urn:taro:houpub.000154 Florence "Bu" Pleasant Collection: An Inventory of Her Records at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library
500 McKinney St. Julia Ideson Building, 2nd Floor Houston, Tx 77002 832-393-1668
Encoded in EAD Version 2002 and edited according to instructions in TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions by Tammy Jordan inJune 2007 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Pleasant, Florence, 1933- Florence "Bu" Pleasant Collection 1933 to 1988 1940s and 1950sMaterials are in English. MSS 336 .5 lin. ft.: 1small document box, 1 cassette tape Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library Biographical Note

Florence Pleasant was born in Corpus Christi, Texas on July 22, 1933. She and her brother had innate musical talent. Their father owned a dance hall, and their mother was a singer. Ms. Pleasant played piano and violin through high school. She gave up her scholarship to Xavier College in New Orleans after two years because of a burning desire to play bebop music.

Ms. Pleasant Played with Arnett Cobb and His Mobb in San Antoino and joined him later in Chicago for two or three years of playing theater circuits which culminated in appearances at the Apollo Theater and the Birdland Ballroom in New York City.

After teaching herself to play the organ she finally embarked upon her own personal career as a performer. She left New York City in 1978 due to a relative’s illness, but thereafter performed on the West Coast.

Scope and Contents

The material in the Florence (Bu) Pleasant Collection chronicles the beginning of Ms. Pleasant's life and her musical career. This collection contains the companion materials to a comprehensive taped interview, OH 466, of Ms. Pleasant on August 14, 1988. The interview is completely transcribed to 34 pages of text. There are also promotional materials and photographs.

Arrangement

Series 1: Oral History InterviewSeries 2: Promotional MaterialsSeries 3: Photographs

Access Restrictions

None.

 Use Restrictions

Permission to publish or reproduce materials from the Florence Pleasant Collection must be obtained from the Houston Metropolitan Research Center or the appropriate copyright holder.

 Preferred Citation

Florence Pleasant Collection. Collection Number MSS 336. Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.

 Acquisition Information

Donated by: Florence Pleasant, August 14, 1988.

Processing Information

Processing and biographical note by: Charles Stephenson, completed June 7, 2007.

Index TermsSubjectsPianists—Texas—HoustonCatholic schoolsSubjects (Organizations)Skylark (Nightclub : Corpus Christi, Tex.)Subjects (Persons)Pleasant, Florence, 1933-Cobb, Arnett, 1918-1989Rhodes, GeorgeCharles, Ray, 1930-2004Pleasant, Atlee, 1926-

MSS 345 Jimmy Ford Collection

MSS 322 Arnett Cobb Collection

MSS 252 Milton Larkin Collection

MSS 403 Illinois Jacquet Collection

MSS 337 Jewel Brown Collection

MSS 442 Herb Brochstein Collection

MSS 349 I.H. Smalley Collection

MSS 390 Campbell Tolbert Collection

Detailed DescriptionOral History Interviews11Personal interview transcript,August 14, 1988

A digital copy of the transcript, along with an audio file of the interview, is available here.

12Duplicate, Personal interview transcript, August 14, 1988Promotional Materials13Flyer: 1st Annual Jazz Heritage Festival at Old Market Square, Houston, Texas, August 12 and 13, 19881Flyer: Avro Dutch Radio Orchestra at Rockefeller’s The Night Club, August 25, 19881Jazz Heritage Society of Texas materials, 1988Fact sheet, Inductees for the Texas Jazz Archives: Ed Gerlach; Milton Larkin; Jimmy Ford; Florence “Bu” Pleasant Conrad JohnsonProgram scheduleLetter from Lynne Mieizwa about “Bu” PleasantPhotographs1MSS 336.001Florence “Bu” Pleasant and Jimmy Ford after induction into the Texas Jazz Archives1MSS 336.002Florence “Bu” Pleasant1MSS 336.003Florence “Bu” Pleasant