View XML QR Code

Collection on Ella Fitzgerald, circa 1940-1988

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Fitzgerald, Ella
Title
Collection on Ella Fitzgerald
Dates
circa 1940-1988 (inclusive)
Quantity
56 items
Collection Number
IJC MG 004
Summary
Ella Fitzgerald was a jazz vocalist. This collection was assembled with materials acquired by the University of Idaho and donated to the Library in 1997. The collection includes personal items and artifacts that belonged to the artist.
Repository
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
Return to Top

Biographical Note

Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia, on April 25, 1917 and raised in Yonkers, New York. In 1934 Benny Carter and Bardu Ali heard Ms. Fitzgerald singing at the Apollo Theatre and introduced her to Chick Webb who hired Ella as a singer with his orchestra. One of the major hits of her career was a version of the nursery rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," recorded in 1938, with Webb's orchestra. After his death in 1939, she assumed the leadership of the orchestra for some years. By 1946 she was well into her solo career touring the world with Norman Granz' Jazz at the Philharmonic. In 1955 Granz became Ms. Fitzgerald's personal manager and she began recording for his label, Verve. Throughout her career Ella recorded with jazz greats including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ray Brown, Count Basie, Al Grey, and others. Worth mentioning are eight "Song Book" albums Ms. Fitzgerald produced for Verve from 1956 to 1964. In this series she sang compositions of Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen, and Johnny Mercer. She was the recipient of several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1992), the French medal of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres)(1990), the NAACP Image award for Lifetime Achievement (1988), U.S. National Medal of Arts (1987), the first ASCAP award in recognition of an artist (1965), and several Grammy and Down Beat magazine awards. She also received awards and honorary degrees from several universities, including Princeton University (1990) and Dartmouth College (1976). Ella Fitzgerald died in Beverly Hills, California, on June 15, 1996.

Return to Top

Content Description

This collection was assembled by Special Collections and Archives of the University of Idaho Library with materials acquired by the University of Idaho from the Estate of Ella Fitzgerald. The collection contains fifty two items that belonged to the artist. Note that a record album inside its cover, a necklace with medallion, a hat with hatpin, or eyeglasses inside an eyeglass case, are counted as one item each.

A portion of this collection has been digitized and is available on the Ella Fitzgerald Digital Collection.

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Description of Item], Collection on Ella Fitzgerald, IJC MG 4, Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Custodial History

The University of Idaho acquired the materials in this collection in 1997, apparently from three different sources.The hats at a Sotheby's auction (New York?), from the Estate of Ella Fitzgerald; seven vintage album covers, a Don Loper gown, a pair of shoes, and a necklace, at BUMPS Fine Art, Antiques and Collectibles (Los Angeles), from the Beverly Hills Estate of Ella Fitzgerald; and the remainder of the materials from the 1989 Fitzgerald Trust, through the Law offices of Le Winter and Rosman (Encino, CA). The photographs of Ella Fitzgerald from the launch of the The Entertainment Channel were donated by Christi Warner in 2021 (IJC MA 2021-15).

Processing Note

The collection was processed in January 2011. Some additional materials were added to the collection in 2022.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • African American women jazz singers
  • Jazz
  • Jazz singers
  • Women jazz singers
  • Women jazz singers--United States

Finding aid prepared by Laura Guedes; updated by Courtney E. Berge
2011; 2022

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

Loading...
Loading...