The message was explicit: come in peace, ladies for free. Proper attire required, no sneakers allowed. 9:30 p.m. until. Be there y’all.

Combining rub-on deco lettering, photo booth portraits and comic book cutouts, the promotional fliers spread the word through the South Bronx of the latest set by Kool Herc, the Cold Crush Brothers, D.J. Jazzy Jay or the Soul Sonic Force MCs.

Although these parties began in community center basements and high school gymnasiums, hip-hop quickly spread into the mainstream, and now these copy shop masterpieces from the late ’70s and early ’80s are historical documents of a global culture’s roots.

“If you’re interested in the early days of hip-hop, there is such a rich amount of information on these fliers,” said Katherine Reagan, a curator of rare books and manuscripts who has overseen the growing archive of fliers, recordings, photographs and artwork in Cornell University’s Hip-Hop Collection.

“The fliers help you track the movement into the other boroughs once it started to move out of the Bronx.”

The university, starting in 2007, has acquired about 80,000 artifacts including fliers designed by Buddy Esquire and Phase 2; photographs by Joe Conzo, Jr.; drawings by the graffiti writer Richie “SEEN” Mirando; and footage from Charlie Ahearn, the director of the hip-hop movie “Wild Style.” Curriculum has also grown around the collection, with the D.J. Afrika Bambaataa appointed as a visiting scholar.

Johan Kugelberg, a former music industry executive who plans to publish a book next year on the designer Buddy Esquire, amassed most of the fliers in the collection, which he donated to Cornell, hoping to preserve the history of the old school scene despite the minimal documentation of its pioneer creations, often as ephemeral as a Krylon-coated train car.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/nyregion/fliers-from-hip-hops-early-days-in-a-collection-at-cornell-university.html?_r=0