Penn Libraries Acquires Archive of Renowned Author and Artist Ashley Bryan

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries announces the acquisition of the archive of renowned artist Ashley Bryan, an internationally recognized children’s book author and illustrator, poet, and humanitarian. Bryan’s archive came to the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at the Penn Libraries through the Ashley Bryan Center, which has represented and preserved the artist’s legacy since 2013. 

“Bryan’s archive will enable scholars to explore American history through the lens of a brilliant individual who countered racial prejudice through the transformative power of art,” says Constantia Constantinou, H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of the Penn Libraries. “This gift builds on the Penn Libraries’ existing collections related to children’s literature, including materials by William Steig and Atha Tehon, and furthers our ability to make unique historical perspectives discoverable for future generations.”

Ashley Bryan has made his home on Little Cranberry Island, just off the coast of Maine, for the last fifty years. During the past three decades he has written and illustrated more than twenty children’s books celebrating his African American heritage. Bryan is one of the pioneers introducing characters of color—whether African, Caribbean, or African American—into the realm of children’s books. His remarkable archive spans the period from his childhood in New York City to the present and includes extensive correspondence as well as materials created during his long and productive life. 

The Ashley Bryan Center contacted a number of East Coast research libraries in their search for the best home for the archive. After examining the richness of the Ashley Bryan Archive in early 2018, Kislak Center curators David McKnight and Lynne Farrington enthusiastically recommended that the Penn Libraries submit a proposal for its acquisition. “We are thrilled that Ashley’s archive has found such a good home, says Nichols Clark, Founding Executive Director of the Ashley Bryan Center. “The range of his interests, the individuals he knew, the multivalence of his creativity, accord with the range and capacity of a major research university. Penn, from the outset, demonstrated that this archive would be extremely important to them, and we look forward to the realization of this enthusiasm.” Generous financial support from the Ashley Bryan Center will assist in processing this extensive and culturally rich collection documenting the 96-year-old artist’s evocative and creative legacy.   

The archive includes original drawings and manuscripts for Bryan’s many book projects, along with correspondence dating from his days as a student at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in the early 1940s and fan mail from admirers around the globe. The Bryan Archive complements other recent Kislak Center acquisitions of archival materials related to the artist and children’s book author/illustrator William Steig and children’s book designer Atha Tehon as well as the recent gift of the Joanna Banks African American collection, one focus of which is children’s books. Moreover, Bryan has remarked that he likes the idea that his archive will be under the same roof as that of Marian Anderson, whom he greatly admires.

As the Penn Libraries announces the gift of the Ashley Bryan Archive, it also recognizes the publication by Simon & Schuster of Ashley Bryan’s latest book, Infinite Hope. This compelling memoir, beautifully illustrated and designed, recounts his experiences as an African American drafted into the segregated U.S. Armed Forces in 1943, including his first-hand account of serving as a stevedore on Omaha Beach after landing on D-Day+3, June 9, 1944. Bryan’s story is told through the combination of text, archival documents, contemporary photographs, and drawings he made while on and off duty, which capture both the horror and ennui of war. He is frank about his experience of racial prejudice in the American army, and yet his emotions and responses are mediated through his art. 

On December 5th, 2019, the Penn Libraries will join Bryan and members of the Ashley Bryan Center in celebrating the new home of the Bryan Archive and the publication of Infinite Hope with an evening event, free and open to the public. An exhibition of materials used in the book will be on display, and signed copies of Infinite Hope, along with the new 2020 Kislak Center calendar, Vibrant Wonders: A Year Celebrating the Illustrations of Ashley Bryan, will be available for sale. Bryan, still active at the age of 96, is currently spending the winter in Houston, Texas, and looks forward to making the trip to Philadelphia for the program. 

For more information about the December 5th event and to register to attend, click here. 

For press inquiries, please contact Monica Fonorow, Communications Coordinator for the Penn Libraries.