Guide to the Wendell L. Wray Papers, 1885-2003 UA.90.F88

Arrangement

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Wendell L. Wray Papers
Creator
Wray, Wendell L.
Collection Number
UA.90.F88
Extent
20 Linear Feet (16 boxes)
Date
1885-2003
Abstract
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Wendell Leonard Wray, the first African-American male to both graduate from Carnegie Tech Library School and be hired at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Public Library. Wray relocated to New York City where he directed the Harlem based North Manhattan Project, and later the Schomburg Center for Research in Black History. Later, he taught at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Information Science, specializing in the instruction of oral history and African-American bibliography.
Physical Location
UA Stacks Range 9/7/3-6
Language
English .
Author
Sean Kilcoyne.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Biography

Wendell Wray was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1926. He grew up in the Beltzhoover neighborhood, attending South Hills High School. Amongst his early interests were reading, making Alexander Calder inspired mobiles, and establishing communicative fluency of the Spanish language. Wray did a stint in the United States Army where he found great pleasure in the USO library. Upon receiving an honorable discharge in 1946, he began the "four happiest years" of his life at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where he was active in a number of extracurricular activities and was Poet Laureate of the Class. He graduated in 1950 with a degree in Psychology, initially intending to obtain an advanced degree in the field. Wray matriculated at the University of Connecticut with this goal in mind; however, he abandoned this pursuit after a career aptitude test suggested that he would make a good librarian.

Wray returned to Pittsburgh where he attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (which later evolved into the University of Pittsburgh's School of Information Science), earning a Masters of Library Science in 1952, and making history as the first African-American male to graduate from the school. Wray was also the first African-American male hired by the Carnegie Public Library, where he worked first in the Adult Circulation department, and later in the Public Affairs Division.

In July of 1959, he moved to the New York Public Library (NYPL). He began as an Adult Group Specialist, which entailed overseeing cultural activities over 80 individual branches and organizing and regularly presenting at book and film discussion groups. From July 1964 to September 1965, Wray temporarily served as the Acting Curator of the NYPL's prestigious Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Following this, he assumed leadership of the North Manhattan Library Project, an outreach program targeted at the disadvantaged, based at Harlem's Countee Cullen Regional Library. He performed in this role for eight years. During the summer of 1973, Wray attended Columbia University's new class in Oral History, financed by Alex Haley. Upon completion of the course, Wray founded the Schomburg Center's Department of Oral History.

That same year he departed New York to assume a faculty position at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Library and Information Science. Wray developed and perfected the school's Oral History/ Oral Traditions and African-American Bibliography classes; he also instructed on public libraries and reference. In 1981, Wray was appointed Chief of the Schomburg Center. Unfortunately, despite great aptitude for the task, his decision to hire a white archivist proved controversial and divisive, and after considerable personal strain, Wray resigned from his post. He resumed teaching at Pitt in 1983 and was granted Professor Emeritus Status in 1988. Wray continued in this capacity until he moved to Oakland, California, in 1995. Prior to relocation, he donated his extensive personal library to Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pa.. Wray remained in Oakland until his death in 2003.

Scope and Content Notes

This collection documents Wendell Wray's life and work. It includes a wide variety of materials and formats related to his career and his personal interests. There is often significant overlap between these two broad categories. For instance, Wray not only taught and consulted around oral history, but he explored it as a means of researching his own genealogical circumstances. Wray's interest in both oral culture and the written word are manifested consistently throughout this collection. Significant materials include letters, drafts, articles, photographs, sound recordings, reports, notes for presentations, and a variety of publications. As an African-American librarian and scholar, Wray was acutely aware of documenting his own life as part of a larger historical trajectory, and this collection indicates that he was very successful in this endeavor.

The collection is arranged in fourteen series. More detailed scope notes can be found at the series level.

Arrangement

This collection is only arranged at the series level; there is no individual folder-level inventory for this collection at the present time. Please contact the Archives Service Center for more information.

Series I. Family History and Correspondence, 1885-1991

Series II. Education, 1939-1995

Series III. Diaries, Journals, and Planners, 1946-2003

Series IV. Personal Correspondence, 1939-2003

Series V. African-American Bibliography and Resources, 1968-1992

Series VI. Oral History and Tradition, 1965-1987

Series VII. Public Library Work, 1952-1973

Series VIII. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 1964-1990

Series IX. University of Pittsburgh, School of Information Science, 1972-1994

Series X. Other Activities, 1971-1993

Series XI. Publications, 1942-2003

Series XII. Photographs, Slides, and Negatives, 1940-2003

Series XIII. Sound Recordings, 1964-1997

Series XIV. Scrapbooks, Photos, and Family Memorabilia, 1911-1991

Access Restrictions

Some correspondence is restricted. Files in Series VIII concerning candidates and their qualifications for the archival job at the Schomburg Center are also restricted. A signed confidentiality agreement is required for access.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Ellen Detlefsen in May 2005.

Previous Citation

Wendell L. Wray Papers, 1885-2003, UA.90.F88, University Archives, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

Preferred Citation

Wendell L. Wray Papers, 1885-2003, UA.90.F88, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Sean Kilcoyne in July 2009.

Copyright

The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.

Separated Material

Arthur J. Wray's 1911 Tuskegee Institute diploma was removed from Series XIV and placed in an oversized flat file.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Carnegie Library School
    • Columbia University
    • New York Public Library
    • North Manhattan Project
    • Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
    • University of Pittsburgh. School of Library and Information Science -- Faculty
    • University of Pittsburgh -- Faculty
    • Bates College (Lewiston, Me.)
    • Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

    Personal Names

    • Wray, Wendell L.

    Geographic Names

    • Oakland (Calif.)
    • New York (N.Y.)
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.)

    Occupations

    • Oral historians

    Genres

    • Negatives (Photographic)
    • Manuscripts (Document genre)
    • Slides (Photographs)
    • Photographs
    • Publications
    • Correspondence
    • Sound recordings
    • Diaries

    Other Subjects

    • African American librarians -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • African American college teachers -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Library science teachers -- United States
    • Oral history -- Study and teaching -- United States
    • African Americans -- Bibliography -- Methodology -- Study and teaching
    • Library science -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Public librarians -- United States
    • African American historians
    • African Americans -- Genealogy
    • University of Pittsburgh
    • Ethnic groups
    • Faculty papers
    • Librarians
    • College teachers

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