Regina Andrews: Harlem Renaissance Librarian

Black Library Pioneers

2012-02-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

Project Assistants Dawn Wing and Mel Nicholas in my department, the School of Library & Information Studies, at the University of Wisconsin - Madison made an exhibit featuring pioneering Black librarians that went up today. Besides a timeline of key events, they included several biographies of key figures including the bibliophile Arturo Schomburg, and librarians Nella Larsen, Audre Lorde and Belle da Costa Greene.

Carl Van Vechten

2012-02-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

Photo: Regina is in the front in the middle wearing the lightest colored dress. Louella Tucker is behind her on Regina's left (our right) and Ethel Ray is on our far left behind Langston Hughes. This is on the rooftop of their salon at 580 St. Nicholas Avene. Source: Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in BlackCulture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

Regina’s Harlem Renaissance roommate Ethel Ray Nance recorded two oral histories. The following vignette describes a visit by Carl Van Vechten and “the girls” refers to Regina and Louella Tucker:

“I remember Van Vechten coming into our apartment this one evening and inquiring who was the hostess, well, the girls didn’t move, so I moved and he handed me this bottle of some exquisite wine. I took it to the kitchen, which was on the side of the living room and just left it there. Then later on when it was to be served, two of the women…their names escaped me not entirely, but we’ll just skip that, refused it when we passed the wine glasses. And then almost immediately, they came out in the kitchen and asked, ‘may we have some’ and I said ‘no,’ (Laughingly) ‘if you’re not willing to accept it in front of the group, I’m sorry.’"*

* Source: Ethel Ray Nance, interview by Anne Allen Shockley, tape recording, San Francisco, CA., 18 November 1970 and Nashville, TN., 23 December 1970. Black Oral History Collection, Fisk University, Nashville, TN., 32.

Carl Van Vechten

2012-02-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Emily Bernard’s new book, Carl Van Vechten & the Harlem Renaissance: A Portrait in Black & White (Yale University Press, 2012), is about the controversial patron of black artists. Van Vechten visited Regina’s famous salon at 580 St. Nicholas Avenue where attendees included Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. Some have suggested that Regina was the model for the librarian character Mary Love in his infamous novel, Nigger Heaven. He was banned from their salon after its publication in 1926. Regina’s roommates included Ethel Ray (later Nance) who worked for Charles Johnson at Opportunity magazine but almost nothing is known about the third roommate, Louella Tucker, although Van Vechten’s social diary entry provides one interesting tidbit:

Monday, 26 January 1925
…Then to the James Weldon Johnson’. Walrond brings three girls in, including the wonderful Louella Tucker who dances the Charleston more wonderfully than I’ve ever seen it danced.*

Several months later…

Thursday, 21 May 1925…At 10.30 went to Regina Anderson’s birthday party. Louella Tucker, Eric Walrond, Ethel Ray...*

*Source: Carl Van Vechten, The splendid drunken twenties: Selections from the daybooks, 1922-1930, ed. Bruce Kellner (Chicago, IL.: University of Illinois Press, 2003),72 and 85-86.

Re: African American Women's Biography

2012-01-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

I hope in the future to teach a course called African American Women's Biography. Students would write an introduction or book proposal about their subject and use images, music, and narration to create short digital stories. Part of the course would require students to read existing biographies and I just learned about two new ones: Remaking Race and History: The Sculpture of Meta Warrick by Renee Ater and Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage by Vincent Carretta. I would also discuss my own biography of Regina Andrews and the process of creating it.

Re: A New Documentary

2012-01-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

A friend recently told me about a new documentary exploring the life of self-identified "black, lesbian, feminist, mother, poet, warrior" Audre Lorde--the subject of my next project that focuses on her little-known career as a librarian. The film, Audre Lorde -- The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992 explores her years spent in Germany which is related to my aforementioned interest in Black women traveling abroad and in making a documentary about Regina Andrews.

I recently received a grant that will allow me to travel this summer to explore Audre Lorde's archives at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and the Lesbian Herstory Archives in Brooklyn, New York.

Re: Another Biography

2012-01-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

As I write Regina Andrews' biography I read other biographies for inspiration and I am particularly interested in biographies of other "obscure" African American women to see how the authors describe the significance of their subject's lives. I recently read an interesting biography, Thyra J. Edwards: Black Activist in the Global Freedom Struggle by Gregg Andrews (University of Missouri Press, 2011). I am also interested in the international travel experiences of African American women--one of the things that interested me about Regina Andrews. I was fascinated to find that Edwards traveled and studied in Denmark in the 1930s--a country that I have recently, frequently visited.

Re: New Biographies

2012-01-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

There are several new biographies about African Americans who are loosely connected with Regina Andrews: Literary Sisters: Dorothy West and Her Circle, A Biography of the Harlem Renaissance by Verner Mitchell & Cynthia Davis (Rutgers University Press, 2011), Eugene Kinckle Jones, The National Urban League Black Social Work, 1910 - 1940 by Felix L. Armfield (University of Illinois Press, 2012), & Dorothy West's Paradise: A Biography of Class and Color by Cherene Sherrard-Johnson (Rutgers University Press, 2012).

Although I have not come across anything to suggest that Regina knew writer Dorothy West or her cousin poet Helene Johnson, they moved in the same circles. The cousins were friends of Zora Neale Hurston (who stayed on Regina's couch when she first moved to New York City), actress Edna Lewis (who starred in a play with Regina) and actress Rose McClendon who was the executive director of the Harlem Experimental Theatre group that Regina co-founded.

Regina cited Eugene Kinckle Jones as an influence on her career and he advocated on her behalf along with W.E.B. DuBois in her fight against the New York Public Library. Regina was also an active member of the National Urban League under Jones, Lester Granger, and Whitney Young.

I've read the first two biographies and have pre-ordered Sherrard-Johnson's. I look forward to reading another biography about African Americans living extraordinary lives during the last century.

Regina's Granddaughters

2011-10-29T12:28:00.001-07:00

Since I began this project in late 2005 I had always hoped to find Regina's only child, her daughter Regina Ann (pictured here). I have not been successful and her relatives in Los Angeles had lost touched with her as well. I was quite surprised to hear from not one but two of Regina's granddaughters in September 2011. Regina has four grandchildren: Kimberly, Robyn, Erica and Louis. Robyn remembered that after their grandfather died that the family moved to Mahopac, New York to take care of Regina. Kimberly called Regina "an incredible woman." So true.

The Book Manuscript

2011-10-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

Today I finished revising the book manuscript, tentatively titled: Harlem Renaissance Librarian: The Biography of Regina Anderson Andrews. Last year I sent book proposals to several publishers, one publisher sent the entire manuscript to two readers who provided the excellent feedback that I used for the revisions. The manuscript will go out for another round of reviews and we'll see what happens after that.

Re: Regina's Wedding Location

2011-09-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

While recently reading a fashion magazine I came across an image that looked strangely familiar. It was a picture of the front door of the building where Regina got married in 1926. Her maid of honor Jessie Fauset lived in an apartment in the building and hosted Regina's wedding. The newlyweds ended up living in this building on Seventh Avenue for the first few years of their union. I took a picture of the front door a few years ago in preparation for my documentary about Regina. The paint trim is now a different color but the columns and stone carvings are the same. (Photo: Essence magazine September 2011 issue).

Re: Regina had an admirer

2011-09-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

This summer a student of Russian literature who is studying in Venice, Italy contacted me. She wanted information about Regina. The subject of her research, author Boris Pil'njak, apparently was infatuated with Regina. Pil'njak wrote a letter on October 3, 1931 to his American interpreter, Joseph Freeman, which contained the following quote: "Phone Ella Winter and get her to track down the black Regina. And when will Regina come to the USSR? Bring her with you! tell her if she comes, I'll marry her, seriously, I mean it, I love Regina very much...Come! Bring Regina!" Tragically, Pil'njak was executed in Russia in 1938 after being accused of being a counter-revolutionary.

Re: "Checking Out Regina"

2011-08-17T09:50:00.001-07:00

I just completed a second digital story related to this project. "Checking Out Regina" briefly describes the journey to create a biography about Regina Andrews. I intend to create a full-length documentary about Andrew's life with the skills acquired from the various filmmaking classes that I've attended. This story was created at the Digital Storylab, http://blog.digitalstorylab.com/, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fv3oO5QBgc

Old and New Harlem

2011-05-17T16:21:00.001-07:00

I am in Harlem to do additional research on my biography about Regina Andrews at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Stephen Schwartzman Building (formerly known as the 42nd Street & Fifth Avenue Branch currently celebrating their 100th anniversary). I am staying at Harlem's first new hotel in nearly 45 years, Aloft. When various African American intellectuals and artists came to Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance they often found housing in Harlem's YMCA/YWCA for "colored" people which until Aloft, was one of few hotel options still in existence in Harlem. Regina actually resided at the mid-town YWCA when she applied for a job at the 42nd Street Branch Library. Did she know about racial customs? Maybe the proprietors of the mid-town YWCA didn't know she was "colored." However, her New York Public Library interviewer declared that she was colored and sent her to Harlem to work at the 135th Street Branch. Regina hadn't been to Harlem at that point and decided to room with a friend who was moving to New York City.

Presentation in Paris

2011-04-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a presentation about Regina Andrews at the Collegium for African American Research (CAAR) Conference on "Black States of Desire: Dispossession, Circulation, Transformation." I was part of a panel, Dust Tracks on the Transatlantic Road: Self Portraits of African American Women Abroad, with Dr. Claire Garcia and my friend Dr. Cherene Sherrard-Johnson who organized the panel. Sherrard-Johnson (pictured with me in Paris) spoke about Dorothy West's travels in Russia and Garcia described Anita Thompson's adventures in Paris and Tangiers. Andrews traveled to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and briefly to South America in the 1950s and 60s.

University of California - San Diego presentation

2011-02-03T12:36:00.000-08:00

Based upon the suggestion of a follower of this blog, Mary Wickline, I was invited to speak about Regina Andrews at the University of California - San Diego Libraries for Black History Month. Despite the snowstorm covering most of the nation, I arrived without incident on Tuesday, February 1st and unfortunately my departure was not delayed at all and I had to return to Wisconsin on Wednesday, February 2nd, despite my objections. The event was wonderful, we had a good turnout and lots of questions. People came from different departments at the university. I'm pictured with the coordinator of the program, Marlayna Christensen (we worked together at Yale University Libraries more than a decade ago). My talk was: "I am American": Regina Andrews and the Harlem Renaissance.

Re: A Royal Harlem Renaissance Wedding

2010-11-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

This week there was a review in the New York Times about a play, Knock Me a Kiss, portraying the unsuccessful marriage between W. E. B. Du Bois' daughter, Yolande, and the poet Countee Cullen. The wedding was the major event in Harlem in 1928. Over 3,000 people attended the wedding with another 3,000 people lined up outside the church. The marriage was short-lived. Gossip suggested that the bridegroom was gay. Cullen spent most of his post-wedding time in Paris with the best man, actor Harold Jackman, who co-founded the Harlem Experimental Theatre with Regina and Dorothy Peterson.

Regina most likely attended this wedding. Cullen was the most frequent visitor to the literary salon that Regina hosted and she was a friend of W. E. B. Du Bois. Regina's husband was an assistant usher at the wedding and Regina's former roommate, Ethel Ray Nance, was invited to the wedding. Nance had a copy of the wedding invitation and the exclusive invite to the reception in her collection at the University of California - Berkeley's Bancroft Library.

Paris, France

2010-11-04T17:11:00.001-07:00

I just found out that I will be presenting my research on Regina Andrews at a conference, The Collegium of African American Research (CAAR), in April 2011 in Paris. I will be on a panel, Dust Tracks on the Translantic Road: Self-Portraits of African American Women Abroad. My talk is called "The evening under the stars": The Cold War Adventures of an African American Librarian.

Center for Research on Gender and Women

2010-10-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I discussed my work on the Regina Andrews' project in a talk, "Checking out Regina Andrews: The Journey of a Black Feminist Biographer," at the University of Wisconsin - Madison's Center for Research on Gender and Women. Last year I was awarded a Feminist Scholar's Fellowship from the program that allowed me to spend a semester working on the project. I was so glad to see so many master's and a few Ph.D. students from my own department attending the presentation.

I included two pictures posted here in my presentation when describing the root of my interest in Regina Andrew's story as a fellow African American librarian. One picture is of me on the day I received my Master's of Library Service in 1993 from Rutgers University and the other is a picture of my I.D. from Yale from my first library job from 1997 -1999.

Book Proposals

2010-10-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended the 2010 Conference of Ford Fellows sponsored by the Ford Foundation in Newport Beach, California. I had the opportunity to speak with potential publishers about my book manuscript, Harlem Renaissance Librarian: Regina Andrews. I received a very good response to my pitch and I plan to send out multiple book proposals in the next few weeks. I'm currently revising my proposal and sample chapters to submit for review. I can't wait to receive feedback and hopefully, eventually a book contract!

A digital story about Regina Andrews

2010-09-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

I completed a digital story about an incident in the life of Regina Andrews last week at the Center for Digital Storytelling. I intend to make a full-length documentary about Regina. I had a wonderful and productive experience at the Center and I would highly recommend the program. All eight of the participants completed a digital story in just three days.

Berkeley, California

2010-09-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Last week I was in Berkeley, California, staying at the Bancroft Hotel and taking a course at the Center for Digital Storytelling. I also had the opportunity to search the archives of Regina's Harlem Renaissance roommate, Ethel Ray Nance at the University of California - Berkeley's Bancroft Library. Numerous letters in Nance's papers indicated that she had a very close friendship with W.E.B. Du Bois. They used pet names, Marielle and Andre, in much of their correspondence. Nance also offered some insight into the third woman who lived with them, the little-known Louella Tucker. Ethel said, "My third roommate was a good time girl, but we needed her for the rent." Tucker also worked, as a typist, at the offices of Opportunity (the house organ for the National Urban League) with Nance.

The picture shows Nance (far right), then Ethel Ray, in 1922, before moving to New York City in 1923 or 1924. She's from Duluth, Minnesota and was the offspring of a Swedish immigrant woman and an African American man from North Carolina.

Documentary Films

2010-09-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

On Friday I met a woman, Lucie Faulknor, who makes documentary films at a conference for my department's Center for History of Print Culture. Co-producer Faulknor is part of a team working on a documentary, Free for All: Stories of the American Public Library (see their wonderful web site). On Saturday I was interviewed by the project director Dawn Logsdon. Who knows if I will end up in the final film but it was both exciting and informative to be a part of a real documentary film with an acclaimed group of filmmakers as I think about the documentary I want to make about Regina Andrews. Logsdon was the director of the recent film, Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans, and Faulknor co-produced the film--I film I saw a few months ago.

In a few weeks I will attend a workshop at the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California where I will make a short three-minute documentary film about Regina Andrews that I will post on this blog--like a trailer for the final documentary.

Re: Libraries in Botswana

2010-08-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a week in Botswana where I visited three of our students who are doing internships in public libraries. Rachel and Ashley interned and lived with a chief in Molepolole and are pictured with me and Dr. Angelina Totolo from the University of Botswana library school program. I think the head librarian, Max Muzunga, took the picture so he is not shown. Student Cara lived in Mmangkodi and is pictured with me and head librarian Lucia. We also got to meet the newly appointed head of the Botswana National Library System.

The whole trip was very inspiring and made me excited to get back to revising the chapter on Regina's travels to libraries in Western Africa.

Going to Botswana

2010-07-21T06:20:00.001-07:00

I am off to Botswana to visit three students from my department, the School of Library & Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. The students are doing internships in Botswana. Regina was very interested in libraries throughout the world and visited libraries in the African nations of: Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Senegal and the Ivory Coast in the 1960s.

Re: Writing Group Presentation

2010-07-21T06:15:00.001-07:00

On Monday, July 19, 2010, I was invited to discuss my Regina Andrews' project with an African American Genealogy Writing Group in Madison, WI. Besides describing my project, I discussed sources I used to tell Regina's story. The women in the writing group shared some of their stories too as they researched their own stories about their families. It was a very inspiring morning.

A presentation

2010-06-24T02:56:00.000-07:00

I gave a talk about Regina Andrews on 23 June 2010 in the Royal Library (The Black Diamond) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The presentation was organized by Dr. Laura Skouvig of the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Copenhagen. The audience included a mix of faculty, archivists and the director of the Danish Center for Information on Women and Gender.

Grant Funding

2010-06-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

I recently found out that I was awarded a grant for this project from the University of Wisconsin - System's Institute on Race & Ethnicity (IRE). I plan to use the funds to return to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; a trip to the Beinecke Library at Yale University to examine the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of African American Arts and Letters; and to take a class at the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, CA to work on the documentary project.

Re: Writing Spaces & Places

2010-06-11T02:14:00.000-07:00

I have found a variety of places in Copenhagen that provided writing spaces for my project. I just wanted to document some of these. In descending order: Lion's Book Cafe, my favorite, the most traditional cafe/bookstore. Luckily 90% of the books are in Danish which prevents me from getting distracted; the Christianshavn Bibliotek (the public library branch) is just around the corner from where I live. I was able to get a library card but only about 5% of their books are in English; Cafe Wilder (website doesn't work), Cafe Oven Vande, Cafe Luna, and Cafe Bizarro are actually restaurants but they don't mind people writing and using their laptops between breakfast, lunch and dinner service. Finally, Arnold Busck, a bookstore with a cafe and unfortunately an English language book section that includes a whole mystery section--my favorite.

Re: My Danish Writer's Retreat

2010-05-15T03:52:00.001-07:00

I found a lovely apartment to rent in the Christianshavn section of Copenhagen. It's near their famous Black Diamond Library

Re: A writer's retreat in Copenhagen, Denmark

2010-05-15T03:33:00.000-07:00

Regina Andrews visited many countries in the 1950s and 1960s as part of her civic work for the National Council of Women of the United States. She visited: Europe (post-war Germany as part of the Marshall Plan), Asia (China, Japan, Korea, India and Thailand), the Middle East (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran), the African nations of Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast and Brazil in South America. She also briefly visited Rome and Lebanon.

Although Andrews never visited Denmark, I decided to take a two-month writer's retreat to Copenhagen. Copenhagen and their libraries are currently dealing with an influx of immigrants, much like Regina and the New York Public Library during her tenure there from the 1920s - 1960s. I met with a representative from The Danish Library Centre for Integration to discuss services for immigrants and refugees.

Next week I'll meet with faculty at the Royal School of Library and Information Science. I may have the opportunity to present my work on Regina Andrews. Some of their faculty have an interest in library history and library services to ethnic minorities. I'll teach a course, Information Services for Culturally Diverse Communities, this fall at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. I

An exciting development

2010-05-02T10:54:00.001-07:00

An audience member informed me that Regina Andrews' assistant librarian from the Washington Heights branch, Enda Law, is still alive. I plan to contact her.

My Presentation

2010-05-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last week I gave a presentation to the retired librarians from the New York Public Library. I had a wonderful time. Many of the audience members knew Regina Andrews or had heard about her. One audience member is working on a collective biography of the head librarians during the first 50 years of the 20th Century which includes Andrews. Some of the librarians also remembered working with my sister, a former NYPL librarian. The host, Becky Koppelman put together a lovely program, great refreshments, and interesting questions from a large audience.

Re: A presentation

2010-03-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

Before I go to Denmark, I will visit my family in New Jersey and catch a bus to New York City. I was invited to do a presentation about Regina Andrews for the New York Public Library Retirees Association. I am really looking forward to this presentation.

Re: Writing and Writing

2010-03-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

I have not written lately because all I have been doing is writing and writing. I am trying to complete another draft at home in Madison, WI and writing grant applications to fund the project before heading for a two-month writing retreat in Copenhagen, Denmark. I am following Regina's lead and interest in international travel.

Angelina's Oral History Interview

2010-02-11T11:30:00.000-08:00

I had an opportunity to interview Angelina, the daughter of Regina's niece Lorelei (so is Angelina Regina's great niece???). Angelina met Regina, her husband Bill, her daughter Regina Ann and Aunt Kate (Regina's maternal aunt who lived to be 106 years old!) in the 1980s when Regina lived in Mahopac, NY.

Regina's Niece's Oral History Interview

2010-02-11T11:16:00.001-08:00

In January 2009 I flew to Los Angeles to meet members of Regina's family. I interviewed two relatives for my documentary. Regina's niece, Lorelei (born Margaret Helen Anderson) is the daughter of Regina' brother Maurice B. Anderson. As Lorelei mentions in the clip, she was raised by Regina's mother Margaret from the age of 5 until 17. She got to know Regina and her husband Bill through their visits to Illinois to see Regina's family. Below is a clip.

Regina's Husband William Trent Andrews, Jr.

2010-01-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading the biography, King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (left picture) by Wil Haygood (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993), and came across some interesting information about Regina's husband Bill (right picture). I knew that he was an Assemblyman who represented Harlem from 1935 - 1948, but I did not know that when Harlem was redistricted in the 1940s to allow the voters to elect their first African American Congressman that Bill was a contender for the position. As many of you know, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was elected, became even more famous and now Seventh Avenue in Harlem is also known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd. instead of William Trent Andrews Jr Blvd. Regina could have been the wife of a Congressman and attended parties at the White House like Powell's wife pianist Hazel Scott did...

Re: The Harlem Experimental Theatre

2009-12-23T08:27:00.001-08:00

Last night I saw the new David Mamet play "Race" at the Ethel Barrymore Theater. I thought it was excellent and appropriate since I am in the Performing Arts room at the Library Hotel. Regina Andrews was a founder, the Executive Director, a playwright and an actress in the Harlem Experimental Theatre from 1928 - 1932. The philosophy of the group was produce plays by both White and Black playwrights like the above production of The Duchess Sayers Her Prayers by White playwright Mary Cass Canfield. Regina is on the right. Their plays by African American playwrights tackled race-related themes like Mamet's play "Race."

Re: The New York Public Library

2009-12-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

I am writing in the Rose Main Reading Room of the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwartzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street--right around the corner from my hotel. I am standing in front of either the Patience or Fortitude lion. Regina interviewed for a job at the New York Public Library in this building in 1923. I found out that the lions originally had different names but were renamed by New York City's Mayor Fiorello La Guardia during the Depression to inspire New Yorkers to have patience and fortitude during those difficult times.

Re: Writer's Retreat in NYC

2009-12-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

Once again I'm back at my favorite New York City hotel, the Library Hotel, for writer's retreat. Each room corresponds with a Dewey Decimal category. I'm currently staying in the performing arts room which is appropriate because Regina Andrews was part of the Little Theater Movement during the Harlem Renaissance. The room is filled with books about the performing arts including an Alvin Ailey biography.

A Writer's Retreat

2009-11-22T13:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I need to change environments in order to write. I spent this weekend in a local hotel to work on some sections of the manuscript, Harlem Renaissance Librarian. I also read other biographies for inspiration. I've recently completed Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits by Linda Gordon who presented at the Seminar on Gender History that I attended at Radcliffe a few years ago. I enjoyed reading her gender analysis of Lange's life and career. I just finished reading Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D. G. Kelley. This book was so descriptive about Monk's music that I bought both a CD and a vinyl record of his music!

Re: A presentation

2009-11-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, November 18, 2009 I had an opportunity to present my project to graduate students and faculty through a seminar, Program in Gender and Women's History, in the Department of History at the University of WI - Madison. This seminar is organized by the students who are interested in discussing gender-related issues. I really enjoyed talking about the project, "New Negro Woman: Harlem Renaissance Librarian Regina Andrews." I got terrific questions, feedback, and comments.

Interesting, Related Links

2009-11-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

I often come across interesting links related to my research and wanted to share some of them:

American Legacy magazine is one of my favorites. They like to publish articles about unsung African Americans.

The Dwyer Cultural Center celebrates Harlem.

Sources related to Chicago's African American history:

Mapping the Stacks: A Guide to Black Chicago's Hidden Archives

The Black Metropolis Research Consortium

Finally, an excellent organization, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, promotes and supports United States history. I received a fellowship from this institution a few years ago to support my research at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Dorothy West and Jessie Fauset

2009-11-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

For inspiration for my own project, I attended a lecture on author Dorothy West (often associated with the Harlem Renaissance) by Associate Professor Cherene Sherrard-Johnson. The lecture was sponsored by the University of Wisconsin - Madison's Center for Research on Gender & Women. Last year Sherrard-Johnson was the recipient of the Feminist Scholars Fellowship that I received this year. She is currently writing a manuscript about West's life. Perhaps West knew Regina Andrews. Sherrard-Johnson also recently edited a book by Jessie Fauset who was a friend of Regina Andrews and was her maid of honor. Maybe Fauset shared a copy of this manuscript with Andrews for feedback...

Hubert Harrison Lecture

2009-11-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

I attended a lecture on Harlem radical Hubert Harrison by independent scholar Jeffrey Perry at the end of October. Harrison has been forgotten and this new, excellent biography, Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism 1883-1918, allows a new generation of people to get to know his story. When I came across this biography several months ago I was pleased to discover a market for forgotten people like Regina Andrews.

Even more exciting, Harrison and Regina Andrews knew each other through the 135th Street Branch Library. Harrison was an advocate of public libraries and he lectured at the North Harlem Community Forum about literature. Andrews was a member of the Forum and publicized the lectures.

Wilberforce Carnegie Library

2009-10-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

This library was a gift from Andrew Carnegie and dedicated in 1907. When Regina attended Wilberforce the library was open six days a week and contained 10,500 bound volumes, journals, newspapers, and spacious reading rooms with modern furnishings. Regina worked as a library assistant in this library. The building now houses the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center administrative offices.

Kezia Emery Hall

2009-10-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

Regina attended Wilberforce 90 years ago from 1919 - 1920. During that time, first-year female students were assigned to one of two dorms. I don't know where Regina lived but one of the dorms still exists. It now belongs to Central State University and is being restored. It cost $6 a term to rent a room in the dorm and $3 for fuel and light. The colonial style Emery Hall was built in 1913 for $50,000 including the furnishing and fixtures. According to the 1919/1920 Wilberforce Catalogue, Emery Hall had "all the modern conveniences, heated by hot water and lighted by electricity and gas. It accommodates eighty girls." The dorm included "laundries, kitchens, and dining rooms. There are also parlors and reception rooms." Additionally, there were study rooms and typewriting rooms equipped with Remingtons and Underwoods.

Wilberforce University

2009-10-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to visit Wilberforce University last week while attending and presenting at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wilberforce is located in Xenia, Ohio a little over an hour away from Cincinnati. My friend, Dr. Furaha Norton from Cincinnati, drove and a kind Wilberforce employee, Officer Herman B. Webb (see picture), shared his knowledge of the history of Wilberforce and the nearby Central State University. Officer Webb also knew the location of the historic buildings that I wanted to see.

September 2009

2009-09-28T13:05:00.001-07:00

Nothing to report during the month of September. I've been working on revising my manuscript and applying for funding to support the project. I did recently buy a new desk (see picture), met with friends to discuss projects, read a chapter for a friend from her book manuscript, and ordered Regina Andrews' passport information from the State Department--$60!. I ordered an oral history of Regina's former co-worker, Pura Belpre White (the first Puerto Rican librarian at the New York Public Library) from Columbia University's Oral History Research Office but didn't find anything related to Regina in her oral history. They did remain lifelong friends. This week I head to Cincinnati, Ohio to attend a conference. I hope to visit Regina's alma mater Wilberforce if time permits.

A Discovery

2009-08-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

University of Wisconsin librarian Emilie Ngo Nguidjol informed me that we had access to the ProQuest database, Black Studies Center, for a trial period. While searching the historic newspaper, Baltimore's Afro-American, I finally discovered when and why Regina's parents divorced. This article is from the September 30, 1911 issue.

Regina was only 10 years old when her parents divorced. She was sent to live with her maternal grandparents for several years in Normal, Illinois after the divorce.

Speed Dating Is Not New

2009-08-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

I learned that Wilberforce University, the historically Black institution that Regina attended in 1919, provided carefully monitored social events in the late 1800s. Once a month students participated in a "period of free conversation" where male and female students could talk one-on-one for five minutes before rotating to the next person. This arrangement allowed female students lacking in personality an opportunity to meet male students (not my words but the words of the author, Frederick A. McGinnis, author of A History and Interpretation of Wilberforce University, 1941).

This is a picture of the Carnegie Library at Wilberforce where Regina obtained her first library job as a library assistant.

The Documentary

2009-08-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

I didn't do much work on the documentary during my time in Chicago since my focus was on the book, but I did watch two documentaries about African American women: A litany for survival: The life and work of Audre Lorde and Living with Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100. Ruth Ellis graduated from high school in 1919 like Regina Andrews. According to Living with Pride, only 5% of African American women graduated from high school that year.

I also found two books that will help me with my documentary trailer and licensing images for historical documentaries: Trailer Mechanics by Fernanda Rossi and Archival Storytelling: A Filmaker's Guide to Finding, Using, and Licensing Third-Party Visuals and Music.

Back in Madison, WI

2009-08-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

I've returned from my writing retreat in the Hyde Park section of Chicago. It was very productive! I was so inspired by being there and was able to accomplish a lot of progress on my second draft of the book manuscript.

Regina's Mother

2009-08-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have found new information that puts Regina's mother, Margaret Simons Anderson Moore in a new light. I must admit that I initially thought that she was a pampered wife who did her art as a hobby. As I've located more news articles about her I have found that she was a serious artist who promoted her work, worked as an art instructor and was a club woman. African American club women were commonly well-educated and financially well-off women who volunteered their time to help uplift the race. Margaret hosted the initial meeting of the Necessity Club in her home at 530 E. 45th Street in 1916. By 1918, Margaret served as the President--but there was controversy... (you'll have to read my book!).

Regenstein Library

2009-08-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

I spend the majority of my time in Hyde Park here in the University of Chicago's Regenstein Library. Because I'm a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin I have access to their library resources, can check out books and use the Internet (I don't have Internet access in my rental--which is probably for the best so that I can write). It's right around the corner from where I'm staying.

Hyde Park Historical Society

2009-08-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

I went to the Hyde Park Historical Society on Saturday, August 7. They're only open for 2 hours on Saturday and Sunday. I didn't find anything of value there but I had a good conversation with the volunteer worker at the Society. He was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in Sociology in the 1950s. The Society is located in a former train depot.

Hyde Park - Homes & Schools

2009-08-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I visited the homes where Regina lived as a child and a young adult and the junior high school and high school that she attended (Wendell Phillips and Hyde Park High School). One of her homes, 530 East 45th Street was incorrectly identified in the Cook County tax database. My pictures can't do justice to Hyde Park H.S.--it's truly a magnificent building that takes up almost the entire block--it wouldn't fit into my picture. The final picture is the home that I'm staying in with the large tree blocking the entrance.

Hyde Park - August 2009

2009-08-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Chicago for my month-long retreat in Hyde Park. I love the apartment and took pictures of the inside but not the outside since it was raining. I already located two coffee shops, the famous 57th Street Bookstore (but resisted buying any books), and I worked at the desk in the living room this morning.

Hyde Park - August 2009

2009-07-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I sublet a one-bedroom apartment in the Hyde Park section of Chicago (where Regina Andrews' was born and raised) for the month of August as a writer's retreat. While there I also intend to conduct research at the Chicago History Museum, the Newberry Library, the Hyde Park Historical Society and the Special Collections of the Chicago Public Library. I also want to take a trip to Normal, Illinois where Regina spent several years living with her maternal grandparents.

According to the landlord, the apartment is in a 1906 vintage Howard Van Doren Shaw house (I don't know who he is but looked him up on Wikipedia). I'll take pictures when I move in. The home is on the same block as Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House (I know who he is).

I'll work on my biography and photograph places in Hyde Park where Regina lived, worked and went to school for the documentary.

Hyde Park

2009-06-28T07:07:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I went on an informative tour of Hyde Park that mixed history with present day stories about their most famous resident, Barack Obama. The tour took us by his home (we weren't able to linger due to the heavy security) and by the barbershop where he would get his hair cut. The tour guide was the wonderful Christoper Benson, an associate professor at the University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign's Department of African American Studies and Journalism. Here is his recent article about Hyde Park published in Chicago magazine. The tour really gave me a sense of where Regina Andrews came from.

Here's a picture of Regina from the 1918 Hyde Park High School Yearbook.

Chicago (Hyde Park)

2009-06-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

One idea that came from the Creative Non-Fiction course was to continue to move forward by doing a variety of things related to our projects. The instructor suggested that I go to Chicago to visit some of the places where Regina lived, worked, etc. I had planned to go at some point but I just found the perfect opportunity. The Chicago History Museum is giving a 4-hour bus tour on Saturday, June 27th. Hyde Park is the section of Chicago where Regina lived as a little girl. She's a graduate of Hyde Park High School--also attended by Amelia Earhart.

I was able to obtain pictures of the two homes where she lived from the Cook County Assessors website: 530 E. 45th Street and 4609 Vincennes Ave.

Association for the Study of African American Life and History

2009-06-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

My proposal,“The evening under the stars:” The Cold War Adventures of a Negro Librarian, was accepted for the 2009 Conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History from September 30 - October 4, 2009. I'm looking forward to my presentation and to attending the other sessions.

Re: Creative Non-Fiction class

2009-06-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

Last week I took a course through the University of Wisconsin's Writers-By-The-Lake program. It was inspiring! I got a lot of feedback from the instructor and the other participants and good ideas about how to improve my manuscript, Harlem Renaissance Librarian. I would highly recommend this instructor, Nancy Beckett, http://www.writingwithnancy.com/ and the program, http://www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/writing/wbtl.htm

My Harlem Renaissance Office

2009-05-11T17:55:00.001-07:00

Here are pictures of the office that I devoted to this project. It was inspired by my stay in a Harlem B&B. I bought a secretary desk, an old-fashion record player, phone, etc.

Sabbatical Year

2009-05-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

From June 2009 - August 2010 I'll be on sabbatical thanks to generous support from the University of Wisconsin - Madison's Faculty Sabbatical Program and a Feminist Scholars Fellowship from the university's Women's Studies Research Center. I'll spend my sabbatical time revising my current draft of the biography and working on my documentary film.

Summer 2007

2009-05-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

One key turning point in the project was my attendance at the Schlesinger Library 2007 Summer Seminar on Gender History Writing Past Lives: Biography as History
June 24–29, 2007 at Radcliffe where I had the opportunity to present my research to history scholars in a seminar session. During the morning sessions there were panels of famous women historians presenting their research. It was a really influential experience.

2007

2009-05-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

My first article from the project, "Breaking the Color Barrier: Regina Andrews and the New York Public Library," was published in the journal Libraries & the Cultural Record.

November 2008

2009-05-07T12:32:00.001-07:00

On Friday, November 7th, I was on a panel, "Perspectives on the Library Past" with my colleagues where I presented my work on Regina Andrews.

April 2009

2009-05-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, April 4, I presented my paper, "'We must be more than librarians': Regina Andrews and the Harlem Experimental Theatre" on a panel, "Resisting Racism in Segregated America: Women Librarians and the Politics of Print Culture" at the 33rd Wisconsin Women's Studies and 4th LGBTQ Conferences 2009 at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. It was a fantastic conference and I attended many great sessions.

March 2009

2009-05-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

I attended the Black Women in the Ivory Tower conference at my alma mater Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. There was a History terrific panel. I learned a great deal by watching these women present their historical research paper. Later that month I attended the Collegium for African American Research (CAAR) conference in Bremen, Germany. I attended many panels and keynote addresses but I was most interested in the two sessions about Black feminist theory since that's the theoretical framework I'm using for my biography. I was also interested in going to Bremen because it's where Regina Andrews went during her first trip abroad. Here is a picture of Regina in Bremen--she's the shorter woman in the middle.

January 2009 - Los Angeles

2009-05-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

I was contacted by Regina Andrews' family members in the fall of 2008. Regina had an older brother Maurice and the people who contacted me were his grandchildren. I took the opportunity to visit the family in Los Angeles in January when school was not in session. I had a wonderful time. First I met with the grandchildren and their mother (Maurice Anderson's daughter!) for dinner and then the grandson invited to his home in Baldwin Hills where I met great grandchildren and other relatives. The following day I videotaped Maurice's daughter and granddaughter about their experiences with Regina Andrews. Both women knew her at different times in her life. Finally I was out of the archives and meeting with real people!

December 2008

2009-05-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

During this New York City trip I stayed at the Library Hotel, a boutique hotel around the corner from the famous 42nd Street Library on Fifth Avenue. I was in the Poetry Dewey decimal room. I searched the National Council of Women of the United States collection on microfiche at the NYPL Manuscript and Archives Division. Andrews was a long-time member of this women's organization in the 1950s and 1960s. I searched the Columbiana Collection at Columbia University. Andrews took courses in their Library School during 1927 - 1928. I had several photographs digitized from Andrews' collection at the Schomburg to include in a trailer for the documentary I am working on. I hope to be able to post the trailer soon.

Summer 2008

2009-05-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

The last site I visited was the apartment building where Andrews lived at 405 Edgecombe Avenue in the penthouse. Nearby 409 Edgecombe Avenue was where the elites of Harlem resided.

Summer 2008

2009-05-06T13:34:00.001-07:00

I caught a train at Grand Central Station to Andrews' weekend retreat and eventual retirement home in Lake Mahopac, NY. The Andrews purchased this home in 1941. It is a 1799 New England style home on 34 acres.

Summer 2008

2009-05-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

I visited the 115th Street Branch Library where she became the first Negro Supervising Librarian in 1938.

Summer 2008

2009-05-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

In August 2008 I visited several sites where Andrews lived including 1945 Seventh Avenue, where she was married on April 14, 1926 in the apartment of her maid of honor, noted Harlem Renaissance writer Jessie Fauset. Andrews and her husband, attorney William T. Andrews, Jr. moved into the building after their wedding.

December 2006

2009-05-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

When I returned to the east coast for the holidays I made a trip to New York City to photograph a place where Regina Andrews lived and worked. 580 St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem has been called one of the most famous addresses during the Harlem Renaissance. A widely published photograph of Langston Hughes with other famous men was taken at a rooftop party at 580 where Andrews and her two roommates hosted a salon for Harlem Renaissance artists.

Although Andrews worked in a number of New York Public Library branches, she spent a long time at the Washington Heights branch.

Spring Break 2006

2009-05-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

During spring break from UCLA's Department of Information Studies, I traveled to Harlem with my research assistant Dalena Hunter to search Regina Andrews' papers and photograph and print collections. We stayed in a magnificent bread & breakfast brownstone in Harlem that was decorated in Harlem Renaissance style--an inspiration for my future office!

December 2005 - New York City

2009-05-06T13:04:00.001-07:00

Regina Andrews' papers and photograph and manuscript collection is located at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. During the winter break I visited my family in New Jersey and took a quick trip to the Schomburg to check out the extent of her collection.

The Beginning

2009-05-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

In September 2004 I moved to Los Angeles to collect data for a research project funded by the Ford Foundation's Postdoctoral Fellowship for Minorities about the role of a public library in the life of a middle-class African American and Latino community. During 2005 I came across a research article, "The place to go: The 135th Street Branch Library and the Harlem Renaissance," in the journal Library Quarterly by Sarah Anderson. The article described how the supervising librarian, Ernestine Rose, hired several Negro women to work in the branch. I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about these women and one woman in particular stood out -- Regina Andrews.