History of the
National Association of Negro Musicians

By Professor Arthur R. LaBrew

Preface

In view of the fact that complete histories of black music organizations are sadly lacking in historical perspective, this writer feels obligated to report his findings in his official capacity of historian for the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. from 1969 to 1985.

This task was first presented to President Clarence Hayden Wilson who agreed that there was a need to continuously chronicle the events of this organization. However, his death (1901-1969) prevented him from allowing this writer access to his materials as president.

The succeeding president, Theodore Charles Stone allowed this writer to continue in this capacity of gathering and accessing places where materials could be found for the history. Successive presidents, Brazeal Dennard, Betty King and William Warfield also allowed this writer to continue as a research historian.

Under the aegis of Betty King, a historical committee was suggested:

Theodore Charles Stone, President, ex-officio, Chicago

Orrin Clay Suthern II, ex-Executive Secretary. California

Leroy Boyd, ex-Executive Secretary, New York City

John Webb, ex-Executive Secretary, Chicago

Ruth Allen Fouché, ex-Recording Secretary

Florence Billups, Sponsor, St. Louis

In addition, she sent letters to Roscoe Polin, Kenneth Billups, Brazeal Dennard, Camille Nickerson, Ruth Calimese, Beatrice Cloud, Don Lee White and Joseph Grimes.

She also noted others who had been with the organization a long time:

Joseph A. Thomas, George W. Glover, Grace Sevier, Dean Robert Nolan, Albert McNeil, Lillian Perry and Dolly Brown Winters (charter member [sic]).

Then, too, she could add as resource persons or consultants:

Mrs. William A. Robinson (widow of W. A. Robinson), Mrs. Grace Thompkins Barker (former columnist for the Chicago Defender), Mr. Wyer C. Handy (son of W. C. Handy), Mrs. Edna Redmond Lovelace (former Board Member and active in 1948 and President of the Harmonia Club in Jackson, Mississippi) and Raoul Abdul (columnist with the Amsterdam News and friend of Nora Douglas Holt).

In her letter the duties of the commission were spelled out:

1. to determine the content (historical plus creative output of the membership)

2. to identify sources of information

3. to establish avenues of research

4. to review the goals and aims of NANM

5. to assess the influence of NANM both in America and abroad

6. to formulate plans for the continuance of the ?History? in some form

7. to discuss other pertinent matters

On Monday, August 11, 1980 the committee met according to the following notice:

Meeting:

Prepared by Arthur R. LaBrew

This meeting has been called to discuss writing the history of NANM< Inc. Preparatory to any written history, pertinent documents should be available. This memo has been prepared for your observations and input into developing materials preparatory to writing a history of the organization. There are many questions which must be resolved at this convention in if the project is to take wings.

Therefore, I have taken the liberty to briefly outline a history gathering project.

STAGE I The history be broken down into ten-year periods as follows:

1919 to 1929 Period I

1930 to 1939 Period II

1940 to 1949 Period III

1950 to 1959 Period IV

1960 to 1969 Period V

1970 to 1979 Period VI

STAGE II Bibliographical tools should be broken down into various categories:

I Main entries: names of officers, members and list of affiliated clubs; minutes of the proceedings; by-laws and constitution (and changes where noted); financial reports of executive secretaries, etc.

Supplementary materials should contain different kinds of materials such as histories of each club and their complete memberships whether or not they attended the annual conferences.

II Histories of each club; correspondence from officially elected officials and specifically designated persons for specific duties; this will also include receipts books, materials pertaining to scholarship contests and any other letters related to promoting the success of the annual conferences.

III This group will contain program booklets and other memorabilia as evidence of the success (or failure) of the conference. Original music written for the conference and performed should be included in this category.

IV This group will contain pictures of the group or individuals present at the conferences. Additional pictures of participating clubs or branches will enter a secondary category.

V This group will contain press notices or other accolades regarding the success (this is more or less a job for the historian).

VI Materials from individuals or corporations, etc., who have contributed to the growth of NANM, and who were not members.

VII Individual biographical materials about each member, each participant at the convention and a picture if possible.

With this ground work laid, the general writing of the history can progress in smooth order. Since our proposed outline is merely a suggestion, it is hoped that this committee will codify it and add to it to give greater scope in its implementation.

There are other questions which this committee must address itself, the primary one being how to finance this project. Equally as important is the housing of this material. Other tasks to which the committee must address itself centers around materials which members might like to submit but would also like to keep for their personal archives. Another concerns how much material should go into institutional hands like Howard University, Fisk University or the great public libraries like Schaumburg or the Library of Congress. To the latter, I have been in touch with a few institutions and offer some thoughts.

Keeping in mind that this committee has been called for a specific purpose, we should bear in mind that our job has great meaning and that every individual connected with its growth and development has importance. We do not intend to slight the least of them. Further in writing the history, this committee will be responsible that its accuracy is unquestioned, that the best is said of each person and more important that each contribution be given weight and clarity for a chain is as strong as its weakest link.

Trusting we will come up with positive ideas, I now propose that we begin discussion and if necessary schedule another meeting to finalize our conclusions for our national president, Betty King.

Sincerely,

Arthur R. LaBrew

Copies to each member of the committee as per letter to Mrs. King

Copies to President and Executive Secretary.

The National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., however, lacked finances to hire writers for the history but had managed to raise sufficient funds (over $10,000) for the publication when it was ready for printing.

In 1986, this writer could give the following information to Mrs. Florence Billups, chairman of the Life Members.

MICHIGAN MUSIC RESEARCH CENTER, INC.

2111 Woodward Avenue * Suite 1010

Detroit, Michigan 48201

Mrs. Florence Billups, Chairman

Life Members Guild

National Association of Negro Musicians Inc.

Bismark Hotel

Chicago, Illinois

To Mrs. Billups and Members of the Life Members Guild:

Dear Friends:

It was regretful that I could not attend the conference as a conventioneer but circumstances in Detroit prevented my staying any longer than one day. I was able to register as a Association Member for the year 1985‑86.

As your historian I have given to Mrs. Billups a portion of the results of the history recorded on the computer which I purchased last year. I have thus far transcribed all of the former typewritten notes so that they may be easily changed for future additions or deletions. If all goes well between now and early January or February of 1987, I will have transcribed ALL 67 years of the records I could find into a single volume which details the yearly progress of NANM since its founding in 1919.

As relates to this historical project I offer the following suggestions so that the life members and any others may be of greater assistance.

First.

Many of you know that I have dealt only with OFFICIAL materials issued by the conference as being representative of the ?intent? of the Association. I have therefore discarded ALL speculative materials as given in newspaper articles, special reports, etc., etc., as relevant but NOT germane to historical accuracy. I have thusly relied upon the souvenir journals and the Board minutes of the Association for the initial outlining of the history.

However, as many already know, there were/are board minutes of previous sessions which the Association does not possess. Therefore it has been germane over the years to attempt to secure as many copies of the older minutes which the Association does not possess. [I am pleased to announce that Mrs. Josephine Love, daughter of Kemper Harreld, has given me the official records during his first presidency (1939)]. This has been a long and tedious process for many who have such materials have been reluctant to part with that information. I think we may have overcome that problem!

I must still report that other minutes are still necessary and that the lack sufficient documentation from the 1940's through the 60's MUST be firmly secured before any written records can be called complete. I therefore urge that ANYONE having board minutes of this period please furnish me with a xerox (or duplicate) of those sessions so that such information may be entered into the computer with accuracy. I further have written to the present Board requesting copies of such minutes which I do not have be made available during this transcription process and returned afterwards.

Second.

It is further urged that the history of NANM include a section devoted especially to each local branch of NANM. If such a history is very long, it does not matter for the writers of the history will pare it down to essentials which represent the goals of that branch as it applies to the standards of the NATIONAL.

In this respect, I have personally tried to contact former local branches of NANM throughout the country for information and at the same time urged them to return to NANM. (Even as I write this letter I am preparing information for the citizens of Battle Creek, Michigan who, in the period 1947‑50, had a NANM branch through the deceased Mattie Wilkes. Leroy Boyd, Orrin Suthern and I reminisced on this matter last Monday.

In the program booklet of 1986 I particularly noticed the advertisement from Southern University regarding the Tourgee Dubose competition. As many of you know, I taught at Southern under Dr. Adkins for two years and at my suggestion the Dubose competition was instituted with the cooperation of Dr. Adkins, Mrs. Myrtle Singleton, Frank White (brother of Mrs. Florence Billups). One may view the progress as given in their advertisement. I have still urged Dr. Adkins (and will continue to do so) to form a local branch for NANM. I therefore strongly urge Mr. and Mrs. Perry of the B Sharp Club of New Orleans, which will host the Convention next year, to also apply pressure and I am sure their efforts will result in the presence of Southern University at the next conference.

I am further urging Leonard Ballou at Elizabeth City, North Carolina to form a branch. Last year, his father, John a former music teacher from Virginia, passed and the Association, through the Tidewater branch, honored his memory as a past NANM member. The value of NANM's effort met with positive response to this historian from Ballou.

In still another instance [many, many years ago (1972‑79)] the Harmonia Club of Jackson, Mississippi was contacted to return to the fold. It appears that Mrs. Ellistine Lewis‑ Holly, then attending the University of Michigan and was working on a doctorate on the life of Mrs. E. Azalia Hackley, was the daughter of the president of the club. Of course I gave her as much help as possible to secure that doctorate and since her return the Club became a member again under past president Betty Jackson‑King. To my dismay when I attended the present conference, the group had withdrawn.

Fortunately, Mrs. Lewis‑Holly was present at the conference on Sunday and Monday while pursuing other work in Chicago and we had a long talk. Again I urged that the group become active again with NANM. It appears that they have grievances over which I have no control but should be directed to the attention of the official Board and settled.

I therefore urge the Life Members to prevail upon the Board members to view as one of its primary missions the REINSTATEMENT of all KNOWN delinquent locals for the past twenty (or even farther) years. This may appear to be a difficult task but as your historian I assure you that there are MANY within our ranks who can help pull of this coup de grace!! We Must Use These People For Many Are Ready and Willing to Be Of Great or Greater Service To The Organization! REACH OUT AND TOUCH!

Third.

As to writing the history. It is relatively (smile) easy for one person given enough time to piece together the history of the organization by using the resources mentioned above. However, there are two other factors which are extremely important ‑‑

(1) the personal touches of the organization as viewed by the policy making body (1. the Board) which includes the secretaries (2. responsible for transcribing and publishing the annual reports), the executive secretaries (3. responsible for keeping records pertaining to the execution of NANM?s annual conferences) and last, and not the least important, the presidents (4. responsible for instituting new plans, and carrying out the wishes of the members of the organization).

(2) comments from the membership.

In each instance these people have witnessed the failures and triumphs of the organizations goals. I have therefore carefully selected those whose must serve as writers of that part of the history which is not generally known to the membership‑ at‑large. It is through their official eyes that a better evaluation of our past will determine our future.

As to item 2, the membership should have a section for their individual comments which certainly means urging those who have positive statements to make to send them in so that they might be edited for the official historical book.

Germane to this writing aspect is funding. While the Life Members Guild has offered to pay for the printing the question ?Who is to pay for the writing? has been mentioned, alluded to but nothing has been done. I have carried on the burden of securing information for years without adequate recompense. This can no longer be the case.

The history can be written and presented to the Conference at its next session in New Orleans using only the sources mentioned above. However, it is IMPERATIVE that the persons mentioned above, (secretaries, executive secretaries and presidents) cooperate in this venture. Therefore monies are needed for the writers who MUST take time from their daily pursuits of earning a livelihood in order to service NANM.

I have therefore suggested to Mrs. Billups and given her a booklet with pictures from the 1952 conference which one may view with my permission. If EACH member, or his/her local branch, or his/her family or friend, were to secure a donation in memory of that (or another) member as a CONTRIBUTION for the writing of the history I am sure that such a collection would amount to several thousand dollars necessary to pay the writers. A special page in the book would be mention the names of these people. No memorial contribution will be omitted.

At present, I know of no other way to raise funds except each local be urged to initiate a special drive to secure between $200 to 500 dollars as a SPECIAL ONE‑TIME contribution for this purpose. This would be strictly a volunteer effort.

Whatever your decision, please relay such intent to the Board Members so that it may be included in the report of the executive secretary.

Lastly.

I am making a special request that president emeritus, Theodore Charles Stone be officially selected to be in charge of formatting the historical information. His expertise in publishing certainly equips him better than any other for this task. I hope the membership will be in agreement and that President Warfield will certainly provide us with this concession.

Meanwhile, I will continue attempt to maintain contact with former branch members not active to urge their participation and cooperation in this important project.

Therefore I am looking forward to the convention in New Orleans and the success of Mr. and Mrs. Perry whose acquaintance I made while at Southern University. Many times I visited their affairs in New Orleans and am glad to welcome them back with open arms. Let the entire membership open their arms to past members while receiving new ones and BLESS BE THE TIE THAT BINDS.

Respectfully submitted,

Arthur R. LaBrew, August 5, 1986

Typed at Detroit,

Tuesday morning

In 1987, LaBrew received a copy of a communication for review from the recording Secretary, Mercedes M. Keeler:

Pursuant to your report on the status of the completion of the history of NANM, Inc., the conference between you and our National President, Dr. William Warfield, and the decision of the Board of Directors at the January 17, 1987 meeting, I herewith submit the following terms for your review . . . Please be advised that, as of this transaction, you have discharged your responsibility to the History Writing Charge made to you, and, the Organization has (with this act) discharged its responsibility to you.

However, this notice was not agreed to by LaBrew and therefore its contents were voided and those responsible for the writing never pursued the matter further. (Verified in financial report for 1987.)

In 1990, the new president, Willis Patterson, who was a board member in 1987, desirous of having the history published and unaware of the materials held by Mrs. Billups, attempted to organize another committee to do the writing. He had suggested Ray Linda Brown to be the chairperson and wrote to this writer to turn over all the materials in his possession. This request was primarily refused because such parliamentary procedure is usually requested in written form from the board of directors through the executive secretary not the president. Three years later Patterson submitted a dissertation to the faculty of Wayne State University

?The History of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. ? the First 25 Years? in partial fulfillment of his obligation for the Ph. D.

Patterson also secured a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities to underwrite the writing of the history. However, by the end of the 1996 Convention in Detroit, Michigan, that project was incomplete.

Therefore, this writer has taken the liberty of publishing his earlier findings concerning the history of this organization sans official authorization especially in view of the fact that he was entrusted with important documents, much of which pertains to the inner workings of the Association.

This interpretation goes beyond use of specific documents and utilizes the materials obtained orally from many members, many of whom are no longer with us.

To these and other pioneers we dedicate these volumes.

Arthur R. LaBrew -1996-