Table of Contents
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Archives and Special Collections Finding Aids
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| Collection |
| Title: | Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts records |
| Dates: | 1954-1992 |
| Call Number: | M43 |
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Scope and Content Note
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The collection documents the founding, staffing, and management activities of the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts; the school's long history of financial difficulties; and other national and local organizations related to African American culture in theater, music, dance, and the visual arts.
A highlight of the collection is the material relating to the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts' teaching and promotion of African American arts and artistic expression through its educational programs in art, dance, drama, music, and costuming, and a number of other programs the school organized such as Playhouse in the Park and MCI Norfolk Prison Theatre program.
The collection spans 1954-1992. A series of unexplained arson fires at the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of the records from the 1970s have survived; however, some records from the 1980s did not.
Visual materials and materials documenting the school's fund-raising activities, financial operations, and public relations are found in the National Center of Afro-American Artists records (M42). |
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