Samuel D. Holmes papers


Collection 4359

1904-1977, undated; bulk 1964-1977
(2.0 Linear feet ; 5 boxes, 1 volume, 5 flat files)
© Historical Society of Pennsylvania1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200

Summary Information

Repository
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Creator
Holmes, Samuel D., b. 1889
Title
Samuel D. Holmes papers
ID
4359
Date
1904-1977, undated; bulk 1964-1977
Extent
2.0 Linear feet ; 5 boxes, 1 volume, 5 flat files
Author
Finding aid prepared by Lindsey Schwartz.
Sponsor
Care of this collection was supported in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and by the Young Friends of HSP.
Language
English
Abstract
Philadelphian Samuel D. Holmes (1889-1978) served in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives as a Democrat from 1936 to 1938. Culled together here is Holmes' collection of publications and clippings on African-American life in the mid to late 20th century, ranging between politics, the arts, entertainment, and sports. There is also a small amount of personal material that includes correspondence, photographs, and ephemera.

Preferred citation

Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Samuel D. Holmes papers (Collection 4359), Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

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Background note

Samuel Dismond Holmes (1889-1978), an African-American resident of Philadelphia, served in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives as a Democrat from 1936 to 1938. He grew up in Manchester, Virginia, and attended St. Paul Normal and Industrial School (later known as St. Paul’s College) from 1904 to 1906. Holmes also sat on the Executive Committee of the NAACP South Philadelphia Branch in 1975, and was involved with the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (Prince Hall Affiliation). Holmes also ran a news stand on South 15th Street in Philadelphia for 53 years.

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Scope and content note

While the Samuel D. Holmes papers, which span five document boxes, is scant on personal papers, it reflect well on Holmes' interest in the successes and struggles of African-Americans in the mid to late 20th century. The bulk of this collection is publications and clippings on African-American life, ranging between politics, the arts, entertainment, and sports. Researchers can find here full issues of Ebony from the 1970s,  Time, and  Esquire, among clippings from the  Philadelphia Tribune,  Sunday Bulletin,  New York Times and others. There are also clippings from Congressional records. Notable subjects include Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Father Divine’s Peace Mission Movement, the Black Panther Party, the Ku Klux Klan, and African-American musicians, actors, and athletes of the late 20th century.

The collection has been generally organized to maintain some semblance of Holmes’ original order. Before processing, clippings were found folded together, stuffed inside envelopes, or between pages of other publications. Despite the appearance of the collection on arrival, it appears Holmes had broadly organized by subject, sometimes following specific columns or news stories. The majority of the clippings can be found in their original groupings near the publication in which they were found.

Researchers should note Holmes’ inventories found written on envelopes and various pages throughout this portion of the collection. Additionally, some items have a “Holmes News Stand” stamp, referencing his business.

In the remainder of the collection, researchers can find correspondence from Holmes’ government tenure, and other materials including voter registration materials, event programs, and personal ephemera.

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Overview of arrangement

Series 1. Personal papers

Series 2. Publications and clippings collection

Subseries a. Miscellaneous publications and clippings found within

Subseries b. Issues of Ebony and other magazines, with clippings found within

Subseries c. Assorted magazine and newspaper clippings

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 Historical Society of Pennsylvania , 2020.

1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200

Provenance

Gift of Carmen Valentino, 1981.

Accession number 1981.008.

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Related Materials

Separated materials

The following items were removed from the collection:

•Blank ledger

•1944 Electrical Buyers Reference manual

• The Sunday Bulletin Magazine (7 September 1969)– Article on Joe Walcott was photocopied, the rest discarded.

•“City of Philadelphia Annual Report 1969-70”- Supplement to The Sunday Bulletin (1 November 1970).

•Section of Philadelphia Daily News (9 September 1974) pages 13-28.

• The Evening Bulletin (20 May 1970) pages 1-4, 21-24.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer/Today’s World (2 January 1972) – Section H “A Review of 1971,” pages 1-10.

•The Philadelphia Inquirer/Today’s World (10 October 1971) – Section H, pages 1-2, 9-10.

•The Sunday Bulletin (3 April 1966) “News & Views” section, pages 1-10.

•The Sunday Bulletin (9 May 1971) “News & Views” section, pages 1-10.

Researchers can find the archives of the Sunday Bulletin, the  Evening Bulletin, and the  Philadelphia Inquirer on their respective websites, through the Free Library of Philadelphia, Temple University, or through HSP's newspaper databases.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • Black Panther Party. Philadelphia Branch.

Personal Name(s)

  • King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968

Subject(s)

  • African American athletes.
  • African American civic leaders--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.
  • African American clergy.
  • African American politicians.
  • African American--Social Life and Customs.
  • African Americans in mass media.
  • African Americans--Civil rights--History.
  • African Americans--Music--20th century.
  • African Americans--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.
  • African Americans--Political activity--Newspapers.
  • African Americans--Politics and government--20th century.

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Bibliography

“The Charles L. Blockson Collection.” Goin’ North. https://goinnorth.org/blockson_collection. Accessed 2 March 2020.

“Saint Paul’s College (Virginia).” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Paul%27s_College_(Virginia). Accessed 2 March 2020.

“Samuel D. Holmes.” Pennsylvania House of Representatives. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=1935&body=H. Accessed 18 February 2020.

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Collection Inventory

 Series 1.  Personal papers 
Box Folder

Correspondence - Incoming and outgoing (1936-1945)  

 1 1

Programs and ephemera, including Freemasons; NAACP 50-year pin “1909-1959” (1919-1975, undated) 

 1 2

Election materials, miscellaneous pamphlets & ephemera (1944-1974, undated) 

 1 3

Photographs (1901, undated)  

 1 4

St. Paul’s college newsletters and pin (1938, 1976) 

 1 5
Volume

Pictoral Album of the Pyramid Club (1945) 

 1
Box Volume

List of Voters and Party Enrollment- 7th Ward, 7th Divison (1941) 

 5 2
Oversize

Samuel D. Holmes’ application for service in the Signal Corps, U.S. Army (circa 1918) 

 Flat file 2

“These 24 Men Have Served in the U.S. Congress” post (undated) 

 Flat file 3

Properties of Father Divine’s Peace Mission Movement poster; Philadelphia Colored Democratic Campaign Committee poster (1973, undated) 

 Flat file 4

Copy of United Nations charter (undated) 

 Flat file 5

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 Series 2.  Publications and clippings collection 

 Subseries a.  Miscellaneous publications and clippings 
Box Folder

Black History Museum newsletter (1971-1974) 

 1 6

The Negro in 1944;  Orlando Negro Chamber of Commerce Business Directory;  Tops magazine (1944, 1953, undated) 

 1 7

Clippings found within publications of Box 1, folder 7 (1935-1974, undated) 

 1 8

“That Man” in the White House: You and Your President;  The Nation (1944, 1953) 

 1 9

Jet (August 1975);  Time (December 1934);  The Literary Digest (January 1935);  Encore (1972); and  The UNESCO Courier (1954) and clipping from the  Evening Bulletin found within  Encore (1966) (1934-1975) 

 1 10

 Subseries b.  Issues of Ebony and other magazines, with clippings found within 
Box Folder

Ebony February 1973 and clippings found within (1973, undated) 

 2 1

Clippings found in Ebony February 1973 (undated) 

 2 2

Clippings found in Ebony February 1973 (1962-1976, undated)  

 2 3

Ebony November 1973 and clippings found within;  Inquirer supplement on Father Divine’s Peace Mission Movement (1969, undated) 

 2 4

Ebony June 1974 and clippings, found within November 1973 issue; Congressional record (1967-1969, 1974, undated) 

 2 5

Ebony February 1975 and clippings found within; Congressional record (1975) (1971-1976, undated) 

 2 6

Newspaper sections and clippings found within Ebony February 1975; Congressional records (1975) (1967-1975, undated) 

 2 7

Ebony November 1972;  Ebony June 1975;  Life August 1972—incomplete issues and clippings (1972, 1975) 

 2 8

Ebony December 1975 and clippings (1976, n.d.) 

 2 9

Ebony August 1973 and clippings (1972-1975, undated) 

 2 10

Ebony November 1974 (near entire issue); “Tuesday at Home” supplement to the  Sunday Bulletin – October 1974;  Caravan 1972; and clippings (1972, 1974, undated) 

 2 11

Incomplete issues of Ebony - September 1975; October 1973; July 1973; assorted clippings (1973, 1975-1976, undated) 

 2 12

Articles found in Ebony September 1975;  The Afro-American September 1966; "Tuesday Magazine" (  Sunday Bulletin supplement) May 1967 (1966, 1967, 1973, 1975, undated) 

 2 13

Ebony July 1975;  Ebony August 1975;  Plain Truth June 1975; & clippings found within (1975, undated) 

 3 1

Incomplete Ebony October 1974 and clippings found within (1974, 1975, undated)  

 3 2

Clippings found in Ebony October 1974; "Tuesday Magazine" August 1967 & January 1975 (1967, 1974, 1975, undated) 

 3 3

Miscellaneous clippings and section of "Tuesday Magazine" October 1965 (1945-1975, undated) 

 3 4

Ebony November 1975 and clippings (1949, 1973, 1975, undated) 

 3 5

Esquire Magazine November 1970 and clipping (1970, undated) 

 3 6

Partial issues of Ebony January 1975 and circa 1974 issue; clippings; all found in  Esquire November 1970 (1970-1975, undated) 

 3 7

Clippings found in Esquire (1934, 1970, undated) 

 3 8

Found in Esquire:  Plain Truth September 1975;  Muhammad Speaks September 1975 (1975) 

 3 9

Partial issue of Ebony February 1975 and assorted clippings found within  Ebony November 1975 (1973-1975, undated) 

 3 10

Assorted articles found in Ebony November 1975 (1975, undated) 

 3 11

Ebony May 1976 and clippings found within (1976, undated) 

 3 12

Assorted Ebony clippings (1976-1977) 

 3 13

 Subseries c.  Assorted magazine and newspaper clippings 
Box Folder

Clippings found in “List of Voters and Party Enrollment”; Congressional record (1969) (1964-1965, 1969, undated) 

 4 1

Assorted clippings, mostly politics; New York Times Magazine August 1973 (1965-1973, undated) 

 4 2

Assorted sections of the Philadelphia Tribune (1966-1972) 

 4 3

Assorted magazine articles ([1969] 1976-1977, undated) 

 4 4

Assorted clippings and sections (1968-1975) 

 4 5

Assorted clippings - mostly entertainment & politics (1962-1966, n.d.) 

 4 6

Assorted clippings - most education/careers/medicine (some found in The Courier 1954) (1954, 1975, undated) 

 4 7

Assorted clippings (most sports-related) and original envelope – most sports-related (1972, undated) 

 4 8

Assorted clippings on sports from Time,  Sports Illustrated,  Life and others (1935-1967) 

 4 9

Assorted newspaper clippings (most sports-related) (1940-1975, undated) 

 4 10

Assorted magazine and newspaper clippings (most sports-related) (1945-1968, undated) 

 4 11

Clippings found in Caravan 1971 and  Action 1973 (1971-1974, undated)  

 4 12

Assorted clippings found in 1944 Electrical Buyers Reference manual (1950-1970, undated) 

 4 13

Assorted clippings found in blank ledger (1962-1967, undated) 

 4 14

Magazine and small newspaper clippings found in 1944 Electrical Buyers Reference manual and Congressional record (1964) (1949-1970, undated) 

 5 1

The New Republic (August 1964) and clippings found within (1964, 1965, undated) 

 5 2

Magazine clippings, small newspaper clippings; Congressional record (1964) (1963-1968, undated) 

 5 3

Clippings on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1963-1965, undated) 

 5 4

Clippings (most sports-related) (1967, undated) 

 5 5

Assorted clippings and original envelope; Congressional record clippings (1971) (1969-1971, undated) 

 5 6

Assorted clippings on politics and higher education (1931-1975, undated) 

 5 7

Assorted clippings, papers and original envelope; Issues of Caravan (1971),  Action! (1973) (1971, 1973, undated) 

 5 8

Assorted clippings and original envelope (1971-1973, undated) 

 5 9

Assorted newspaper sections: The National Observer (1971);  The Sunday Bulletin (1965);  New York Amsterdam News (1965) (1965, 1971) 

 5 10

Sections from the Philadelphia Tribune (1954, 1966) 

 5 11
Oversize

Clipping from the Pittsburgh Courier- Arnold H. Maloney, George Dixon; “Justice for All” column by Benjamin E. Mays (1934)  

 Flat file 1

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