Gwendolyn Brooks Collection, 1909-2003 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Title: Gwendolyn Brooks Collection, 1909-2003

Predominant Dates:bulk 1960-2000

ID: 01/01/MSS00086

Primary Creator: Brooks, Gwendolyn (1917-2000)

Extent: 200.0 Linear Feet

Date Acquired: 09/19/2013

Subjects: Poets, American - 20th century

Languages: English

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) was an American poet and educator born in Topeka, Kansas and raised on the South Side of Chicago. In 1950, Brooks was the first Black person to win a Pulitzer Prize in any category, receiving the award in Poetry for Annie Allen (1949). Brooks was a beloved mentor to many poets and artists from the Black Arts movement, and started the Illinois Poet Laureate Awards to encourage poetry writing amongst young people. During her life, Brooks received numerous accolades for her work, including her appointment as Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 and Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (now the Poet Laureate of the United States) in 1985.

This collection contains materials that were collected by Gwendolyn Brooks throughout her life and professional career. Formats include correspondence; poetry and prose drafts; interview transcripts; notebooks and loose notes and jottings; photos and scrapbooks; drawings; calendars and diet books; public engagements files and teaching materials; awards, honorary degrees, and doctoral hoods; newspapers and news clippings; A/V media; realia; and ephemera. The collection also contains volumes, pamphlets, and periodicals from Brooks's personal library, as well as related materials collected by RBML ("Supplementary Material").

This record does not contain collection content for the first series of the Gwendolyn Brooks Collection. Series 1, which contains alphabetical correspondence and correspondence files, was separated from the rest of the collection in an attempt to improve load times. Click here to view series 1 (temporarily MS00086a).

Poet Gwendolyn Brooks was born to parents David Anderson and Keziah Wims Brooks on June 7, 1917 in Topeka, Kansas. A few weeks later, her family moved to Chicago where she would live for the rest of her life. Brooks began writing at an early age and was encouraged by her mother saying, "You are going to be the lady Paul Laurence Dunbar." When she was 13, her poem "Evening" was published in the children's magazine American Childhood [1]. By the time she graduated high school, Brooks had published over one hundred poems in the "Lights and Shadows" poetry column of the Chicago Defender [2]. After high school, Brooks graduated from a two-year program at Wilson Junior College [3]. In 1939, she married Henry Blakely, Jr. whom she met after joining the Chicago NAACP Youth Council. They soon had their first child, Henry III, and later their daughter, Nora.

Early in her career, Brooks was encouraged by poet James Weldon Johnson and Harlem Renaissance writers Langston Hughes and Richard Wright [4]. In her work, Brooks drew inspiration from her life and surroundings in Chicago. Her first book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville (1945), received praise for its authentic portraits of the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. Her second collection of poems, Annie Allen (1949), chronicles the life of a young Black Bronzeville girl. It was for this book that Brooks won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, making her the first Black person to win the award in any category [5].

In the 1960s, Brooks work became more overtly political as she became close with activists and writers involved in the Black Arts Movement, a group of artists whose work reflected the cultural side of the growing Black Power movement [6]. She became especially close with Haki Madhubuti, to whom she became both a mentor and a mother figure. Soon Brooks began working exclusively with Black publishers, especially Broadside Press, founded by her close friend Dudley Randall, and Third World Press, founded by Madhubuti. In the 1980s, Brooks also established her own imprint called The David Company.

Throughout her long career, Brooks published more than twenty books of poetry, including The Bean Eaters (1960), Selected Poems (1963), In the Mecca (1968), Riot (1969), Family Pictures (1970), Aloneness (1971), Beckonings (1975), To Disembark (1981), Black Love (1982), The Near-Johannesburg Boy and Other Poems (1986), Blacks (1987), Gottschalk and the Grand Tarantelle (1988), Winnie (1988), and Children Coming Home (1991). She also published one novel, Maud Martha (1953), as well as children's literature such as Bronzeville Boys and Girls (1956) and The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves (1974). Brooks also published two autobiographies, Report from Part One (1972), and Report from Part Two (1995).

In addition to her writing, Brooks taught poetry and creative writing at numerous colleges and universities. In 1990, the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing was founded at Chicago State University, where Brooks served as distinguished professor and writer-in-residence [7]. Brooks influenced generations of writers, not only with her words, but with her actions. For most of the year, she traveled the country to perform her poetry for children of all ages as well as at universities, public libraries, hospitals, and prisons. As she especially encouraged young poets, Brooks sponsored youth poetry awards for over thirty years. Renowned for her generosity, Brooks dedicated her life to promoting the value of poetry and inspiring young writers.

Brooks was the recipient of more than seventy-five honorary doctorates and countless accolades [8]. In 1968, she was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois, a position which she held until her death in 2000 [9]. In 1985, Brooks was selected for an honorary one-year term as the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress [10]. She received lifetime achievement awards from both the National Endowment for the Arts in 1989 and the National Book Foundation in 1994. Brooks then received the National Endowment for the Humanities' highest honor when she was named the 1994 Jefferson Lecturer. The next year, Brooks received the National Medal of Arts.

Today, Gwendolyn Brooks' legacy persists as one of the most significant poets of the twentieth century, because of both her contribution to American literature and her kindness and generosity, especially toward young poets and authors of color.

Poets, American - 20th century

Repository: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Acquisition Source: Nora Brooks Blakely

Related Materials:

Celebrating Brooks @ 100

Gwendolyn Brooks Supplementary Materials

Gwendolyn Brooks Collection (Sc MG 271) | New York Public Library

Gwendolyn Brooks Papers (BANC MSS 2001/83 z) | University of California, Berkeley

Dudley Randall Papers (2017014 Aa 2) | University of Michigan

Sterling Plumpp Collection (MUM00368) | University of Mississippi

Useni Eugene Perkins Papers (2014/01) | Chicago Public Library

Finding Aid Revision History: This finding aid is experiencing ongoing revision, beginning in June 2023.

Box and Folder Listing

Series 19: Works of Others

Box 612

Folder 1: Adams, Jeanette, 1985, undated

Folder 2: Adisa, Opal Palmer, 1985, undated

Folder 3: Allard, Lloyd, 1997

Folder 4: Al-Shabazz, Alexander, 1977

Folder 5: Anderson, JoAnn, 1973

Folder 6: Anderson, Mary, 1936

Folder 7: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1990-1991

Folder 8: Baraka, Amiri, 1989

Folder 9: Becker, Stanli K., undated

Folder 10: Belafonte, Beverly, undated

Folder 11: Bell, Earl, 1985

Folder 12: Benoist, Jane F., undated

Folder 13: Betts, Donnie L., 2000

Folder 14: Black Action Affairs Council, 1977

Folder 15: Bolden, Terence L., 1997

Folder 16: Borgeson, Claire, 1998

Folder 17: Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1967-1970

Folder 18: Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1971-1973

Folder 19: Brooks Biography, undated

Folder 20: Billone, Amy, 1985

Folder 21: Burgest, Mwalimu David R., 1992

Folder 22: Burke, David, 1969

Folder 23: Burnett, Denise Alexander, 1973

Folder 24: Burroughs, Margaret T., 2000

Folder 25: Busailah, R., undated

Folder 26: Bush, Michelle, 2000

Folder 27: Bynum, S. Angela, 1994

Folder 28: Bynum, S. Angela, 1997

Folder 29: Caddie, undated

Folder 30: Cage, Tameka L., undated

Folder 31: Campbell, Alex, undated

Folder 32: Cargas, Harry James, 1975

Folder 33: Carroll, Paul, 1991

Folder 34: Chambers, Kenneth L., 1975

Box 613

Folder 1: Chicago State University, 1996-1997

Folder 2: Chicago State University, 1996-1997

Folder 3: Citizens Committee on the Juvenile Court, undated

Folder 4: Clarke, Cheryl, undated

Folder 5: Clarke, Evelyn, 1972

Folder 6: Collier, Eugenia, 1974

Folder 7: Collins, Janis, undated

Folder 8: Concerned Citizens Council for Executive Clemency for George E. Harris, Jr., 1977

Folder 9: Copernicus School, 1979

Folder 10: Corley, Cheryl, 1997

Folder 11: Crump, Paul, 1974

Folder 12: cummings, e. e., undated

Folder 13: Davidson, Aurelia, undated

Folder 14: Davis, Christopher Olga, 1990

Folder 15: Dennan, Dot, undated

Folder 16: Denny Middle School, undated

Folder 17: DePillars, Murry, 1997

Folder 18: Derricotte, Toi, undated

Folder 19: Dewey, Anne, 1994

Folder 20: Disroe, Peggy Anne, 1976

Folder 21: Dobson, Frank E., undated

Folder 22: Dobson, Regina, 1981

Folder 23: Donovan, Kathie, undated

Folder 24: Dove, Rita, undated

Folder 25: Drafts, C. Gene, 1973

Folder 26: Drake, Jeannette, 1984

Folder 27: Dungey, Melba, 1977

Folder 28: DuSable High School Students, 1985

Folder 29: Ebony Magazine, undated

Folder 30: Ellis, Thomas Sayers, 2000

Folder 31: Ethelbert, Miller E., 1992-1993

Folder 32: Feirstein, Sacha, 1994

Folder 33: Finley-Jackson, Deborah, undated

Folder 34: Finner-Erby, Deneen, undated

Folder 35: Fougère, Elisabeth, undated

Folder 36: French, Porter, 1973

Box 614

Folder 1: Georgoudaki, Ekaterini, 1999

Folder 2: Gilbert, El, 1973

Folder 3: Gildzen, Alex, 1970

Folder 4: Gildzen, Alex, undated

Folder 5: Godfrey, W. H., 1983

Folder 6: Goss, Yolanda, undated

Folder 7: Gotera, Vince, 1994

Folder 8: Gray, Albert, undated

Folder 9: Gray, Roberta P., 1997

Folder 10: Greene, Marvin L., 1994-1996

Folder 11: Grieve, Julie, 1997

Folder 12: Guardarrama, L., undated

Folder 13: Guillory, Dan, 1988

Folder 14: Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School, undated

Folder 15: Hakim, Ragu A., 1975

Folder 16: Harper, Michael S., undated

Folder 17: Harris-Azor, Sherelle "I.C.Y.", 1999

Folder 18: Hayden, Erma, 1984

Folder 19: Henderson, Bill, 1991

Folder 20: Henry, undated

Folder 21: Herling, Kimberly J., undated

Folder 22: Hewitt, Chris, undated

Folder 23: Hillel, Harold, undated

Folder 24: Hines, Edgar Ignatius, undated

Folder 25: Holman, Bob, 1990

Folder 26: Holy Name Cathedral School, 1994

Folder 27: Hord, Fred, undated

Folder 28: Houston, Georgia, 1982

Folder 29: Hubbard, Stacy Carson, undated

Folder 30: Illinois Children’s School & Rehabilitation Center, 1990-1991

Folder 31: Israel, Charles, undated

Folder 32: James III, Richard C., 1971

Folder 33: Johnson, D. Wayne, undated

Box 615

Folder 1: Johnson, Keith "K. J.", undated

Folder 2: Jones, Eldred D., undated

Folder 3: Jones, Jennifer Rochelle, undated

Folder 4: Jordan, June, 1973

Folder 5: Joseph, Stephen, 1977

Folder 6: Jurek, Richard, 1993

Folder 7: Kafka, Franz, undated

Folder 8: Keillor, Garrison, 2000

Folder 9: Kent, George, 1971

Folder 10: Kent, George, 1973

Folder 11: Kinder, Jeanne, undated

Folder 12: Kingswood-Oxford Senior Symposium Classes, undated

Folder 13: Knight, Etheridge, 1985, undated

Folder 14: Knowledge, D., undated

Folder 15: Kohl, John, undated

Folder 16: Krieger, Milton, 1977

Folder 17: Lane, Pinkie Gordon, 1974

Folder 18: Lane, Pinkie Gordon, undated

Folder 19: Langley, John H., 1970

Folder 20: Lansana, Quraysh Ali, 1998

Folder 21: Lappin, Brent, undated

Box 616

Folder 1: LaBelle, Patti, 1990

Folder 2: Lindberg, Kathryne Victoria, undated

Folder 3: Literary Circle, 1968

Folder 4: Liu, Jaiping, 1997

Folder 5: Logan, Wendell, undated

Folder 6: Madhubuti, Haki (Don L. Lee), 1969

Folder 7: Mahler, Mary Ann, undated

Folder 8: Malouf, Diana, undated

Folder 9: Maris, Cathy, 1985

Folder 10: Martin, Herbert Woodward, 1974

Folder 11: Matthews, Richard, undated

Folder 12: McCarthy, Mary, undated

Folder 13: McLin, Lena, 1972

Folder 14: Melhem, D. H., 1976, undated

Folder 15: Melhem, D. H., 1988

Folder 16: Melhem, D. H., 1994

Folder 17: Melhem, D. H., undated

Folder 18: Metzger, Sue, 1994

Folder 19: Miller, Baxter R., 1978

Folder 20: Miss Hudson's Reading Group, 1969

Folder 21: Mitchell, D., undated

Folder 22: Mitchell, Schery Beth, 1974

Folder 23: Monroe, William, undated

Folder 24: Montgomery Place Poetry Group, 1996-1997

Folder 25: Moore, Leonard D., undated

Folder 26: Moroney, Jeffery, 1991

Folder 27: Munsterman, John H. ("B. J."), undated

Folder 28: Murphy, Richard, undated

Folder 29: Mwandishe, Kuweka Amiri, 1971

Folder 30: Nicks, Peter Olivera, 1997

Folder 31: Okantah, Mwataba, 1977

Folder 32: Pachter, Gillian, 1996

Folder 33: Parker, Deborah, 1985

Folder 34: Perkins, Annie S., undated

Folder 35: Perkins, Useni Eugene, 1973

Folder 36: Perkins, Useni Eugene, 1999

Box 617

Folder 1: Perry, J. D., 1972

Folder 2: Perry, Margaret, 1990

Folder 3: Petrakis, Harry Mark, undated

Folder 4: Pierce, Edith Lovejoy, 1957

Folder 5: Pierce, Edith Lovejoy, undated

Folder 6: Piper, David, 1976

Folder 7: Plath, Zarina Mullan, 1997, undated

Folder 8: Pleasant Hill Poetry Club, 1990-1991

Folder 9: Plumpp, Sterling D., 1977

Folder 10: Plumpp, Sterling D., 1984, undated

Folder 11: Poethig, Margaret Juliet, 1983

Folder 12: Randall, Dudley, 1968

Folder 13: Randall, Dudley, 1971

Folder 14: Randall, Dudley, undated

Folder 15: Ranney, Edward, undated

Folder 16: Raphael, Carol, 1993

Folder 17: Rawlinson, undated

Folder 18: Ray, Alvin, 1968

Folder 19: Rodgers, Carolyn, 1971

Folder 20: Roffman, Rosaly DeMaios, undated

Folder 21: Rowley, Rosemarie, undated

Folder 22: Sandburg, Carl, undated

Folder 23: Sandburg, Carl, undated

Folder 24: Schlutow, Pat, undated

Folder 25: Saloy, Mona Lisa, 1995-1996

Box 618

Folder 1: Sarton, May, 1993

Folder 2: Senne, Meadal Denise, undated

Folder 3: Seufert, Robert, 1970

Folder 4: Shabazz, Rashid, 1994

Folder 5: Shaffer, Richard, 1985

Folder 6: Simmons, Cheryl L., undated

Folder 7: Skinner, Cheryl L., 1997

Folder 8: Smiley, Tavis, undated

Folder 9: Smith, Ann E., 1977

Folder 10: Smith, Gary, 1983

Folder 11: Stein, Susan E., 1989

Folder 12: Steinacker, Marie, undated

Folder 13: Stetz, Margaret D., undated

Folder 14: Stewart, Joffre, undated

Folder 15: Strive Literary Review, 1997

Folder 16: Sutton, I., 1978

Folder 17: Tann, Eileen, 1974

Folder 18: Tate, undated

Folder 19: Taylor, Henry, 1991

Folder 20: Taylor, Rockie (Tejumola Ologboni), 1971

Folder 21: Thomas, Mark, undated

Folder 22: Thompson, Karen, 1995

Folder 23: Thornton, Mae Pearl, undated

Folder 24: Tillman, Ebony, 1977

Folder 25: Travis, undated

Folder 26: Turner-Barnes, Sandra, 2000

Folder 27: Vertreace, Martha Modena, undated

Folder 28: Walker, Nicholas, undated

Box 619

Folder 1: Wallace, Eleanor D., undated

Folder 2: Ware, K. L., 1981

Folder 3: Warren, Nagueyalti, 1992

Folder 4: Warren, Robert Penn, 1976

Folder 5: Weaver, Michael S., undated

Folder 6: Webster Fabio, Sarah, undated

Folder 7: Weisser, Mikel, 1994

Folder 8: Wendt, Albert, 1973

Folder 9: Williams, Randall, undated

Folder 10: Wims, Annette, undated

Folder 11: Worthen, W. B., 1988

Folder 12: Wright, Stephen Caldwell, undated

Folder 13: WTTW Chicago, 1993

Folder 14: Wymbs, Robert Lee, 1991

Folder 15: X, Hurley (Smith), 1974

Folder 16: Multiple Authors, Igloria, Luisa and Renee Olander, 2000

Folder 17: Multiple Authors, Lennon, John and Paul McCartney, undated

Folder 18: Multiple Authors, Walton, Clyde C. and Ralph B. Newman, undated

Folder 19: Multiple Authors, undated

Includes Malzahn, Sue; Henning, Brian; Lyons, Tom; Gustin, Richard; Stieber, Anne; Babino, Daniel; Ludwig, John; Tenuts, Jim; Quanderer, Mark; Busch, Kurt W.; Kehl, Betty; Swenson, Kim; Swartz, David; Perkins, Jean; and Frazier, D.

Folder 20: Multiple Authors, undated

Includes Sharp, Saundra; Touré, Askia M.; Traylor, Eleanor; West, Sandra; Williams, Kimmika L. H.; Woods, Alfred L.; Wright, Stephen Caldwell; and Zulauf, Sander

Folder 21: Multiple Authors, undated

Includes Rodgers, Carolyn; Mishkin, Arlene; Doughty Miller, Marjorie; Thomas, Jeff; and Joos, Betty

Box 620

Folder 1: Multiple Authors, Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1965-1966

Includes Lee, Don L.; Walker, Margaret; Fields, Julia; Tolson, M. B.; Jones, Leroi; and Hayden, Robert

Folder 2: Multiple Authors, Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1965-1968

Includes Danner, Margaret; Long Madgett, Naomi; Brooks, Gwendolyn; Randall, Dudley; and Moore, Jerry

Folder 3: Multiple Authors, Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1965-1968

Includes Patterson, Raymond; Randall, Dudley; Burroughs, Margaret; Brooks, Gwendolyn; and Toomer, Jean

Folder 4: Multiple Authors, Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1966-1968

Includes Brooks, Gwendolyn; Lee, Don L.; Emanuel, James A.; and Lawrence, Harold G.

Folder 5: Multiple Authors, Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1966-1972

Includes Graham, Le; Brooks, Gwendolyn; Webster Fabio, Sarah; Giovanni, Nikki; and Lawrence, Harold G.

Folder 6: Multiple Authors, Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1967-1968

Includes Randall, Dudley; Burroughs, Margaret; Hughes, Langston; Reese, S. Carolyn; Knight, Etheridge; Lee, Don L.; and Hamilton, Bobb

Folder 7: Multiple Authors, Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1968

Includes Knight, Etheridge

Folder 8: Multiple Authors, Broadside Press Broadside Series, 1968

Includes Bennett Hopkins, Lee and catalogs

Folder 9: Multiple Authors, Broadside Press Broadside Series, undated

Includes "Broadside Press Broadside Series" folder

Folder 10: Multiple Authors, "Very Important Class Poems. 'Nixon-Death'", 1994

Class poems from workshop

Folder 11: Derivative Works, Brooks, Gwendolyn and Oscar Brown, Jr., 1962

Folder 12: Derivative Works, Brooks, Gwendolyn and Oscar Brown, Jr., 1962

Folder 13: Derivative Works, Brooks, Gwendolyn and Motojicho, 1976

Folder 14: Unidentified, "All Done", undated

Folder 15: Unidentified, undated

Works of art

Folder 16: Unidentified, "Desiderata", undated

Folder 17: Unidentified, "Keepsakes", 1969

Folder 18: Unidentified, "On the Occasion of Meeting Miss Gwendolyn Brooks for the First Time", 1979

Folder 19: Unidentified, "The Royal Guest and His Horse", undated

Folder 20: Unidentified, Poems, undated

Folder 21: Unidentified, Prose, undated

Folder 22: Unidentified, undated

Work of art

Folder 23: Unidentified, "Chapter Four, 1984", 1984

Folder 24: Unidentified, undated

Folder 25: Unidentified, "'My Soul’s High Song:' Selected Poetry and Prose of Countee Cullen", undated

Folder 26: Unidentified, undated