KILLENS, JOHN OLIVER,
1916-1987.
John Oliver Killens papers
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Writings by Killens >
Other writings
John Oliver Killens papers > Writings by Killens > Other writings
Subseries 2.7
Other writings, 1949-1992
Boxes 55-59; OP 9-10, 12-13
Scope and Content Note
This subseries consists of other writings by Killens, including critical writing, documentaries, interviews of Killens, poetry, and short stories. Drafts, edited proofs, and published versions of critical works give a sense of Killens's place in contemporary society through the ethical issues he takes up in his essays and the types of books he was asked to introduce. Drafts of unpublished poetry and short stories, as well as typescripts and notes for Tent City, a proposed documentary on Fayette County, Tennessee, demonstrate the breadth of Killens's writing interests.
Arrangement Note
Arranged by record type, then in chronological order with undated first.
Critical writings | ||
Box | Folder | Content |
---|---|---|
55 | 9 | "The Afro-American Writer in the Seventies," typescript, undated |
55 | 10 | "Back to the Old Country," typescript, undated |
55 | 11 | "Belafonte Sings the Blues and Other Folk Songs," typescript and notes, undated |
55 | 12 | "The Impact of Richard Wright Upon Afro-American Literature," typescript, undated |
55 | 13 | "John Oliver Killens Issue," published version, Shooting Star Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, undated |
55 | 14 | "Like It Is" endorsement, undated |
55 | 15 | "The 'New Negro' Comedians," typescript, undated |
55 | 16 | "The Novel of Affirmation : Creative Writing and the Novel of Dimensional Reality," typescripts, undated |
55 | 17 | "On Pushkin" and "The Great Black Russian," manuscript and typescripts, undated |
56 | 1 | "Paul Robeson: Portrait of a People's Artist," typescript, undated |
56 | 2 | "The Responsibility of the Black Writer to the Community," typescript, undated |
56 | 3 | "To Black and Unknown Bards," typescripts, undated |
56 | 4 | "For National Freedom," published version, new foundations, Summer 1949 |
56 | 5 | "Rose Morgan, Beauty Queen," typescript, 1954 |
56 | 6 | "An Evening with Belafonte," typescript, circa 1957 |
56 | 7 | "How Long is a Moment, Mr. Faulkner?" typescripts, circa 1957 |
56 | 8 | "The Capstone of Negro Education," typescript, circa 1960s |
56 | 9 | "Public Relations and the New African Nations," typescripts, circa 1962 |
56 | 10 | "Support Christmas Boycott," published version, The Illustrated News, Vol. 3, No. 24, November 25, 1963 |
56 | 11 | "Explanation of the Black Psyche," published version, New York Times, June 7, 1964 |
56 | 12 | "Operation Head Start: Toward Fulfillment or Frustration?", typescript, circa 1966 |
56 | 13 | "Tale of Two Cities, West Virginia State College," typescripts, 1966 |
56 | 14 | "Negroes Have a Right to Fight Back," typescript and published version, The Saturday Evening Post, July 2, 1966 |
56 | 15 | "The Inner City Cultural Center," sketch of proposal for Langston Hughes Memorial Library, June 1967 |
56 | 16 | "Kokomo," typescripts, published as "Growing Up in Harlem," Boy's Life, November 1967 |
56 | 17 | "We Must Create a New Image," published version, Brooklyn Record, Vol. 1, No. 2, August 1968 |
56 | 18 | "A Trail of Two Cities," 1968-1969 |
56 | 19 | "The Trouble With Negroes: They Strayed Too Far From Jesus," typescripts, 1970s |
56 | 20 | "The Denmark Conspiracy (An Introduction)," typescript, published in The Trial Record of Denmark Vesey, 1970 |
56 | 21 | |
56 | 22 | "The Denmark Conspiracy (An Introduction)" and The Trial Record of Denmark Vesey, galley proofs, version 1, 1970 [2 of 3] |
57 | 1 | "The Denmark Conspiracy (An Introduction)" and The Trial Record of Denmark Vesey, galley proofs, version 1, 1970 [3 of 3] |
OP5 | 2 | "The Denmark Conspiracy (An Introduction)" and The Trial Record of Denmark Vesey, galley proofs, version 2, 1970 |
OP5 | 3 | "The Denmark Conspiracy (An Introduction)" and The Trial Record of Denmark Vesey, galley proofs, version 3, 1970 |
57 | 2 | "The Denmark Conspiracy (An Introduction)," reviews, 1970 |
57 | 3 | "Our Struggle Is Not To Be White Men in Black Skin," published version, reprinted from TV Guide, July 25, 1970 |
57 | 4 | "Black Labor and the Black Liberation Movement," published version, The Black Scholar, October 1970 |
57 | 5 | "Another Time When Black Was Beautiful," manuscript, published in Black World, No. 20, November 1970 |
57 | 6 | "The Black Culture Generation Gap," published version, Black World, August 1973 |
57 | 7 | "Black Man in China," typescripts and manuscripts, published as "Black Man in the New China," 1976 |
57 | 8 | "The Resurrection of Alexander Pushkin," typescript, January 1977; printed, Oiahnews, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 1977 |
57 | 9 | "Lorraine Hansberry (Portrait of a People's Artist)," typescript, published as "Lorraine Hansberry: On Time!" Freedomways, No. 4, 1979 |
57 | 10 | "Can We Really Get it if We Want?," manuscript, circa 1982 |
57 | 11 | "Some Black Long Distance Runners: the Quest Continues," typescript, circa 1982 |
57 | 12 | "What Went Wrong?," typescript and published version, National Leader, 1982 |
57 | 13 | "The Responsibility of the Writer to the Community," typescript, published in The Crisis, March 1982 |
57 | 14 | "An Act of Great Love and Commitment," typescripts, foreword for Witherspoon by Lance Jeffers, 1983 |
57 | 15 | "The Distinct Black Voice From Dixie," manuscripts, circa 1984 |
57 | 16 | "African Activists in America," typescripts, 1984 |
57 | 17 | "After the Victory--Continue the Momentum," manuscript, 1984 |
57 | 18 | "The Half Ain't Never Been Told," typescripts and correspondence, in Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series, 1984 |
57 | 19 | "The Literary Genius of Alice Childress," typescripts, published in Black Women Writers (1950-1980): A Critical Evaluation, 1984 |
57 | 20 | "The Quantum Leap," typescripts, 1984 |
57 | 21 | "The People's Communicator," typescript, published in The Crisis, Vol. 91, No. 2, February 1984 |
57 | 22 | "Why Must Jesse Run?," typescript and published version, The New Jacksonian, Vol. 1, No. 1, February 1984 |
57 | 23 | "We Can Win, But Only if We Unify," typescripts and published version, The Sun City, 1985 |
57 | 24 | "Charles Wilbert White (Portrait of a People's Artist)," typescript, published as "Charles White: The People's Artist," Georgia Review, No. 40, Summer 1986 |
57 | 25 | "Return of the Native (or You Can Go Home Again if You Don't Wear Out Your Welcome)," typescript, circa 1986 |
57 | 26 | "To Margaret Walker Alexander," typescript, published in The Zora Neale Hurston Forum, 1987 |
57 | 27 | Preface, Blood on the Forge by William Attaway, typescripts, 1987 |
57 | 28 | Foreword, The Choice by Samuel Yette, typescript, 1990 |
Documentaries | ||
57 | 29 | Tent City, fragment, circa 1962 |
57 | 30 | Tent City, notes, 1962 |
57 | 31 | Tent City, research 1962 |
58 | 1 | Tent City, typescripts, 1962 |
58 | 2 | Killens, John O. and Vincent Harding, The Other American Revolution, television documentary for the Institute of the Black World, correspondence and typescripts, 1975-1981 |
58 | 3 | Killens, John O. and Vincent Harding, The Other American Revolution, early typescript, 1975 [1 of 2] |
58 | 4 | Killens, John O. and Vincent Harding, The Other American Revolution, television documentary for the Institute of the Black World, 1975 [2 of 2] |
Interviews of Killens | ||
58 | 5 | Unidentified fragment, undated |
OP2 | 1 | Interviewed by Barbara Davis, published in The Sun Reporter, Vol. 28, No. 5, March 13, 1971 |
58 | 6 | Interviewed by Robert Taylor," Chalk, cheese and cotillions," published in Boston Sunday Globe, March 14, 1971 |
OP2 | 2 | Interviewed by Sharon Bell Mathis, "A New Vision for Black People," published in Third World, Vol. 3, No. 10, March 31, 1972 |
58 | 7 | Interviewed by Percy Sutton, typescript, circa 1977 |
58 | 8 | Interviewed by Revish Windham, "The Long Distance Runner: An Interview with John Oliver Killens," published in Black Forum, Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall/Winter 1978 |
58 | 9 | Interviewed by Michael S. Harper, correspondence and typescripts, September 1979 |
58 | 10 | Interviewed by Kenneth Peoples, Jr., "The Artist as Liberator: An Interview with John Oliver Killens," published in Community Review, Fall 1984 |
Poetry | ||
58 | 11 | Drafts |
58 | 12 | Notes |
Short stories | ||
58 | 13 | "The Greatest Show on Earth," typescript, circa 1976 |
58 | 14 | "Love Babs," typescript |
58 | 15 | "The Plan," typescript |
59 | 1 | "Soul City, U.S.A.," typescripts |
59 | 2 | "The Stick Up," typescript |
Other | ||
59 | 3 | Proposal for book on Africa, circa 1963 |
59 | 4 | Quotes on others' work, circa 1969 |