A photograph, letters written, and pieces of music by African American composer William Christopher "W.C." Handy (1873-1958) sometimes called the "Father of the Blues".

The papers of writer, art critic and collector Bernard Harper Friedman, 1926-2011, bulk 1943-2010, measure 30.6 linear feet. Extensive professional and personal correspondence, 41 diaries, a large number of his published and unpublished writings, and subject files document Friedman's career as a writer, relationships with cultural institutions and art world figures, and his personal life. Also included are biographical materials, interviews, printed material, 5 scrapbooks and photographs.

The Fletcher and Horace Henderson Collection contains original scores and band books, loose sheet music, both original and published, from both Fletcher and Horace's libraries, playlists, lyrics, photographs, personal papers and correspondences, newspaper clippings, jazz publications, an oral history manuscript of an interview with Horace, audio ta...

163 reel to reel tapes,136 VHS tapes, 188 cassette tapes, 100 DAT tapes, 20 467 tapes, 6 compact discs, 16 miscellaneous audio materials, all are mostly recordings of Fast Folk events or Fast Folk recording artists; 604 folders containing information and materials relating to magazines, recordings, events and business; objects related to the Fast Folk Musical Magazine

The Fast Folk Musical Magazine records, which date from 1982-2002, document the activities of Fast Folk Musical Magazine. The collection is comprised chiefly of audio/video materials and the paper business records of the company. Audio and video materials include phonograph records, reel-to-reel tapes, VHS videotapes, audiocassettes, digital audiotapes, compact discs and miscellaneous audio material. The paper records include press materials related to Fast Folk and Fast Folk recording artists, magazine source materials, recording agreements, lyrics, artist biographies, photographs, financial documents, correspondence, planning for events and other miscellany. Additionally, there is a Fast Folk t-shirt and a bag of Fast Folk pencils, pens and erasers.

The bulk of this collection was processed by Jane Livermore, a devoted and tireless volunteer in the Smithsonian Institution Archives between 1995 and 2004. Livermore is a former Science Service employee. She worked in the organization's library, oversaw the educational project "THINGS of Science," and served as Assistant to the Director. ...

The papers of California ceramicist Beatrice Wood measure 26.6 linear feet and date from 1906 to 1998, with the bulk dating from 1930-1990. There is extensive correspondence with gallery owners, fellow artists, clients, friends, and family. The collection also contains biograpical materials, personal business records, writings, printed materials, photographs, and works of art. Of particular interest are the 28 diaries that Wood maintained from 1916 until her death in 1998 and 42 glazing formula notebooks dating from 1934-1997. Also found are documents of Steven Hoag and Esther Rosencranz, her husband and aunt respectively, that consist of correspondence, business records, and photographs given to the Archives of American Art as part of the Beatrice Wood papers.

The Cook Labs records, which date from 1939-2002, document the activities of audio engineer Emory Cook and his label Cook Labs. The contents include business records, materials relating to recording artists, photographs, and production materials, as well as phonograph records, master recordings and unpublished recordings produced by or associated with the Cook Labs label. The collection also contains two interviews conducted with Emory Cook in 1990: one by Jeff Place and one by Anthony Seeger and Nicholas Spitzer. There are several physical objects relating to Cook Labs including a bag of powdered vinyl, a binaural playing arm, and a condenser microphone.

Series Three, Speeches and Lectures, contains Caples' speeches to advertising industry associations and other business organizations, as well as a series of lectures prepared for a college course on advertising techniques that Caples taught at Columbia University Graduate School of Business during the 1953-54 academic year.. Series Four, Client Fi...

Papers documenting the life and career of bass player Leonard Gaskin, as well as documenting the numerous other musicians he was associated with in his long career. Gaskin's career encompasses a wide range of musical genres, including gospel, rock, folk, and Caribbean music. The papers include photographs, newspaper clippings, diaries, music manusc...

The records of Artists Talk on Art (ATOA) measure 64.4 linear feet and 317.43 gigabytes and date from circa 1974-2018. The bulk of the records consist of extensive video and sound recordings of events organized by the group featuring artists, critics, historians, dealers, curators and writers discussing contemporary issues in the American art world in hundreds of panel discussions, open screenings, and dialogues held in New York City. Events began in 1975 and continue to the present; recordings in the collection date from 1977 and 2016. A smaller group of records include administrative files, panel flyers, three scrapbooks, as well as photographs, slides, and negatives of panel discussions and participants.