Ishmael Reed, African-American novelist, poet, and publisher, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on February 22, 1938. Reed moved with his mother to Buffalo, New York in 1942. His mother worked in various wartime industries and Reed attended public schools, graduating in 1956. He also played violin and trombone and began writing a newspaper column on jazz for the Empire Star Weekly when he was thirteen. He enrolled as an evening student at Millard Fillmore College, the night school division of the University of Buffalo, and worked as a clerk at the Buffalo public library during the day. His writing ability was quickly recognized, and he moved into the bachelor of arts program at the University of Buffalo. He withdrew in 1960 because of a "dire shortage of funds" (Gates) and a "wide gap between social classes" (Gates). To escape "the artificial social and class distinctions that he associated with American university education," (Gates) he moved to Buffalo's Talbert Mall Project. Daily exposure to systematic poverty cycles in the projects led him to political activism in the civil rights and Black Power movements.
Content types:
Performed music, Spoken word, Two-dimensional moving image, Text, and Still image
Formats:
Pressed LP disc, LaserDisc, Open reel tape (unknown material), Analog audiocassette, VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Betamax, Text document, Photographic print, and Microfilm
Extent:
Approximately 20 recordings, microfilm, 65 feet
Repository/Collector:
University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
The collection contains the files of the various organizational departments of the Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena, California, as well as audio and video recordings. Recordings of radio broadcasts include tapes of National Public Radio broadcasts, "Performance Today," "JazzSet," "Blues Stage" and also "In Recital at Ambassador," as well as a broadcast from the Ivo Pogorelich Competition.
Content types:
Performed music, Still image, Text, and Two-dimensional moving image
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Digital Audio Tape (DAT), Polyester open reel tape, VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Betamax, U-matic (including U-matic S), Open reel video, Photographic print, and Text document
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