Clippings

Subseries 6.1, Clippings, contains information about Count Basie, the Basie Orchestra, Catherine and Diane Basie, other Basie family members, current events, and topics of interest to Catherine. In addition to the scrapbooks in series 5, the clippings series provides the most comprehensive and richest source of information about the Count Basie Orchestra in the collection. This series also includes clippings that correspond to scrapbooks in series 5, as they have adhesive residue, corners that are cut or have been taped, and/or attached “Burrelle’s Press Service” labels, and many scrapbooks in series 5 have missing items. Most clippings relate to the Basies, but many also have little direct connection to the family, other than sometimes covering topics of interest that relate to Catherine’s volunteer activities and charitable work.

Subseries 6.2 contains publications found in the collection that do not mention any Basie family member. It is comprised of periodicals, newsletters, magazines, programs, newspapers, and a book, which reflect Count and Catherine Basie’s interests and personal lives. The sub-series includes a Billy Conn-Joe Louis fight program (1946) and magazines with articles on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Newspapers include Long Island Call (1953), Bahamas Independence (1973), The Queen’s Voice (1964), and Long Island Jewish Press (1964). Also included are newsletters of three Frank Sinatra societies: Perfectly Frank, The Journal of the Sinatra Music Society; Sinatra International; and Sinatra Music Society U.S.A. Many publications in this subseries represent significant events and were kept by the Basies as a commemorative keepsake.