The Black Box recorded poetry magazine, DC poets collection
Scope and Contents Note
The collection contains audiotapes, audiocassettes, and index cards for the Washington poets who participated in The Black Box cassette-tape poetry magazine. These tapes are recordings of local Washington D.C. poets for a special issue of the Black Box. Each audiotape includes an information sheet with technical data about the recording and a list of the poems read by the poets. The poets include among others E. Ethelbert Miller, Essex Hemphill, Grace Cavalieri, Chasen Gaver, Roland Flint, Lady Amir, and Adesanya Alekoye. There are also recordings of a poetry reading at the University of Maryland and a symposium in the District of Columbia. The recordings date from 1973-1986 with the bulk falling between 1973-1986.
Dates
- 1973-1986
- Majority of material found within 1974 - 1985
Creator
- Watershed Foundation (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.
Historical note
The Black Box, the cassette-tape poetry magazine, undertook an ambitious documentary project in 1975 to record all the working poets in the Washington area. The editors estimated that this amounted to between two and three hundred poets. A representative spectrum was chosen for a special D.C. issue of Black Box and to air on several radio programs. The staff of the D.C. project included writers, editors, teachers of poetry and communtiy activists. The project was designed to be multi-racial and multi-cultural.
An issue of Black Box consisted of two 90-minute cassettes and included between 18 and 20 poets. Black Box was funded through a grant from the National Edowement for the Arts.
This special D.C. issue dated 1976 was the eighth issue of Black Box and was devoted exclusively to Washington, D.C. poetry. The editor, Alan Austin, remarked on the project that "an unusually large number of Washington poets --both black and white-- seem to be writing 'story' poems, narrative or dramatic poems which focus on character development; such poems are frequently concerned with encounters across barriers of class and race. . . . Another interesting discovery was that many of the poems we recorded were either influenced by or directly related to music."
Extent
7 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Black Box, the cassette-tape poetry magazine, undertook an ambitious documentary project in 1975 to record all the working poets in the Washington area. The editors estimated that this amounted to between two and three hundred poets. A representative spectrum was chosen for a special D.C. issue of Black Box and to air on several radio programs. The staff of the D.C. project included writers, editors, teachers of poetry and communtiy activists. The collection contains audiotapes, audiocassettes, and index cards for the Washington poets who were part of The Black Box cassette-tape poetry magazine. These tapes are recordings of local Washington D.C. poets for a special issue of the Black Box. Each recording includes an information sheet with technical data about the recording and a list of the poems read by the poets. The recordings date from 1973-1986 with the bulk falling between 1973-1986.
Arrangement Note
Organized into three series: audiotape poetry recordings, Black Box audiocassettes, and Index.
Physical Location
Materials may be stored off-site, and may require additional retrieval time. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
Acquisition Note
Gift of the Watershed Foundation and the Poetry Committee of the Greater Washington Area, June 12, 1986.
- Audiocassettes Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Audiotapes Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Cavalieri, Grace
- Gaver, Chasen
- Miller, E. Ethelbert
- Title
- Preliminary Guide to The Black Box recorded poetry magazine, DC poets collection,1973-1986
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- The Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University
- Date
- 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University Repository
