Linda Dahl Collection on Mary Lou Williams, 1944-1993 and undated

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Summary

Creator:
Dahl, Linda, 1949-
Abstract:
Author Linda Dahl wrote the first full-length biography of jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and educator Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981), titled Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams (1999). The Linda Dahl Collection on Mary Lou Williams contains materials compiled by Dahl in researching the Williams biography, including newspaper and magazine clippings, correspondence, photographs and transparency strips, concert programs, and a variety of financial and foundation records.
Extent:
0.6 Linear Feet
375 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00283

Background

Scope and content:

The Linda Dahl Collection on Mary Lou Williams contains materials compiled by Dahl in researching her 1999 biography of Williams. The collection features newspaper and magazine clippings on Williams; letters from Williams to her friend Joyce Breach regarding Williams's concert tours and other travels, Roman Catholicism, the business of jazz, and Williams's medical ailments; as well as letters to Breach from other of Williams's associates. One folder of miscellaneous correspondence by Williams primarily relates to the planning of jazz concerts and to Williams's work with the Bel Canto Foundation and the Charlie Parker Memorial Fund. The collection also contains a selection of records related to the Mary Lou Williams Foundation; thirteen photographs and four transparency strips of Williams; a folder of concert programs featuring Williams or her compositions; and six miscellaneous publications, primarily on music, from throughout Williams's lifetime.

Biographical / historical:

Author Linda Dahl wrote the first full-length biography of jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator Mary Lou Williams, titled Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams (New York: Pantheon Books, 1999). By the 1930s, Williams (born Atlanta, 8 May 1910; died Durham, N.C., 28 May 1981) had begun working as a pianist and/or arranger for bandleaders including Andy Kirk, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie. Williams gained additional acclaim as a leader of her own bands as well as a composer of such works as Zodiac Suite (1946) and Music for Peace (1971), also known as Mary Lou's Mass. She was an artist in residence in Duke University's Department of Music from 1977-1981.

Acquisition information:
The Linda Dahl Collection on Mary Lou Williams was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2002.
Processing information:

Processed by Jeremy Smith, December 2008

Encoded by Jeremy Smith, December 2008

Accession 2002-0223 is described in this finding aid.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Linda Dahl Collection on Mary Lou Williams, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.