Maya Angelou's treasured work finds a home

A collection of Maya Angelou's personal notes, letters and documents has been acquired by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. As the largest collection of her material, the archive includes a draft of the poem she read at the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton, letters from Malcolm X and James Baldwin, and many more gems:

From the New York Times:

The trove has notes for Ms. Angelou’s autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”; a 1982 telegram from Coretta Scott King asking her to join a celebration at the King Center; fan mail; and personal and professional correspondence with Gordon Parks, Chester Himes, Abbey Lincoln and her longtime editor, Robert Loomis.

Asked if she was sorry to give up 343 boxes filled with personal items that document her literary career, Angelou said couldn't think of a better place for her archive. “Nothing is as precious to me as that library,” she said of the Schomburg. Angelou wants her story to be kept safe where it will continue to be told:

“Hold those things that tell your history and protect them,” she said. “During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody to tell your story to is so important. It says: ‘I was here. I may be sold tomorrow. But you know I was here.’ ”