Collection ID: SC 135
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Dranes, Arizona and Consolidated Music Publishing House
Abstract:
The collection consists primarily of contracts and correspondence between Arizona Dranes and the Consolidated Music Publishing House (owner of the Chicago OKeh Records franchise) from 1926-1929. Contracts for Nov. 15, 1926, include one song not commercially released (and possibly not recorded), "He's Got Better Things for You." Also included are articles about Dranes and this collection by the donor, Malcolm Shaw, and gospel historian Dr. Daniel E. Walker.
Extent:
1 document case (0.21 linear feet)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

Arizona Dranes Okeh Records Correspondence, SC 135, Archives of African American Music and Culture, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Arizona Juanita Dranes was the first recorded African American female gospel pianist and singer. Born ca. 1894 in Dallas, Texas, she recorded a series of groundbreaking gospel records in Chicago between 1926-1928 for the OKeh label. Dranes, who was apparently born blind, combined southern barrel-house style piano with a sanctified style of singing. Her many health problems, combined with the economics of the depression, contributed to the demise of her brief recording career. She remained active within the Church of God in Christ, the largest African American Pentecostal denomination and producer of such acts as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Edwin and Walter Hawkins, and Andrae Crouch. Initially a Fort Worth-based pianist for Bishop Samuel M. Crouch, she also assisted F. W. McGee and other COGIC leaders, and toured with Katie Bell Nubin and her daughter, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. In her later years she moved to Los Angeles where she died on July 27, 1963.

Scope and Content:

The collection consists primarily of contracts and correspondence between Arizona Dranes and the Consolidated Music Publishing House (owner of the Chicago OKeh Records franchise) from 1926-1929. Contracts for Nov. 15, 1926, include one song not commercially released (and possibly not recorded), "He's Got Better Things for You." Also included are articles about Dranes and this collection by the donor, Malcolm Shaw, and gospel historian Dr. Daniel E. Walker.

Acquisition information:
Donated in 2004 by Malcolm Shaw.
Processing information:

This collection was processed by Brenda Nelson-Strauss in 2005.

Arrangement:

Arranged in three series:

Series 1: Contracts
Series 2: Correspondence
Series 3: Related Articles
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:

Arizona Dranes Okeh Records Correspondence, SC 135, Archives of African American Music and Culture, Indiana University, Bloomington.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
Smith Research Center, Rooms 180-181
2805 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47408-2601, United States
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
812-855-8547
aaamc@indiana.edu