Joseph Lomax collection

Collection

Identifier: MS 0660

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Stored offsite at the Library Service Center and require 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains original writings, items concerning Wings Press, correspondence, photographs, and audio that document the work and life of Joseph Lomax.

Dates

Creation: 1950 - 1996

Conditions Governing Access

Stored offsite at the Library Service Center and require 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Conditions Governing Access

This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish from this material must be obtained from John Lomax III.

Biographical / Historical

On February 19, 1949, Joseph Lomax was born into a family that loved and preserved music. His grandfather John A. Lomax and uncle Alan were famed song collectors. His father John, Jr. managed Lightnin’ Hopkins, helped found the Houston Folklore Society, and recorded three albums and performed often.

Joseph Lomax like his family never turned away from music. He documented Zydeco in the article “Zydeco-Must Live On!” from the book collection What’s Going On? (In Modern Texas Folklore). He assisted the Houston Folklore Society. He co-owned Wings Press, which published the very collectible "For the Sake of the Song" song book by Townes Van Zandt. He began performing folk songs in the early 1980s, one of his last projects came at the Texas Tall Tellin’ and Music Festival in May 1986 with frequent accompanist, Hally Wood.

In that same year, Joseph Lomax was diagnosed with Kaposi sarcoma and later HIV. He passed on January 9, 1988, one of the many victims of the AIDS crisis. His name is preserved on the AIDS Quilt.