Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection
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Object Details
- Scope and Contents
- Collection documents the business endeavors of Frank Schiffman, and the Apollo Theater's contribution to American culture. The collection includes sound recordings, personal and business correspondence, photographs, business records, and printed material.
- Summary
- The Frank Schiffman Apollo Theater Collection contains records, correspondence, photographs, and recordings concerning Frank Schiffman's business activities and the Apollo Theater's influences on American culture.
- Restrictions
- Collection is open for research. The scrapbooks in Series 5 are in extremely fragile condition. They cannot be made available for use until they are preserved.
- Provenance
- Collection donated to the Archives Center by Jack and Robert Schiffman in January 1996. An addendum was added to the collection in 2014.
- Arrangement
- The collection is arranged into eight series. Series 1: Correspondence, 1938-1985, undated Series 2: Business Records, 1931-1980, undated Series 3: Publicity, 1927-1993, undated Series 4: Photographs, 1904-1970, undated Series 5: Background and Historical Materials, 1900-2006, undated Series 6: Audio Recordings, 1921-1986, undated Subseries 6.1: Reel to Reel Tapes, 1972, undated Subseries 6.2: Records, 1921-1951, undated Subseries 6.3: Audio Cassette Tapes, 1970s-1986, undated Series 7: Performers Materials, 1940-1976, undated Series 8: Office Files, 1926-2009, undated
- Biographical / Historical
- The Apollo Theater is located in the Harlem section of New York City, New York. A prominent and influential institution, the Apollo Theater hosted numerous performances by popular entertainers who were primarily African-American, including Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday, Smokey Robinson, and the Temptations from the early 1930s to the present. It became best known as the site of "amateur night" programs, which catapulted many of its winners (and losers) to national and international acclaim. To this day, the Apollo Theater remains an important fixture in both the music industry and the African-American community. The son of Austrian immigrants, Frank Schiffman began his career in the promotion and distribution of motion pictures in New York City. As his career grew, he managed various New York theaters such as the Lafayette and the Harlem Opera House. In 1934, Frank Schiffman became the first manager of the Apollo Theater. Soon thereafter, he became co-owner, and retained the management position until the early 1960s. Schiffman's lack of racial bias as well as his keen business sense helped the Apollo Theater to become a cultural icon within the performance industry. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Schiffman's sons, Jack and Robert assisted him with the management of the theater, and later took over management upon Frank Schiffman's retirement. Frank Schiffman died in 1974 at the age of eighty.
- Collector
- Schiffman, Frank, 1894-1974
- Donor
- Schiffman, Jack
- Archival Repository
- Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Genre/Form
- Awards
- Handbills
- Ledgers (account books)
- Photographs -- 20th century
- Publicity photographs
- Scrapbooks -- 20th century
- Identifier
- NMAH.AC.0540
- Collector
- Schiffman, Frank, 1894-1974
- Donor
- Schiffman, Jack
- Names
- Apollo Theatre (New York, N.Y.)
- Schiffman, Robert
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Awards
- Handbills
- Ledgers (account books)
- Photographs
- Publicity photographs
- Scrapbooks
- Extent
- 8 Cubic feet (23 boxes)
- Place
- Harlem (New York, N.Y.) -- 20th century
- New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century
- Citation
- Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection, 1900-1985, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
- Processing Information
- Collection processed by Danielle Synder, intern, 2002. Addendum processed by Sarah Gediman, intern, 2019; Lauren M. Janik, intern, 2019; and Savannah Hildre, intern, 2019 supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist, 2019.
- Related Materials
- Archives Center, National Museum of American History: Ella Fitzgerald Collection, NMAH.AC.0584 Frank Driggs Collection of Duke Ellington Photographic Reference Prints, NMAH.AC.0389 Duke Ellington Collection, NMAH.AC.0301 Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials, NMAH.AC.0415 Edward and Gaye Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials, NMAH.AC.0704 John and Devra Levy Collection, NMAH.AC.1221 Program in African American Culture, NMAH.AC.0408 Smothers Brothers Collection, NMAH.AC.1437 International Sweethearts of Rhythm Collection, NMAH.AC.1218 Duncan Schiedt Photograph Collection, NMAH.AC.1323 International Sweethearts of Rhythm Collection, NMAH.AC.1218 Bobby Short Papers, NMAH.AC.0946 John and Devra Levy Collection, NMAH.AC.1221 Leonard Gaskin Papers, NMAH.AC.0900 Charismic Productions Records of Dizzy Gillespie, NMAH.AC.0979 Bobby Tucker Papers, NMAH.AC.1141 W. C. Handy Collection, NMAH.AC.0132 Ramsey Lewis Collection, NMAH.AC.1126 Mongo Santamaria Papers, NMAH.AC.0893 Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Theater, NMAH.AC0060 Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Motion Pictures, NMAH.AC0060 Other Repositories: Apollo Theater Archives, archive@apollotheatre.org Apollo Theater, concertarchives.org
- See more items in
- Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection
- Topic
- African American entertainers -- 20th century
- African American musicians
- Concerts -- New York (State) -- New York
- Entertainers -- 1930-1980
- Music-halls -- 1930-1980
- Theaters -- New York (State) -- New York
- Date
- 1900-2009, undated
- Rights
- Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
EAD Collection Results
424 result(s) Skip to facets for narrowing search resultsFacetas
Clear facet(s):
- Media Type
- Resource Type
- Culture
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Date
- filtro 1900s 3 Excluir 1900s
- filtro 1910s 3 Excluir 1910s
- filtro 1920s 6 Excluir 1920s
- filtro 1930s 13 Excluir 1930s
- filtro 1940s 24 Excluir 1940s
- filtro 1950s 26 Excluir 1950s
- filtro 1960s 25 Excluir 1960s
- filtro 1970s 21 Excluir 1970s
- filtro 1980s 10 Excluir 1980s
- filtro 1990s 5 Excluir 1990s
- filtro 2000s 2 Excluir 2000s
- Place
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Set Name
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection 424 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 4: Photographs / Box 8 97 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 4: Photographs / Box 8
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 4: Photographs / Box 9 87 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 4: Photographs / Box 9
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 3: Publicity 68 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 3: Publicity
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 5: Background and Historical Materials 36 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 5: Background and Historical Materials
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 6: Audio Recordings, undated / 6.3: Audio Cassette Tapes 28 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 6: Audio Recordings, undated / 6.3: Audio Cassette Tapes
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 2: Business Records 23 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 2: Business Records
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 1: Correspondence 22 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 1: Correspondence
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 6: Audio Recordings, undated / 6.2: Records, 1921-1951, undated 22 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 6: Audio Recordings, undated / 6.2: Records, 1921-1951, undated
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 7: Performance Materials 11 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 7: Performance Materials
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 4: Photographs 8 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 4: Photographs
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 6: Audio Recordings, undated / 6.1: Reel to Reel Tapes, 1972, undated 5 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 6: Audio Recordings, undated / 6.1: Reel to Reel Tapes, 1972, undated
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 8: Office Files 5 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 8: Office Files
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 6: Audio Recordings, undated 3 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 6: Audio Recordings, undated
- filtro Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 2: Business Records / Booking cards (A-L), undated 1 Excluir Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection / Series 2: Business Records / Booking cards (A-L), undated
- Topic
- Metadata Usage
- online_visual_material
- type