Barnard College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution in New York City, has announced that it has acquired an extensive archive of material from playwright, poet, and novelist Ntozake Shange. A 1970 graduate of Barnard College, Shange is perhaps best known for her Obie-winning play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.”
The 31-linear-foot collection includes correspondence, drafts, memorabilia, and photographs. It tells the story of Shange’s life and career and focuses on issues of race and feminism.
In donating the archive, Shange stated that “I feel as though I came of age as a feminist and an artist at Barnard. I formed the basis of my critical thinking in English and history classes. I was a member of conscious-raising groups, the antiwar movement and Black-student movement. I got all that I ever imagined from an all-women’s college, and I thought my archives belonged here.”
A video of Shange discussing her donation of the archive to Barnard College can be viewed below.