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Roark Bradford papers

 Collection
Identifier: LaRC-20

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of correpondence, clippings, photographs, drawings, typescripts, manuscripts, and publications of writer and journalist Roark Bradford (1896-1948). Bradford worked the night shift at the Times-Picayune and contributed numerous short stories to magazines, including Collier's, the New York Herald Tribune, Esquire, and the Saturday Evening Post.

Dates

  • 1887-1949

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to the public. No known restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the Louisiana Research Collection. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws.

Biographical / Historical

Roark Bradford was born in 1896 in Tennessee. He moved to New Orleans in 1923, and worked as an editor at the Times-Picayune newspaper from 1924 to 1926. He was a prolific writer of short stories, and widely published in magazines. Many of the stories he wrote used an exaggerated African-American dialect popular at the time; some of his works were dramatized for stage and film, including "Ol' Man Adam and His Chillun'", which became the basis for the 1936 film, The Green Pastures. He served as a consultant to Tulane University's English Department, 1947-1948. Roark Bradford died in New Orleans on November 13, 1948.

Extent

2.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement Note

Box 1 includes personal papers; boxes 2 through 5 contain Bradford’s manuscripts of short stories and articles, and other papers. Several of the manuscripts include marginalia and extensive editing marks. The collection consists of 5 boxes.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Mary Rose Bradford. Date acquired: 12/06/1948.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals expected.

Title
Roark Bradford papers
Author
Eira Tansey
Date
08/02/2011
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Tulane University Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Jones Hall Room 202
6801 Freret Street
New Orleans 70118 US