Examining the Papers of Fredi Washington
2008 Ford Scholars Project Description
| Project Director: | Mia Mask |
| Department: | Film |
| Dates: | June 2 – July 21, 2008 (7 weeks) |
| Location: | Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, with day trips to New York City, Washington D.C. |
| Number of Students: | 1 |
Description of the Project:
Several years ago, I discovered that Vassar College owns the papers of African American actress Fredi Washington (1903-1994). Listed in the Vassar library archive as “Fredi Washington papers, 1925-1979,” these microform documents have yet to be unearthed and examined for what they can add to the scholarly record of Washington’s life and career. Some things are known about Washington. For example, she is mentioned in Donald Bogle’s seminal study Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks: An Interpretive History of African Americans in Film. However, I am eager to augment the historical record from the perspective of these more personal papers. [1] See the online website “Fredi Washington “ at: http://www.angelfire.com/ri2/rebeccastjames/fredi.html. The accuracy of this information can be corroborated in Donald Bogle’s widely read study.
Fredericka Carolyn Washington was born December 23, 1903, in Savannah, Georgia. After her Mother died she and her sister were educated at a convent school in Cornwell Heights, Pennsylvania, until they went to live with grandparents. She attended the Egri School of Dramatic Writing and the Christopher School of Languages. At 15, Fredi was dancing with the Happy Honeysuckles. She worked as a bookkeeper for W.C. Handy's record company, and was soon appearing with Baker in the musical "Shuffle Along" (1921). She co-starred with Paul Robeson in the Broadway play "Black Boy" (1926) and with Ethel Waters in "Mamba's Daughter" (1939).
Washington made her film debut in the Dudley Murphy short Black and Tan (1929), playing Duke Ellington's girlfriend, a dancer who performs despite illness and collapses after her big number. Her next film was Emperor Jones, (1933) playing a prostitute who has a brief relationship with a railroad porter. The studio made her wear makeup to darken her skin because they were afraid moviegoers would think Robeson was wooing a white woman. [1]
Anticipated Summer Activities:
This project will be an extension of my research into the lives and careers of African American women film stars. My forthcoming book, Divas of the Silver Screen (University of Illinois Press, 2009) places African American women’s stardom in historical and industrial contexts. Employing Max Weber’s notion of charisma as an interpretive category, I analyze various discourses informing the constructed personae of five celebrities—Dorothy Dandridge, Pam Grier, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Halle Berry. My overarching thesis is that each star’s persona has been predicated on a manufactured brand of charisma.
Working on the Washington papers project will enable my student assistant to hone his/her primary-source research skills. My assistant will help with the following tasks: retrieve documents from microform, examine the content of the papers, cross-reference the content against existing primary sources, and situate the material in a 1930s context. In addition to helping analyze these papers, the assistant will retrieve secondary sources pertaining to the biography and career of Washington. This may involve day trips to The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture located in Harlem and/or trips to The Library of Congress’ Public Moving Image Archives & Research Centers. Such trips familiarize students with major archives while imparting skills transferable across disciplines.
Preferred Student Qualifications/Skills:
Familiarity with Film Studies as a discipline; Knowledge of on-line film databases and film periodicals;willingness to travel to NYC; knowledge of film history.
Anticipated Follow-up Teaching/Professional Activity for the Student:
The anticipated follow-up will include working with me to design a course from this research and one in-class presentation during the fall semester about the various film archives visited during the summer.