Highlighting Katherine Dunham’s Illinois Connection: Digitized Material from the Special Collections Research Center Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Abstract

Katherine Dunham was a world-renowned dancer and choreographer whose works helped to invent and transform African American dance, with influences from the West Indies and wider African Diaspora. Born and raised in Illinois, Ms. Dunham returned to her home state in the 1960s to teach at Southern Illinois University. The portion of her papers held at this institution have recently become more accessible online, and the collection is increasingly popular with distance researchers from around the country and the globe. As a result, three members of the library faculty at Southern Illinois University have begun a pilot project to digitize and transcribe a portion of a series of Ms. Dunham’s article clippings, taking a sample of articles which span primarily from the late thirties to the late fifties which relate to her performances and activities within the state of Illinois. The details of this project are described, along with background information about this important historical figure, and a summary of her related primary source collections at other prestigious institutions around the country is offered as an aid to further research.