Scope and Content Note
The Edward Jablonski Papers span the period of 1942-2003, with the majority of the materials dating from 1950-2000. The collection includes book project materials, articles, liner notes, drafts, and related correspondence and business papers. All research, correspondence, and business papers pertaining to a given project are filed with its draft materials.
The Project Files series chiefly consists of materials used in the preparation and publication of Jablonski’s books on such American composers and songwriters as Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, and George Gershwin. Drafts, notes by chapter, research materials, and correspondence are present for each biographical work. These works include Harold Arlen: Happy With the Blues, Harold Arlen: Rhythm, Rainbows, and Blues, Gershwin Remembered and most extensively, Gershwin. Articles, liner notes, and other miscellaneous project material for each composer are then filed chronologically by date.
A significant cache of Ira Gershwin correspondence, which had been separated from the Jablonski Papers before its arrival at the Library, has been added to the collection and is noted in the container list. These materials augment the extant Ira Gershwin correspondence, which can be found throughout the correspondence folders of the various Gershwin-related projects.
Other major compositional projects follow the composer biographies in alphabetical order, including The Encyclopedia of American Music, and the Music Lover's Encyclopedia. Materials for miscellaneous articles, liner notes, and other writings focusing on a particular composer or a general broader topic such as American musical theater, can be found filed chronologically by date.
Jablonski was also an author of aviation history, and there are several articles and correspondence related to his work in this field. These are compiled together with his other writings on various non-music related subjects.
Correspondence in the Miscellany series consists of personal letters and business papers, arranged either by last name of correspondent or by date. Notable individuals represented include Abe Berman, Peter Clay, Alan Dashiell, and David Cunard. The series also contains a small amount of miscellaneous personal items.