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African American Detroit poet and librarian, and founder of Broadside Press in Detroit, Michigan which supported and published black and African American poets and authors. Poet laureate of Detroit, 1981. Materials consist of personal and business correspondence, topical files, photographs, drafts and publications, audio recordings, and film reels.

The papers document the personal and professional life of Dudley Randall as an independent African American poet and founder of the Broadside Press in Detroit, and span the years 1900-2002. Material includes drafts and publications of original works, correspondence, photographs, sound recordings on audiocassettes and audio reels, and films featuring Randall, his family, and poets connected to the Broadside Press. Series in the collection may have overlapping subjects, as original folder contents were maintained. Folders are arranged first by date, and then alphabetically by original title where applicable. The collection is divided into four series: Biographical (1900-2002), Broadside Press (1939-1999), Topical Files (1908-2002), and Writing (1933-1983).

The collection consists mainly of cassette recordings and slides of an African and multiple African American poets and authors reading their poems and parts of their books and discussing what poetry is and why it matters to them and to the community, 1972-2015 (Scattered), undated, mostly at Central Michigan University.

The collection consists mainly of cassette recordings and slides of an African and multiple African American poets and authors reading their poems and parts of their books and discussing what poetry is and why it matters to them and to the community, 1972-2015 (Scattered), undated, mostly at Central Michigan University. The collection is organized by format, alphabetically and chronologically. Physically the collection is in good condition.

The cassette recordings were mostly created when the poets presented to classes, were panelists at Paul Laurence Dunbar celebrations on campus, or presented in other public CMU forums. Most of the cassettes were recorded by CMU CSIC, while the remainder are amateur recordings. The recording quality varies.

There are also three small slide boxes of color kodak slides inside Box 1. Slide Boxes #1-2 are slides of multiple poets presenting to CMU classes, as panelists at Paul Laurence Dunbar celebrations on campus, or attending CMU receptions, October 1972. Slide Box 3 includes 4 slides of Etheridge Knight and 4 slides of Chinua Achebe on campus, all dated April 1973. There are also 8 sides of an Etheridge Knight talking with Dr. Eric Torgerson’s class with Dr. Martha Brown, including some images of him with Carroll Arnett (Gogisgi) and two other women at an airport, and at home with Dr. Eric Torgerson, August 1973. Poets and a few CMU people were identified in these slides by Dr. Tracy Collins and Dr. Ron Primeau in 2022.

Lastly, there are two folders of correspondence inside Box 1. One folder is a congratulatory letter from Pfeiffer to Alice Walker, 1983, on the occasion of her becoming the first woman of color to win the Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple. The other folder includes correspondence Pfeiffer had with Octavia E. Butler, her biographical information, published interviews, lists of her publications, and an undated color photograph of Butler with Pfeiffer, 1982-2015 (Scattered).

Processing Note:

During processing about half of the original donation of cassettes were withdrawn because they were blank, copyrighted materials which are now available in more accessible formats, or personal recorded messages from family and friends to Pfeiffers. A few slides, which were images of book covers and a few pages of generic correspondence were also withdrawn. An oversized Ray Bradbury print was returned to the donor as per the donor form.

Naomi Long Madgett is a prominent poet, educator, and editor, recognized for her significant contribution to African-American letters. Since 1972 she has run, single-handedly, Lotus Press, which publishes poetry by African-Americans and others. The collection documents Madgett's career and the operation of Lotus Press, through correspondence, manuscripts (both by Madgett and by authors published by Lotus Press), ephemera, audiovisual material, and photographs.

The Naomi Long Madgett Papers document the prominent career of Ms. Madgett as a poet and a teacher, and her operation of Lotus Press, which Madgett has run single-handedly for more than 30 years. Thus, the collection makes a good source of insight both into Madgett's own writing and aesthetic sensibility, and into the cultures of lyric poetry and African-American letters in the latter decades of the 20th Century. The bulk of the material covers the 1980s, the 1990s, and the first few years of the 21st century, with Madgett's activities in the 1970s being fairly well represented as well. From the correspondence collected here a vivid picture emerges of Madgett's relationships with some of the authors whose work she published--such as James Emanuel and Gayl Jones--as well as with other authors, such as Gwendolyn Brooks. In addition, correspondence and ephemera evidence the growth of Madgett's own reputation, documenting her many professional activities, awards, and honors over the years. While manuscripts by Madgett herself do not comprise a large part of the collection, the fortunes of one of her most famous poems, "Midway," are documented in detail, and an unpublished autobiography ( Pilgrim Journey) provides an extensive synthesis by the author of her own influences and career (a section of which has been published by Gale's Contemporary Authors' Autobiography Series). Finally, the collection provides a close look at the daily operation, from its inception, of a small literary press.

The Naomi Long Madgett papers have been arranged into nine series: Personal, Writings, General Correspondence, Workshops and Events, Author Files, Business Records, Ephemera, Photographs, and Audiovisual. Books published by Lotus Press, as well as other books and periodicals from Madgett's library, have been catalogued individually and are shelved by call number in the Special Collections Library. Within the collection, however, much material is available from the production of certain Lotus Press books; see below Writings and Author Files.