Born August 14, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, to Tillie (Schneider) and Samuel Schechtman, Selma excelled in mathematics at school, but pursued her love of music.
[1][2][3] She performed at 15 at Carnegie Hall and went on to attend the Juilliard School in New York City.
"[4] Hailed as a pioneer and champion of contemporary music, she was applauded for her robust efforts to promote black and female composers from the 20th century.
The five-box collection includes scores, art music, chamber music, concerti grossi, songs, albums (books), concert programs, promotional materials, manuscripts and clippings (information artifacts).
An inventory of her recorded material can be found in the Music Division's collection file.