Free Southern Theater records
Scope and Contents
The records of the Free Southern Theater (FST) date from 1960 to 1978, but the bulk is from 1965 to 1976. The records total 62 linear feet and eleven oversized boxes. The records have been arranged in four major series (with subseries): Administrative series, theater production series, general correspondence series, and financial record series. Materials reflect the creative output of the FST, and include play scripts, collected ephemera, and photographs of the troupe’s performances. Also included are collected publications from other organizations pertaining to the Black Arts Movement and the Black Theater Movement. Other records concern personnel matters and fundraising activities.
These records arrived at the Amistad Research Center in no discernible order; however, for the convenience of the researcher and to gain full intellectual and physical control the records are organized by alphabetically by name or subject and then chronologically.
Some of the correspondents covered:
Richard S. Aronson, General Manager for Free Southern Theater
Arthur Ashe, Co-Chairman of Fund-raising Committee
Julian Bond, Chairman of fund-raising activities
Bill Cherry, Director of Fund-raising for Free Southern Theater
Robert Costley, actor, Production State Manager, Workshop Director for Free Southern Theater
Scott Cunningham, Artistic Director of Free Southern Theater
Ossie Davis, Vice-Chairman, National Board of Sponsors of Free Southern Theater
Tom C. Dent, Vice-Chairman, Associate Producer, Writing Workshop Instructor for Free Southern Theater
Leonard Dreyfus, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for Free Southern Theater
Lolis E. Elie, Attorney for Free Southern Theater
Carol Feinman, Vice-President of the Free Southern Theater, Secretary-Treasurer fo the National Board of Sponsors for Free Southern Theater
Val Ferdinand (Kalamu ya Salaam), Blkartsouth Director
Fannie Lou Hamer, Mississippi sharecropper, civil rights activist, member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
Sylvia Hampton, Acting Workshop Instructor
Don Hubbard, Community Program Director
Roberta Yaney Jones, Associate Producer to Coordinate Fund-raising and Public Relations Activities
Murray Levy, actor, Business Manager for Free Southern Theater
Gilbert Moses, Co-Founder of the Free Southern Theater, Artistic Manager, Executive Producer
Denise Nicholas, actress, Administrator and Publicity Manager for Free Southern Theater
John O'Neal, Co-Founder of the Free Southern Theater, Producing Director, President of Free Southern Theater Corporation
Brock Peters, President of the Board of Directors and the National Board of Sponsors, President of the Free Southern Theater Corporation
Issac Reynolds, Vice-Chairman, Director of the Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Improvement Council
Bill Rouselle, "Nation Time" Producer
Richard Schechner, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Free Southern Theater
Joseph K. Stevens, Technical Director, Designer, and Technician for Free Southern Theater
Rev. Milton Upton, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Free Southern Theater
Theodore Ward, writer, playwright
Wallace Young, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Free Southern Theater
Dates
- Created: 1960-1978
- Other: Date acquired: 12/31/1980
Creator
- Free Southern Theater (1963-1978) (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for researchers.
Conditions Governing Use
Any copyrights such as the donor may possess in this property are hereby dedicated to the public. It is the responsibility of an author to secure permission for publication from the holder of the copyright to any material contained in this collection.
Extent
65.20 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement Note
The materials arrived at the Amistad Research Center in no discernible order. The collection is arranged in topical series with correspondence preceding the remainder of each series.
Existence and Location of Originals
Microfilm copies are available for research use.
- Account books
- African American actors -- Louisiana -- New Orleans
- African American dramatists
- African American theater -- Louisiana -- New Orleans
- Bond, Julian, 1940-2015
- Correspondence
- Ephemera
- Maps
- Memoranda
- Minute books
- Moving images
- News Clippings
- Photographs
- Playscripts
- Programs
- Radical theater
- Reports
- Sound recordings
- Theater -- Political aspects
- Theater management -- Louisiana -- New Orleans
Creator
- Free Southern Theater (1963-1978) (Organization)
- Dent, Tom (Thomas Covington), 1932-1998 (Person)
- Peters, Brock (Person)
- Schechner, Richard, 1934- (Person)
- Salaam, Kalamu ya, 1947- (Person)
- Ward, Theodore, 1902-1983 (Person)
- Moses, Gilbert, 1942-1995 (Person)
- O’Neal, John, 1940-2019 (Person)
- Title
- Free Southern Theater records
- Author
- H. Handy
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- und
Repository Details
Part of the Amistad Research Center Repository
6823 Saint Charles Avenue
Tilton Hall, Tulane University
New Orleans LA 70118 US
(504) 862-3222
research@amistadresearchcenter.org