The collection consists of materials related to Smithsonian Institution programs, including the Duke Ellington Youth Project, in addition to gospel sheet music and related research materials from George's personal collection.
Content types:
Two-dimensional moving image, Performed music, Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Photographic print, and Text document
Jack "The Rapper" Gibson was a pioneer in Black radio, as well as an innovator, a leader, and a mentor to many in the radio and music industries. His work as a Black radio deejay spanned the early days of Black radio in the 1940s through the Civil Rights Movement, and included stints at WERD-Atlanta, WLOU-Louisville, WMBM-Miami, WCIN-Cincinnati, and WABQ-Cleveland. After retiring from radio in 1961, he became a successful music industry executive working for Motown, Decca, and Stax Records. In 1976, he launched the industry magazine Jack the Rapper, the oldest Black trade publication targeted to radio, and for the next twenty years organized the annual "Jack the Rapper’s Family Affair," a Black music convention drawing generations of performers and music industry executives. His professionalism, continuous fight for racial equality and justice, and endearing human qualities made him a legend in the industry. This collection documents his long career in radio and music through personal correspondence, clippings, memorabilia, photographs, publicity materials, airchecks, interviews, lecture materials, and over 500 issues of his trade magazine "Jack the Rapper's Mellow Yellow."
Content types:
Two-dimensional moving image, Performed music, Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Open reel tape (unknown material), VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Optical disc (Including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Text document, and Photographic print
Papers and recordings of radio personality and anchorman Mort Crim, known popularly as the inspiration for the Will Ferrell character in the Anchorman film. Crim was an alumnus of Anderson University and left his personal papers, recordings, and scripts to the University archives, where they are stored.
Content types:
Performed music, Sounds (Other than music & language), Spoken word, and Text
Formats:
Pressed LP disc, Pressed 78rpm disc, Pressed 45rpm disc, Optical disc (including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Analog audiocassette, 8-track cassette, VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Betamax, Betacam (including Betacam SP), U-matic (including U-matic S), Open reel video, Photographic print, and Text document