Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Garland, Phyl
- Abstract:
- The Phyl Garland Collection consists primarily of personal papers, including original typescripts for Garland's columns in Ebony and Stereo Review, and related research and photographs. Also included are 41 original audiocassette recordings of interviews conducted by Garland (except as noted) primarily with various African American musicians, artists, and filmmakers. Topics include African American composers and musicians as well as various genres of music including, but not limited to, jazz, R&B, soul, rock, classical, and blues. Record company publicity materials include publicity photos and press releases for over 900 artists.
- Extent:
- 22 document cases (9.24 linear feet), 41 Audiocassettes, and 2 Audio Discs
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
Phyl Garland Collection, SC 111, Archives of African American Music and Culture, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Phyllis T. Garland was born in 1935 in McKeesport, PA and received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University in 1957. Her father was the noted Pittsburgh area photographer Percy A. Garland and her mother, Hazel Garland, had worked for the The Pittsburgh Courier, a nationally distributed Black newspaper, in a variety of positions since 1943 including editor in chief from 1974 to 1977. Phyl began her career as a reporter and writer for The Pittsburgh Courier. She joined the Chicago staff at Ebony in 1965 as a contributing editor and music critic, where she covered all aspects of black musical activity and wrote the record review column "Sounds" from 1972-1977. From 1969-1972 she served as the New York editor and Director of Editorial Operations for the Johnson Publishing Company in New York. From 1978-1994(?) she also reviewed black popular music recordings for Stereo Review. Garland was the author of The Sound of Soul (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1969) and Michael : In Concert, with Friends, at Play (New York: Beekman House, 1984), a book on Michael Jackson. Garland was an Assistant Professor of Black Studies at SUNY, New Platz from 1971-1973 and a Professor in the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, New York, from 1973 until shortly before her death on November 7, 2006. Over the course of her career, Garland wrote many feature articles for publications ranging from Ebony to Good Housekeeping as well as scripts for radio and television.
Among her many honors are the 1992 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Black Musicians Conference. She served on the Board of Trustees for Jazzmobile (NY), the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, the Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson Scholarship Funds, the Modern School (NY), and the Advisory Board for the NY Association of Black Journalists.
- Scope and Content:
The Phyl Garland Collection consists primarily of personal papers, including original typescripts for Garland's columns in Ebony and Stereo Review, and related research and photographs. Topics include African American composers and musicians as well as various genres of music including, but not limited to, jazz, R&B, soul, rock, classical, and blues.
Series 1. Personal Papers and Correspondence (1952-2005), is arranged into four subseries: Published Articles, Miscellaneous Research and Unpublished Manuscripts, Biographical Materials and Correspondence, and Secondary Sources. The first subseries contains various feature articles written and/or published between 1969-1988, as well as typescripts of Garland's "Sounds" column published in Ebony from 1972-1977, and her Stereo Review column published from 1977-1994. The second subseries includes research compiled on Blacks in classical music as well as miscellaneous reviews and proposals. The third subseries includes biographical materials related to Garland and her family, as well as correspondence to and from Billboard, Stereo Review, Ebony, and various individuals in the music industry. The fourth subseries includes miscellaneous secondary sources used in Garland's research such as clippings, press releases, programs, and manuscripts by other writers.
Series 2. Interviews (1971-1985), includes 41 audiocassette recordings of interviews with musicians. Interviews conducted by Garland focus on Blacks in classical music including conductors and composers; the Newport Jazz Festival and various jazz musicians including Duke Ellington, Horace Silver, Al Jarreau and Billy Taylor; and popular musicians including Josephine Baker, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack and Melba Moore. Also included is a series of interviews with Nina Simone conducted by Mary Anne Evans and given to Garland for research purposes.
Series 3. Record Company Publicity (1950s-2001) is divided into two subseries: Miscellaneous Publicity, and Artist Publicity Photographs and Promotional Materials. The first subseries consists of general press materials and catalogs pertaining to specific record labels, entertainment companies, and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. The second subseries forms the bulk of the collection and consists of over 900 files, including photographs and/or press releases and clippings, on individual artists in all genres, though the bulk represents jazz and rhythm and blues musicians.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift from Garland to the Archives of African American Music and Culture on 22 December 2003.
- Processing information:
Processed by AAAMC staff. Completed in 2011.
- Arrangement:
Arranged in three series:
- Series 1: Personal Papers and Correspondence
- --- Subseries 1.1: Published Articles
- --- Subseries 1.2: Miscellaneous Reseach and Unpublished Manuscripts
- --- Subseries 1.3: Biographical Materials and Correspondences
- --- Subseries 1.4: Secondary Sources
- Series 2: Interviews
- Series 3: Record Company Publicity
- --- Subseries 3.1: Miscellaneous Publicity
- --- Subseries 3.2: Artist Publicity Photographs and Promotional Materials
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Use of time-based media materials (audio and video) may require production of listening or viewing copies.
Access to streaming audio, moving image, and full resolution digital image materials may currently be restricted to researchers who can authenticate with an IU account or who are physically present on campus. Remote streaming to individual researchers may be allowed with the completion of applicable forms.
For further information about access to online audiovisual materials, contact AAAMC staff at aaamc@indiana.edu.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, including but not limited to the Indiana Public Records Act (5-14-3-2 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Indiana University assumes no responsibility.
Copyright is retained by the creators/authors of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. All requests for copying and publishing materials must be submitted in writing to the Archives of African American Music and Culture, and may require the written permission of the creator(s)/author(s) or donor(s).
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Phyl Garland Collection, SC 111, Archives of African American Music and Culture, Indiana University, Bloomington.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
Smith Research Center, Rooms 180-1812805 East 10th StreetBloomington, Indiana 47408-2601, United States
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
812-855-8547aaamc@indiana.edu