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A Guide to his Holdings at the Black Film Center/Archive

Finding aid prepared by Mary Huelsbeck/Hannah Caproon/Gabriel Gardner/Stacey Doyle

Summary Information

Repository
Black Film Center/Archive
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library, Room 044
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-6041
Fax: 812-856-5832
Email: bfca@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/~bfca

Creator
St. Clair Bourne

Title
St. Clair Bourne Collection, 1965-2002

Collection No.
Special Collection SCB

Extent
2 boxes

Language
Materials are in English

Abstract
Contains the creative printed works of, and clippings and articles pertaining to, St. Clair Bourne and his works.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Biographical Note

St. Clair Bourne was born on February 16, 1943 in Harlem, New York. While attending Georgetown University in the 1960s, he became active in the peace movement and left college to join the Peace Corps. Stationed in Lima, Peru, Bourne became something of a local celebrity when he took on the editing and publishing duties of the Spanish newspaper El Comeno. His work on the paper led to him being written up in a feature article in Ebony magazine.

After his service, Bourne attended Syracuse University where he graduated in 1967 with a dual degree in Journalism and Political Science. On a scholarship, Bourne continued his education at the Columbia University Graduate School for Arts where he studied filmmaking. He was expelled, however, after his involvement in a peace movement demonstration ended in the takeover of the administration building.

Not long after leaving the University, Bourne was recommended to executive producer, William Greaves, to work on a series called The Black Journal (notable for becoming the first black public affairs television series in the United States) for public television. Bourne started on the series as an associate producer and quickly worked his way up to full producer status. In his three year tenure on the series, Bourne helped the program win an Emmy award and earned himself a John Russworm Citation for Excellence in Broadcasting.

Bourne left the program in 1971 to seek greater challenges and more creative freedom. To this end, he formed his own production company, Chamba. With Chamba, Bourne wrote, produced, and directed award winning and highly acclaimed features and documentaries, such as the 1973 documentary Let the Church Say Amen!. In 1972 Bourne became publisher of the highly regarded newsletter Chamba Notes.

Bourne continued to work in film until his death in 2007.

Scope and Content Note

The St. Clair Bourne Collection serves to collect and preserve the creative printed works of filmmaker St. Clair Bourne as well as maintain an archive of clippings and articles pertaining to Bourne and his various works. The collection is divided into two major series: works that have been produced by St. Clair Bourne and works that have been produced about St. Clair Bourne. Works about St. Clair Bourne includes articles discussing general aspects of Bourne's life and career, including specific projects that he worked on.

Administrative Information

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Topics
  • African American motion picture producers and directors
  • Documentary films-United States
  • Film criticism
  • Independent filmmakers
  • Motion pictures--production and direction

Collection Inventory

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