Juanita Hall Papers

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

On November 6, 1901, African American singer and actress Juanita Long Hall was born in Keyport, New Jersey to Abram Long and Mary Richardson. Hall’s mother passed away when she was an infant and her maternal grandparents raised her. From an early age, Hall was involved with music. As a young girl she sang in Catholic Church choirs. Hall attended Julliard School of Music in New York, NY where she formally studied music. Juanita was married to Clement Hall as a teenager. However, Clement Hall passed away in the 1920s. The couple had no children and Hall never remarried.

In 1927, Hall’s professional career began when she was given a chorus singer position in Zeigfeld production of Kern and Hammerstein’s Show Boat. Hall continued to perform on Broadway and was cast in many different productions. In 1925, Francis Hall Johnson founded the Hall Johnson Choirs. Between 1930-1940, Juanita Hall worked for the Hall Johnson Choirs as a soloist and assistant director. In 1936, Hall formed her own choirs called the Juanita Hall Choirs. She continued to work as a musical arranger and director for various theater productions in New York City.

In 1948, Juanita Hall was cast as Bloody Mary, in both the Broadway and in the movie renditions of South Pacific. In 1950, Hall received a Tony Award for her role as Bloody Mary. She became the first African-American to win a Tony Award. After winning this award Hall’s popularity grew. She appealed to producers because of her experience and also because she was one of the few bi-racial actresses/singers available. After completing her work with South Pacific, Hall worked on radio, television, and Broadway shows throughout the United States.

In 1954 Hall starred in "The Story of Ruby Valentine," the first radio program broadcast on the National Negro Network. Later that year she also played Madame Tango, the owner of a West Indian bordello in the musical House of Flowers. In 1958 Hall appeared in another Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Flower Drum Song, playing a Chinese woman, Madame Liang. She also played this role in the 1961 film version of the musical, for which she won the Laurel Award for top female supporting performance.

Hall spent her final years in poverty after a failed investment a New York City restaurant, The Fortune Cookie. Her friends and family arranged for her to live in an actors' home in New Jersey and then on Long Island. In 1968, at the age of 67, Hall passed away after suffering from failing heath and eyesight due to complications from diabetes.

SOURCES

• Gates, Henry Louis, and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. The African American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
• "Hall Johnson." In Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 90. Detroit: Gale, 2011.
• "Juanita Long Hall." In Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 62. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Accessed March 3, 2015.
• Southern, Eileen. Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The Juanita Hall Papers contains the written orchestrations of musical works and lyrics. When the Chicago Public Library purchased these papers in 1974, they were pre-processed with adherence to older cataloging rules. All of the items in the collection are property stamped “Vivian Harsh Special Collections.” These papers did not have any original order so we have created an arrangement into three series: Original Music Scores property stamped with Juanita Hall’s name, Original Music written by Other Artists and Published Musical Scores. The majority of documents in these papers are undated.

Series 1: Manuscripts by Juanita Hall, 1946, 1954, undated

This series contains all of the original work from Juanita Hall. This series is organized into three sub-series: “Handwritten Song Lyrics and Notes by Juanita Hall,” “Typed Song Lyrics and Play Drafts by Juanita Hall,” and finally “Original Sheet music by Juanita Hall.”

Sub-series 1: Handwritten Song Lyrics, 1954, undated

This sub-series contains all handwritten song lyrics created by Juanita Hall. Several of the items are not titled so the first line from the song is used to identify the item. This series is organized alphabetically by title of the work.

Sub-series 2: Typed Song Lyrics and Play Drafts, 1946, undated

This sub-series contains all of the typed song lyrics and play drafts written by Juanita Hall. In instances where titles are not provided for an item the first few words of text are used as the title. This series is organized alphabetically by title of the work.

Sub-series 3: Original Sheet Music, undated

This sub-series contains all of the sheet music in the collection. The items are organized alphabetically by author, if known or alphabetically by title of the work. Juanita Hall annotated the majority of sheet music in the collection. Additionally, many of the pieces of music in this section are songs that Hall sang during her career. All of the standard sized sheet music is organized in boxes 2-5.

Sub-series 4: Oversized Original Sheet Music, undated

This sub-series contains all of the oversized sheet music in the collection. The items are organized alphabetically by author, if known or alphabetically by title of the work. Most of the music in this sub-series has original annotation from Juanita Hall. The oversized sheet music is found in box 6.

Series 2: Published Musical Scores, 1899-1965, undated

Series 2 contains all of the published materials in the collection. This sheet music was donated with the Juanita Hall papers and is her personal collection of sheet music. Some of the printed sheet music in this series is annotated but the majority is not.

CONTAINER LIST

Series 1: Manuscripts by Juanita Hall, 1946-1954, undated

Sub-series 1: Handwritten Song Lyrics and Notes by Juanita Hall, February 3, 1954, undated

Sub-series 2: Typed Song Lyrics and Play Drafts by Juanita Hall, August 1946, undated

Sub-series 3: Original Sheet Music, undated

Sub-series 4: Oversized Original Sheet Music, undated

Series 2: Published Musical Scores, 1899-1965, undated