James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection

The James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection (JWJ) documents and celebrates the cultural and artistic achievements and the intellectual and political activities of African Americans.

  • The Literary Legacy Of Pauline Hopkins (WBUR)

    February 12, 2021

    Pauline Hopkins was a multitalented author, journalist and editor who pioneered horror, science fiction and fantasy writing at the turn of the 20th century. She wrote among the first (if not the first) theatrical drama and detective stories authored by a Black person, yet, her fiction does not have the same recognition as household names like Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” or Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” nor does her nonfiction have the same acclaim as W.E.B. Du Bois’.

  • Road Show at Beinecke Library

    February 3, 2021

    In spring 2021, the Yale Collection of American Literature at Beinecke Library and the Public Humanities Program will collaborate to present a graduate workshop focused on the Library’s exhibition, Road Show: Travel Papers in American Literature.

  • Biography Symposium 2021

    February 1, 2021

    REGISTER Wednesday February 24th, 12-1pm Langdon Hammer & Terrance Hayes Zoom Webinar Registration Information: https://bit.ly/38V8xz1 Thursday February...

  • Yale honors MLK throughout January (Yale Daily News)

    January 20, 2021

    he Beinecke library also celebrated MLK Day via Zoom by hosting a virtual talk on Monday with North Carolina State University professor Jason Miller on the intersections between Dr. King’s rhetoric and the writing of prominent African American poet Langston Hughes. “To be clear, Langston Hughes’ poetry hovers behind Dr. King’s metaphors like a watermark on bonded paper,” Miller told listeners during the event. “The poet that he [King] seemed drawn to most personally — that is, poems in which he personally sought out, rather than simply writing down when others spoke — includes the poetry of Langston Hughes, his wife Coretta’s favorite poet.” At the event, Miller presented several images from the Beinecke’s collection to more than 300 live participants at the webinar.

  • In Pieces: Lives of Literary Archives

    January 3, 2021

    Students and scholars often wonder about how literary archives take shape, their gaps and depths, their organization, structure. A wide range of factors may determine what happens to a writer's papers both during and after their lifetime.