Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. 1 folder (35 items)

Summary

1. The collection consists of copies of 35 letters and items written primarily by Maxwell Cohen to Miriam Makeba, Sibongile "Bongi" Makeba, her only daughter from a previous union, and her two former husbands, Stokely Carmichael (aka Kwame Ture) and musician Hugh Masekela. Subjects of the letters are business in nature, but there are a few personal letters Cohen penned to Makeba's daughter, "Bongi," urging her to stay in school. The majority of the letters refer to Makeba's business interests in Nassau, The Bahamas, and consist of exchanges between the lawyers and suppliers who were working with her to open a boutique. In response to Carmicheal's anti-Zionist rhetoric (reportedly in 1967, Carmichael publicly proclaimed that "the only good Zionist is a dead Zionist" when Israel was attacked by the armies of several Arab nations), Cohen wrote a three-page letter to Carmichael specifically addressing a clipping (not in the collection) featuring an anti-Jewish Carmichael quote on the involvement of Jewish people in the Civil Rights movement and other human rights struggles. In addition, Cohen wrote letters of a general nature to Masekela whom he also managed at one point. This collection contains no letters written by Makeba, her daughter, or Carmichael or Masekela.

Subject

1. Carmichael, Stokely
2. Women singers > South Africa
3. Antisemitism > United States
4. Letters
5. Civil rights > United States
6. Makeba, Bongi
7. Makeba, Miriam
8. Singers > South Africa
9. Cohen, Maxwell T., 1908-2000

Genre/Form

1. Letters.

Call number

1. Sc MG 835

Source (note)

1. Barbara Cohen-Stratyner and Rachel Val Cohen

Biography (note)

1. Maxwell T. Cohen was an attorney who represented South African singer, Miriam Makeba (1932-2008) in the late 1950s, when she was married to musician Hugh Masekela. By 1966, Cohen no longer represented Makeba, but remained friendly and continued to correspond with the family. Makeba separated from Masekela and later married Stokely Carmichael, the former head of Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) .

Author

1. Cohen, Maxwell T., 1908-2000.

Title

1. Maxwell T. Cohen letters to Miriam Makeba & Stokely Carmichael, 1966-1969.

Biography

1. Maxwell T. Cohen was an attorney who represented South African singer, Miriam Makeba (1932-2008) in the late 1950s, when she was married to musician Hugh Masekela. By 1966, Cohen no longer represented Makeba, but remained friendly and continued to correspond with the family. Makeba separated from Masekela and later married Stokely Carmichael, the former head of Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) .

Connect to:

1. Finding Aid

Research call number

1. Sc MG 835