About the Vanderbilt / National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) Collections Initiative:
Vanderbilt University has partnered with the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) to create a Collections Initiative that will support the purchase of materials for research and exhibit. Funding for the Collections Initiative comes from the Academic Archives Purchasing Fund, an internal faculty funding program within the Office of the Provost, and is open to ALL full-time Vanderbilt faculty. Funds from the Collections Initiative are intended for collection-building acquisitions that enhance the depth or breadth of Vanderbilt’s holdings to support ongoing and potential scholarship on African American music. Additionally, these materials have exhibit potential and will support research by NMAAM staff and researchers. These materials are part of Vanderbilt University Special Collections.
Funding for the Collections Initiative is governed by an application process. Each application l must include a faculty member, a NMAAM curator, and a librarian. Applications are submitted via InfoReady Review, Vanderbilt’s online submissions portal. Applications are reviewed by a subcommittee of the University Library Committee. Recommendations are passed to the Dean of the Blair School of Music and the Office of the Provost, who make the final funding decisions. For more information about the proposal process, please see the Vanderbilt/NMAAM research guide.
Academic Archives Purchases:
FY 2023:
- Dom Flemons Collection - Musical instruments, research materials, correspondence, memorabilia, and audiovisual materials documenting the career of Dom Flemons, noted researcher and Grammy Award winning performer of American Roots music. This collection is awaiting processing.
- Carl Van Vechten Photographs of African American Musicians, Composers, and Performers - A collection of thirty-one portraits of Harlem Renaissance figures taken by author and noted photographer Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964). This collection is awaiting processing.
FY 2022:
- Otha Turner Collection, MSS.1051 - Papers, photographs, and audiovisual materials documenting the life and artistry of Othar (Otha) Turner (1907-2003), an African American fife and drum musician and collaborator with the Tennessee Dance Theatre.
- Hip Hop Concert Poster Collection, MSS.1050 - A small collection of concert posters and photographs dating primarily from the 1980s and 1990s. The collection includes photographs of Biz Markie and Shock G (aka "Humpty"), and posters for Eddie Ed, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, and Earth, Wind, & Fire.
- Yusef Abdul Lateef Papers, MSS.1034 - the musical manuscripts, papers, photographs, and selected artworks of noted musician, educator, composer, author, and visual artist Yusef A. Lateef. Lateef was a genre-bending musician and composer whose artistry crossed and combined multiple genres, including Middle Eastern and Asian music, American jazz, and classical.
- Access to audiovisual recordings for this collection is provided via Aviary. The metadata for items in this collection is available to the public, but access to media files is restricted to Vanderbilt University faculty, staff, and students. Researchers can request access to individual files directly from Aviary.
FY2021:
- The John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie Collection, MSS.1000M - a rich collection of photographs, scrapbooks, and personal records that document the life and career of Dizzy Gillespie. A major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz, Gillespie was a trumpet player, composer, band leader, composer, and educator. Of particular note are the scrapbooks compiled by Gillespie during his groundbreaking 1956 state department tour of the Middle East.
- Access to audiovisual recordings for this collection is provided via Aviary. The metadata for items in this collection is available to the public, but access to media files is restricted to Vanderbilt University faculty, staff, and students. Researchers can request access to individual files directly from Aviary.
- Janet Jackson Memorabilia Collection, MSS.1023 - Rhythm Nation Tour Stage Worn Coat, custom made by Richard Tyler, 1990.
- Rissi Palmer Collection, MSS.1026 - Rissi Palmer is a groundbreaking country singer-songwriter who amplifies Black, Brown, and Indigenous voices in country music through her Color Me Country streaming program on Apple Music Country. Palmer's papers include six songwriting notebooks that span her career and several outfits, including the dress that she wore onstage during her premiere at the Grand Ole Opry in 2007.
