Rolodexes, 1980 - 2000

Materials in this collection were collected or created by Peter Dougherty (1955-2015) and comprise of appointment diaries, correspondence, project files, business records, printed ephemera, news clippings, photographs, and audio and video recordings. Appointment diaries, photographs, and ephemera include coverage of the critical period between 1981 and 1983 when Hip Hop was first crossing over from its Bronx origins to the downtown club scenes of Manhattan. Other materials document Peter’s involvement with the management of Yo! MTV Raps, launched on MTV America on August 6, 1988, further popularizing Hip Hop among increasingly wide audiences. Business files contain production documentation for broadcast programs and music videos produced and/or directed by Dougherty, both independently and for MTV. Artists represented include the Beastie Boys, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Arto Lindsay, LL Cool J, Fab Five Freddy, Run-DMC, DJ Jam Master Jay, along with producers Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. Ephemera in the collection includes flyers and handbills from downtown venues such as the Negril and the Roxy, (where Hip Hop made some of its early downtown appearances) stickers, postcards, club and event invitations and announcements, press kits, publicity stills, newsletters, zines, and such as Beastie Mania, and Run DMC Special Pocket Mag. More than 100 photographs cover both social and music and television production settings, and audio/video recordings document 1980s era Hip Hop music and culture.