Contents and Arrangement
Online

Speeches and Lectures, 1975 May 30-2015 October 1

8 boxes
SOME ONLINE CONTENT
Speeches and Lectures Content List
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"Re: The Arts and Humanities in a Multi-Cultural State"undatedBox 295, Folder 1
Portland State University Black Studies Center Panel1975 May 30Box 295, Folder 2
"The Human Agenda"1978-1979Box 295, Folder 3
"This Beleaguered, Guilt-Ridden, Frustrated Species--The Individual Artist"1981Box 295, Folder 4
Statement to the Presidential Task Force on the Arts and the Humanities1981Box 295, Folder 5
"For a Heroic Writer's Movement"1981Box 295, Folder 6
"Memory, Creation, and Writing"1983-1990Box 295, Folder 7
For The International Conference on Liberty and the Rights of Man1985 May 29Box 295, Folder 8
Bryn Mawr Commencement Address1984Box 295, Folder 9
"Alienation and the State"1986 January 14Box 295, Folder 10
"The Site of Memory"1986Box 295, Folder 11
"Civilization and the New York Public Library"1986 October 19Box 295, Folder 12
"The Last Word"circa 1987Box 295, Folder 13
Remarks Honoring Robert L. Bernstein1987 November 16Box 295, Folder 14
James Baldwin Eulogy1987 December 8Box 295, Folder 15
"Black Atlantic Art: Pencil of the Holy Ghost"1988Box 295, Folder 16
Sarah Lawrence College Commencement Address1988 May 27Box 295, Folder 17
"Unspeakable Things Unspoken: The Afro-American Presence in American Literature"1988Box 295, Folder 18-21
"Unspeakable Things Unspoken: The Afro-American Presence in American Literature"1988Box 296, Folder 1
Massey Lecture Notes1989-1990Box 296, Folder 2
"The Matter of Africanism" Massey Lecture1990 May 14Box 296, Folder 3-4
"Shadow and Flight: Africanism, Romance, and Young America" Massey Lecture1990 May 15Box 296, Folder 5
"Ernest Hemingway: Disturbing Nurses and the Kindess of Sharks" Massey Lecture1990 May 16Box 296, Folder 6
Princeton Freshman Orientation Speechcirca 1989Box 296, Folder 7
Arts & Art Advocacycirca 1989Box 296, Folder 8
"Remembering James Baldwin"1989 June 22Box 296, Folder 9
SCLC King Week Festival Keynote Address1990 January 15Box 297, Folder 1
American Association for Higher Education Talk1991 March 25Box 297, Folder 2
Chicago Humanities Festival Keynote Address1991 November 10Box 297, Folder 3
Antonia S. Byatt Introduction1991 November 11Box 297, Folder 4
Nancy Milford Introduction1992 March 12Box 297, Folder 5
"The Source of Self Regard"1992 March 19Box 297, Folder 6
University of Michigan Commencement Address1992 May 2Box 297, Folder 7
"Writing in a Racialized Society"1992 May 14Box 297, Folder 8
"Poetic Justice: Race, Glamour, and Grammar"1993 January 8Box 297, Folder 9
Lafayette College Commencement Address1993 May 23Box 297, Folder 10
Nobel Lecture1993 December 7Box 297, Folder 11-12
Maxine Hong Kingston Introduction1994 April 6Box 297, Folder 13
"A Race in Mind, The Press in Deed"1994 April 27Box 297, Folder 14
"Home"1994 April 28Box 297, Folder 15
Ralph Ellison Tribute1994 May 26Box 297, Folder 16
"The First Solution"1995 March 3Box 297, Folder 17
Degga1995 July 25-27Box 297, Folder 18
"Borderlife"1995 October 31Box 297, Folder 19
"MLK: A Tribute"1996 January 16Box 297, Folder 20
Peter Sellars Introduction1996 March 14Box 297, Folder 21
"The Future of Time: Literature and Dimished Expectations"1996 March 25Box 297, Folder 22
"The Trouble with Paradise"1996 May 10Box 298, Folder 1
"Mutual Hesitancies: History & Fiction"1996 May 13Box 298, Folder 2
"The Place of the Idea; The Idea of the Place"1996 October 25Box 298, Folder 3
"The Peace of a Dancing Mind"1996 November 6Box 298, Folder 4
"Race and Literature"1997 March 7Box 298, Folder 5
Second Century Campaign for NYPL Remarks1997 September 17Box 298, Folder 6
Butler University Transcript1997 October 29Box 298, Folder 7
"Novel Endings"circa 1998Box 298, Folder 8
"Meditations on Paradise"1998 April 23Box 298, Folder 9
Peter Joseph Memorial Remarks1998 November 5Box 298, Folder 10
"Literature and Public Life"1998 November 17Box 298, Folder 11
Remarks for the New York University "Speak Out"1998 December 14Box 298, Folder 12
Remarks on Accepting National Arts Club Gold Medal1999 February 2Box 298, Folder 13
"On the Creative Process"1999 September 17Box 298, Folder 14
Toni Cade Bambara Tribute1999 November 15Box 298, Folder 15
"'00 /t.Ω: e lit"2000 April 18Box 299, Folder 1-2
"How Can Values Be Taught in the University"2000 April 27Box 299, Folder 3
June Jordan Introduction2000 April 28Box 299, Folder 4
"The Loss of Lost Time: /t.Ω: e lit"2000 July 2Box 299, Folder 5
"The Slavebody and the Blackbody"2000 August 25Box 299, Folder 6
Chinua Achebe: Africa America Institute Award2000 September 22Box 299, Folder 7
Jacob Lawrence Memorial Remarks2000 September 28Box 299, Folder 8
"Literature and Public Life"2000 October 3Box 299, Folder 9
Homer and Beethoven Performance at Princeton2000 October 20Box 299, Folder 10
"The Writer of the World Stage: Impediments and Approaches to Dialogue"2000 November 3Box 299, Folder 11
National Humanities Medal Acceptance Speech2000 December 20Box 299, Folder 12
"Goodbye to All That: Race, Surrogacy and Farewell"2001 April 03Box 299, Folder 13
"For Sonia Sanchez"2001 April 20Box 299, Folder 14
Pell Award Remarks2001 April 27Box 299, Folder 15
Smith College Commencement Address2001 May 19Box 299, Folder 16
"The Dead of September 11th"2001 September 16Box 299, Folder 17
Laura Hanhausen Milton First-Year Lecture, Syracuse University2001 September 24Box 299, Folder 18
"What is a Good School?"2001 November 13Box 300, Folder 1
Pierre Bourdieu Tribute2002 January 31Box 300, Folder 2
William Styron Introduction2002 February 13Box 300, Folder 3
Seton Hall Inaugural Lecture2002 April 11Box 300, Folder 4
Simmons Business School Commencement Address2002 May 4Box 300, Folder 5
"The Foreigner's Home" Alexander Lecture2002 May 27Box 300, Folder 6
"Grendel and His Mother" Alexander Lecture2002 May 28Box 300, Folder 7
"Goodbye to All That" Alexander Lecture2002 May 29Box 300, Folder 8
Oxford University Talk2002 June 15Box 300, Folder 9
"The Humanities After 9/11"2002 June 24Box 300, Folder 10
"Love and Pleasure as Political Liberation"2002 November 8Box 300, Folder 11
"The Foreigner's Home: Literature of Dispossession" Essays and Lecturescirca 2003Box 302, Folder 12-13
Peter Sellars Introduction2003 April 23Box 300, Folder 12
Book Expo America Convention Speech2003 May 30Box 300, Folder 13
Julia Leigh Introduction2003 November 10Box 300, Folder 14
Colorado College Talk2004 February 4Box 300, Folder 15
Remember Luncheon Remarks2004 February 25Box 300, Folder 16
John Hopkins Center for African Studies Inaguration Speech2004 March 10Box 300, Folder 17
Wellesley Commencement Address2004 May 28Box 300, Folder 18
10th Annual Library Associates Awards Dinner2004 June 5Box 300, Folder 19
Nina Simone Tribute2004 June 21Box 300, Folder 20
"Books, Politics, and the Culture War"2004 July 26Box 300, Folder 21
"The War on Error (in a Reign of Error)"2004 August 29Box 300, Folder 22
Amy Gutmann Inauguration Speech2004 October 14Box 300, Folder 23
Romare Bearden Tribute2004 October 16Box 300, Folder 24
Academy of Culture Remarks2004 November 9Box 300, Folder 25
"The Future of Humanities in a Fragmented World"2004 December 28Box 300, Folder 26
Angela Brown Introductioncirca 2005Box 300, Folder 27
Notes on Parenting2005 March 14Box 300, Folder 28
"Civil Society and World Governance"2005 March 30Box 300, Folder 29
"Overdue: A Writer's Debt; A Reader's Interest"2005 April 3Box 300, Folder 30
Atelier Fundraiser Remarks2005 April 16Box 300, Folder 31
Leon Forrest Lecture2005 May 2Box 300, Folder 32
Opera America Keynote2005 May 5Box 300, Folder 33
Ramapo College Commencement Address2005 May 25Box 300, Folder 34
Princeton Baccalaureate Address2005 May 29Box 301, Folder 1
Aspen Institute Speech2005 July 8Box 301, Folder 2
University of Miami Fall Convocation2005 August 30Box 301, Folder 3
Peter Sellars Introduction2005 September 29Box 301, Folder 4
Russell Banks Introduction2005 October 28Box 301, Folder 5
Norman Mailer Introduction2005 November 16Box 301, Folder 6
Princeton Trustee's Dinner Remarks2006 January 26Box 301, Folder 7
Shippenburg University Speech2006 February 23Box 301, Folder 8
New York Historical Society Lecture2006 March 3Box 301, Folder 9
North American Network of Cities of Asylum Speech2006 April 6Box 301, Folder 10
Opera Clubs of America Speech2006 April 19Box 301, Folder 11
Macalester College Convocation and Inaguration of the Institute of Global Citizenship2006 September 5Box 301, Folder 12
"The Foreigner's Home"2006 November 6Box 301, Folder 13
Slam Poetry Introduction2006 November 10Box 301, Folder 14
"Harlem on My Mind"2006 November 15Box 301, Folder 15
"Art is Otherwise"2007 March 5Box 301, Folder 16
President's Retreat on the Creative & Performing Arts Remarks2007 April 19Box 301, Folder 17
Radcliffe Medal Acceptance2007 June 8Box 301, Folder 18
Vicky Colbert Introduction2007 September 27Box 301, Folder 19
Toni Morrison Elementary School Dedication2007 October 7Box 301, Folder 20
Tracie Luck Introduction2007 November 9Box 301, Folder 21
Obama Fundraiser Remarks2008 February 23Box 301, Folder 22
Princeton Campaign Remarks2008 April 3Box 301, Folder 23
"Peril"2008 April 28Box 301, Folder 24
National Conference of Boards of Education Remarks2009 April 5Box 301, Folder 25
"Home"2009 April 23Box 301, Folder 26
Seamus Heaney Introduction2009 April 28Box 301, Folder 27
Toby Devan Lewis2010 April 16Box 301, Folder 28
ALA Convention Speech2010 June 26Box 301, Folder 29
Gish Prize Chinua Achebe2010 October 27Box 301, Folder 30
"Invisible Ink: Reading the Writing, Writing the Reading"2011 March 1Box 301, Folder 31
Feminist Legal Theory Conference Speech2011 March 30Box 301, Folder 32
"The Past is Now"2011 April 8Box 301, Folder 33
Rutgers Commencement Address2011 May 15Box 301, Folder 34
University of Geneva Honorary Doctorate Acceptance Speech2011 October 14Box 301, Folder 35
Sackler Center First Award Acceptance Speech2012 April 18Box 301, Folder 36
Centennial Medal Presentation to Peter Sellars2012 April 25Box 301, Folder 37
Rush Holt Fundraiser Remarks2012 October 8Box 302, Folder 1
Writers Celebration of Romare Beardon Remarks2012 December 3Box 302, Folder 2
"Goodness: Altruism and the Literary Imagination"2012 December 6Box 302, Folder 3
"The Price of Wealth; the Cost of Care"2013 May 9Box 302, Folder 4
Maya Angelou Tribute2013 November 20Box 302, Folder 5
Amiri Baraka Tribute2014 April 8Box 302, Folder 6
Salman Rushdie Introduction2014 May 5Box 302, Folder 7
Jessye Norman Tribute2014 November 21Box 302, Folder 8
National Book Critic's Circle Remarks2015 March 12Box 302, Folder 9
Knopf 100th Anniversary Remarks2015 October 1Box 302, Folder 10
Unidentified Speech FragmentsundatedBox 302, Folder 11
Additional Speeches and Lectures2006-2017

Collection Overview

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

Consists of notes, drafts with revisions, and published versions. Includes Tanner lecture "Unspeakable Things Unspoken" given at the University of Michigan (1988); the William E. Massey lectures given at Harvard (1990); the Nobel speech (1993); and Tanner lecture "The Loss of Lost Time" given at Cambridge (2000), as well as various commencement and inagural addresses, memorials and tributes, and introductory remarks. See also the Speeches folders in Working Files I. For class lectures, see Teaching Files.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically by date the speech was delivered.

Collection History

Appraisal

Some floppy disks were deaccessioned after imaging due to a lack of archival value. Duplicate papers and audiovisual materials were removed from the collection.

Processing Information

Some materials in this collection were treated for fire damage and encapsulated in mylar in 1994.

This collection was processed by Allison Hughes, with the assistance of Sophia Alvarez, Fiona Bell, Kristine Gift, Isabelle Litke, Chloe Pfendler, and Ann-Elise Siden in February 2015-February 2017. Processing of the born-digital material was done by Elena Colón-Marrero, Jarrett Drake, and Allison Hughes in 2015-2016. Finding aid written by Allison Hughes in 2016-2017.

New additions were processed and the finding aid was updated by in March-November 2017 by Kelly Bolding, in 2018 by Faith Charlton, in January-February 2020 by Chloe Pfendler, and in 2024 by Faith Charlton. Additional born-digital materials were processed by Kathryn Antonelli and Kelly Bolding in July-August 2017.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. For permissions and copyright questions related to Toni Morrison and her writings, please contact the Toni Morrison Estate via Rene Boatman (boatman@princeton.edu). To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Some material in this collection, particularly found in the Writings and Correspondence series, was damaged by the fire that destroyed Morrison's upstate New York home in 1993. Damage ranges from charred edges to pages missing significant portions or rendered illegible.

Credit this material:

Speeches and Lectures; Toni Morrison Papers, C1491, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (mss): Boxes 295-302; B-002115; B-002116; B-002117

Find More

Related Materials

Other materials relating to Toni Morrison's work at Random House may be found in the Random House records at Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Original drafts of Toni Cade Bambara's writings and related materials may be found in the Spelman College Archives.

A number of recordings of PEN American Center events in which Toni Morrison participated can be found in the PEN American Center Records (C0760). Online access to these recordings is available through the PEN America Digital Archive site.