Gordon Spencer Collection
Scope and Contents
The Gordon Spencer Collection was a gift of Hannelore Rogers in September 2019. It contains personal card, correspondence, a curriculum vitae with letters of recommendation, notes, planners, other documents, and theater programs. Writings include novels, short stories, radio scripts, sketches, and poems. Of note are Spencer’s interviews in Note Book with Louis Armstrong in the May 1983 issue; his interview with Phillip Glass in the June 1983 issue; an interview with Billie Holiday; correspondence with Stephen Sondheim arranging an interview; and a writing rejection. Photographs span Spencer’s life from personal events to professional activities in theater and radio. It also cntains audio recordings of Spencer's unpublished interviews and oral histories of prominent jazz and contemporary classical artists. The interviewees include Ravi Shankar, Leopold Stokowski, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday, Moondog, Philip Glass, Tony Scott, and many others, reflecting upon music, life experiences, relationships, and societal issues. They will prove useful to the fields of history, musical performance, music education, musicology, sociology, anthropology, and communication studies. The collection also holds broadcast recordings of Gordon's radio voicework and several recordings he made while travelling.
Dates
- 1933 - 2018
Creator
- Spencer, Gordon (1933-2018) (Person)
Conditions Governing Use
Donor has transferred copyright of materials they have created
Extent
4 Linear Feet (Marr: 58 open reel audiotapes, 91 compact cassettes, 9 DATs, 8 CD-Rs)
2 Linear Feet (LaBudde: 5 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
- Author
- LaBudde: Julia Smith, Dr. Anthony LaBat (supervising archivist); Marr: Rebekah Green, Andrew Hansbrough.
- Date
- LaBudde: September 2023; Marr: 2020.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Special Collections and Archives Repository