News Release — December 11, 2024

Harry Ransom Center Digitizes Rare Script of In Dahomey and Photographs from Early Life of Ethel Waters, Pioneering African American Performer

AUSTIN, TX — The Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin is proud to announce the acquisition of the Ethel Waters Papers, an extraordinary collection of personal and professional materials from the groundbreaking American singer and actress Ethel Waters (1896–1977). This historically significant archive spans Waters's career and personal life, offering scholars and the public rare insight into one of the most influential African American performers of the 20th century. Two significant items from this collection have been digitized and made available online: an early family photo album and a rare script for the 1903 Bert Williams and George Walker play In Dahomey.

Ethel Waters left an indelible mark on American entertainment. Known for her work in film, radio, and the theatre, Waters became the first African American to star in her own television special, The Ethel Waters Show (1939). For her role in the 1949 film Pinky, she became the second African American actor to be nominated for an Academy Award. Her recordings of songs like “Sweet Georgia Brown” (1925) and “Stormy Weather” (1933) broke records, and her iconic performances in films like Cabin in the Sky (1943) and The Member of the Wedding (1952) continue to inspire generations.

“Ethel Waters’ career on stage and screen stretched from the Jim Crow era into the era of the modern Civil Rights Movement,” said Stephen Enniss, Director of the Harry Ransom Center, “from an era of legally sanctioned segregation into an era that demanded greater opportunity for African American participation in American life. Her life story is a vitally important American story, which the Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin is honored to preserve and share with new generations of students and researchers seeking to understand this past and our still-evolving struggle to realize the full promise of America for all.”

The collection includes 31 boxes of letters, photographs, recordings, and rare manuscripts. Two important highlights from this collection have been added to the Ransom Center’s digital collections:

• Rare Script of In Dahomey (1903): Waters's archive contains an original typescript of In Dahomey, the first major commercial, full-length musical written and performed by African American artists. Only two other known copies exist—at the Library of Congress and the British Library. The Ransom Center’s script differs significantly, making it a crucial addition to the understanding of African American theater history. While Waters was not involved in the original production of In Dahomey, she was likely part of an unsuccessful effort to mount a revival of the musical on Broadway.


• Early Family Photo Album: Waters was raised by her mother, grandmother, and aunt in Chester, Pennsylvania. This album of 100 photographs depicts Waters’s childhood from infancy through her early teenage years and has not previously been published.

The collection also features more than 180 audio recordings, many of which are unreleased recordings of Waters's radio performances, live concerts, and studio sessions. The recordings include what could be the only surviving audio of the original 1939 production of Mamba’s Daughters and will be made accessible for research after they’ve been digitally preserved.

“Ethel Waters was a trailblazer,” said Dr. Eric Colleary, the Ransom Center’s performing arts curator. “She not only commanded percentages of box office receipts through her talent and business acumen, she broke so many barriers to do it. This collection will help reveal new dimensions to Ms. Waters and will extend the impact she made to future generations.”

The Ransom Center holds extensive collections in performing arts and film, including the papers of artists like Stella Adler, Robert De Niro, and Harry Houdini. The Ethel Waters Papers will be available for research in the Center’s reading room and through future exhibitions and loans. Digitized items will be available online via the Harry Ransom Center website.

This acquisition was made possible, in part, by funding from the Hoblitzelle Foundation and David and Ellen Berman. Parties interested in supporting the greater accessibility of this collection to researchers and the public can contact Lois Kim, Chief Development Officer, at lois.kim@austin.utexas.edu.

###

For more information, please visit hrc.utexas.edu