Cyrus Colter Papers
Finding Aid: Cyrus Colter Papers
Repository:
Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature
 | Maker: Swallow Press Owner: Ohio University Press Note: Cyrus Colter Papers 070, Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature |
 | Portraits of Ethel Bassett and J.A. Colter, Cyrus Colter's mother and father, Noblesville, IN, undated. Colter's mother died when he was six years old, and his father worked variously as an insurance salesman, actor, musician, and finally as the regional director of the Central Indiana division of the NAACP. Owner: Public Domain Note: Cyrus Colter Papers 009 and 010, Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature |
 | Cyrus and Imogene Colter, ca. 1946. Colter enlisted in the army in 1942 and married Imogene, a teacher and graduate of Northwestern University, in 1943. He returned from World War II in 1946, having risen to the rank of captain. Note: Cyrus Colter Papers 018, Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature |
 | Cyrus and Imogene Colter at Nelson Algren's house, Chicago 1972. Although Colter did not begin writing until 1970, he was close with many members of the Chicago Literary Renaissance (ca. 1930-1950), and his writing was said to have far more in common with theirs than it did with that of later writers, such as the members of the Black Arts Movement (ca. 1960-1975). Note: Cyrus Colter Papers 068, Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature |
 | Cyrus Colter and Gwendolyn Brooks at the Illinois State Library Dedication Ceremony, Springfield, IL, 20 June 1990. Colter and Brooks were among many Illinois-based or -born authors whose names were engraved upon the new state library in 1990. Note: Cyrus Colter Papers 083, Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature |
 | Early draft of 'Breakfast Burning,' published as part of 'Four from Imogene Poems,' in TriQuarterly 82, Fall 1991. This poem, one of very few that Colter ever wrote, was written after the death of Colter's wife in 1984. Cyrus and Imogene married in 1943, and she served as his primary reader, editor and supporter until her death. Maker: Cyrus Colter Owner: Colter estate Note: Cyrus Colter Papers 5-1, Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature |
 | Manuscript page from City of Light, published in 1993. This page shows the extensive handwritten edits that Colter made to his typed manuscripts, including, here, the novel's title being changed to City of Light from Queen Saturn's Last Child. City of Light was composed during the onset of Colter's Alzheimer's disease, which meant that the manuscripts were in a state of disarray, and many changes made were later forgotten. Maker: Cyrus Colter Owner: Perseus Books Group Note: Cyrus Colter Papers 6-15, Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature |