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A Guide to Her Holdings at the Indiana University Black Film Center/Archive

Finding aid prepared by BFC/A Staff

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University 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
Smith, Mary Perry, 1926-2015
Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Inc.

Collection No.
COL 5

Extent
5 boxes

Language
Materials are in English

Abstract
This series contains correspondence sent and received by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame since its inception in 1974 until the effective end of operations in 2007.

Access Restrictions

The materials in this series are open to the public.

Administrative History

The Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Inc. (BFHFI) was founded in Oakland, California in 1974. The BFHFI began as a collaboration among Roy Thomas from the Afro-American Studies Department at UC-Berkeley, Mary Perry Smith, who was the co-chairperson of the Cultural and Ethnic Affairs Guild and at the Oakland Museum, and Sonny Buxton of the San Francisco Bay Area station KGO-TV.

The BFHFI identified itself as an organization "dedicated to influencing Black images portrayed in film and television through education, the nurturing of current independent filmmakers and the preservation of contributions by Black artists" (BFHFI 20th Anniversary Celebration Program). Throughout its existence the BFHFI presented award ceremonies honoring contemporary and historic figures in black filmmaking. Notable programs established by the BFHFI include the Oscar Micheaux Awards Ceremony, the International Black Film, Video & Screenplay Competition, the Black Filmworks International Film Festival, and the Sidney Poitier Fellowship. Additionally, educational programs, various symposia, and lecture series on black film were conducted throughout the life of the organization.

The BFHFI initially operated in partnership with the Oakland Museum, later incorporating itself as an independent, non-profit organization in 1978. Attempts to establish a dedicated museum and permanent home for the BFHFI were ultimately unsuccessful, although the BFHFI did begin acquisition of collections for this proposed museum.

The final Oscar Micheaux Awards ceremony was held in 1993, the 20th anniversary of the founding of the event. The BFHFI continued to present the Black Filmworks International Film Festival and Black Independent Film, Video & Screenplay Competition through 2003.

For a more detailed administrative history, a biography for Mary Perry Smith, and a listing of other series, please see collection overview ( http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/bfca/VAD4347).

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following with this series containing nine subseries:

Scope and Content Note

This series contains correspondence sent and received by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame since its inception in 1974 until the effective end of operations in 2007.

Subseries 9.1 consists predominantly of correspondence sent to celebrities regarding their induction into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. In some instances, the series also includes the response received back from inductees or (more frequently) sent on their behalf by their agents. An indication of whether the correspondence was sent and/or received by the BFHFI is indicated for each folder.

Subseries 9.2 includes correspondence from the BFHFI's board president and staff members. The primary people represented are James Cole (president from 1981-1982), Mary P. Smith in various official capacities, Cheryl Fabio-Bradford (1990-1992), and James Shabazz (1983-1888).

Subseries 9.3--9.9 are loosely organized by correspondent, topic, or event as indicated by each subseries title.

Given the complicated nature of the collection, it was not always possible to extract correspondence directly related to specific BFHFI events and actives into the correspondence series, so much of it still resides within the folders for those events and activities (see main collection overview at http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/bfca/VAD4347) When possible, the existence of significant correspondence has been indicated in the item description. Internal correspondence/memos may be found in the Board and Committee Documents series.

Related material

Additional correspondence related to the 1975 and 1991 Oscar Micheaux Awards Ceremonies is located in the Belva Davis and William Moore Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Archives Collection (COL 4), which is also held by the BFC/A ( http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/archives/VAD4434).

• Indexing Terms

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

• • Topics
  • Blacks in the motion picture industry
  • Motion pictures--Congresses
• • Genres
  • Records (Documents)
  • Business correspondence

Administrative Information

Collection Inventory