SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY
DUKE UNIVERSITY
THE PAPERS OF
WILLIAM GRANT STILL
The William Grant Still Papers (1877-1992) were purchased by Duke University in
1992.
The copyright interests in the William Grant Still papers have not been
transferred to Duke University. For further information, see the section on
copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the Special Collections
Library.
Duplication of the materials in the William Grant Still papers is restricted.
For further information, consult a reference archivist.
Linear feet of shelf space occupied: 12.0
Number of items: ca. 2,250
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
- 1895, May 11
- Born in Woodville, Miss.
- 1895
- Moved to Little Rock, Ark. with mother, Carrie Fambro Still
- 1911
- Matriculated at Wilberforce College
- 1915
- Married Grace Bundy
- 1916
- Employed in music publishing company of W. C. Handy and Charles Pace (Memphis, Tenn.), played in W. C. Handy's band.
- 1917
- Entered Oberlin Conservatory
- 1924
- Composed Darker America
- 1929
- Composed Breath of a Rose
- 1931
- Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra performed Afro-American Symphony
- 1935
- Composed Kaintuck
- 1934, 1935 and 1938
- Won Guggenheim Fellowships
- 1938
- Married Verna Arvey
- Commissioned to compose music for the 1939 New York World's Fair
- 1940
- Arranged Katherine Garrison Chapin's poem, And They Lynched Him on a Tree
- 1941
- Composed Bayou Legend
- Completed Troubled Island (Libretto by Langston Hughes and Verna Arvey)
- 1952
- First full recording of Afro-American Symphony
- 1978, Dec. 3
- Died in Los Angeles
Orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony, have performed
Still's works throughout the United States. He received honorary degrees from the University of Arkansas, Wilberforce College, and Bates College.
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