Special Collections

E. Azalia Hackley Collection

Contact information:

Location:
Main Library, 3rd Floor
Phone:
(313) 833-1460. Fax: (313) 833-5039.
Hours:
Tu, W: 12:00 - 8:00 pm; Th, F, Sa: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Collection Specialist:
Romie Minor
E-mail:
rminor@detroitpubliclibrary.org

Description of Collection:
The E. Azalia Hackley Collection of Negro Music, Dance and Drama was established in 1943 when original materials were presented to the Detroit Public Library by the Detroit Musicians Association to serve as the nucleus for a special black music collection. The first of its kind in the world, the Hackley Collection, named after a Detroit music educator and performer, quickly broadened its scope to include dance, drama and other forms of the performing arts.

Materials and Technology
Many rare books, manuscripts and archives of performing artists are available to serious researchers. The archives include materials on organizations such as the Motown Recording Company, the National Association of Negro Musicians, on dancers Rael Lamb and Lavinia Williams, singer Roland Hayes and many other concert and opera singers.

The Photographic and Print Collection contains items dating from the mid-19th century to the present, including portraits of performers, organizations, vocal and instrumental groups and still photographs from black films and stage productions. Among the many rare items in the collection are an original photograph of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and a large collection of photographs by Carl van Vechten of prominent Black performers. To order photographs click here and complete the Special Collections Reporoduction Permission Form.

The Recorded Sound Collection contains music either performed or composed by Black musicians. Documenting the development of Black music, recordings include African chant, Negro spirituals, ragtime, jazz, gospel, opera, orchestral music, soul and rhythm & blues. Hundreds of examples of "popular music," produced in the middle to late 19th century and based on Negro themes, are similarly preserved in the Sheet Music Collection, along with contemporary "popular music" composed and performed by Black musicians.

The Hackley Collection provides both current and historical information. The reference collection of books, periodicals and musical scores is augmented by a vertical file collection of over 250,000 items. Although the materials in the Hackley Collection are designated "reference" (non-circulating), many items in the book and record collections have been duplicated for circulation in the Music and Performing Arts department. Not all Hackley materials appear in the library's online catalog. Card catalogs, card indexes and finding lists help to locate specific items.

ATTENTION NON-RESIDENT CUSTOMERS
You will need a Library Card or a daily use pass to access materials in the following collections :

Burton Historical Collection
E. Azalia Hackley Collection
National Automotive History Collection

FEES:
A Non-resident library card is $100
A Daily Use Pass is $10.

Related E-Sources

www.theHackley.org
This website is an online database of sheet music from the collection published between 1799 and 1922. Song themes cover early 19th century plantation life in the American South, the Civil War period, and the stereotypical themes associated with black face minstrelsy. Songs of the period composed by African American musicians are included.

www.DetroitEMA.org
On June 11, 2005, the Hackley Collection announced the creation of the Detroit Electronic Music Archive. DEMA will document, collection, preserve, and disseminate information about Electronic Music, a music form birthed in the city of Detroit by Detroit musicians.