Maceo Jefferson Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Jefferson, Yvonne Runtz
label: Creator
content: Jefferson, Maceo
label: Donor
content: Cargill, Thomas
label: Donor
content: Cargill, Darlene Johnson
label: Names
content: Washingtonians, The.
topic: label: Occupation
content: Composers
label: Occupation
content: Composers -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: World War, 1939-1945
label: Topic
content: Music -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Concentration camps -- France
label: Topic
content: Jazz musicians
label: Topic
content: Banjoists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated to the Archives Center in 2015 by Jefferson's grand-nephew Thomas Cargill and his wife Darlene Johnson Cargill.
creator: label: Creator
content: Jefferson, Yvonne Runtz
label: Creator
content: Jefferson, Maceo
label: Donor
content: Cargill, Thomas
label: Donor
content: Cargill, Darlene Johnson
setName: label: See more items in
content: Maceo Jefferson Papers
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Maceo Buchannan Jefferson was born on July 14, 1898 in Beaufort, South Carolina to Reverend Paul William Jefferson and Julia Rose Singleton. The oldest of five children, Jefferson showed an early aptitude for both banjo and guitar. He enlisted in the Navy on April 6, 1917 and was released from service on December 24, 1919. According to the 1920 census, Jefferson lived in Portsmouth Monroe Ward, Portsmouth, Virginia as a laborer with the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. During this time, he played with Gus Perry at the Limelight's Nightclub. Jefferson then moved to Norfolk, Virginia for two years before moving to Washington, DC. As noted in his resume, while in the District of Columbia Jeffersone, he performed with the J. R. Branson Orchestra in a dance hall on U Street and the Roscoe Lee Orchestra at the Better Old Club. He married Riccolin E. Sutherland on October 21, 1922. Jefferson spent another two years in a nightclub in Washington, where he met Duke Ellington and joined his band, the Washingtonians.  By early 1923, Jefferson had joined Wilber Sweatman, and worked in a succession of nightclubs and theaters in New York, Brooklyn, and New Jersey.  He also accompanied singer Ethel Waters on a recording session for Columbia Records.  In 1926, he joined the Lew Leslie Blackbirds Plantation Orchestra and went on a European tour in 1927 with the band and singer Florence Mills. Jefferson joined Leon Abbey's band in 1928, and eventually relocated to Paris, France. During this time, he performed with several jazz bands and musicians including Louis Armstrong before returning to New York where he played in Willie "The Lion" Smith's band and toured with W. C. Handy.  The late 1930s and 1940s found him back in France where he married a Parisian woman, Yvonne Josephine Stephanie Runtz, in 1937. Jefferson toured with different bands in France, England, Scotland, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and Italy until the end of May 1940. In June, he drove a truck for the American Hospital of Paris to the base hospital of Angouleme for which he received no salary.  From August to November, Jefferson worked for the American Red Cross as a driver transporting the sick and, injured, and distributing medicine and food. Jefferson resumed his musical career arranging, composing, copying, and playing music from December 1940-December 1941. His career took a dramatic turn when the Nazis, under the Vichy government, imprisoned him, three days after the United States declared war on Germany. Jefferson spent twenty-seven months in prison camp stalag 122 in Compiegne, France and while imprisoned led an orchestra.  In 1944, the Nazis released and sent Jefferson back to the United States where he lived in New York before relocating to Bridgeport, Connecticut.  In the latter part of his life and musical career, he focused on composition and developing new arrangements for old songs.  He never fully regained his health after his time in the concentration camp.  Jefferson died on June 15, 1974 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 8 Cubic feet (26 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1800s-1974
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1370
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Hymnals
label: Type
content: Programs
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Legal records
label: Type
content: Marriage certificates
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: 78 rpm records
label: Type
content: Passports
label: Type
content: Sheet music
label: Type
content: Music
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Birth certificates
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into seven series.

Series 1: Personal Papers, 1891-1978, undated

Series 2: Correspondence, 1909-1976, undated

Series 3: Business Records and Performance Materials, 1932-1971, undated

Series 4: Legal Records, 1920s-1970s, undated

Series 5: Music Manuscripts, Published Sheet Music, and Folios, 1891-1972, undated

Subseries 5.1: Jefferson Compositions, 1920-1972, undated

Subseries 5.2: Compositions by Other Composers, 1921-1971, undated

Subseries 5.3: Sheet Music, 1891-1970, undated

Subseries 5.4: Folios, Songbooks and Instruction, 1870s-1950s

Series 6: Photographs, 1800s-1960s

Series 7: Recordings, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Jack Barral, intern, 2019; Lauren Finkle, intern, 2019; Caroline Kleiner, intern, 2019; Abigail Phelps, intern, 2019; Erin Wiebe intern, 2019; and Vanessa Broussard- Simmons, archivist, 2019.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Hymnals
label: Genre/Form
content: Programs -- Concerts -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Legal records -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Marriage certificates
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: 78 rpm records
label: Genre/Form
content: Passports
label: Genre/Form
content: Sheet music -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Music -- Manuscripts
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Birth certificates
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection documents the life and career of jazz musician, arranger, songwriter, and bandleader Maceo Jefferson. It includes biographical documents such as birth and marriaige certificates and passports; letters, mostly relating to the music business and including carbon copies of letters sent by Jefferson; photographs, many inscribed, including photographs of performers from the early jazz era; a hymnal used by Jefferson; several pieces of published sheet music written by Jefferson; concert programs, including a hand-made one for a concert given inside a Nazi internment camp where Jefferson was detained for two years; lyrics to songs; some business records, many in French; legal records; recordings, including 78 rpm records; and music manuscripts, which comprise roughly three fourths of the collection. Additionally, Jefferson's wife, Yvonne Runtz Jefferson, was a costume designer, and there are photographs relating to her work in the collection.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center

Duke Ellington Collection (AC0301)

Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection (AC1323)

W. C. Handy Collection (AC0132)

Gottlieb and Bodansky Family Papers (AC1245)