Calypso Music in Postwar America
Photographs and Illustrations, 1945-1960
Calypso Music in Postwar America, a traveling exhibition organized by the
Historical Museum of Southern Florida, explores the far-reaching impact of
calypso on American popular culture during the years after World War II. The
exhibition features 124 rare photographs, songbooks, record album covers,
movie posters and other original graphics.
For a description of the exhibition, see the Fact Sheet below. Sample
images can be viewed in a related online exhibition at www.calypsoworld.org.
The exhibition is available to travel to libraries and museums after
September 2006. Earlier dates may also be possible. For additional
information, contact:
Steve Stuempfle
Chief Curator
Historical Museum of Southern Florida
101 W. Flagler St.
Miami, FL 33130
Phone: (305) 375-1492
Fax: (305) 375-1609
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<<FactSheet061505.doc>>
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Calypso Music in Postwar America:
Photographs and Illustrations, 1945-1960
An Exhibition Organized by the Historical Museum of Southern Florida
Fact Sheet
Abstract
Calypso Music in Postwar America explores the major impact of Trinidadian
calypso on the popular culture of the United States between 1945 and 1960.
Rare photographs and promotional graphics are used to trace calypso in
phonograph recordings, song publishing, nightclub acts, concerts, Broadway
shows and Hollywood movies. During the postwar years, Americans were
captivated by calypso.s poetic statements, social observations and lively
rhythms. In 1945 the Andrews Sisters. recording of Lord Invader.s .Rum and
Coca-Cola. soared to the top of the charts. In 1956 Harry Belafonte
released Calypso, which became the first single-artist album in
entertainment history to sell more than one million copies. Among the many
other famous calypso artists of the period were Sir Lancelot, the Duke of
Iron and Macbeth the Great, all from Trinidad, and Lord Flea from Jamaica.
Calypsos were also sung by a variety of American popular singers, such as
Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Josephine Premice, Maya Angelou, the
Tarriers and the Easy Riders. By presenting documentation of this wide
range of performers, the exhibition examines how calypso.s popularity was
shaped by mass media, a booming entertainment industry, Caribbean
migration to the U.S., American military service and tourism in the
Caribbean, and the postwar folk music revival.
Contents
Calypso Music in Postwar America includes 124 photographs, pieces of sheet
music, songbooks, record album covers, movie posters and other original
graphics related to calypso in the United States, 1945-1960. Much of the
material is from the private collection of Ray Funk, a popular music
researcher based in Fairbanks, Alaska. Additional items are from a variety
of archives in the United States, the United Kingdom and Trinidad.
36 16"h x 40"w frames
4 42"h x 32"w frames
2 44"h x 32"w frames
4 42"h x 32"w text panels
Shipping:
3 crates: 24" x 19" x 43" each
1 crate: 35" x 12" x 47"
Facility Requirements
Approximately 150 linear feet of wall space, with 16"h x 40"w frames
double hung.
Low security.
Schedule
08/04/04 . 09/26/04 Brooklyn Public Library . Central Library,
Brooklyn.
10/04/04 . 12/12/04 Brooklyn College Library, Brooklyn.
02/24/05 . 06/05/05 Historical Museum of Southern Florida, Miami.
Oct. 05 . Dec. 05 University of Leeds. Leeds, England (tentative).
Jan. 06 . May 06 Port of Spain, Trinidad (tentative).
06/13/06 . 10/06/06 Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City.
Oct. 06 . Dec. 07 Open.
Jan. 08 . May 08 Spurlock Museum, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
May 08 . Aug. 09 Open.
Costs
Exhibition fee: $300. Shipping costs: to be determined. Certificate of
insurance required.
Associated Programming
Calypso: A World Music. This online exhibition at www.calypsoworld.org
includes extensive graphics on calypso throughout the Atlantic world,
interpretative texts, an annotated bibliography/discography and streaming
audio selections. Organized by the Historical Museum of Southern Florida.
Exhibition Sponsorship
Calypso Music in Postwar America was organized by the Historical Museum of
Southern Florida and was funded, in part, by the National Endowment for
the Humanities.
Exhibition Development Team
Co-Curators: Ray Funk (Fairbanks, Alaska) and Stephen Stuempfle
(Historical Museum of Southern Florida).
Advisory Committee: Ray Allen (Brooklyn College), Kenneth Bilby
(Guggenheim Fellow), Geraldine Connor (University College of Leeds), John
Cowley (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London), Donald Hill (State
University of New York . Oneonta), Errol Hill (Dartmouth College), Sandra
Pouchet Paquet (University of Miami), Gordon Rohlehr (University of the
West Indies - St. Augustine, Trinidad) and Keith Warner (George Mason
University).
Project Contact
Stephen Stuempfle
Chief Curator
Historical Museum of Southern Florida
101 W. Flagler St.
Miami, FL 33130
Phone: (305) 375-1492
Fax: (305) 375-1609
Email: [log in to unmask]
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