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I S S N  2 5 7 7 - 74 3 2  ( o n l i n e )  D O I  1 0 . 5 1 9 5 / a w j . 2 0 2 2 . 8 1  a u g u s t w i l s o n . p i t t . e d u  

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Updates from the August Wilson Archive at Pitt Library System 
 

By Dr. Leah Mickens and William Daw 

August Wilson Project Archivist & Curator of the Curtis Theatre Collection 

Abstract 

Dr. Leah Mickens and William Daw provide an update on the August Wilson Archive acquired by 
the University of Pittsburgh Library in the fall of 2020. 

 
Keywords 

Updates, August Wilson Archive, Grant, Plans 

The University of Pittsburgh Library System staff was happy to share information 
with the editors of the August Wilson Journal regarding the acquisition of the August Wilson 
Archive in the Spring 2021 issue. Since that time, staff within Archives & Special Collections 
(A&SC) have made considerable progress on the processing of the over 450 boxes in the 
archive and we wanted to give further updates and share some announcements regarding next 
year. 

Dr. Leah Mickens was hired in March 2021 as the August Wilson Processing Archivist. 
She has joined our staff after earning her MLIS from the University of South Carolina, 
Columbia and her PhD from Boston University. Dr. Mickens has been tasked with the 
preliminary organization and description of the paper-based materials in the collection. Dr. 
Mickens spent several months engaged in an examination of the boxes containing the 
unprocessed materials in the August Wilson Archive.  

After this initial review, Dr. Mickens began working with the materials associated 
with Wilson’s American Century Cycle plays, starting with Seven Guitars. The processing and 
arrangement of this segment of the archive has been the main priority for our staff in order to 
make this material available to researchers as soon as the collection opens. This material 
includes initial drafts, rehearsal reports, production notes, costume and set art, reviews, 
contracts, programs and multiple drafts of the script for each of the ten plays. Other items of 
interest present in the collection include artwork drawn by Wilson himself, artifacts, awards, 
born-digital documents, and a small number of stage props. Work on Jitney, the final 
American Century Cycle play to be processed, was completed in early August 2022. 

One of the interesting finds in the August Wilson Archive has been boxes full of 
notebooks (over 700!) containing to-do lists, dialogue ideas, plot outlines, poetry, 
brainstorms, and personal reflections. Most of the notebooks are yellow legal pads, but there 
are also binders, spiral notebooks, notes written on scrap paper, and hotel writing pads. Since 
the quality of the paper contained in many of these notebooks is quite poor, they pose a long-
term preservation problem. We are in the process of creating high-quality facsimiles which 
will be made available to researchers so they can examine the contents without damaging the 
original artifacts. 

In addition to Dr. Mickens and other full-time A&SC staff members, there have also 
been several student employees and interns who have assisted with the project. Among other 
tasks, these students have arranged Wilson’s books, music, and audio-visual collections, 
sorting newspaper and magazine clippings, and reviewing born-digital files.  
 



A U G U S T  W I L S O N  J O U R N A L  

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a u g u s t w i l s o n . p i t t . e d u   D O I  1 0 . 5 1 9 5 / a w j . 2 0 2 2 . 8 1  I S S N  2 5 7 7 - 74 3 2  ( o n l i n e )  

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Hillman Foundation Grant 
In August 2022, the University of Pittsburgh Library System received a $1 million grant 

from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation to not only support the work to prepare the archive to 
be open to the public, but to facilitate engaging the wider Pittsburgh community with the 
materials contained in the archive. Our plans involve inviting high school students, teachers, 
artists, and community residents to interact with the August Wilson Archive to produce new 
and creative works, such as exhibits, or to embed the archive in their teaching or artistic 
outlets. This funding supports hiring additional full-time staff to coordinate outreach efforts 
with the August Wilson Archive. We welcome Ms. Diael Thomas as the inaugural August 
Wilson Outreach and Engagement Curator. 
 
Plans for 2023 

We are excited to share the news that the archive will become open for research in 
January 2023. Further, we are planning to celebrate the opening of the August Wilson Archive 
in Hillman Library on the University of Pittsburgh campus on Friday, March 3, 2023. This 
event will be free and open to the public. Leading up to the March 3rd celebration will be a 
week of both in-person and virtual programing co-presented by the University of Pittsburgh 
Library System, other Pitt academic departments, and several local organizations. The timing 
of these events will also overlap with a production of Seven Guitars by University of Pittsburgh 
Stages on the Pitt campus and the bi-annual colloquium of the August Wilson Society, which 
will be located at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in downtown 
Pittsburgh. To learn more or register for these events, please watch our August Wilson Archive 
website for more information. 

Author Bios 

Dr. Leah Mickens relocated to Pittsburgh from her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.  Dr. 
Mickens has a Ph.D. in religious studies from Boston University, a master’s in library and 
information science with a concentration in archival studies from the University of South 
Carolina, a master’s in digital media from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and an 
undergraduate degree in international studies from Oglethorpe University. 
 
William Daw manages the performing arts collections within the University of Pittsburgh 
Library System’s Archives & Special Collections. He has both an undergraduate degree in 
history and a master’s in library and information science with a concentration in archival 
studies from the University of Pittsburgh. 
 

 
 
 

 

 Articles in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its  

D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press. 

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	Dr. Leah Mickens and William Daw provide an update on the August Wilson Archive acquired by
	the University of Pittsburgh Library in the fall of 2020.
	Keywords
	Author Bios

