked drafts of Harlem Renaissance icon Langston Hughes’s famous poem “Ballad of Booker T.”

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Reference note

Creative writing primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

Art in Action: Conversation with Helen Zughaib (2019)

Teaching Notes

Multimedia artist and painter Helen Zughaib offers an overview of selected works and the stories and inspirations behind them.

                          

Reference note

Art primary source. Click on reference link for full access to source.

Emojipedia (2014 - present)

Teaching Notes

A website that describes itself as “the emoji search engine,” offering site visitors some insights into a wide range of emojis and their complex meanings.

                             

Reference note

Design primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

Design for Dreaming (1956)

Teaching Notes

Commercial industrial short by MPO Productions for General Motors about the future of design.

                           

Reference note

Design primary source. Click on reference link for full access to source. 

La Casa de Colores with Juan Felipe Herrera (2015)

Teaching Notes

Performer, visual artist, and former poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera joins archivist Katherine Blood in a webcast about working with the La Raza Graphics Center―an influential graphic arts and creative community in San Francisco―and curating a collection of graphic works that respond to social issues.

                           

Reference note

Design primary source. Click on reference link for full access to source. 

Queer Comics Database (2018 - present)

Teaching Notes

Online database that includes search tools for exploring diverse queer representation in comics and a submissions portal for collecting recommendations that could be included on the website.

                           

Reference note

Creative writing primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“An Evening of Chican[x] Poetry” (1986)

Teaching Notes

Influential poets Lorna Dee Cervantes, Sandra Cisneros, Alberto Ríos, and Luis Omar Salinas read excerpts from their work. Image of Cervantes from here.

                           

Reference note

Creative writing primary source. Click on reference link for full access to source.

Race in America: Joy Harjo & Tracy K. Smith (2020)

Teaching Notes

Videoconference interview with writers Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith about race, politics, and creativity in the context of contemporary American political and cultural events.

                           

Reference note

Creative writing primary source. Click on reference link for full access to source. 

Teaching Notes

Pulitzer Prize winning composer Roger Reynolds’s multi-page notation sketch for an electronic music piece created in collaboration with psychology researchers.

                           

Reference note

Music primary source. Click on reference link for full access to source. 

Gay and Proud (1970)

Teaching Notes

Directed and produced by journalist Lilli Vincenz, this documentary film captures one of the first gay pride demonstration marches in America.

                           

Reference note

Film primary source. Click on reference link for full access to source.

“Instructions: Federal Theatre Projects” (1935)

Teaching Notes

Administrative guidelines drafted by theater producer, director, and writer Hallie Flanagan for government-funded program designed to provide economic support for theater artists during the Great Depression.

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Reference note

Theater primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Television May Need this Savior” (1953)

Teaching Notes

Newspaper article in the Washington D.C. newspaper The Sunday Star on pay-as-you-see television. Article on pages E1 and E2.

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Reference note

Film primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“‘Martians!’ Draft Script for Cosmos, Episode 5” (1979)

Teaching Notes

Writer and scientist Dr. Carl Sagan’s early draft script for an episode of Cosmos: A Personal Journey, an Emmy winning PBS series. 

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Reference note

Film primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“The Jumpin’ Jive” (1943)

Teaching Notes

Ulysses Boykin’s coverage in The Detroit Tribune of the musical film Stormy Weather, which features a star-studded cast with performances by Lena Horne, Katherine Dunham, and the Nicholas Brothers. Article on page 13.

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Reference note

Dance primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Federal Dance Theatre Presents Salut au Monde” (1936)

Teaching Notes

Poster attributed to visual artist Richard Halls, who created this work for a 1936 Federal Dance Theatre production that explores themes of oppression and is inspired by Walt Whitman’s famous poetry collection Leaves of Grass.

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Reference note

Dance primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Estimated Costs: Martha Graham Dance Company Production of New Work” (1947)

Teaching Notes

Hand-written draft of estimated costs for a 1947 production of a new performance piece for the Martha Graham Dance Company.

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Reference note

Dance primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Case of Philip Lawrence: Edna Guy Red Dress with Cutouts” (1937)

Teaching Notes

Costume design rendering by Perry Watkins, the first African American set designer on Broadway, for modern dance icon Edna Guy.

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Reference note

Dance primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

Native North American Child (1974)

Teaching Notes

Album cover for Native North American Child by songwriter and musician Buffy Sainte-Marie, the first indigenous artist to win an Oscar, whose work was often censored because of involvements in anti-war as well as Native American and First Nations activism movements.

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Reference note

Music primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Why I Turned Down a Million Dollars” (1960)

Teaching Notes

Gospel icon Mahalia Jackson on career aspirations and navigating the music business. Article on pages 6 - 7.

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Reference note

Music primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Apparatus for Producing Sound-Records” (1901)

Teaching Notes

Inventor Emile Berliner’s 1901 patent for “sound-records.”

                             

Reference note

Music primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Filming: Raisin in the Sun” (1960)

Teaching Notes

Tone magazine insert featuring stage actor, film director, and Academy Award winner Sidney Portier on the set of A Raisin in the Sun, the film adaptation of playwright Lorraine Hansberry’s play of the same name. Article on pages 3 and 5; Portier on the cover here.

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Reference note

Theater primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Music and the Movies” (1949)

Teaching Notes

An annotated rough draft of a New York Times Sunday Magazine article on music in film by famous composer Aaron Copland.

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Reference note

Film primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“West Side Story: Scene and Musical Sequence Outlines, Draft Scripts, Song Lists, Lyrics” (1955)

Teaching Notes

Composer and writer Leonard Bernstein’s collection of behind-the-scenes draft documents and ephemera related to the Broadway musical West Side Story.

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Reference note

Theater primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

Our Grief is Not a Cry for War (2001)

Teaching Notes

Jim Costanzo image of a public performance art project developed by Artists Network of Refuse and Resist!―an organization whose logo was designed by Keith Haring―in response to September 11 political landscapes.

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Reference note

Theater primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Macbeth Production Notebook” (1938)

Teaching Notes

Production notebook that includes photos, casting, and design notes for Harlem production of Macbeth, which was adapted and directed by Orson Welles for the Federal Theatre Project African American Division.

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Reference note

Theater primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

Cave of the Heart: Serpent and Spider Dress (1946)

Teaching Notes

Famous large set-piece, Serpent and Spider Dress, created by sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi for choreographer Martha Graham’s Cave of the Heart production.

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Reference note

Art primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

Woman Free Yourself (1971)

Teaching Notes

Lithograph by influential painter, mixed-media sculptor, and performance artist Faith Ringgold, who is renowned for work that often explores issues of race, justice, and identity.

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Reference note

Art primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

All Races Serve the Crops in California (1935)

Teaching Notes

Notebook page with photos and hand-written captions by Dorothea Lange, a photographer and photojournalist who created work for the Resettlement Administration and Farm Security Administration.

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Reference note

Art primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Competition Drawing” (1980-1981)

Teaching Notes

Early draft plan of what later became the Vietnam Veterans Memorial submitted by designer Maya Ying Lin, who was an undergraduate student at the time, for a public design competition.

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Reference note

Design primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“Gay is Angry” (1971)

Teaching Notes

Political poster credited to Juan Carlos y Nestor.

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Reference note

Design primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.

“I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed the World” (1999)

Teaching Notes

2000 calendar owned by civil rights movement activist Rosa Parks with forward by Grammy Award winning poet Maya Angelou and images by Brian Lanker, a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer.

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Reference note

Design primary source. Click reference link for full access to source.