Charlie Ventura Collection
name: label: Donor
content: DePasquale, Dolores
label: Creator
content: Ventura, Charlie, 1916-1992
place: label: Place
content: Atlantic City (N.J.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Big bands -- United States -- 1930-1950.
label: Topic
content: Jazz
label: Topic
content: Italian Americans
label: Topic
content: Jazz musicians -- 1950-2000 -- United States
label: Topic
content: Jazz -- 1940-1950
label: Topic
content: Musicians
label: Topic
content: Night clubs -- 1930-1940
label: Topic
content: Saxophone
label: Topic
content: Saxophonists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated to the Archives Center in 2013 by Dolores DePasquale.
creator: label: Donor
content: DePasquale, Dolores
label: Creator
content: Ventura, Charlie, 1916-1992
setName: label: See more items in
content: Charlie Ventura Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: Photographs, correspondence, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, business records, advertising and promotional materials, and audiovisual materials documenting the personal life and musical career of jazz saxophonist and band leader Charlie Ventura.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Charlie Ventura was born Charles Vincent Venturo one of thirteen children to Antonio Leonardo Ventura (April 21, 1885-August 23, 1971) and Carmela (Millie) Campanile (July 16, 1886-August 6, 1945) on December 2, 1916, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.   Ventura purchased a saxophone as a teenager and began playing in Philadelphia clubs.  He married Madeline Dallessandro (October 22, 1917-March 20, 2005) and to the union three children were born Charles Anthony Ventura, Jr. (February 27, 1937-January 13, 2022), Rita Ventura (1942-), and Anthony Charles (Tony) Ventura.  According to a World War II draft card Ventura was employed by the Cadillac Tavern Bird and Hunting Park in October 1940.   In the 1940s he worked for the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard while pursuing music in the evenings. 

Named number one tenor saxophonist by DownBeat magazine in 1945, Ventura  played with well-known musicians including Gene Krupa,  Stan Kenton, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, and Teddy Powell.  He performed regularly at the Steel Pier and several nights clubs in Atlantic City, Somers Point, and Wildwood. Throughout his career Ventura opened two clubs the Lindenwald and Open House.  

Ventura died of lung cancer in Pleasantville, New Jersey on January 17, 1992, at the age of seventy-five.

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Remembering Jazz Legend Charlie Ventura by Bruce Klauber, Shore Local Magazine, October 3, 2024.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Cubic feet (6 boxes, 4 video cassette tapes, 30 audio discs, 27 audio cassette tapes, 1 compact disc)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1939-2001, undated
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1308
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Advertising
label: Type
content: Articles
label: Type
content: Audiocassettes
label: Type
content: Awards
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Digital media
label: Type
content: Letters (correspondence)
label: Type
content: Newspaper clippings
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Promotional literature
label: Type
content: Videocassettes
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is arranged into two series.

Series 1, Personal Papers, 1950-1994, undated

Series 2, Audiovisual Materials, 1939-2001, undated

Subseries 2.1, Video Cassette Tapes, 1991, undated

Subseries 2.2, Audio Discs, 1939-1988, undated

Subseries 2.3, Audio Cassette Tapes, 1944-1992, undated

Subseries 2.4, Compact Disc, 2001
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist, 2025; audio discs processed by Wendy Shay, audiovisual archivist, 2013.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Advertising -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Articles -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiocassettes
label: Genre/Form
content: Awards
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 1950-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Digital media
label: Genre/Form
content: Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.
label: Genre/Form
content: Newspaper clippings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 1950-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Promotional literature
label: Genre/Form
content: Videocassettes
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Collection documents the personal life and musical career of jazz saxophone player and band leader Charlie Ventura. Materials include correspondence; business records such as contracts; photographs primarily documenting musical performances; programs from jazz shows in which Ventura participated; advertising and promotional materials for concerts; numerous magazine articles and newspaper clippings relating to Ventura's life and music; and audio-visual materials of Ventura's music including audio discs, audio cassette tapes, video cassette tapes, and a compact disc. 

The collection is arranged in two series. Series one contains Ventura's personal papers. Series two are audiovisual materials arranged by format.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

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Milt Gabler Papers, NMAH.AC.0849

Leonard and Mary Gaskin Papers, NMAH.AC.0900

Donald J. Stubblebine Collection of Musical Theater and Motion Picture Music and Ephemera, NMAH.AC.1211

Leslie Schillinger Collection of Gene Krupa Materials, NMAH.AC.1220

Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection, NMAH.AC.1323

Jazz and Big Band Collection, NMAH.AC.1388

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Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone Papers, AAA.sarccosm

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Frederic Ramsey Audio Recordings, CFCH.RAMS