Bard Opens Ellison Center, Gains Literary Rights

Bard College has opened the Ralph Ellison Center on its Annandale-on-Hudson campus, where the celebrated author taught from 1958 to 1961. The Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust donated $3.6 million and transferred to Bard the copyrights, intellectual-property rights and royalty claims to Ellison’s work, including his novel *Invisible Man*; the trust plans to wind down and close. Bard says it will digitize Ellison’s archive, held at the Library of Congress, to expand access for scholars and the public. *Invisible Man*, Ellison’s only novel published during his lifetime, won the 1953 National Book Award for Fiction, making him the first Black author to receive the honor.