Book

Gather Out of Star-Dust

Melissa Barton, curator of drama and prose for the Collection of American Literature at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Yale University Press)

Melissa Barton, curator of drama and prose for the Collection of American Literature at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library 

(Yale University Press)

Gather Out of Star-Dust” takes as its central premise that the Harlem Renaissance, known by its participants as the Negro Renaissance, relied heavily on “gatherings” of all kinds. Collaboration, friendship, partnership, and sponsorship were all central to the rise in prominence of African American publication, performance, and visual art. Most importantly, the act of collecting materials from this time subsequently enabled scholars to remember the movement.

This book showcases 50 items from the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of African American Arts and Letters at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Each of these objects — letters, journal entries, photographs, ephemera, artworks, and first editions—is accompanied by a mini-essay telling a piece of the story about this period. While numerous scholarly works have been written about this time of rebirth, “Gather Out of Star-Dust” focuses on the primary materials that have made that scholarship possible.

Share this with Facebook Share this with X Share this with LinkedIn Share this with Email Print this

Media Contact

Office of Public Affairs & Communications: opac@yale.edu, 203-432-1345