Jennie C. Lee papers, W.0113

Abstract: Contains photographs, letters, programs, and other materials created and collected by Lee, who was director of the Tuskegee Choir for twenty-five years (1903-1928).Scope and Content Note: The Jennie C. Lee papers contain photographs; letters; telegrams; newspaper clippings; programs for assorted musical performances and dedications; pamphlets; publications; and circulars. Many appear to have been removed from scrapbooks; a large number of the photographs are still affixed to black scrapbook paper.Volume one, 1891-1934, contains numerous photographs, loose and attached to scrapbook pages. There are several photographs of persons who are clearly Tuskegee Institute faculty members. Many have brief descriptions or names written on them. For example, one very small photograph has the inscription "choir & visitors - Roosevelt's visit '06."Correspondence of significance includes a telegram from Booker T. Washington in 1903 inviting her to Tuskegee; a letter Booker T. Washington wrote to her in 1906; a letter Julius T. Rosenwald wrote to her in 1915 regarding a gift of $100 he gave her; and a letter from Tuskegee Institute principal Robert Moton at the time of her retirement in 1928.Volume two, 1905-1938, is smaller than volume one, and it contains the same types of material. Correspondence of significance includes two letters from Roscoe C. Bruce.Biographical/Historical Note: Jennie Cheatham Lee was born in Tennessee on November 16, 1866, to Anderson and Elizabeth Cheatham. She attended Fisk University. In 1903, Booker T. Washington asked her to take the position of choir director at Tuskegee Institute. She held the position until 1928 when she retired.She passed away in Nashville,Tennessee, in 1956. According to her death certificate, she was divorced