The Repository houses text documents from the Wilcken Collection. To access a text document, click the hyperlink on the item’s identifier (on the line above the item’s title). You may also find the items with more detail and hyperlinks in column K in the spreadsheets described in Metadata.
All files are in .pdf format. Because they are relatively small files, we use .pdf for both public access and preservation on hard drives.
Wilcken Collection
CLICK HERE TO JUMP TO THE PERFORMANCES SUBCOLLECTION.
CLICK HERE TO JUMP TO THE PRIVATE LIFE SUBCOLLECTION.
CLICK HERE TO JUMP TO THE PUBLIC LIFE SUBCOLLECTION.
CLICK HERE TO JUMP TO THE VODOU SUBCOLLECTION.
Interviews
MAK_LW_INT.001_0001td_ma_19820324
Title: Frisner’s Life in Haiti
Description: Lois Wilcken interviews Frisner Augustin on his life in Haiti, East Flatbush, Brooklyn
Owner: Lois Wilcken
Language: English
Date: 24 March 1982 (exact)
MAK_LW_INT.003_0002td_ma_19860330
Title: WKCR-FM Carib Calendar (transcript)
Description: Rafael Smith interviews Frisner Augustin for broadcast on WKCR-FM, Columbia University, Upper West Side, Manhattan
Owner: WKCR-FM
Language: English
Date: 30 March 1986 (exact)
Note: Listen to the audio here.
MAK_LW_INT.010_0001td_ma_19990312
Title: Teaching the Haitian Drum
Owner: Lois Wilcken
Language: Haitian Creole/Kreyòl Ayisyen
Date: 12 March 1999 (exact)
Notes: Listen to the audio here. Two additional interviews—one by phone and inaudible, the second with Tonèl Lakay children about studying drumming and dance—are not transcribed.
Performances
MAK_LW_PER.091_0001td_ma_19820101
Title: Makandal Founding and Performer History
Description: Makandal’s handwritten document with dates and places of founding, and original performers’ joining
Owner: Lois Wilcken
Language: French
Date: 1 January 1982 (fair estimate)
Private Life
MAK_LW_PRI.021_0001td_co_19650715
Title: Frisner Augustin’s Acte de Naissance 1965
Description: Frisner Augustin’s parents acquire his Certificate of Birth from the National Archive, Port-au-Prince. He needed the certificate for his first music engagement abroad.
Owner: Republic of Haiti
Language: French
Date: 15 July 1965 (exact)
Note: Acquired by Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
MAK_LW_PRI.022_0001td_ma_20120229
Title: Frisner Augustin’s Acte de Décès 2012
Description: The Haitian Minister of Justice issues Frisner Augustin’s Certificate of Death, Port-au-Prince
Owner: Republic of Haiti
Language: French
Date: 29 February 2012 (exact)
Public Life
MAK_LW_PUB.015_0001td_co_19821103
Title: Review in Variety
Description: Variety magazine reviews Makandal’s first performance at Soundscape in Clinton (a.k.a. Hell’s Kitchen), Manhattan
Owner: Variety
Language: English
Date: 3 November 1982 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.016_0001td_co_19830525
Title: Review by Robert Palmer in the New York Times
Description: Critic Robert Palmer reviews Makandal’s “A Ceremony for Cousin Zaka”at Soundscape in Clinton (a.k.a. Hell’s Kitchen), Manhattan
Owner: New York Times
Language: English
Date: 25 May 1983 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.017_0001td_co_19830813
Title: “One Haitian Worm” Vignette in the New York Times
Description: The New York Times writes a vignette about Makandal’s performance at Columbia University, Upper West Side, Manhattan
Owner: New York Times
Language: English
Date: 13 August 1983 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.018_0001td_co_19831018
Title: Review in the Washington Post
Description: Lon Tuck of the Washington Post reviews Makandal in the National Building Museum at the New Music America Festival, Washington DC
Owner: Washington Post
Language: English
Date: 18 October 1983 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.019_0001td_co_19890925
Title: New York Post Review of The Town Hall Performance
Description: Gene Santoro reviews Makandal’s first performance at The Town Hall, Midtown, Manhattan
Owner: New York Post
Language: English
Date: 25 September 1989 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.020_0001td_co_19890926
Title: New York Times Review of The Town Hall Performance
Description: Peter Watrous reviews Makandal’s first performance at The Town Hall, Midtown, Manhattan
Owner: New York Times
Language: English
Date: 26 September 1989 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.021_0001td_co_19891004
Title: Review in the City Sun of The Town Hall Performance
Description: Elena Oumano reviews Makandal’s first performance at The Town Hall
Owner: City Sun
Language: English
Date: 4 October 1989 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.022_0001td_co_19891101
Title: Review in the Beat of The Town Hall Performance
Description: Gage Averill reviews Makandal’s first performance at The Town Hall
Owner: Bongo Productions
Language: English
Date: 1 November 1989 (very good estimate)
MAK_LW_PUB.023_0001td_co_19901127
Title: Dead Heads: Saturday Night Voodoo in Brooklyn
Description: Daisann McLane writes about a Gede dance in Flatbush, Brooklyn, for the Village Voice
Owner: Village Voice
Language: English
Date: 27 November 1990 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.024_0001td_co_19910803
Title: State $ for Voodoo Rites in B’klyn Park
Description: Don Broderick, writing for the New York Post, previews a Makandal performance funded by the Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) in Prospect Park.
Owner: New York Post
Language: English
Date: 3 August 1991 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.011_00001td_co_19910901
Title: The Spirits Come to Brooklyn
Description: Lois Wilcken describes for the Beat a leve kanzo (Vodou initiation) in Flatbush, Brooklyn, with drumming by Frisner Augustin
Owner: Bongo Productions
Language: English
Date: 1 September 1991 (very good estimate)
MAK_LW_PUB.026_0001td_co_19940701
Title: Sing Out! Review of The Drums of Vodou Recording
Description: Sing Out! magazine reviews Frisner Augustin’s The Drums of Vodou recording
Owner: Sing Out!
Language: English
Date: 1 July 1994 (good estimate)
MAK_LW_PUB.027_0001td_co_19950726
Title: Frisner Augustin met son accent
Description: Haiti Observateur reviews a Makandal performance at Sounds of Brazil, Soho, Manhattan
Owner: Haiti Observateur
Language: French
Date: 26 July 1995 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.029_0001td_co_19960320
Title: Caribbean Jazz 96: Le Vodou Jazz s’établit
Description: Emmanuel Nicoleau reviews Makandal’s performance with Dernst Emile and Yanick Etienne at Brooklyn College, Flatbush, Brooklyn, for Haiti Observateur
Owner: Haiti Observateur
Language: French
Date: 20 March 1996
MAK_LW_PUB.012_0001td_co_19980101
Title: Frisner Augustin, Vodou Ambassador
Description: Carol Amoruso writes about Frisner Augustin for the Percussion Discussion column of Rhythm Music, with photography by Chantal Regnault
Owner: World Marketing Inc.
Language: English
Date: 1 January 1998 (very good estimate)
MAK_LW_PUB.010_0001td_co_19980320
Title: Review in Attitude 1998, Spring-Summer
Description: Suzanna Sloat reviews Ceremony for Ogou at Thread Waxing Space in Soho, Manhattan, for Attitude, The Dancers’ Magazine
Owner: Dance Giant Steps, Inc.
Language: English
Date: 20 March 1998 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.013_0001td_co_19981201
Title: Heartbeats of Vodou
Description: James Ridgeway and Jean Jean-Pierre write about Vodou, with a focus on Frisner Augustin, for Natural History. The article co-ordinated with the Sacred Arts of Vodou exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, Upper West Side, Manhattan. Photography by Chantal Regnault
Owner: American Museum of Natural History
Language: English
Date: 1 December 1998 (very good estimate)
MAK_LW_PUB.032_0001td_co_20030411
Title: ‘Vodou Theatre’ takes the stage
Description: Brian D. Bell writes about Frisner Augustin’s and Erol Josue’s spring residency at the University of Florida, Gainesville, for the Gainesville Sun
Owner: Gainesville Sun
Language: English
Date: 11 April 2003 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.009_0001td_co_20031222
Title: La Troupe Makandal, Rising Sun
Description: Suzanna Sloat reviews Makandal’s Rising Sun, Day of the Dead, in Attitude, The Dancers’ Magazine
Owner: Dance Giant Steps, Inc.
Language: English
Date: 22 December 2003 (exact)
MAK_LW_PUB.014_0001td_co_20120922
Title: Drummer, Give Me My Sound
Description: Lois Wilcken commemorates the late Frisner Augustin and his life and work in Haiti and New York for Voices, the Journal of New York Folklore
Owner: New York Folklore Society
Language: English
Date: 22 September 2012 (very good estimate)
Vodou
MAK_LW_VOD.022_0001td_ma_19731021
Title: Frisner’s Marriage Certificate with Èzili Freda Dawome
Description: Frisner Augustin marries Vodou spirit Èzili Freda Dawome at the House of Emmanuel Cadet, Morris Heights, Bronx
Owner: Lois Wilcken
Language: French
Date: 21 October 1973 (exact)
Featured Image: Detail of Frisner Augustin’s Certificate of Marriage with the Vodou spirit Èzili Freda Dawome, handwritten in the House of Oungan Emmanuel Cadet in Morris Heights, Bronx, 21 October 1973. Translated from French, the detail reads, “Having agreed to their engagement, the two parties—Mr. Frisner Augustin and Madame Herzulie Freda—are hereby pronounced man and wife. Executed in New York 10/21/1973.”
The Frisner Augustin Memorial Archive 