Elma
Stuckey papers, 1895-2001 (bulk 1940s-1988)
Descriptive
Inventory for the Collection at Chicago History Museum, Research Center
Please
address questions to:
Chicago
History Museum, Research Center
1601
North Clark Street
Chicago,
IL 60614-6038
Web-site:
http://www.chicagohistory.org/research
©
Copyright 2007, Chicago Historical Society
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Title: Elma Stuckey papers [manuscript], 1895-2001 (bulk
1940s-1988).
Main
entry: Stuckey, Elma, 1907-1988
Inclusive dates: 1895-2001 (bulk 1940s-1988).
Size: 9.5 linear ft. (23 boxes)
1 oversize folder.
8 sound recordings. (Original).
15 sound cassettes. (Original).
Restriction: Original
sound recordings may not be played. It is necessary to have a research copy
made for listening purposes.
Accession #: 1998.0154 (most of the collection); 2000.0091.1 (most of
boxes 20-21); 2005.0071 (interfiled items); 2009.0108.1 (most of boxes 22-23);
2008.0012.1 (box 23).
Provenance
statement: Gift of Dr. P. Sterling Stuckey
(1998.0154; 2000.0091; 2005.0071; 2008.0012.1; and 2009.0108.1).
Terms governing use: Copyright owned by Dr. P. Sterling Stuckey
was retained by him. The Rights & Reproductions Dept., Chicago History Museum,
may make copies of collection items but may not authorize any person to
reproduce, disseminate, or publish collection items.
Please cite this collection as: Elma Stuckey
papers (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and
box/folder number of a specific item.
This descriptive inventory contains the
following sections:
Summary
description of the collection,
Description
of some material related to the collection,
List
of online catalog headings about the collection,
Arrangement
of the collection,
Detailed
description of archival series in the collection,
List
of contents of the collection.
Summary
description of the collection:
Autobiography; biography by her
son, Sterling Stuckey; manuscripts of published and unpublished poetry by Elma
Stuckey, and reviews and commentaries on her work; correspondence; incoming
greeting cards, financial and medical records, and other papers of Stuckey, a
Chicago resident who became famous for her poetry, which often dealt with
slavery and its legacy in the United States.
Correspondents include her son
(especially while he served in the U.S. Army, 1956-1957); her daughter, Delois
Jean Stuckey Morrison; her aunt, Vivian E. Johnson Cook, known as "Aunt
Sweet," 1914-1977; her brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Clifford
Johnson. Also present are materials relating to her husband, Ples Sterling
Stuckey; correspondence between Evelyn V. Johnson, James Thomas Johnson ca.
1920s-1950s, and other relatives; and Sterling Stuckey's correspondence
relative to his efforts to promote his mother's literary career and public
renown, ca. 1970-2001.
Some materials relate to Memphis,
Tennessee, where Elma Stuckey was born and several Johnson family members
resided. Includes items about the family's interest in Manassas High School
(Memphis), which Elma Stuckey attended. The school was founded by African
Americans, including Spencer Johnson, and celebrated its centennial in 1999.
Correspondence
with Vivian Cook is primarily in the form of photocopies.
Biographical
information: Elma Stuckey was born 1907
March 15 and died 1988 Sept. 25.
Accession #: 1998.0154 (most of the collection);
Accession #: 2000.0091.1 (most of boxes 20-21);
Accession #: 2005.0071:
(box 1 folders 1, 8-9, 11; box 2
folder 6; box 6 folder 9; box 19 folders 1, 5; box 20 folder 1; box 21 folder
10);
Accession #: 2009.0108.1: (most of boxes 22-23);
Accession #: 2008.0012.1:
(box 23).
Description
of some materials related to the collection:
Related material at Chicago
History Museum, Research Center, includes the Sterling Stuckey papers; the Elma
Stuckey family photograph collection (1998.0154); the Elma Stuckey photograph
collection (2005.0071); and publications cataloged separately. Related
artifacts also are held by Chicago History Museum and listed at the end of this
document.
List of online catalog headings about the
collection:
The following headings were placed
in the online catalog of Chicago History Museum:
Subject entries:
Cook, Vivian E. Johnson.
Johnson, Clifford.
Johnson, Clifford, Mrs.
Johnson, Evelyn V.
Johnson family.
Johnson, Fred.
Johnson, Mollie Stafford.
Johnson, Spencer.
Morrison, Delois Jean Stuckey,
1929-1979
Stuckey, Elma,
1907-1988--Correspondence.
Stuckey, Elma,
1907-1988--Criticism and interpretation.
Stuckey, Sterling
Stuckey, Ples Sterling, 1904-1975.
Thomas, James Thomas.
Manassas High School (Memphis,
Tenn.)
African American
families--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.
African American
families--Tennessee--Memphis--20th century.
African American women
poets--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.
American poetry--African American
authors--20th century.
Poets, American--20th century.
Slavery--United States--Poetry.
Chicago (Ill.)--Intellectual
life--20th century.
Chicago (Ill.)--Social
conditions--20th century.
Memphis (Tenn.)--Social
conditions--20th century.
Form/genre:
Autobiographies.
Biographies.
Christmas cards.
Greeting cards.
Manuscripts (for publication).
Marriage certificates.
Poems.
Photocopies.
Added entries:
Cook, Vivian E. Johnson.
Johnson, Clifford.
Johnson, Clifford, Mrs.
Johnson, Evelyn V.
Morrison, Delois Jean Stuckey,
1929-1979
Roediger, David,
Stuckey, Sterling
Terkel, Studs, 1912-
Thomas, James Thomas.
United States--Illinois--Cook
County--Chicago.
List of contents of the collection:
Box 1
folders:
1 Handwritten and typed poetry 1938, 1945,
1976, 1978, undated
2
Autobiography
3
Biography by Sterling Stuckey
4
David Roediger’s Winter 1977 Black
American Literature Forum article on Elma Stuckey
5
David Roediger’s March-April 1977 Negro
History Bulletin article on Elma Stuckey
6
Miriam De Costa Willis’ 1993-1994 articles on Elma Stuckey
7
Miriam De Costa Willis’ June 1995 CLA article on Elma Stuckey
8
American National Biography:
Elma Stuckey, Vivian Cook 1998
9
The Big Gate: Correspondence,
reviews, comments from scholars, etc. 1975-1979, undated
10
Evaluation of Elma Stuckey’s Poetry, Big
Gate introduction by Stephen Henderson 1976, 1981, 1988, undated
11
Tributes 1983-2001, undated
12
Published Poetry: The Pan
Africanist, March 1971, n. 1, v. 1
13
Published Poetry: The Pan
Africanist, June 1971, n. 1, v. 2
14
Published Poetry: Journal of Black
Poetry, Summer 1972, v. 1, n. 16
Box 2
folders:
1
Published Poetry: Black Lines,
Spring 1973, v.2, n. 3
2
Published Poetry: Black American
Literature Forum, Winter 1983, v. 17, n. 4
3
Published Poetry: Quilt 4,
1984
4
The Collected Poems: Cover
art, undated
5
Address book
6
Address book
7
Addresses
8
Bible Promise book, inscribed March 15, 1987
9
Books inscribed to Elma Stuckey (B-F)
10
Books inscribed to Elma Stuckey (H-K)
11
Sterling Stuckey’s army letters to his mother Elma, 1956 July-December
12
Sterling Stuckey’s army letters to his mother Elma, 1957 January-April
13
Sterling Stuckey-Elma Stuckey correspondence 1972-1988
14
Elma Stuckey letters to Vivian E. Johnson Cook "Aunt Sweet"
1946-1960
Box 3
folders:
1
Elma Stuckey letters to Vivian E. Johnson Cook "Aunt Sweet"
1948-1977 (photocopies only)
2
Sterling Stuckey letters to Vivian E. Johnson Cook "Aunt Sweet"
1947-1958, 1974 (photocopies only)
3 Willard J. Johnson letters to Elma Stuckey
1959-1960 (photocopies only)
4
Elma Stuckey’s telegram (March 3, 1932) to her husband regarding
Sterling’s birth
5
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1936-1959
6
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1960-1967
7
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1968-1969
8
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1970
9
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1971
10
Studs Terkel material 1971-1973
11
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1972-1974
12
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1975-1976
13
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1977-1978
14
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1979
15
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1980
16
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1981 Jan-May
Box 4
folders:
1
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1981 June-Dec
2
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1982 Jan-May
3
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1982 June-Dec
4
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1983-1984
5
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1985-1986
6
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1987 Jan-Sept
7
Elma Stuckey's Guggenheim application 1987 October-1988 March
8
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1987 Oct-Dec
9
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1988 Jan-Apr
10
Elma Stuckey autograph party 1988
May 20
11
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers 1988 May-Dec, 1989 July
12
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers Undated items
13
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers Undated items
14
Elma Stuckey correspondence and other papers Undated items
Box 5
folders:
1
Mother’s Day and Birthday cards, undated
2
Christmas cards, Undated
3
Christmas cards, Undated
4
Crossword puzzle books
5
"Welcome Elma Stuckey" paper banner, Undated
6
Condolences 1988
7
Condolences 1988
8
Condolences 1988
9
Condolences 1988
Unfoldered: Condolences 1988
Box 6
folders:
1
Elma Stuckey’s funeral and burial, 1988 October 1
2
Obituaries, September, 1988
3-5 Memorial service for Elma Stuckey, 1988 Nov.
12, Woodson Regional Library
6
Memphis Black Writers’ Workshop, 1989 Jan 20-21
7
The Life and Work of the Poet Elma Stuckey program, 1992 Sept. 12,
Woodson Regional Library
8
"Ladies in Writing," by Bernice Herman
9
Correspondence, clips sent to Sterling Stuckey 1960s-1970s
10
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1970-1978
11
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1980-1982
12
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1983-1985
13
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1986
14
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1987 Jan-Aug
15
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1987 Sept-Dec
16
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1988 Jan-Sept
17
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1992
Box 7
folders:
1
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1988 October-December
2
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1989 January-March
3
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1989 April-June
4
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1989 July-December
5
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1990
6
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1991
7
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1992 January-September
8
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1992 October-December
9
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1993 January-May
10
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1993 June-December
11
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry 1994-1997
12
Sterling Stuckey correspondence about his mother’s poetry, Undated items
Box 8
folders:
1
Ples Sterling Stuckey (Elma’s husband, b. Aug. 89, 1904-d. Nov. 9,
1975) 1958-1985
2
Ples Sterling Stuckey death and funeral 1975
3
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison (Elma’s daughter, b. Jan 17, 1929-d. Aug
12, 1979) 1945-1951
4
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison 1952
5
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison 1956-1971
6
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison 1977-1979 May, undated items
7
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison death and funeral 1979 August; 1985
monument
8
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison 1979-1982
9
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison poetry
10
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison cancelled checks, bills, etc. 1969-1981
11
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison medical bills, receipts, etc. 1978
12
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison
medical bills, receipts, etc. 1979-1980
Boxes
9-10 Financial papers
Boxes
11-12 Medical matters
Box 13
folders:
1 Undated
ms. of "Black Woman" poem
2-17 Elma
Stuckey poetry and other writings
18 Poetry
by Elma Stuckey for "Ribbons and Lace"?; Louise Bennet poem
Box 14
folders:
1 Elma
Stuckey poetry
2-7 Elma
Stuckey poetry The Big Gate
Box 15
folders:
1-7 Poetry by Elma Stuckey "Ribbons and Lace";
2 copies of The Collected Poems
Box 16 Poetry Prize
Fund
Box
17 Mr. & Mrs. Clifford Johnson
(Elma’s brother and sister-in-law)
Box
18 Mr. & Mrs. Clifford Johnson
holiday cards
Box 19
folders:
1
Arkansas marriage certificate for Fred Johnson [Johntson (sic)] and Mollie Stafford 1895
2
Vivian E. Johnson Cook "Aunt Sweet" 1914-1955 (photocopies
only)
3
Vivian E. Johnson Cook "Aunt Sweet" 1956-1969 (photocopies
only)
4
Vivian E. Johnson Cook "Aunt Sweet" 1970-1976 & undated
(photocopies only)
5
Vivian E. Johnson Cook "Home Fires" 1957, 1961
6
Vivian E. Johnson Cook "Aunt Sweet" her estate (photocopies
only)
7 Ralph Cook (Vivian’s husband) 1944-1949
(photocopies only)
8
Evelyn V. Johnson 1931-1955?
(photocopies only)
9
James Thomas Johnson (chiefly letters to his sister Evelyn V. Johnson
1925-1951 (photocopies only).
10
Family funeral programs and obituaries
11
Family history
12
Family members
13
Family members-Byas
14
Family members-Cynthia Gregory
15
Family members-Lane family 1908-1913
16
Family members: Manassas High School, Memphis, Tennessee
17
Family reunions
Box 20 (accn. 2000.0091.1 &
2005.0071)
folders:
1
Misc. papers 1948-1979 &
undated
2
Misc. papers 1960-1979
3
Misc. papers 1980-1982
4
Misc. papers 1983-1988
5
Misc. papers 1990-August 1998
6
Misc. papers September-December
1998
7
Misc. papers 1999
8
Misc. papers 2000 & undated
9
Health 1983-1990
10
Insurance and financial 1969-1988
11
Poetry Fund 1990-1995
12
Poetry Fund 1996-1999 &
undated
13
Poetry Fund 2000 Morehouse College correspondence
14
Delois Jean Stuckey Morrison
Box 21 (accn. 2000.0091.1 &
2005.0071)
folders:
1-9 Manassas High School
10
Spencer Johnson, founder of Manassas High School, undated
Box 22 (accn. 2009.0108.1)
folders:
1 Elma Stuckey correspondence, 1961-1992 & undated
2 Elma Stuckey poetry
3 Puryear trial, Memphis, 1937
4 Newspaper clippings: Race relations in Memphis, 1930-1932
5 Letters to and from Sterling Stuckey regarding Elma Stuckey
6 Elma Stuckey biography
7 National Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, Inc.: 2001 inductees
8 Elma Stuckey papers donation to Chicago Historical Society
Box 23 (accn. 2008.0012.1 & 2009.0108.1)
folders:
1 Moorehouse College, Elma Stuckey Poetry Fund
2 Elma Stuckey Poetry Fund financial statements
3 Proposals for Elma Stuckey Poetry Awards
4 The Elma Stuckey Poetry Prizes, Columbia College, Chicago
5 The Life and work of the Poet Elma Stuckey, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago, IL, September 12, 1992
6 Myron Goldsmith
7 Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences Fellow; Stanford, CA; Dedication of Studies 52 and 53 to Elma Stuckey and Vivian E. Johnson Cook
8 "Tribute to the Life of Vivian E. Johnson Cook," Howard University , September 25, 2005
9 The Jean Morrison Award for Teaching
10 Family members
11 Medical matters
12 Miscellaneous and undated items
Oversize folder:
Marriage license for Ples Stuckey
and Elma Earlene Johnson, 1928 June 7.
Elementary school teaching
certificate for Elma E. Johnson, 1926-1930.
Grammar school diploma from
Memphis City Schools for Clifford Theodore Johnson, 1916 June 9.
Audio
tapes received with the collection (accn. 1998.0154):
Restriction: Original sound recordings may not be played. It is necessary
to have a research copy made for listening purposes.
Stored in Mediated Media, Call#: 0MM.63
Audio tapes (reel-to-reel):
1
Elma Stuckey reading poems at Malcolm X college, Chicago.
2
Elma Stuckey on WFMT Chicago’s Fine Arts Station with covering letter
from Dr. Michael Gross of the University of Haifa, June 11,1997.
3
Dramatic reading by Elma Stuckey, Nov. 21, 1968.
4
Elma Stuckey interview on Studs Terkel’s radio program.
5
Elma Stuckey interview on Studs Terkel’s radio program: replacement tape
with note by Lois A. Baum, WFMT, to Elma Stuckey, July 21, 1971.
6
Elma Stuckey, Nov. 12, 1988 #3
7
Black Women.
8
Ms. Stuckey reading poetry.
Audio tapes (cassettes):
9
WFMT radio interview of Elma Stuckey by Studs Terkel. [some sound
interference near end]
10
Studs Terkel interview of Elma Stuckey, March 16, 1961 Show #420
11
Studs Terkel interview of Elma Stuckey (copy)
12
WBEZ Radio Station, ("The Idiom of Slavery: program 23)
13
Elma Stuckey and K. Harris, WHCU Department Black Program, Winter 1978
14
Elma Stuckey, September 1988
15
National Public Radio’s "Horizon-Songs Tell the Story" that
includes an extract from Studs Terkel interview of Elma Stuckey.
16-17 Sterling Stuckey on Radio Station KUCR
(88.3), July 1, 1997. (tapes 1 & 2)
18-19 Sterling Stuckey on Radio Station KUCR
(88.3), July 15, 1997 (tapes 1 & 2)
20-21 Sterling Stuckey on Radio Station KUCR
(88.3), October 28, 1997 (tapes 1 &
2)
22
Sterling Brown on the Spirituals: Color Question Within, Washington,
D.C., Oct 21, 1973 (Sterling and Michael Harper)
23
Northwestern News feed, February 1989.
Black History Month: Sterling Stuckey (4 parts)
Video
cassettes received with the collection (accn. 1998.0154):
Restriction: Original videotapes may not be played. It is necessary to
have a research copy made for listening purposes.
Stored in Mediated Media, Call#: 0MM.63
24
Tribute to Elma Stuckey, Sept 12, 192?
25
"Elma Stuckey," NTSC 525, 90 minute tape, dubbed December
1988.
Photographs received with accn.
1998.0154, 2005.0071, 2009.0107, and 2009.0108 transferred to Prints &
Photographs.
Books
received with accn. 1998.0154 transferred to library:
The Big Gate by Elma
Stuckey, introduction by Stephen E. Henderson, Precedent Publishing, Inc.,
Chicago, 1976
The Collected Poems of Elma Stuckey, introduction by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Precedent Publishing,
Inc., Chicago, 1987
Trouble the Water 250 Years of African-American Poetry, edited and with an introduction by Jerry W. Ward, Jr.,
Penguin Books USA, Inc., New York City, 1997
Black on White, Black Writers on What It Means To Be White, edited and with an introduction by David Roediger,
Shocken Books, New York City, 1998.
Books
received with accn. 2000.0091.1 transferred to library:
The New Cavalcade African American Writing From 1760 to the
Present. Volume 1.
Edited
by Arthur P. Davis, J. Saunders Redding, Joyce Ann Joyce
Washington, D.C.: Howard
University Press, 1991
WPFW 89.3 Poetry Anthology.
Edited by Grace Cavalieri
Washington, D.C.: The Bunny and
the Crocodile Press, 1992
Elma Stuckey's personal effects received with accn.
1998.0154 transferred to Decorative &
Industrial Arts:
.26 Hairbrush
.27 Hair comb
.28 Hand Mirror
.29 Pair of eyeglasses in vinyl
glass case
.30 Compact mirror with photo of a
young Sterling Stuckey on its back
.31
Small canvas zippered purse
.32 Small leather wallet with
identification cards, photographs, business cards, etc.
.33 Red on black button with text "Say
it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud" and inset illustration