Series I documents Howe's close relationship with and efforts on behalf of his cousin C. L. R. James, from 1974 until shortly after the latter's death in 1989. The series includes audio recordings, transcripts, and photographs of lectures given by C. L. R. James, as well as lectures given in James' honor by other scholars and activists including Grace Lee Boggs, Tim Hector, and Darcus Howe. Among these events are C. L. R. James' 80th Birthday Lectures in 1981 and the opening lectures from the 1986 Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit. Correspondence, photographs, audio recordings, and print and video news coverage document C. L. R. James' 1989 funeral and burial in Trinidad. There is a small amount of correspondence related to Howe's involvement in managing James' personal affairs and settling James' estate. Materials related to the Race Today Collective's 1991 reconstitution as the C. L. R. James Institute are located in Series III.
Box 1 Folder 1
Correspondence, 1974-1988
Either mentioning or otherwise involving Darcus Howe and C. L. R. James.
Box 1 Folder 2
C. L. R. James and Darcus Howe correspondence, 1976-1983, undated
Box 1 Folder 3
Correspondence regarding C. L. R. James' divorce from Selma James, 1981-1985
Box 1 Folder 4-5
Photographs of C. L. R. James, circa 1980s, 2 folders
Including photographs of C. L. R. James' 80th Birthday Lectures and seminar at First International Book Fair of Radical, Black and Third World Books.
Box 13 Item 153-157
C. L. R. James, circa 1980s, 4 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 13 Item 158
C. L. R. James, Creation For Liberation, Adoor, Chinese waiters, circa 1980s, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Partial copy. See item 159 below for a full copy.
Box 13 Item 160
C. L. R. James studio, circa 1980s, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 13 Item 167
C. L. R. James BBC Late Show, circa 1980s, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 13 Item 168
C. L. R. James talking to Stuart Hall, circa 1980s, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 13 Item 165
C. L. R. James cam 3 R 1, circa 1980s, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 12 Item 108
C. L. R. James cam 3 R 2, circa 1980s, 1 audiocassettes
Box 12 Item 93
Nello, 1984 August 15, 1 audiocassettes
"Nello" was C. L. R. James' nickname, used by family and very close friends.
Box 12 Item 36-37
C. L. R. James: Pan Africanism and the Dub Poets, 1986 April 7, 2 audiocassettes
Interviewed by Stan Martin.
Box 13 Item 159
C. L. R. James: Creation For Liberation, Adoor, Chinese waiters, 1987 October 24, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 13 Item 161
C. L. R. James, Jean Breeze, circa 1980s, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 12 Item 136
Darcus Howe and Jean Binta Breeze on the life and work of C. L. R. James, circa 1980s, 1 audiocassettes
Box 13 Item 166
C. L. R. James classical music, circa 1980s, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 13 Item 163
C. L. R. James lectures, circa 1980s, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 13 Item 164
C. L. R. James rostrum, circa 1980s, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 12 Item 124
Margaret Busby interview, circa 1980s-1990s, 1 audiocassettes
Box 1 Folder 6
C. L. R. James interview and lecture transcripts, 1981, undated
Typescripts and published.
Box 1 Folder 7-8
C. L. R. James' 80th Birthday Lectures transcripts, 1981, 2 folders
With annotations and corrections by Darcus Howe.
Box 13 Item 162
C. L. R. James, "Socialism or Barbarism?" lecture, 1981, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Given at C. L. R. James 80th Birthday Lectures event.
Box 1 Folder 9
Programs and events honoring C. L. R. James, 1981-1986
Box 1 Folder 10
C. L. R. James, "Walter Rodney and the Question of Power" pamphlet, 1983
Includes draft with corrections by C. L. R. James and final printed version published by the Race Today Collective.
Box 1 Folder 11
C. L. R. James, "Tomorrow and Today: A Vision" article, undated
Photocopy from magazine, with annotations by C. L. R. James
Box 14 Item 177
Omnibus, Beyond A Boundary, 1976 July 8, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Mike Dibb film on C. L. R. James.
Box 12 Item 49
Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit lectures: Wilson Harris opening, 1986 February 17, 1 audiocassettes
Box 1 Folder 12
Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit lecture transcripts: Wilson Harris, "C. L. R. James as Writer and Literary Critic", 1986 February 19
With annotations and corrections by Darcus Howe.
Box 12 Item 87-88
Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit lectures: Wilson Harris, "C. L. R. James as Writer and Literary Critic", 1986 February 19, 2 audiocassettes
Box 1 Folder 13
Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit lecture transcripts: Grace Lee Boggs and Martin Glaberman, "Organising in the USA, 1938-1953", 1986 February 20
With annotations and corrections by Darcus Howe.
Box 12 Item 118
Grace Lee Boggs and Martin Glaberman, "Organising in the USA, 1938-1953", 1986 February 20, 1 audiocassettes
Box 1 Folder 14
Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit lecture transcripts: John Archer, "C. L. R. James and Trotskyism in Britain, 1934-1938", 1986 February 21
With annotations and corrections by Darcus Howe.
Box 12 Item 76, 135
Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit lectures: John Archer, "C. L. R. James and Trotskyism in Britain, 1934-1938", 1986 February 21, 2 audiocassettes
Box 2 Folder 1
Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit lecture transcripts: Tim Hector, "C. L. R. James the Cricket Writer", 1986 February 22
With annotations and corrections by Darcus Howe.
Box 12 Item 70, 115, 135
Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit lectures: Tim Hector, "C. L. R. James the Cricket Writer," chaired by Darcus Howe, 1986 February 22, 3 audiocassettes
Box 12 Item 5-8
Focus on C. L. R. James exhibit lectures: Tim Hector, "C. L. R. James, Man of the People", circa 1986 February, 4 audiocassettes
Box 2 Folder 2
Presentation of the Trinity Cross to C. L. R. James, 1987
Box 2 Folder 3
C. L. R. James' finances, 1987, undated
Box 2 Folder 4
Obituaries and other clippings about C. L. R. James, 1978-1990
Box 2 Folder 5
Correspondence regarding the death of C. L. R. James, 1989
Box 2 Folder 6
Condolences to Darcus Howe on the death of C. L. R. James, 1989
Box 2 Folder 7
Funeral of C. L. R. James, 1989
Box 13 Item 174-175
News coverage of C. L. R. James' coffin and funeral, 1989 June 9, 12, 2 videocassettes (U-matic)
AVM Television, Morvant, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Box 13 Item 172-173
C. L. R. James funeral video, 1989 June 12, 2 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 2 Folder 8-9
Photographs of C. L. R. James' funeral, 1989 June 12, 2 folders
Box 2 Folder 10
Memorials and tributes to C. L. R. James, 1989-1990
Box 2 Folder 11
C. L. R. James, A Tribute Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, 1989
Box 13 Item 170
Tribute to C. L. R. James, 1989 June 19, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 12 Item 14
C. L. R. James Memorial Programme, School of Music, 1989 June 29, 1 audiocassettes
Box 12 Item 95
C. L. R. James Memorial: Darcus Howe, Introduction and Without Fuss or Fanfare, 1989, 1 audiocassettes
Box 12 Item 113
C. L. R. James Memorial: speech by Darcus Howe and performance by David Rudder, 1989, 1 audiocassettes
Box 12 Item 34
C. L. R. James Memorial: Astin Rudder and Tim Hector's speeches, 1989, 1 audiocassettes
Box 12 Item 48
Darcus's Intro and Speech at C. L. R. James Memorial, circa 1980s, 1 audiocassettes
Box 13 Item 171
Darcus Howe speech on C. L. R. James, circa 1989, 1 videocassettes (VHS)
Box 2 Folder 12
Estate of C. L. R. James, 1989-1991, 2003
Box 12 Item 119
Unidentified speaker discusses Haitian Revolution, Black Jacobins, undated, 1 audiocassettes