Research Catalog
Ernestine McClendon papers
- Title
- Ernestine McClendon papers, 1958-1991.
- Author
- McClendon, Ernestine, 1913-1991.
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| Status | Container | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person. | Box 1 | Mixed material | Use in library | Sc MG 583 Box 1 | Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives |
Details
- Description
- .2 lin. ft. (1/2 archival box)
- Summary
- The Ernestine McClendon Papers contain McClendon's scrapbook of responses from ad agencies to her 1960 letter campaign urging them to hire Black actors and actresses. Included in the collection are her resumes, articles and reviews, some letters, contracts, music and lyrics written by McClendon, and a script and other production material for "Heartbreak by Midnight", a play she wrote which was later made into a screenplay. There are also jokes and other material for McClendon's comedy routine which she launched in 1984 at age 71.
- Subjects
- Ernestine McClendon Enterprises
- African American actresses
- African American comedians
- Screenplays
- African Americans > Music
- Theatrical agencies
- African Americans in the performing arts
- African American women entertainers
- Black author
- African American wit and humor
- Scores
- Scrapbooks
- Women comedians
- McClendon, Ernestine, 1913-1991
- Genre/Form
- Scrapbooks.
- Screenplays.
- Scores.
- Source (note)
- Ernestine McClendon
- Biography (note)
- Actress, comedienne, and playwright Ernestine McClendon was best known as New York City's first Black theatrical agent. The McClendon Agency, later the Ernestine McClendon Enterprises, Inc., maintained offices in New York and Los Angeles.
- McClendon began her career as an actress during the 1950s and appeared in productions of "Raisin in the Sun," and Langston Hughes' "Simply Heavenly." In 1960, she launched a crusade to get advertising agencies to use Black actors and actresses in commercials which resulted in her being hired by the agent Lillian Arnold to secure Black talent for Arnold's agency. She would go on to manage Black and white actors for Arnold, as well as for her own agency. Throughout the 1960s, McClendon continued to open doors for Black performers in commercials, television talk shows, and other similar venues.
- Linking Entry (note)
- Forms part of the Ernestine McClendon Photograph Collection.
- Call Number
- Sc MG 583
- OCLC
- 429236502
- Author
- McClendon, Ernestine, 1913-1991.
- Title
- Ernestine McClendon papers, 1958-1991.
- Biography
- Actress, comedienne, and playwright Ernestine McClendon was best known as New York City's first Black theatrical agent. The McClendon Agency, later the Ernestine McClendon Enterprises, Inc., maintained offices in New York and Los Angeles.McClendon began her career as an actress during the 1950s and appeared in productions of "Raisin in the Sun," and Langston Hughes' "Simply Heavenly." In 1960, she launched a crusade to get advertising agencies to use Black actors and actresses in commercials which resulted in her being hired by the agent Lillian Arnold to secure Black talent for Arnold's agency. She would go on to manage Black and white actors for Arnold, as well as for her own agency. Throughout the 1960s, McClendon continued to open doors for Black performers in commercials, television talk shows, and other similar venues.
- Linking Entry
- Forms part of the Ernestine McClendon Photograph Collection.
- Connect to:
- Local Subject
- Black author.
- Research Call Number
- Sc MG 583