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Chapter 21 - Creating Dangerous Music

The August Wilson Archive at the University of Pittsburgh Library System

from Part III - Productions and Collaborations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2025

Khalid Y. Long
Affiliation:
Howard University, Washington DC
Isaiah Matthew Wooden
Affiliation:
Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
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Summary

August Wilson’s archive, which was acquired by the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) in 2020, provides scholars and the wider community a unique window into the playwright’s life and creative process. Roughly spanning the years 1965 to 2018, it includes annotated playscripts, poetry, notebooks, stage production documentation, short stories, handwritten notes and dialogue on found objects, and personal effects. This chapter offers a brief overview of the history of the archive, including its acquisition, and also previews how access to these materials will expand the scholarship of Wilson’s American Century Cycle, as well as expose researchers to Wilson’s vast body of unpublished writings.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Further Reading

“Guide to the August Wilson Archive, SC.2020.05,” ULS Digital Collections (2023), https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3Aus-ppiu-sc202005/viewer.Google Scholar
Anderson, David and Downing, Michael, “The August Wilson Archive: First Panel Discussion (January 2021),” August Wilson Journal, 3 (Spring 2021), https://doi.org/10.5195/awj.2021.68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dyer, Ervin, “August Wilson’s World,” Pittwire, August 30, 2023, www.pittmag.pitt.edu/news/august-wilson-archive.Google Scholar
Glover, Eric M., Green, Omiyęmi (Artisia), LaFave, Victoria, Long, Khalid Y., Menson-Furr, Ladrica, “Encounters in the August Wilson Archive,” Theater 54, no. 1 (February 1, 2024): 98119. https://doi.org/10.1215/01610775-10918696.Google Scholar
O’Driscoll, Bill, “August Wilson Archive Sparks Black History Month exhibit at City-County Building,” WESA 90, no. 5 (February 9, 2023), www.wesa.fm/arts-sports-culture/2023-02-09/august-wilson-archive-sparks-black-history-month-exhibit-at-city-county-building.Google Scholar
Pitz, Marylynne, “August Wilson’s Literary Archive Is Coming Home,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 29, 2020, www.post-gazette.com/ae/theater-dance/2020/10/29/August-Wilson-University-of-Pittsburgh-buys-literary-archive-Pittsburgh-Cycle-Pulitzer/stories/202010280135.Google Scholar

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