The Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) is the largest and most comprehensive library and archives of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world. It is located on the fourth floor of the
John Cotton Dana Library
The John Cotton Dana Library, referred to simply as the Dana Library, is the third largest library of Rutgers University and the main library on its Rutgers University–Newark, Newark campus. The library collections focus on business, management, ...
at
Rutgers University–Newark
Rutgers University–Newark is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's State University. It is located in Newark. Rutgers, founded in 1766 in New Brunswick, is the eighth oldest college in the United States and a me ...
in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. It also houses over 30 instruments used by prominent jazz musicians.
In 2013, the Institute was designated a Literary Landmark by New Jersey's Center for the Book in the National Registry of the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Walt Whitman House
The Walt Whitman House is a historic building in Camden, New Jersey, United States, which was the last residenceHaas, 141 of American poet Walt Whitman, in his declining years before his death. It is located at 330 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bou ...
and the Joyce Kilmer Tree, which is located at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.
Major collections housed in the Institute include the Jazz Oral History Project, the Mary Lou Williams collection, the Women In Jazz collection, the Benny Carter Audio collection, and the
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...
Audio collection.
History
In 1952, the Institute of Jazz Studies was founded by Marshall Stearns, a jazz scholar, literature professor, and author. Stearns had a plan for a jazz institute as early as 1949, which he thought to call the "Institute of Modern American Music". It was originally located at his apartment at 108 Waverly Place in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Marshall Stearns described the Institute of Jazz Studies' mission in 1953 as the following:
Stearns negotiated transfer of IJS to Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, in 1966. He died before the final transfer took place. In 1967 the Institute materials were moved to the Newark campus of Rutgers University in New Jersey. Charles Nanry, a sociologist, worked part-time as its administrator. It was first located in the Dana Library (1972), then moved to Bradley Hall (1975).
The Institute was formally affiliated with the John Cotton Dana Library at Rutgersin 1984. The current expanded facilities in the library opened in 1994. Over its 60 years of existence, the Institute has acquired significant collections of periodicals as well as books, records, and archival materials from several musicians, photographers, and journalists. Major collections include the personal papers of Mary Lou Williams,
Victoria Spivey
Victoria Regina Spivey (October 15, 1906 – October 3, 1976), sometimes known as Queen Victoria, was an American blues singer and songwriter. During a recording career that spanned 40 years, from 1926 to the mid-1960s, she worked with Louis A ...
James P. Johnson
James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 – November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. A pioneer of stride piano, he was one of the most important pianists in the early era of recording, and like Jelly Roll Morton, one of the key ...
.
Publications
A special column in ''The Record Changer'' jazz magazine was the initial, temporary place of publication for the Institute of Jazz Studies scholarship.
The ''Journal of Jazz Studies'' (JJS) was published from 1973 to 1979. ''Annual Review of Jazz Studies'' (ARJS) publication began in 1981 as a continuation of JJS. Today, the ''Journal of Jazz Studies'' is an open-access online journal. The online journal continues and expands upon the tradition of the original JJS/ARJS as the longest running English-language scholarly jazz journal. It is open-access and peer-reviewed.
''Studies in Jazz'', a monograph series with Scarecrow Press, publishes books related to jazz.
Events and scholarship
In addition to its publications, the institute also hosts ''Jazz from the Archives'', a radio show on WBGO radio that airs every Sunday and a Jazz Research Roundtable.
Jazz Archives fellowship
Since 2012, the Institute has also hosted an annual Jazz Archives Fellowship. The fellowship is open to graduate students of
library science
Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...
or recent graduates with an interest in jazz or African American studies. It is supported by the Morroe Berger - Benny Carter Jazz Research Fund, an endowment established by musician Benny Carter in 1987 to provide grants to facilitate jazz research by students and scholars. The Fellowship Program is also funded by private funds.
In 2014, the fellows focused on the collection of
Ismay Duvivier
Ismay Blakely Duvivier (August 27, 1903 – February 6, 2004) was an American dancer and nurse, born in Saint Croix. Her collection of Harlem Renaissance and later jazz memorabilia and photographs, from her own and her son's careers, is now held ...
, a dancer, and her son
George Duvivier
George Duvivier (August 17, 1920 – July 11, 1985) was an American jazz double-bassist.
Biography
Duvivier was born in New York City, the son of Leon V. Duvivier and Ismay Blakely Duvivier. He attended the Conservatory of Music and Art, where ...
, a bass player.
Morroe Berger–Benny Carter Jazz Research Fund
In 1987, the institute began funding up to ten grants of $1,000 each year. The fund was started by musician Benny Carter in memory of Morroe Berger. Berger was a professor of sociology at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
until his death in 1981. Half of the awards are designated for students in the Rutgers–Newark Master's Program in Jazz History and Research and half are awarded to scholars from other institutions. The awards are for visiting the Institute and performing independent jazz-related research. To date, over 70 awards have been granted.
Original Board of Advisers
*
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
Dave Brubeck
David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...
Roger Pryor Dodge
Roger Pryor Dodge (21 January 1898 — 2 June 1974) was an American ballet, vaudeville, and jazz dancer, as well as a choreographer and pioneering jazz critic. He formed the first extensive collection of photographic portraits of Vaslav Nijinsky.
...
*
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
*
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel ''Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote ''Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collecti ...
*
Nesuhi Ertegün
Nesuhi Ertegun ( Turkish spelling: Nesuhi Ertegün; November 26, 1917 – July 15, 1989) was a Turkish-American record producer and executive of Atlantic Records and WEA International.
Early life
Born in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, Nesuhi ...
Bill Grauer
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
* Maurice R. Green, M.D.
*
W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...
*
Melville J. Herskovits
Melville Jean Herskovits (September 10, 1895 – February 25, 1963) was an American anthropologist who helped to first establish African and African Diaspora studies in American academia. He is known for exploring the cultural continuity from Afr ...
* George Herzog
*
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...
Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", although by his own ...
* Paul A. McGhee
* Alan Morrison
* Edward Abbe Niles
*
Pearl Primus
Pearl Eileen Primus (November 29, 1919 – October 29, 1994) was an American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Early in her career she saw the need ...
*
David Riesman
David Riesman (September 22, 1909 – May 10, 2002) was an American sociologist, educator, and best-selling commentator on American society.
Career
Born to a wealthy German Jewish family, he attended Harvard College, where he graduated in 1931 ...
Lorenzo Dow Turner
Lorenzo Dow Turner (August 21, 1890 – February 10, 1972) was an African-American academic and linguist who did seminal research on the Gullah language of the Low Country of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. His studies included recordings of G ...
Bernard Wolfe
Bernard Wolfe (New Haven, Connecticut, August 28, 1915 – Calabasas, California, October 27, 1985) was an American writer.
Biography
Wolfe entered Yale University at 16 and graduated in 1935 with a degree in psychology. He then enrolled for ...
*
John Wesley Work III
John Wesley Work III (July 15, 1901 – May 17, 1967) was a composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music.
Biography
He was born on July 15, 1901, in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to a family of pr ...
References
Bibliography
* ''The Record Changer'', July–August 1953 (special issue).
* Kerlew, Clyde, "The Institute of Jazz Studies: From Academic Orphan to National Resource," ''Public and Access Services Quarterly'', vol. 1, no. 1, 1995, pp. 51–74.
* Wilson, John S., "Collection of Jazz Recordings and Writings Given to Rutgers," ''The New York Times'', September 3, 1966, p. 12.