Collection Stored Off-Site
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Series 6
Writings, 1954-1998
Boxes 58-62, OP5
Scope and Content Note
The series consists of writings both by John Biggers and by others including Olive Theisen who wrote extensively on John Biggers. The writings by Biggers consist of notes and corrected typescript drafts of two of Biggers books, Ananse: The Web of Life in Africa (1979) and Black Art in Houston: The Texas Southern University Experience (1978). Also included in Biggers writings are lectures, abstracts, and eulogies. Writings by others consist of works written about Biggers and his artwork, as well as unpublished essays and typescripts collected and read by Biggers. Of particular note are three typescript editions of Olive Theisen's The Murals of John Thomas Biggers: American Muralist, African-American Artist, an extensive analysis of Biggers murals. In later published editions, Biggers is listed as a co-author of this work but in the finding aid, the work is described only under Theisen for continuity. There is also a typescript for Tales of Aunt Dicy, by J. Mason Brewer, an annotated collection of Biggers' drawings of folk tales, as well as other essays on Biggers, including "John Biggers: American Muralist." Also included by other authors are manuscripts of collected poetry, short stories, student essays, lectures, and an unidentified typescript on the Texas State University Arts Center.
Arrangement Note
Arranged alphabetically by author of work.
| Writings by Biggers | ||
| Box | Folder | Content |
|---|---|---|
| 58 | 1 | Ananse: The Web of Life in Africa, notes, 1957 |
| 58 | 2 | Ananse: The Web of Life in Africa, promotional booklet, undated |
| 58 | 3 | Ananse: The Web of Life in Africa, typescript selections, undated |
| 58 | 4 | "The Beauty of Elemental Forms," undated |
| 58 | 5 | Black Art in Houston: The Texas Southern University Experience, 1978 |
| 58 | 6 | Black Art in Houston: The Texas Southern University Experience, Presenting the Art of Biggers, Simms, and their Students, corrected typescript drafts, 1978 |
| 58 | 7 | Book of Matthew [with handwritten notes by John Biggers], undated |
| 58 | 8 | "In Memory of Dr. Gus Nicholson," undated |
| 58 | 9 | "Introduction," undated |
| 58 | 10 | "Jubilee," undated |
| 58 | 11 | "Man and the World of Science" (co-authored with Carroll H. Simms and Joseph L. Mack), March 1957 |
| 58 | 12 | "The Negro Woman in American Life and Education: A Mural Presentation," dissertation abstract, 1954 |
| 58 | 13 | Notebooks, undated [1 of 3] |
| 58 | 14 | Notebooks, undated [2 of 3] |
| 58 | 15 | Notebooks, undated [3 of 3] |
| 58 | 16 | "The Sacred Mother-Deity Image of the African Diaspora in the Atlantic Civilization," undated |
| 58 | 17 | "Uncle Henry and the 'Dog' Spirit," undated |
| 58 | 18 | Unidentified writings [Africa], undated |
| Writings by others | ||
| 59 | 1 | "Ancestor's Roots," undated |
| 59 | 2 | Angelou, Maya, "Our Grandmothers," undated |
| 59 | 3 | "The Art of John Biggers: View from the Upper Room, Resource Portfolio," undated |
| 59 | 4 | Artists Series: An interview with John Biggers, 1983 |
| 59 | 5 | Atkinson, Jourdan, "Willie Ding Popper and the Gallinipper," undated |
| 59 | 6 | Atkinson, M., "Southern Voices," undated |
| 59 | 7 | Atkinson, M., "Wisteria," undated |
| 59 | 8 | Barnes, Marian E., "Black Man," October 1999 |
| 59 | 9 | Book proposal, unidentified, undated |
| 59 | 10 | Brew, Lidia, biography of Edith Irby Jones, undated |
| 59 | 11 | Brewer, J. Mason, Tales of Aunt Dicy: John Biggers' Drawings for the Folktale, typescript, undated |
| 59 | 12 | "Brief statement of purpose of study," undated |
| 59 | 13 | Carter, Mel, "Narrative Statement," undated |
| 59 | 14 | Chandler, Robin M., "Facing Karnak," March 1990 |
| 59 | 15 | "Creativity: The Black Experience in Art Literature Music," 1980 |
| 59 | 16 | "Dispelling the Distorted Images in the Great House," undated |
| 59 | 17 | "Earthy Women," July 8, 1993 |
| 59 | 18 | Elekam [?], Emmanuel C., bibliography, undated |
| 59 | 19 | Eulogy for John Biggers, 2001 |
| 59 | 20 | Fax, Elton C., "Thunderbolts in Color and Stone," undated |
| 59 | 21 | Ferman, Dave, "The Poetic Tradition of Osceola Mays, Her Evocation Will Not Be Forgotten," 1986 |
| 59 | 22 | Gaither, Edmund Barry, Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa, undated |
| 59 | 23 | Gaither, Edmund Barry, Revelation, undated |
| 59 | 24 | Galloway, Robert E., Unity of Man with Nature through African Sculptured Form, book proposal, undated |
| 59 | 25 | Gloster, Jesse Edward, Economics of Minority Groups, preface and table of contents, undated |
| 59 | 26 | Greene, Alison de Lima, "John Biggers: American Muralist," 1994 |
| 59 | 27 | Govenar, Alan, "The Life and Poems of Osceola Mays," 1986 |
| 59 | 28 | Hales family tree, undated |
| 59 | 29 | Hales-Moore Family Journal, July 1992 |
| 59 | 30 | Hales, Haywood and Emma Moore, family journal, 1988 |
| 60 | 1 | Hazard, Peggy, "Harriet Powers: Afro-American Quiltmaker," 1990 |
| 60 | 2 | "The History of a Family Quilt," undated |
| 60 | 3 | Holloway, Anita, "Turtles and Birds," Animals in Two Murals by John Biggers," 1998 |
| 60 | 4 | Ikedu, Daisaku, SGI President, 1989, undated |
| 60 | 5 | Interview with Christia Adair, undated |
| 60 | 6 | John Biggers: A Cultural Legacy, retrospective from 1950-1992 |
| 60 | 7 | King, Richard D., The Black Dot, Part III, June 1985 |
| 60 | 8 | Lawrence, Bette Ann D., poems, 1994 |
| 60 | 9 | Lectures on Bible, 1992 |
| 60 | 10 | Lee, Grace Watts, poems, 1990, 1995, undated |
| 60 | 11 | Lee, Jason, "John Biggers," 1998 |
| 60 | 12 | LeFalle-Collins, Lizzetta, "African-American Modernist and the Mexican School," 1995 |
| 60 | 13 | Lincoln light excerpts 1945-1950, Lincoln Academy, 1977 |
| 60 | 14 | Mazrui, Ali A., "Who was Albert Schweitzer?: An African Perspective," undated |
| 60 | 15 | McCurry, Howard, Dead Aim Backwards, 1980 |
| 60 | 16 | Moore, Edmund Timothy, "A Contemporary Symbolic Interpretation of Traditional and Modern Playing cards," thesis, 1976 |
| 60 | 17 | Moxley, Mary Elta, unidentified essay, 1991 |
| 60 | 18 | Mullen, Harryette Romell, Gender and the Subjugated Body: Readings of Race, Subjectivity, and Difference in the Construction of Slave Narratives, March 1990 |
| 60 | 19 | Mundy, Rawls, "Ruth Russell Williams Recaptures Black Folk Art," undated |
| 60 | 20 | "Mural: Salt Marsh," undated |
| 60 | 21 | Murimirwa, Tichafa Kutwano, "The False Ideology of Objectivity, the Failed Consciousness of Duality, and the Death of Rationality in the West, an Introduction," 1995 |
| 60 | 22 | Murimirwa, Tichafa Kutwano, "'Greek Philosophy': The African Origin of Western Philosophy, An Introduction," June 1994 |
| 60 | 23 | Nassaj, Seyed Jafar, "Afro-American Art and Culture," 1981 |
| 61 | 1 | "The Negro Texan�to 1900," Institute of Texan Cultures (San Antonio, Texas), 1974 |
| 61 | 2 | "Next Generation: Southern Black Aesthetic," 1991 |
| 61 | 3 | "Personal Accountability," lecture, 1990 |
| 61 | 4 | Poems by Students at Ryan Middle School, Artist-in-Residence Program, undated |
| 61 | 5 | Popoff, Irmis B., The Enneagramma of the Man of Unity, September 19, 1981 |
| 61 | 6 | Prather, Patricia Smith, "John Biggers' Gift to Posterity," undated |
| 61 | 7 | Rodgers, Kenneth G., "John Biggers: Probing the Family of Man," undated |
| 61 | 8 | Scippio, Annette, "The Contemplation of Nature by the Contemporary Artist, John Biggers, as Depicted in His Mural 'Origins'," 1990 |
| 61 | 9 | Scippio, Annette, "A Vision for America through 'Ascension' A Mural by John Biggers," 1993 |
| 61 | 10 | "The Shamans Coltrane & Matisse: The Will to Love," undated |
| 61 | 11 | Short stories, undated |
| 61 | 12 | Stewart, Ruth, speech for dedication of the John Biggers Art Center Assembly, 1995 |
| 61 | 13 | "Stimulating Creativity," undated |
| 61 | 14 | Student reactions to Biggers murals, 1993 |
| 61 | 15 | "The Teacher's Guide to John Biggers' Journeys (a romance)," undated |
| 61 | 16 | Theisen, Olive Jensen, John Thomas Biggers; American Muralist, African-American Artist, 1993 |
| 61 | 17 | Theisen, Olive Jensen, John Thomas Biggers; American Muralist, African-American Artist, draft with handwritten comments, undated |
| 61 | 18 | Theisen, Olive Jensen, The Murals of John Thomas Biggers; American Muralist, African-American Artist, 1994 |
| 62 | 19 | Theisen, Olive Jensen and John Thomas Biggers, The Murals of John Thomas Biggers; American Muralist, African-American Artist, 1995 |
| 62 | 1 | Thesis on black conservatism, undated |
| 62 | 2 | Thompson, William Irwin, "The Edge of History" and "The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light," undated |
| 62 | 3 | Torry, Frank, "Once More," undated |
| 62 | 4 | "Two Poems for Karen," Holy Week, 1995 |
| 62 | 5 | Unidentified biography of John Biggers, undated |
| 62 | 6 | Unidentified manuscript [Texas Southern University Arts Center], undated |
| 62 | 7 | Unidentified typescript [Texas Southern University Arts Center], undated |
| 62 | 8 | Unidentified typescript on John Biggers, undated |
| 62 | 9 | Wade, Melvin, "'Justin' to the Change: Traditional Agricultural Practices among Freed Black Farmers in East Texas, 1865-1900," 1986 |
| OP5 | 2 | Wardlaw, Alvia J., The Art of John Biggers: View from the Upper Room, corrected proofs, 1998 |
| 62 | 10 | Wardlaw, Alvia J., Review of Black Art in Houston, 1985 |
| 62 | 11 | Weems, John Edward, TSU Art Book, Errata #1, 1977 |
| 62 | 12 | Weisman, Donald L., introduction to Black Art in Houston, undated |
| 62 | 13 | "Welcome to Leopoldville," September 1928 |
| 62 | 14 | "When a Child Remembers," poem, 1968 |
| 62 | 15 | Williams, Susanna M., "The Black Woman in the Art of John Biggers," 1996 |
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