Popular Music in the Yale Music Library Archives

The Fred and Rose Plaut Papers (held here at the Gilmore Music Library) contain over 35,000 photographs of Columbia Records recording sessions from the 1940s to the 1970s.

1959 recording session for Miles Davis' album "Kind of Blue" (Folder 16/503iD6)

The J. Rosamond Johnson Papers

John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) and his brother, James Weldon Johnson, composed and wrote the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing," considered to be the "black national anthem." The two brothers and Bob Cole collaborated on more than two hundred songs during their seven years of existence as the Cole and Johnson Brothers.

for more archival collections at the Yale Music Library, click here.

Yes, you can do archival research on popular music!