Scope and Content Note
The Edward Beach Collection of Jazz Photographs and Other Iconography spans from 1940 to 1975 with the bulk of materials dating from 1950 to 1975. The collection consists of photographs and other iconography, primarily of jazz musicians, but notable figures from other musical and artistic disciplines are also represented. Many of the photographs appear to have been produced for publicity purposes, and some are autographed or bear other inscriptions. Of particular interest are images of Louis Armstrong, William "Count" Basie, Bennett Lester "Benny" Carter; John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, and Bessie Smith. Apart from musicians in the jazz tradition, there are images of composers such as Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland, Frederick Delius, Leoš Janàček, Bohuslav Martinů, Darius Milhaud, Carl Orff, Maurice Ravel, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, among others. Also included is a large poster of dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.