Michel Fabre archives of African American arts and letters
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HOW TO REQUEST
Scope and Content Note
The Michel Fabre archives of African American arts and letters consist of correspondence, writings, and printed material relating to expatriate writers, artists, musicians, and cultural figures, as well as Fabre's personal and business correspondence, works authored by Fabre, research files, conference materials, photographs, and audiovisual materials. The largest segment of the collection contains papers related to the work of African American writers, musicians, and artists from the United States and the Caribbean and of expatriates living in France. Included are works by writers such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Horace Cayton, James Emanuel, Wilson Harris, Chester Himes, Langston Hughes, and Richard Wright. Materials include letters, typescripts and manuscripts of works, printed material, and personal materials. An avid collector, Fabre acquired many manuscripts as well as rare books. The rich collection of materials relating to Chester Himes stems both from his personal friendship with the Himes family and his acquisition of Himes's publisher's files from Yves Malartic.
The collection's second series contains a wide range of general correspondence, written to Fabre by friends, colleagues, and publishers, while the third series represents a broad scope of Fabre's published works. Included are reprints of articles Fabre published in numerous French and American scholarly journals, as well as reviews of his work and early drafts of some pieces. An additional strength of the collection is the numerous conference programs and conference related material preserved by Fabre and relating to conferences he participated in or organized. Also included are many of Fabre's research files, materials he collected relating to Richard Wright, and a substantial number of photographs of Wright as well as numerous other writers and artists.
Series seven in the collection contains materials collected by Geneviève Fabre relating mainly to African American theatre.
The final series in the collection contains unprocessed additions created or collected by Geneviève and Michel Fabre and includes correspondence, writings by Michel Fabre and others, as well as printed material, photographs and ephemera.
Dates
- 1910-2003
Language of Materials
Materials entirely in English.
Restrictions on Access
Special restrictions apply: Use copies have not been made for audiovisual material in this collection. Researchers must contact the Rose Library at least two weeks in advance for access to these items. Collection restrictions, copyright limitations, or technical complications may hinder the Rose Library's ability to provide access to audiovisual material.
Access to processed born digital materials is only available in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (the Rose Library). Use of the original digital media is restricted.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Special restrictions apply: The collection contains some copies of original materials held by other institutions; these copies may not be reproduced without the permission of the owner of the originals.
Biographical Note
Michel Jacques Fabre was educated at the University of London and the Université de Paris and École Normale Supérieure prior to serving in the French Navy from 1959-1962. After leaving the military, he taught as a professor at Wellesley College, Harvard University, the University of Paris (X), the University of Paris (VIII), and was professor of American and Afro-American studies at la Sorbonne Nouvelle of the University of Paris (III) beginning in 1970. Together with his wife, Geneviève Fabre, he founded the Center for Afro-American Studies at the University of Paris. Both he and his wife are leading scholars of African American culture in France. Michel Fabre was the foremost biographer of Richard Wright and had close ties to the Wright family and to many African American artists, writers, and musicians throughout Europe. Among the books he authored or edited are Le Noirs Américains, The Unfinished Quest of Richard Wright, The World of Richard Wright, From Harlem to Paris, Chester Himes: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography, and The Several Lives of Chester Himes. He died on August 10, 2007.
Geneviève Fabre is a scholar of African American theater and literature and co-chaired the first Harvard University Du Bois Institute Working Group, "History and Memory in Afro-American Culture." She edited a book by the same title that has been seminal in "memory studies." Her book Le Théâtre Noir aux États-Unis (1982) was published by Harvard University Press in 1983 under the title Drumbeats, Masks, and Metaphor: Contemporary Afro-American Theater.
Extent
29.75 linear feet (49 boxes); 3 oversized papers boxes and 6 oversized papers folders (OP); 401 KB born digital material (1 file)
Abstract
Michel Fabre archives of African American arts and letters, including correspondence, writings, and printed material relating to expatriate writers, artists, musicians, and cultural figures, as well as Fabre's personal and business correspondence, works authored by Fabre, research files, conference materials, photographs, audiovisual materials, and born digital material.
Organization Note
Organized into six series: (1) Author/Artist files, (2) General correspondence, (3) Works authored by Fabre, (4) Subject files, (5) Photographs, (6) Audiovisual materials, (7) Geneviève Fabre papers, and (8) Unprocessed additions.
Source
Purchase, 2002.
Separated Material
In Emory's holdings are books and pamphlets formerly owned by Michel and Geneviève Fabre, many of which are inscribed to them. These materials may be located in the Emory University online catalog by searching for: Michel Fabre, former owner. In addition, Emory acquired from Fabre all of René Maran's library that Fabre acquired that had not been donated years earlier to the University of Dakar, Senegal. These materials may be located in the Emory University online catalog by searching for: René Maran 1887-1960, former owner.
General
Control level 2
General
File name: fabre932.doc
Processing
Processed by Elizabeth Chase, August 2007.
Born digital materials arranged and described by Brenna Edwards and Zhexiong Liu, 2019-2020. Born digital materials consists of a file taken from onen 3.5" floppy disk. For information as to how these materials were processed, see the scope and content note in the description of series 6, Audiovisual materials.
Control level 2
File name: fabre932.doc
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- African American artists--Caribbean Area. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- African American artists--United States. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- African American authors--Caribbean Area. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- African American authors--United States. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- African American musicians--Caribbean Area. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- African American musicians--United States. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Born digital. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Expatriate artists--France. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Expatriate authors--France. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Expatriate musicians--France. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Sound recordings. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- Michel Fabre archives of African American arts and letters, 1910-2003
- Author
- Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University
- Date
- December 17, 2007
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Revision Statements
- July 29, 2015: Finding aid revised to include enhanced metadata tagging.
Repository Details
Part of the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library Repository