Title	Finding aid for Papers of Joseph Rickard, 1946-2003.
Creator	Rickard, Joseph, d. 1994.
Extent	2,513 pieces. 18 boxes.
Biographical Note	Joseph Rickard was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 17, 1918. He moved to Los Angeles in the 1930s to study ballet with Bronislava and Irina Nijinska but his real gifts lay in teaching (especially adults) and choreography. In 1946, he over-heard an African-American woman being turned away from a dance studio where she sought lessons for her daughter; Rickard, from that moment, became determined to start his own dance studio where he could train African-American dancers in classical ballet. In 1947, the First Negro Classical Ballet deputed in Los Angeles to great acclaim and performed together for the next ten years. About 1968, Rickard founded the Negro Classical Ballet after the demise of the FNCB and, at the same time, and for the next 30 years, organized and taught in other integrated local ballet companies, including the Southern California Ballet and the San Gabriel Valley Civic Ballet. On August 24, 1994, Joseph Rickard died of heart failure as the result of several bouts of pneumonia in Glendale, California.
Scope and Content	The papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, documents, and printed material related to the FNCB, NCB and local ballet companies; the papers also include sheet music and original music scores, ballet production files and photographs for the FNCB and NCB. The papers are especially strong as a visual record with a large number of photographs, publicity material, costume sketches, and printed posters.
Notes	For any questions about the collection, including specific reproduction requests, please contact the Curator of Literary Manuscripts.
Date	1946-2003.
Provenance	Gift of Joseph Rickard, July 13, 1994; further gifts from various sources, please consult the Finding Aid for details.
Subject	De Becker, Hal. Levy, Diana. Nijinska, Bronislava, 1891-1972. Nijinska, Irina. Nijinsky, Waslaw, 1890-1950. Rickard, Joseph, d. 1994 -- Archives. Wilson, Claudius. First Negro Classical Ballet. Ballet -- Costume -- United States. Ballet dancing -- United States. Ballet -- Stage-setting and scenery -- United States. Ballet -- Study and teaching -- United States. Ballets -- United States -- Piano scores.
Form/Genre	Drawings United States 20th century. (aat) Ephemera United States 20th century. (aat) Interviews United States 20th century. (aat) Letters (correspondence) United States 20th century. (aat) Manuscripts United States 20th century. (aat) Photographs United States 20th century. (aat)
Contributors	Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem, 1947-. Jennings, Peter, 1938-2005. San Francisco Ballet.
Department	Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Manuscripts Department.
Call Number	mssHM 68942-69272
Accession Number	mss 01715, mss 01762, mss 01764, mss 01773, mss 02052, mss 02220, and mss 02346.
Physical Collection	Joseph Rickard Papers.
Digital Collection	Finding Aids, Huntington Digital Library
Physical Description	25 p.
Digitization Specifications	Original finding aid converted into PDF document by B. Black, 2011-12-10.
Date Digital	2011-12-10.
DCMI Type	text
Digital Format	pdf
Original Finding Aid	Finding aid prepared by Gayle M. Richardson, February 28, 2011.
Citation Information	Finding aid for Joseph Rickard Papers, Huntington Digital Library, San Marino, California.
Restrictions	Images in this collection are for scholarly research; please review the Huntington Library's copyright information: http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/about. For purchasing images for publication please review our permission to publish policy: http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=590.
Cataloging Notes	Organized in the following series: Correspondence (Box 1); Manuscripts and Documents (Box 2); First Negro Classical Ballet (FNCB) and Negro Classic Ballet (NCB) Manuscript and Printed Material (Box 3); FNCB and NCB Ballet Scores and Sheet Music (Boxes 4-6); FNCB and NCB Photographs (Box 7); NCB Scrapbook and Oversize FNCB and NCB Printed Material (Box 8); San Gabriel Valley Civic Ballet and Southern California Ballet Companies Manuscript and Printed Material (Box 9); Ballet Production Files (Boxes 10-14); Articles and Clippings about Ballet (Box 15); Southern California Ballet, San Gabriel Valley Civic Ballet and Misc. Ballet Photographs (Boxes 16-18); arranged alphabetically and chronologically.