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Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Guide to the Charlie Ventura Collection
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NMAH.AC.1308
- Creators:
-
DePasquale, DoloresVentura, Charlie, 1916-1992
- Dates:
-
1939-2001, undated
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
2 Cubic feet6 boxes, 4 video cassette tapes, 30 audio discs, 27 audio cassette tapes, 1 compact disc
- Repository:
Photographs, correspondence, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, business records, advertising and promotional materials, and audiovisual materials documenting the personal life and musical career of jazz saxophonist and band leader Charlie Ventura.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
Collection documents the personal life and musical career of jazz saxophone player and band leader Charlie Ventura. Materials include correspondence; business records such as contracts; photographs primarily documenting musical performances; programs from jazz shows in which Ventura participated; advertising and promotional materials for concerts; numerous magazine articles and newspaper clippings relating to Ventura's life and music; and audio-visual materials of Ventura's music including audio discs, audio cassette tapes, video cassette tapes, and a compact disc.
The collection is arranged in two series. Series one contains Ventura's personal papers. Series two are audiovisual materials arranged by format.
Arrangement
Arrangement
Collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1, Personal Papers, 1950-1994, undated
Series 2, Audiovisual Materials, 1939-2001, undated
Subseries 2.1, Video Cassette Tapes, 1991, undated
Subseries 2.2, Audio Discs, 1939-1988, undated
Subseries 2.3, Audio Cassette Tapes, 1944-1992, undated
Subseries 2.4, Compact Disc, 2001
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Charlie Ventura was born Charles Vincent Venturo one of thirteen children to Antonio Leonardo Ventura (April 21, 1885-August 23, 1971) and Carmela (Millie) Campanile (July 16, 1886-August 6, 1945) on December 2, 1916, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ventura purchased a saxophone as a teenager and began playing in Philadelphia clubs. He married Madeline Dallessandro (October 22, 1917-March 20, 2005) and to the union three children were born Charles Anthony Ventura, Jr. (February 27, 1937-January 13, 2022), Rita Ventura (1942-), and Anthony Charles (Tony) Ventura. According to a World War II draft card Ventura was employed by the Cadillac Tavern Bird and Hunting Park in October 1940. In the 1940s he worked for the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard while pursuing music in the evenings.
Named number one tenor saxophonist by DownBeat magazine in 1945, Ventura played with well-known musicians including Gene Krupa, Stan Kenton, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, and Teddy Powell. He performed regularly at the Steel Pier and several nights clubs in Atlantic City, Somers Point, and Wildwood. Throughout his career Ventura opened two clubs the Lindenwald and Open House.
Ventura died of lung cancer in Pleasantville, New Jersey on January 17, 1992, at the age of seventy-five.
Sources:
Ancestry.com
Remembering Jazz Legend Charlie Ventura by Bruce Klauber, Shore Local Magazine, October 3, 2024.
Administration
Author
Vanessa Broussard Simmons and Wendy Shay
Processing Information
Collection processed by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist, 2025; audio discs processed by Wendy Shay, audiovisual archivist, 2013.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated to the Archives Center in 2013 by Dolores DePasquale.
Digital Content
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Preferred Citation
Charlie Ventura Collection, 1939-2001, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Related Materials
Related Materials
Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection, NMAH.AC.0491
Henry S. Bukowski Big Band Collection, NMAH.AC.0678
W. Royal Stokes Collection of Jazz Musicians' Photographs, NMAH.AC.0766
Milt Gabler Papers, NMAH.AC.0849
Leonard and Mary Gaskin Papers, NMAH.AC.0900
Donald J. Stubblebine Collection of Musical Theater and Motion Picture Music and Ephemera, NMAH.AC.1211
Leslie Schillinger Collection of Gene Krupa Materials, NMAH.AC.1220
Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection, NMAH.AC.1323
Jazz and Big Band Collection, NMAH.AC.1388
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone Papers, AAA.sarccosm
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Moses and Frances Asch Collection, CFCH.ASCH
Frederic Ramsey Audio Recordings, CFCH.RAMS
Keywords
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-3270
Fax Number: Fax: 202-786-2453
archivescenter@si.edu
