Adelaide Hall Collection, 1928-2003

A Guide to the collection at the Indiana University Archives of African American Music and Culture

Finding aid created by AAAMC staff

Creator: Hall, Adelaide
Title: Adelaide Hall Collection
Collection No.: SC 134
Dates: 1928-2003, undated
Quantity:

Quantity: 1 document case

Quantity: 0.21 linear feet

Abstract: The collection contains photographic materials, articles, programs and ephemera related to Hall's performance career.
Language: Materials are in English.
Repository: Archives of African American Music and Culture
Smith Research Center, Rooms 180-181
2805 E. 10th St.
Bloomington, Indiana 47408-2601
Business Number: 812-855-8547
aaamc@indiana.edu
URL: https://aaamc.indiana.edu/

Biographical / Historical

Adelaide Hall was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1901. Hall performed on Broadway in the early 1920s and began touring Europe in 1925. Her Broadway career continued throughout the '20s and in 1928 she began performing in Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1928, which made her one of the most famous female performers in the United States. Hall continued to perform in the United States into the 1930s, but moved to Paris in 1935 after receiving several death threats following her public stand against racism. In the late 1930s Hall moved to London, and continued to perform throughout the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s her career declined, but was revived in the 1980s and '90s. Hall's last recording was made in 1992 at the Prince Edward Theater in London. Hall died in London in 1993.

Scope and Contents

The collection contains photographic materials, articles, and ephemera related to Hall's performance career. The first series includes publicity and candid photographs. The second series contains the articles and ephemera. Several articles were written in the first half of the 20th century. Other articles look at Hall's career from the late 20th and early 21st centuries, especially after a book about Hall was published. The third series contains several ephemera pieces including flyers, programs, receipts, and certificates.

Arrangement

Arranged in two series:

  1. Series 1: Photographs
  2. Series 2: Articles and ephemera

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Use of time-based media materials (audio and video) may require production of listening or viewing copies.

Access to streaming audio, moving image, and full resolution digital image materials may currently be restricted to researchers who can authenticate with an IU account or who are physically present on campus. Remote streaming to individual researchers may be allowed with the completion of applicable forms.

For further information about access to online audiovisual materials, contact AAAMC staff at aaamc@indiana.edu.

Use Restrictions:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, including but not limited to the Indiana Public Records Act (5-14-3-2 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Indiana University assumes no responsibility.

Copyright is retained by the creators/authors of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. All requests for copying and publishing materials must be submitted in writing to the Archives of African American Music and Culture, and may require the written permission of the creator(s)/author(s) or donor(s).

Related Materials

Williams, Iain Cameron, Underneath a Harlem Moon: The Harlem to Paris Years of Adelaide Hall. London: Continuum, 2002. (Copy available in IU Bloomington Music Library, ML420.H1166 W55)

McHugh, Jimmy, Adelaide Hall, Ethel Waters, Cab Calloway, and Duke Ellington. Blackbirds of 1928. Columbia Records, OL 6770. (Copy in IU Bloomington Music Library)

Indexed Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Adelaide Hall Collection, SC 134, Archives of African American Music and Culture, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated in 2003 by Kate Greer.

Processing Information

Processed by AAAMC Staff. Completed in 2017.

Collection Inventory

Series:

1. Photographs , 1928-1990

Quantity: 15 Photographic Prints

Quantity: 4 photographic photocopies

box 1
Adelaide Hall on stage , 1989

shelf No(s): PA005852

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 8.5 x 6.5 in.

Shelf Number: PA005852

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000107

box 1
Adelaide Hall on stage , 1989

shelf No(s): PA005853

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 6.5 x 8.5 in.

Shelf Number: PA005853

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000108

box 1
Adelaide Hall in London , circa 1982

shelf No(s): PA005854

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 5 x 7 in.

Shelf Number: PA005854

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000109

box 1
Adelaide Hall in London , circa 1975

shelf No(s): PA005855

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 6.5 x 8.5 in.

Shelf Number: PA005855

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000110

box 1
Adelaide Hall in London , circa 1939

shelf No(s): PA005856

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 4 x 6.25 in.

Shelf Number: PA005856

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000111

box 1
Adelaide Hall in London , circa 1939

shelf No(s): PA005857

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 4 x 6.25 in.

Shelf Number: PA005857

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000112

box 1
Adelaide Hall in London , circa 1940

shelf No(s): PA005858

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 8 x 10 in.

Shelf Number: PA005858

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000113

box 1
Adelaide Hall portrait for "The Sun Never Sets" Musical , circa 1938

shelf No(s): PA005859

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 7.75 x 10 in.

Shelf Number: PA005859

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000114

box 1
Adelaide Hall Publicity Portrait , circa 1938

shelf No(s): PA005860

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 6.5 x 8.5 in.

Shelf Number: PA005860

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000115

box 1
Adelaide Hall Publicity Portrait , circa 1937

shelf No(s): PA005861

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 8 x 10 in.

Shelf Number: PA005861

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000116

box 1
Adelaide Hall Publicity Portrait , circa 1937

shelf No(s): PA005862

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 8 x 10 in.

Shelf Number: PA005862

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000117

box 1
Adelaide Hall Publicity Portrait , circa 1937

shelf No(s): PA005863

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 8 x 10 in.

Shelf Number: PA005863

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000118

box 1
Adelaide Hall "Blackbirds of 1928" , circa 1928

shelf No(s): PA005864

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 8 x 10 in.

Shelf Number: PA005864

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000119

box 1
Adelaide Hall Publicity Portrait , circa 1937

shelf No(s): PA005865

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: black & white ; 8 x 10 in.

Shelf Number: PA005865

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000120

box 1
London (At her home) , circa 1990

shelf No(s): PA005866

Quantity: 1 Photograph

Quantity: color ; 8 x 10 in.

Shelf Number: PA005866

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000121

box 1
folder 1
World Concert Tour , 1931/1932

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: black & white ; 8.25 x 11.5 in.

General: Photographic reprint on standard printer paper.

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000103

box 1
folder 2
World Concert Tour , 1931/1932

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: black & white ; 8.25 x 11.5 in.

General: Photographic reprint on standard printer paper.

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000104

box 1
folder 3
Blackbirds of 1928 , 1928

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: black & white ; 8.25 x 11.5 in.

General: Photographic reprint on standard printer paper.

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000105

box 1
folder 4
Blackbirds of 1928 , 1929

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: black & white ; 8.25 x 11.5 in.

General: Photographic reprint on standard printer paper.

Online Access: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/images/VAD5465/VAD5465-000106

Series:

2. Articles and ephemera , 1929-2003, undated

Quantity: 3 Folders

Quantity: 20 items

box 1
folder 2
Articles , 1940-2003, undated
box 1
folder 2
Adelaide Hall biography by Iain Cameron Williams , undated

Quantity: 4 Leaves

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Singing for her supper," The Hill , pp. 30-31 , January 2003

Quantity: 2 Leaves

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Jazz pioneer: Book sheds light on singing sensation," Andrew McCorkell, [Unknown source], p. 16 , October 24, 2002

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Business as usual," Jazz Express , p. 7 , October 1991

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Expected in N.Y. for Holidays," New York Press , 1946

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Adelaide adored," Iain Cameron Williams and Colville Terrace, Evening Standard , p. 28 , September 5, 2001

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"All Addie Asks Is One Hit on U.S. Juke Boxes," Robert Wahls , January 4, 1959

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"The real first lady of jazz," Stephen Bourne, [Unkown source], p. 16 , undated

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 11.75 x 16.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Cabarets of Wartime London," Theodora Benson and Betty Askwith, The Sketch , p. 44 , April 10, 1940

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 11.75 x 16.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Adelaide Hall," Obituary, Daily Telegraph , November 1993

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Peterborough," Quentin Letts, Daily Telegraph , April 23, 1994

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Still going strong after all that jazz," Cherry Chappell, [Unkown source], pp. 29-30 , undated

Quantity: 2 Leaves

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"Ol' Lady Hall," Geoffrey Smith, Country Life , April 3, 1986

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 11.75 x 16.5 in.

box 1
folder 2
"The Big Apple of New York's eye…," Martin Dawes, The Star , p. 8 , September 23, 2002

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 11.75 x 12.5 in.

box 1
folder 3
Ephemera , 1929-1991
box 1
folder 3
Photocopy of congratulatory note for Hall's appearance in a Variety Performance at the Victoria Palace , October 29, 1951

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 3
A Tribute to Adelaide Hall , October 25, 1991

Quantity: 1 flyer

Quantity: 5.75 x 8.25 in.

box 1
folder 3
National Scala; København (Copenhagen) , November 1937

Quantity: 1 program

Quantity: 5.75 x 7.5 in.

box 1
folder 3
Photocopy of flyer for Moulin Rouge performance of "Blackbirds"; Paris, France , 1929

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 3
Photocopy of receipt from Rosenberg & Grief confirming the receipt of a white Casmere [sic] Wrap from Adelaide Hall , July 8, 1932

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 8.25 x 11.5 in.

box 1
folder 4
Guiness World Records Certificate , 2002
box 1
folder 4
Guiness World Records Certificate: Most Durable Recording Artist , 2002

Quantity: 1 leaf

Quantity: 9.75 x 14 in.