Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of the National Jazz Hall of Fame, 1974-1988, Accession # 10778,-a, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The papers of the National Jazz Hall of Fame were given to the Library by the Treasurer Henry Thielbar of Charlottesville, Virginia, through Robert Rutland of Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11, 1988, and October 17, 1988.

Biographical/Historical Information

Robert Rutland, President of the Board of Directors, was a prime mover in the Charlottesville group which met as an ad hoc committee on October 12, 1982 to discuss the feasibility of saving Paramount Theatre and creating the National Jazz Hall of Fame as a vehicle to preserve the movie house and honor the great jazz musicians of America.

The officers of the organization, consisting of a thirteen member board of directors, including a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer, were responsible for conducting the business of the National Jazz Hall of Fame and to provide a public accounting of the income and expenses during the preceding year. A National Advisory Board was established to act as a liason between the performing artists, critics, and composers and the National Jazz Hall of Fame.

The Board of Directors envisioned a museum with separate rooms devoted to each of the great eras of jazz, New Orleans, Chicago, Ragtime, Big Band, New York and the Village, Kansas City, and the Sound of Our Times, including The Hall of Fame of Jazz honoring the most outstanding musicians and composers, a Center for the Performing Arts, and educational programs and seminars. The organization established to promote the Hall of Fame was incorporated in February 1983 and disbanded in 1988.

Scope and Content Information

These papers consisting of ca. 450 items (3 Hollinger boxes, 1 linear foot), 1974-1988, and undated, contain correspondence, newsclippings, photographs, publicity material, legal papers, and printed material all pertaining to the establishment of a National Jazz Hall of Fame in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a national archive, repository, resource center and promoter of jazz.

Notable correspondents include Whitney Balliett, Leonard Feather, Benny Goodman, Johnson McRee, Jr., Maxine Sullivan, H.J. Swinney, and Paul Tanner. The photographs file contains photographs of the Cotton Club movie set, including Ray Rivera, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, and Charlie Bird Parker. Photographs present in the file of their subjects include Louis Armstrong, Leonard Feather, and Maxine Sullivan.