AUBURN AVENUE RESEARCH LIBRARY
AARL ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS
100% Wrong Club Records
This collection consists of approximately five linear feet of miscellaneous material that documents the history of the 100% Wrong Club of the Atlanta Daily World. The collection includes balance sheets, bylaws, committee reports, correspondence, membership lists, and menus. It also includes programs, financial records, photographs, publications, news clippings, and audio recordings.
Abraham Lincoln (A.L.) Lewis Papers
The collection at the Auburn Avenue Research Library consists of minutes from the meetings of the Board of Trustees of Bethune-Cookman College (1937, 1944, 1945); Bethune-Cookman College annual report (1937); and the fortieth-anniversary bulletin of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company (1941).
Adam Knight Spence and John Wesley Work Collection
The collection consists of papers of Adam Knight Spence and John Wesley Work from ca. 1851-1936. The papers contain materials relating to their interest in Negro folk music and involvement in the Fisk Jubilee Singers in the early twentieth century. Includes musical scores and arrangements, correspondence regarding the travels of the singers, printed materials, as well as correspondence (1906-1921) and classroom papers (1931) pertaining to John Work. The collection contains the correspondence of Adam Knight Spence and other family members, including his brother Edwin A. Spence, his sister Julie Spence, his wife Elizabeth Fisk Spence, and his daughter Mary Spence. Of particular interest is extensive correspondence (1888-1891) from Henrietta Matson, principal of the Akola Girls' English School in Berar, India, to Elizabeth and Mary Spence regarding the education and social conditions in India at the time. Other materials include a variety of printed matter (1871-1936) relating to Fisk University.
African American Calendar Collection
The African American Calendar collection is comprised of yearly calendars created by businesses, organizations, or artists that celebrate African American history and culture. Each month in the calendars feature a historic figure, artwork, or fact. Of local interest are the calendars from Bell South which document important African Americans in Atlanta.
African American Lesbian and Gay Print Culture Collection
The African American Lesbian and Gay Print Culture Collection, 1989-2010, documents African American lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender cultural and social formations in the United States through a variety of print forms and media, including advertisements, articles, broadsides, catalogs, ephemera, guides, invitations, journals, leaflets, letters, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, and programs. Scattered issues of magazines and newsletters, bulking 1989-2010, comprise the largest portion of the collection, which is local and national in scope, encompassing communities, personalities, and events in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Of particular note, the early issues of Venus document a variety of Atlanta-based social groups and organizations among them the African American Lesbian Gay Alliance (AALGA), Black Lesbian and Gay Pride, Inc. (BLGP Inc.), Black and White Men Together, Brothers Back-2-Back, Inc., Hospitality Atlanta, Second Sunday Discussion Group, Sisters of 30 Something Special, Sister Love Inc., and ZAMI. Also included is information about popular gathering places, including Pearl Garden, Marquette Lounge, Loretta’s, and Traxx. Among the magazine’s features are announcements, calendars of local and national events, fiction, and articles about Black Gay Pride, health, HIV/AIDS, racial and sexual discrimination, relationships, and spirituality. These subjects also are addressed across the other print forms and media.
Aida Rentas Papers
This collection includes personal records documenting the life of LGBTQ activist Aida Rentas. A substantial portion of the collection is photographic images. The collection includes correspondence, memoranda, newspaper clippings, printed material, scrapbooks, biographical, and writings by Rentas.
Akbar Imhotep Papers
The Akbar Imhotep Papers consist of 17 boxes. These boxes contain letters; poems, manuscripts, pictures, and articles from and about the multifaceted artist Akbar Imhotep. The collection documents his involvement with Various organizations such as Toastmasters; Kuumba Storytellers of Georgia, The National Association of Black Storytellers(NABS), and the Metro Atlanta Kwanzaa Association. The collection also highlights his work as a community activist in and around Atlanta.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Pi Gamma Lambda Chapter Records
The collection consists of correspondence; minutes of meetings; committee reports; programs; financial and legal records of the Pi Gamma Lambda Chapter (Clayton County, GA) of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. The collection includes material on the National organization and the Southern Region organization. Organizational manuals; National Conference programs and proceedings; the organization's newsletter and journal; invitations, membership directories; and photographs of events are all part of the collection.
Andrew J. Young Papers
The Andrew J. Young Papers document his career and family life spanning more than 50 years, including his positions as a minister, civil rights activist, Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations, Mayor of Atlanta, Co-Chair of the 1996 Atlanta Committee of the Olympic Games, and his involvement with Law Companies Group, Inc. and GoodWorks International.
The collection contains correspondence, speeches, press releases, calendars, books, minutes, reports, publications, articles, photographs, scrapbooks, artifacts, textiles, trophies and awards, artwork, posters, programs, campaign memorabilia, manuscripts, travel documents, notes, sermons, ephemera, and audio-visual material.
Annabelle Thompson Kilgore Collection
The Annabelle Thompson Kilgore Collection consists of nineteen (19) items. Two of the items, a profile, and a newspaper clipping, provide biographical information. The collection contains seven (7) photographs of which four (4) are known to be the work of Mrs. Kilgore. The other materials are collected items on various subjects and represent various interests of Mrs. Kilgore. The playbill about Katherine Dunham provides good information and photographs of Ms. Dunham and her company of dancers.
Annie L. McPheeters Papers
Annie L. McPheeters first donated the items in this collection in 1990 and continued until 1994. It is made up of letters, reports, notes, newspaper clippings, brochures, journals, pamphlets, and books, to name some.
Among the numerous gems in the collection, are materials generated by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. These include, but are not limited to sorority by-laws, rituals, and policies on hazing. Other materials featured in the collection are minutes taken by the Utopian Literary Club, historical programs from Warren Memorial United Methodist Church, reports written by McPheeters on the Auburn Branch Library, and political brochures and letters, as well.
In addition, the collection consists of fascinating photographs and newspaper clippings which cover a host of subjects. Some of these deal with early Atlanta libraries, local universities, Auburn Avenue businesses, race relations, and women's issues.
Anthony "Tony" Daniels Papers
The Anthony “Tony” Daniels papers, 1980-2000, documents his professional and personal life through correspondence, diaries, journals, print materials, publications. The primary focus of the collection is his writings, which include drafts, rewrites, scripts, and related printed material. The collection also has records from the ensemble, ADODI Muse.
Archives Map Collection
The Archives Map collection consists of printed maps of Africa, the Caribbean Islands, the World, and the United States. There are approximately four hundred and thirty-five (435) items that were published between 1542 and 1987 by well-known cartographers such as Sebastian Munster, Abraham Ortelius, and Willem Blaeu. Some of the maps on the surface appear to be duplicates but upon examination, are a variation of the same map but often with a different cartographer and date.
Each map in the item identification has the title, cartographer, publisher, date, and a brief description of the map. However, the information given does not include mathematic map data (scale, projection, coordinates of the area covered, etc.), printer information, or physical description (dimensions in cm giving height and then width).
The maps are published in a variety of languages such as Arabic, English, French, and Latin.
Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) Collection
The mission of the organization is to recognize the human diversity and multicultural nature of our society; to enhance the development, human rights, and the psychological health of all people as critical to the social, educational, political, professional, and personal reform in the United States; to identify and work to eliminate conditions which create barriers to the individual development of non-whites; to develop, implement and/or foster interest in charitable, scientific and educational programs designed to further the interests of non-whites; to secure equality of treatment, advancement, qualifications and status individuals in personnel and guidance work; to publish a journal and other scientific-educational, and professional materials with the purpose of raising the standards of all who work in guidance and counseling.
The AMCD collection contains documentation of correspondence, minutes of meetings, reports, constitution and by-laws, and various publications. The collection spans the 1960s-1990s.
Atlanta Cooperative Preschool Center Collection
This small collection documents the first years of the first interracial preschool in Atlanta. The collections include news clippings, correspondence, flyers, and other information on the school. The photographs document activities that the students participated in.
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters Oral History Interviews
AIB's video project began in 1990 with several purposes: (1) documenting the reminiscences of elderly members of various Afro-American churches throughout Atlanta through oral history interviews; (2) recording individual church histories; (3) interviewing outstanding personalities of the South who have made a difference to society and documenting their oral history; (4) recording styles of singing and worship that existed in a previous time and which are dying out; and (5) documenting current religious expression in the South.
Atlanta Life Insurance Company Records
The records of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, 1894-1994 (bulk 1945-1985), and 2000, primarily document the operation of the company, and to a lesser extent, the role it played in Atlanta's African-American community. Through the Jim Crow and civil rights eras, Atlanta Life provided economic services to African-Americans not only through sickness, accident, and life insurance benefits but also through opportunities for employment and business training. Known today as the Atlanta Life Financial Group, the company offers primarily financial investment services.
The Atlanta Life Insurance Company records are divided into six series and are comprised of architectural drawings, calendars, certificates, contracts, correspondence, journals, ledgers, news clippings, publications, receipts, registers, reports, photographs, scrapbooks, specimen forms, and statements. The operation of the company and its ties to the community are well documented through officers' files, financial records, insurance policies and claims, printed material, and publications.
Atlanta University Collection
The Atlanta University Collection contains extended documentation of correspondence, administrative records, which include meetings, business records, financial records, and political fundraising. The bulk of this material falls between the years 1865 and 1965, and it is arranged into the following series: I. Printed Materials (1882-1929) II: Presidential Reports and Minutes (1894--1965); III General Correspondence and Historical Sketch (1865-1900s); IV. Financial Documentation (1899-1900s); V. Photographs and Portraits, (1865-1900s); VI. Legal and Legal-Style Documents, (1870-1900s); VII. Literary Productions.
Auburn Avenue Research Library Africana Graphic Novel and Comic Book Collection
This collection contains 320 graphic novels and comic books from countries around the world. All feature black characters or historical figures. Some of the content is racist and gives a historical idea of how blacks were portrayed during a certain time. Most of the content is in a foreign language, mostly French.
Auburn Avenue Research Library Arts and Artifacts Collection
The Arts and Artifact Collection consists of paintings, sketches, photographs, and other artworks of various mediums. The date ranges of the items of this collection are between 1930 and 2012. Pieces from Georgia artists such as Benny Andrews, James Hiram Malone, Mary Parks Washington, and Raymond B. Cody are included in this collection.
Many of the pieces of this collection highlight the African American experience in Georgia and the South as a whole. From street scenes to portraits of Atlantans this collection gives insight into Atlanta's black history.
Auburn Avenue Research Library for African American Culture and History Prints Collection
The Prints Collection contains images that include engravings, drawings, and a few photographic prints which appeared in magazines. The collection contains both original prints and reprints. If an item is a reprint, this information is noted in the finding aid.
Some of the prints within the collection are part of a set or are grouped together because they appeared in the same publication. One major set is a series of nineteen engravings by Jennifer Moxon. These engravings, which are accompanied by anecdotes, satirize African-Americans. Another series consists of twelve prints, both original and reprint, from various issues Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (1857-1887). The collection also contains a series of prints, both original and reprint, from various issues of Harper's Weekly (1863-1895). Both sets of prints from these serial publications provide images of the African-American experience during the Civil War and Reconstruction. In addition to these three sets, the collection contains other smaller sets and various individual prints.
Auburn Branch Library Records
This material was discovered in an old Vertical File in The Special Collections Department and consists of public relations flyers and programs; book lists; a history of the branch; and articles about early library service to Blacks in Atlanta. It also contains some early material on the West Hunter Branch.
Benny Andrews Papers
This collection consists of many exhibit programs; catalogs; periodical articles about the artist and his influences; and "information about other family members and their contributions to the art world.
Black Church History Collection
The Black Church History collection consists of items from various churches in the Atlanta area and throughout the South. These items range from church histories, annual events, and programs. These materials give insight to these various religious institutions and their community efforts. The date ranges of this collection are 1970-2002.
Black History at Noon Oral History Series Sound Recordings
The sessions focused on the 1) early development of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System's rare book collection, 2) introduction to conducting research using periodicals, and 3) information on noted Black author Richard Wright.
The series contains 6 audiocassette tapes.
Black History Month Essay Contest Collection
The Atlanta- Fulton Public Library System began "The Black History Essay Contest" in 1976 as part of its Black History Month celebration. The purpose of the contest was to provide an opportunity for individuals of all ages to express their opinions and ideas and promote research on selected topics relating to the African-American experience. Interested participants were invited to submit an essay, restricted to one thousand (1000) words or less, in one of the four divisions established by the Library. The divisions were Middle School, High School, Young Adult (ages 18-30), and Adult (ages 31 and older). All entries were judged by a panel of area journalists, educators, and library staff members. First and second place winners in each division received an award and participated in an annual awards program held at the Central Branch of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library. All contestants received a certificate of participation. The BHECC includes approximately thirteen hundred (1300) essays dating from 1977 to 1992; news articles; correspondence; press releases; photographs; and miscellaneous materials.
Black Popular Music Collection
This collection contains 55 musical records (of which 11 records are of 78 medium-size plates and 44 are of 44 small size plates) of black musicians. The musical recordings include a wide range of music from jazz, blues, Soul to gospel. The intension for this collection is to provide access to a wide variety of Black Popular Music, also to enrich your knowledge of black cultural experiences, expression, and representations through this musical collection.
Bondurant / Augustus Trammel Collection
The largest portion of the Bondurant materials consists of correspondence between Mr. and/or Mrs. James L. Bondurant and friends and family. These letters and postcards are from numerous individuals and do not constitute any continuous series. They are largely unconnected. The remainder of the materials consists of miscellaneous collected materials, including four (4) unidentified photographs. The Augustus Trammel Collection consists of various legal and financial documents pertaining to his occupation as a farmer in rural, southern Georgia near Villa Rica.
Booker T. Washington High School (Atlanta, Georgia) Class of 1956 Collection
This Collection Consists of correspondence, programs, financial records, invitations to reunions, Newspaper clippings of ceremonies, awards, and rosters of the Booker T. Washington class of 1956 dating from 1956-2016. Over half of this collection consists of pictures from various reunions between 1972-2011. Also included are decorations and clothing to commemorate the reunions.
Burdell Benjamin (B.B.) Beamon Photograph Collection
This photograph collection contains black and white 8" x 10"s and some small size colored photographs of radio personalities, T.V. entertainers, such as Ed Sullivan, and great singers of the 1940s and 1950s, such as Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn, Nat "King" Cole, and Billy Eckstein. Also included in this photograph collection are singing stars of the 1970s and 1980s. Black and white 8" x 10"s of James Brown. One black and white 4" x 6" and 8" x 10" of B. B. King. One medium-size colored photograph of Isaac Hayes. There are also black and white and colored photos of family members, and other memorabilia/ephemera.
Carter’s Department Store Records
This collection of Carter’s Department Store covers the years 1948 to 1964. The collection contains advertisements, stationery, customer credit records, general ledgers, check stubs, financial statements, invoices, receipts, journal sheets, ledgers, overdue notices, personal correspondence, pharmaceutical price lists, and signed checks. The collection also includes a small number of records from other local pharmacies.
Center for Democratic Renewal Records
The CDR records contain correspondence, publications, newspapers, articles, newsletters, notes, financial records, brochures, audio-visual material, books, programs, grant proposals, photographs, reports, and ephemera.
The box inventories list a folder title only once; there may be multiple folders for one title. The majority of the collection's dates are between 1979-2008, with some 1960s and 1970s material in the Research series.
Charmayne Johnson Family Papers
The Charmayne Johnson family papers, 1900-1998, include awards, certificates, cards, church bulletins, correspondence, funeral programs, materials related to education, legal documents, newsletters, photographs, yearbooks, and other items collected by various members of the Brooks and Johnson families. A portion of the collection consists of papers related to the education of Albert and Georgia Brooks. These include but are not limited to school assignments and report cards, alumni materials, event programs, receipts, and a 1948 yearbook from Herring Street High School.
The legal records document the transfer of property in Griffin, Georgia, between relatives of Georgia Brooks. Color and black and white photographs document family and friends at home and on vacations, as well as various schools. Among the latter are Clark College, Fifth Avenue Elementary, and Trinity High School. Newspaper clippings and articles pertain to family activities and include poems, short stories, and news accounts of local events. Further documenting the personal lives of the Brooks family are yearbooks from Clark College and Morris Brown College, and funeral programs for Albert Irvin Brooks, Georgia Bishop Brooks, and DeLoys Brooks Hawk. Less documented are the family's civic and professional lives. Most of the photographs from the photo album were removed for preservation, though the ones that are affixed remain. Identifying information was transferred to folder titles when known.
Cistrunk-Denson Family Papers
This Collection Consists of photographs, obsequies, and other documents including a birth certificate, a Naval award, and a family tree of the Cistrunk-Denson family dating from the early 20th century to 1979.
Civil Rights Discussion Series Recordings
These series of tapes discuss the reflective past of African Americans who participated in the Civil Rights Movement here in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1960s. The discussions centers around African Americans who were students at Atlanta University and their involvement with the Atlanta University Student Movement. The students discussed the picket lines, the sit-ins, the student leaders who organized and set up the strategy meetings. Some of the discussions involve the lawyers who were there to get those students out of jail when they were arrested for participating in the Civil Rights Movement. It also contains discussions of the students who wrote and drafted "The Appeal For Human Rights."
Comic Book Collection
The Ephemera Comic Book Collection is a small collection of comic books ranging from 1950-1990. Most of these comic books are based on the lives and history of prominent African Americans such as Harriet Tubman, Matthew Henson, and Willie Mays.
David F. Dorsey, Jr. Collection
The collection, created by Atlanta University scholar David Frederick Dorsey, consists of programs, newsletters, flyers, and clippings related to dance and other performing arts between 1972 and 1990 and pamphlets and reports dated 1928 and from 1979 to 1983 documenting the political situation in southern Africa. The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the Atlanta Ballet, Jomandi Productions, Clark Atlanta University student groups, and international dance troupes are represented within the collection.
Donald Adams Pullman Porter Collection
This collection contains one 5" x 7" black and white photograph of an unidentified African American man, one Pullman porter hat, and eleven duplicate timesheets (copies) of Mr. W. O. Bullock. Mr. Bullock was employed by the Pullman Company as a Porter (I.D. number PO. 174) from 1951 to 1957.
Donald L. Hollowell Collection
This collection consists of four series: General Case Files; Civil Rights Cases; Photographs and Print Materials; Awards, Oversized Photographs, and Miscellaneous Prints; Ephemera; and Audio/Visual. The collection consists of 26 boxes. The General Case Files and Civil Rights Cases span the early 1950s to the late 1960s and include incoming and outgoing correspondence, legal motions, court transcripts, and other legal documents, as well as Hollowell’s notes related to the cases. The General Case Files consist mainly of divorces, wills, petty crime, and real estate transactions. The Civil Rights cases include school integration cases, wrongful termination suits, murder, and rape cases. The photograph collection spans the late 1930s to c. 2005, and depict both Donald and Louise’s family life, as well as Hollowell’s legal career. The Awards collection consists of awards and honors Hollowell received over the years, as well as civil rights memorabilia. The Ephemera Collection includes academic regalia and Hollowell’s U.S. Army uniform, while the Audio-Visual collection consists of one video- a 2000 tribute to Hollowell.
Dorothy Lee Bolden Thompson Collection
The Dorothy Bolden Thompson Collection includes scrapbook; newspaper clippings; general correspondence; photographs and portraits; certificates, and artifacts. The goals of the National Domestic Workers Union were to develop training programs for maids and to create a nonprofit employee service to provide job placement and counseling for its members. The collection, which spans the years 1969-1996, is arranged into series: I. Scrapbook; II. General Correspondence; III. Legal and Legal-Style Documentation; IV. Printed Materials; V. Photographs and Plaques; VI. Artifacts.
Dorothy Porter Wesley Papers
This collection consists of bibliographies, correspondence, and research materials pertaining to Latin American authors and literature, in addition to conference papers and documents from the 1973 Phyllis Wheatley Poetry Festival held at Jackson State College in Jackson Mississippi. These documents were compiled by librarian and bibliophile Dorothy Porter Wesley.
Dr. Alpha Omega Campbell Papers
This collection consists of 21 photographs of members of the Campbell extended family and of the Laura Bell Memorial Hospital and Clinic; 2 newspaper articles on Dr. Campbell; and correspondence concerning a 1994 proposed bicycle path in Tallahassee to be named after the Campbell family.
Dr. Asa G. Yancey, Sr., M.D. Papers
This collection contains information relating to the career of Dr. Asa G. Yancey, contributions he made to Atlanta, and the field of medicine. Though a small collection, there is a wealth of information that includes articles written by Dr. Yancey on Grady Memorial Hospital, healthcare in Atlanta, and Dr. Charles R. Drew, written in honor of the U.S. Postage stamp issued to honor Dr. Drew. The collection also includes programs, articles, and books about African Americana in health care.
Dr. Barbara King Papers
The collection consists of sermon notes, journals, books, travel documents, a map, catalogs, flyers, an ID card, invitations, correspondence, programs, Newspaper clippings, writings by various authors, photographs, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, DVDs, and awards of Dr. Barbara King dating from 1945-2016. In addition to physical awards included, there is a listing of names and pictures of additional awards that Dr. Barbara King has received.
Dr. Claude C. George, Jr. Family Papers
The collection is approximately 1 1/2 cubic feet. It contains six (6) volumes of Capital Avenue Elementary School Publications, Highlights, from 1972 through 1973; Cooper Street Elementary School Publications, from 1970 through 1972; biographical information about Dr. Claude C. George, Jr. and some members of his family; clippings from the Atlanta Constitution and Atlanta Daily World, from 1957 through 1964; a copy of Dr. George's resume, detailing his many accomplishments, his contribution to the African-American communities and abroad; and photocopies of Mrs. Gwendolyn Lampkin George, first wife of Dr. George. Also included in the collection is a Diploma from Tuskegee Institute, which was awarded to Mr. Claude Clarence George, Sr., in 1912.
Dr. Clifton Orrin Dummett Papers
The collection contains: One (1) book entitled, Charles Edwin Bentley, A Model For All Times: The Biography of the Father of the Oral Hygiene Movement in the United States by Clifton O. Dummett and Lois Doyle Dummett (U.S.A.: North Central Publishing Company, 1982); Four(4) copies of Invitation cards; Fifteen (15) copies of Journal articles by Dr. Clifton O. Dummett; Four (4) documents written about Dr. Clifton O. Dummett on matters related to the dental profession in general and the African-American role in the field; One (1) book by Dr. Clifton O. Dummett, titled Reflections on a Passing Era.
Dr. Ernest C. Tate Papers
The collection consists of a photograph of Tate, an award received by Tate, and three works by Tate including a playlet about James Weldon Johnson and his two books, The Social Implications of the Writings and the Career of James Weldon Johnson and Wordplay and Poetry.
Dr. Frederick Douglas Funderburg Papers
The Funderburg Collection includes newspaper clippings about various events, which took place during Dr. Funderburg's career. The collection, which spans the 1940s to 1979.
Dr. Henry F. Shorter Papers
The Dr. Henry F. Shorter Papers are stored in one box and are placed in folders #001-027. Include in the collection are numerous Deeds; Real Estate documents; Titles; correspondence; and minutes from various counties, in the State of Georgia.
Also included are sepia-tone photographs.
Dr. Mary Shy Scott Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Papers
The collection is approximately 6.5 linear feet. It contains volumes of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Publications; programs; minutes; awards; and newsletter.
Dr. Robert (Bob) A. Holmes Papers
The Dr. Robert A. Holmes Papers cover the years 1916 to 2018. The collection contains materials from his time in the Georgia legislature his consultations and his writings. Specific materials include; correspondence, awards, programs, published journals and essays, unpublished essays, handwritten and typed manuscripts, campaign materials, legislature, press releases, photographs, and audiovisual material.
Dr. Sol C. Clemons Papers
Included in the collection are letters, newspaper clippings, photographs, certificates, blank and processed application forms, and material order forms.
Drexel Catholic High School Alumni Collection
Drexel Catholic High School Alumni Collection contains school records and alumni papers, documents, and memorabilia. The collection, which spans the years 1956 to 1961, and has been arranged into the following series: I. Publications (1961-1967); II. Biographical Information and general correspondence (1961-1967); III. Printed Materials, (1962-1967); IV. General Photographs; V. Miscellaneous School Documents; VI. Artifacts.
Ebon Dooley Collection
Ebon Dooley Collection is 63.5 linear feet and date from 1970 to 1990. Found within the collection are Civic Organizations, Liberation Movements: Africa, Liberation Movements: Asia, Liberation Movements: China, Liberation Movement: Latin America / Caribbean, Liberation Movement: Middle East, Liberation Movement: Native America, Liberation Movement: Women Struggle and Liberation Movement: USA, Newsletters / Articles / Reports, Newsletters, Newspapers & Newsletters, Newspapers & News Clippings, Arts & Culture, Poems and Plays, Radio Station, Southern Education Foundation, National, State & Local Politics, Ebon, International Business Development/Non-Profit Corporation, Technology & Labor, Magazines, Journals, Magazines / Reports / Pamphlets / Correspondence, Pamphlets/Newsletters, and Books.
Educational Kits Collection
The Educational Kits Collection consists of Black History study aids and resources geared towards teaching primary and secondary students more about African and African American history.
Edward Randolph Carter and Andrew Jackson Lewis Collection
The E.R. Carter and A.J. Lewis, II Collection is an extensive collection (49 Hollinger boxes) that covers the religious and educational history of Atlanta from the 1890s through the 1970s. Edward Randolph Carter (1856 -1944) was a Baptist minister, and for more than 60 years he pastored the oldest Black Baptist Church in Atlanta, Friendship Baptist Church. Much of the documentation about Rev. Carter pertains to Friendship Baptist Church. Numerous pastoral and church anniversary programs and church bulletins exist.
Andrew Jackson Lewis, II (1909-1989) was the grandson of E.R. Carter and a well-known educator in Atlanta for over 40 years. Mr. Lewis' mother, Iola Carter Rogers, was the daughter of Rev. E.R. Carter. Much of the material pertaining to Mr. Lewis contains educational pursuits at Morehouse College, New York University, and his principalships at John Hope Elementary and Thomas Heathe Slater Elementary Schools in Atlanta beginning in 1950. Records of Mr. Lewis' military service in World War II exist, with military bars and patches as part of the collection. Much of the material pertains to his civic activities with the Boy Scouts of America organization; the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity; the National Education Association and affiliate organizations; and a Masonic Order located in Atlanta, GA. Correspondence, both personal and related to his career as a principal, is numerous, as are personal financial records. Many programs from activities at the elementary schools where he was principal, as well as other schools in the Atlanta area are present. There is an extensive collection of photographs relating to school events, as well as personal photographs. An impressive collection of periodicals of the Masonic order to which he belonged are included.
Material on Friendship Baptist Church throughout the years is extensive, including photographs of all the ministers since Rev. E.R. Carter - Maynard H. Jackson, Sr.; Samuel W. Williams, William V. Guy. Numerous programs of church-affiliated events are included.
Ella Mae Wade Brayboy Papers
The collection is approximately 5 cubic feet and consists of correspondence; event programs; photographs; certificates; plaques; newspaper articles and clippings; publications on issues such as aging, medical care, and voting; periodicals of the United Methodist Church; and parts of a yearbook from Booker T. Washington High School, 1935. About half of the collection is correspondence, some from such well-known persons as Jimmy Carter, Julian Bond, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, and Zell Miller, to name a few.
Ellie Lee Weems Photographs Series
Mr. Weems was called on-site to photograph group activities and events which, when listed with his studio work, create the relative categories by which the Collection is defined and ordered: Awards and Honors; business and commercial personalities and establishments; church and civic groups; entertainers and celebrities; families; funerals; graduation exercises and cap and gown cameos; landscapes; masonic orders and related auxiliaries; performing arts; portraits of children, men and women; professional training at the Winona School of Photography; schools; and others. The titles and listings of these categories are given in the "Photographs Collection" Finding Aid.
The Weems "Photographs Collection" reflects the personal and community-wide history of Jacksonville in the several processing techniques mastered by the photographer: "Black and White" photographs; "Color Hand-tinted" photographs; "Sepia Tinted" photographs; "Kodak Color Prints" made possible by Kodak color processing on Kodak paper in the 1960s. The Collection contains five photographs, distinctive from the other photographs, which have been isolated for research. There are two pieces of correspondence and an envelope that has Mr. Weems' handwriting.
Eugene V. Cooksey Scrapbooks on boxer Joe Louis
There are three (3) scrapbooks of the Joe Louis collection. They include newspaper clippings and photographs of Mr. Joe Louis in various boxing rings, at social gatherings, with friends and family members.
About 95% of this collection is mounted on pieces of cardboard sheets, back and front, that means, on both sides of each cardboard sheet. Besides the pictures and newspaper articles about Mr. Joe Louis, there are also very valuable and important articles about other notable African American men and women of early years. There are stories about their struggles and accomplishments.
Eugene V. Cooksey Scrapbook on the Nation of Islam
The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings and photographs relating to the Nation of Islam from 1963 through 1965, as well as certificates for Eugene Cooksey from the same years from the Cooper Street School, psychiatric attendant nurse training, civil defense courses, Red Cross home nursing course, medical self-help training course, and International Correspondence Schools.
Evelyn J. Frazier Papers
The Evelyn J. Frazier Papers, 1939-2005, document Frazier's business, civic, educational, and political activities through artifacts, awards, business licenses and records, correspondence, certificates, contracts, datebooks, diplomas, ephemera, invitations, news clippings, photographs, postcards, programs, scrapbooks, and various printed materials. Detailed series descriptions provide specific information about inclusive dates and formats.
Family Genealogy Collection
This collection of donated family history booklets documents African American families. Some booklets are from family reunions and others are compilations of research conducted by the families.
First Congregational Church, U.C.C., Atlanta, Georgia Records
The First Congregational Church Records is 16 linear feet and date from 1874 through 1995. Found within the collection are Church History Records, Church Order of Service, Church Financial Records, Church Administrative Records, Church Anniversaries, Programs and Events, Church Social Clubs, Church Pastor’s Newsletters, Seasonal Greeting and Invitation Cards, and Church Photograph Collection.
Francis J. Menso Collection
The collection contains one (1) box with a total of four (4) letters and thirty-five (35) photographs from ca. 1940-1945. The collection has been arranged into two series: I. Personal Correspondence (1945); II. Photographs.
Frankie Arnold Papers
The collection consists of awards, campaign documentation, letters of correspondence, newspaper clippings and copies, personal papers, notes, research, and photographs of and belonging to Mrs. Frankie Arnold dating from 1968-2014.
Fred C. Bennette, Jr. Collection
The collection of Fred C. Bennette covers the years 1960 to 1985. The collection contains photographs, news articles, and minutes, and other printed materials that document Fred C. Bennett's involvement with the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta.
Frederick Hall Papers
Highlights of the Frederick Hall collection in the Auburn Avenue Research Library-Archives Division are 228 testimonials and correspondence dating from 1939 to 1950. Also included is one scrapbook of clippings, programs, flyers, and other materials documenting Dr. Hall's tenure at Dillard University.
General Mills-Kroger Oral History Collection for the Friends of the Auburn Avenue Research Library
The General Mills-Kroger Oral History Collection completed by the Friends of the Auburn Avenue Research Library began in 1994. The purpose of the collection is to collect and make available for research and study the historical and personal recollections of Atlanta's Black cultural organizations, individuals, institutions, and communities.
Two years of documentation have gone into the General Mills-Kroger Oral History Collection consisting of oral interviews with 54 Black Atlantans. While the history of prominent local African-Americans and events - Martin Luther King, Jr., Sweet Auburn Avenue story, civil rights movement - are well documented, a panoramic view of Black Atlanta's political, educational, and social development has not been told. Documented are the oral reminiscences of individuals who have made significant contributions to Atlanta, the State of Georgia, and the nation. Featured in the collection are the oral histories of Mrs. Henrietta Phillips Antoinin, Mr. T. M. Alexander, Mrs. Freddye S. Henderson, Mr. B.B. Beamon, Mrs. Dorothy Bolden Thompson, Mr. Donald Hollowell, Mrs. Lucile McAllister Scott, Mr. Lo Jelks, Mrs. Annie L. McPheeters, Dr. Horace Tate, Mrs. Clara Stanley Lowe, Col. Charles W. Dryden, and many others.
The Oral History Project was funded by a grant from General Mills, Inc. and the Kroger Company to the Auburn Avenue Advisory Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. The Auburn Avenue Advisory Committee secured the assistance of the Friends of the Auburn Avenue Research Library to coordinate the project.
Geneva Haugabrooks Papers
The Geneva Haugabrooks Papers are comprised of three boxes: 1 archival storage box containing plaques of awards and honors; 1 archival documents box containing papers, correspondence, telegrams of congratulations; one framed letter of congratulations from Gov. Joe Frank Harris; 1 oversized box containing an enlarged poster-size photograph of Mrs. Haugabrooks and former Atlanta Mayor, Ambassador Andrew Young.
Although a small collection, the richness of information is valuable for any research on Atlanta's Black business history, leaders of Atlanta's communities, and community recognition by major African American organizations, Atlanta's African American Churches, and Black women entrepreneurs in Atlanta and Auburn Avenue in particular.
Gone With The Wind Ephemera Collection
This collection is comprised of two items that relate to the movie Gone With the Wind and the author of the book, Margaret Mitchell.
Gordon-Jackson-McLester Family Papers
This collection would be helpful to researchers interested in information on the history of African Americans in Alabama and in the South; the African American family in Alabama and the South; the history of the Negro Women's Clubs, and Black business owners of the 20s, 30s, etc.
The Gordon-Jackson-McLester Family Papers tells the story about family members who lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Their stories are told mostly through photographs, most of which were taken in the 1800s, and a few in the 1900s. Most of the photographs show siblings from the same name family, (either the Gordons, the Jacksons, the McLesters) or mixed siblings from these three families.
The collection documents the activities of members in the Gordon-Jackson-McLester families. It includes portraits and photographs taken during the 1800s to the 1900s, ( the latest taken in 1980). The photographs and portraits include family members of the Gordon-Jackson-McLester families; in-laws of family members; and family members who were former slaves. Other photographs contain the Great-Great-Grand relatives of the Gordon-Jackson-McLester family.
Many of the photographs show beautiful country scenes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Also included in the collection are newspaper clippings from the Birmingham News, (March 18, 1952); advertisements; marriage certificates; birth listings; funeral notices, and general correspondence among members of the Gordon-Jackson-McLester families.
While viewing the photographs and reading the names of the individuals on them, even those photographs of family members who were former slaves, one cannot ignore the fact that these people were the offsprings of intermarried couples. They take great pride in the relationship they have with one another. They also cherish the history of knowing that some of their family members were former slaves.
Graham Washington Jackson, Sr. Papers
Presently, the collection consists of 27 boxes of varied materials and includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, audio, and videotape recordings, long-playing albums, and periodical articles and books which provide information on Graham W. Jackson, Sr. These materials provide a well-rounded history of the life of Jackson. Several boxes of the collection contain music and books which belonged to Graham W. Jackson Sr.
Hallie Beachem Brooks Collection
The Hallie Beachem Brooks collection consists of a variety of vinyl records from Duke Ellington to Fats Waller. These records span multiple generations of music culture from the 1940s to the mid-1970s, researchers with an interest in music history will find this collection useful.
With over 650 items belonging to this collection, the rarity of some records can assist researchers in studying a particular artist or genre.
Harold Wright Cruse Papers
The Harold Wright Cruse Papers hold the documents, correspondences, photographs, and ephemeral materials of scholar and writer Harold Wright Cruse. This collection consists of twelve series: Personal Papers, Correspondence, University of Michigan, Harold Wright Cruse Writings, Speaking Engagements, Organizations, Research Files, Ephemera, Writings by Others, Printed and Published Materials, Photographs, and Audiovisual. The Personal Papers consist of materials that span from Cruse's career as a journalist and film technician to his monumental trip to Cuba. The remaining series cover Cruse's time as a lecturer and scholar at various institutions and organizations.
The Ephemera collection holds personal and professional materials that relate to Cruse's family, friends, and professional acquaintances. The Photographs collection holds photographs ranging from the 1940s to the 1990s of Cruse inside and outside of the classroom, family, friends, and contemporaries.
Helen Adele Johnson Whiting Papers
The collection consists of the papers of Helen Adele Johnson Whiting from 1929-1982. Includes correspondence, memoranda, newspaper clippings, printed material, scrapbooks, biographical information on Whiting, and writings by Whiting. The materials document Whiting's pioneering work in the field of elementary progressive education and the education of African American children. Correspondents include W.E.B. Du Bois; Ambrose Caliver, Senior Specialist in the Education of Negroes, Dept. of the Interior; John Hope; and James Weldon Johnson. Printed material includes programs, announcements, and invitations pertaining to the National Conference on Fundamental Problems in the Education of Negroes and the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection.
Henry J. and Florine D. Furlow Papers
The collection is 24 cubic ft. Much of the collection contains material from the "Heaven Bound" pageant performed each year at Big Bethel church, including programs; committee meeting notes; publicity; an original pageant script; and sheet music. The devil costume in which Mr. Furlow performed in the pageant is in the collection. Information about Big Bethel church and the Atlanta Public School system is present, including an 1872 annual report of the Atlanta School Board.
Approximately 3 cubic feet include handbooks; correspondence; programs of sponsored events; and photographs of the Order of the Eastern Star. This information is restricted to members of the Eastern Star organization. Other information about Masonry, in general, is available including proceedings, reports, and newsletters.
Information on Sigma Gamma Rho sorority is present, including pictures from debutante balls in the mid-1960s; newsletters; and a scrapbook of the organization. The collection contains over 200 pieces of sheet music of religious and secular music and photographs of events in which the Furlows participated.
Horace T. Atwater Collection
The Auburn Avenue Research Library-Archives Division houses the Atwater Collection; it includes scrapbooks of pictures, certificates, and letters of testimony from prominent figures such as President George Bush, Governor Zell Miller, and Mayor Maynard Jackson.
Hosea L. Williams Papers
Minutes and agendas, scrapbooks, photographs, reports and historical writings, printed material and ephemera, personal papers, books, and artifacts are the elements of Reverend Williams Papers. The material documents the history and reflects the activities of Williams during the Civil Rights Movement, his political career, his business ventures, and the history of his involvement in several organizations including the SCLC. The collection also contains history and information on Hosea's Feed the Hungry and Homeless.
Hosea L. Williams Photographs
The material documents the history and reflects the activities of Williams during the Civil Rights Movement, his political career, his business ventures, and the history of his involvement in several organizations including the SCLC.
Iota Phi Lambda Sorority Inc., Delta Chapter Collection
The Iota Phi Lambda Sorority Inc., Delta Chapter Collection consists of papers, ephemera, and photographs belonging to the Delta Chapter. These items offer insight into the chapter and its programs, events, and the organization's longevity in the city of Atlanta.
James Bryant Smith Collection
This collection contains personal papers and artifacts saved by James Bryant Smith throughout his life. The largest series consists of correspondence between Smith and his wife, Florence Evelyn Jordan Smith, throughout his service during and immediately following World War II. Also dating from his time in the military are three series of military papers, publications, and artifacts. As a Tuskegee Airman, most of the military correspondence and paperwork correspond to weapons reports and checklists, along with lesson plans and homework from infantry school. Closely related are the military publications, many of which are aircraft, weapons, or radio operation manuals. Several oversized boxes of artifacts include Smith’s military-issued uniform and a variety of small items, such as a hairnet, a pocket knife, and insignia.
Although the majority of the collection relates to Smith's service as a Tuskegee Airman, three series of materials pertain to his and Florence’s personal lives. Florence was an active volunteer in several Columbus, Ohio organizations, but only her work for the Columbus Area International Program is included in the collection. All of the couple's surviving bank and insurance paperwork is filed under Smith's personal papers, separate from his military records. Most of the photographs included in the collection do not feature Smith or his wife, but rather what are presumed to be his grandchildren.
James Frank Harrison Family Collection
The collection contains primarily correspondence between the family members and letters (5 Hollinger boxes) addressed to James Harrison, Jr. from many individuals. James Harrison, Jr. had friends throughout the world and during the course of his life, he lived in many different places. He attended Haines Institute in Augusta, Georgia, and later Howard University in Washington, D.C. Correspondence exists as early as 1926 between him and his family. He maintained a correspondence with the Black philosopher, Alain Locke, during the 1930s and '40s and there are 2 boxes of correspondence from him.
Another series of material exists for Victor Partridge (1938-198?), son of Gladys Harrison. Material on Victor's college days at Lafayette College and his career as a school teacher in the Atlanta Public School system is present. Two scrapbooks exist documenting Dorothy Harrison Puckett's teaching career in Atlanta and her sorority work with Delta Sigma Theta. An additional scrapbook contains primarily postcards of Germany and Austria and another scrapbook contains newspaper clippings concerning Robert Harrison's tragic death from an automobile accident in 1952. One box of photographs exists.
James Hiram Malone Papers
This small collection, made up of personal items, as well as imaginative illustrations, was donated by James Hiram Malone in 1995. Among the items included are: Malone's personal resume, early photographs of Malone and his family, newspaper clippings from The Atlanta News-Leader and Atlanta News Weekly, cartoon clippings, and the Black Inventors' Gift Series Paintings, which were painted by the donor. In addition, two books by Malone,. Brother and Malone's Atlanta, are featured in the collection, as well.
James Neal Montgomery Collection
The collection contains material (8 cubic feet) primarily on individual artists and performing groups, such as flyers, publicity announcements, concert announcements, and printed programs; correspondence and information on entertainment industry agents and agencies from all across the United States; business records and correspondence to and from Southeastern Artists, Inc. of which he was president; and business records from the Sunset Casino, a nightclub located on Magnolia Street in northwest Atlanta, Georgia during the mid-1940s. There is 1½ cubic feet of photographs in very good condition of various entertainers and singers of the 1940s, including Fletcher Henderson; Nat King Cole; Billy Eckstine; and Count Basie, to name a few. Photographs of Mr. Montgomery with other unidentified persons also are included. Copies of his weekly newspaper column exist in their original format. Some records of Mrs. Callie Montgomery also exist, as well as a baby photograph of Maeneal Montgomery.
James Van Der Zee Framed Photograph Collection
The Auburn Avenue Research Library has 18 framed photographs by James Van DerZee, purchased in 1985, each taken from a limited edition run of 75. Each print is signed; three of them bear Van Der Zee's signature from the negatives. They represent a variety of subjects and demonstrate some of his favorite techniques, such as multiple-image processing, in which he printed one negative, then printed it again while printing a second negative from a different picture onto it. The second image typically has a faint, transparent appearance, and adds something to the meaning of the picture.
Janice White Sikes Collection on Southern Culture
This collection consists of correspondence, printed material, financial and legal documents about West End Neighborhood Development, Inc., (WEND). WEND was started in 1975 by the Homeowners Association to improve the quality of life in the West End Neighborhood. This collection also includes information on the Mall West End, The Atlanta University Center/West Side Pedestrian Corridor system (1993-94), the West End Community, 1985,1988, WEND Education Committee correspondence on Adopt-a-School (1984), WEND Election material, and the West End Festivals ( 1980, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1997). The chronological history of the West End (1830-1924). This collection represents an interest in the renewal of urban life in southern cities and rural areas through the preservation movement. Assorted documents on and about Atlanta neighborhoods, such as Summerhill, Midtown, Sylvan Hills, Bedford Pines, and Vine City are included.
Jean Childs Young Papers
The Jean Childs Young Papers document Young's work as an educator and advocate for children's rights, as well as her civic, church, and community service. Notable projects and involvement include the 1979 International Year of the Child, Mayor's Task Force on Public Education, Child Service and Family Counseling Center, Inc./ Families First, Children's Defense Fund, Atlanta Junior College (now Atlanta Metropolitan College), Atlanta Public Schools, the APEX Museum, and SciTrek, the Science and Technology Museum of Atlanta.
The papers contain correspondence, reports, speeches, programs, flyers, newsletters, articles, publications, brochures, meeting minutes and agendas, certificates, awards, plaques, photographs, audio-visual material, and ephemera.
Jeanette Harvey Hamme Papers
The collection contains: Three (3) photo albums of Mrs. Hamme's family life; Mrs. Hamme's personal correspondence and other papers she collected over the years which includes flyers, newsletters, news article, books, and pamphlets; Morris Brown College papers and other related items; Mrs. Hamme's collection of papers from the Friendship Baptist Church as Deaconess Board member and some papers from Westhills Presbyterian Church; Mrs. Hamme's father, Mr. Burwell T. Harvey, biographical sketch including poems, congrats card and a newspaper clippings of his election into the United Savings-Helms Athletic Foundation Hall Fame; Mrs. Hamme's husband, Mr. Richard Hamme, personal correspondence; The Hamme's Family Reunions; Funeral Programs; Mrs. Jeanette Harvey Hamme's career as a Social Worker; Mrs. Hamme's collection of Long-Playing Records.
Jessie Thelma Beasley Archer Papers
The collection contains information about Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Atlanta University. There is also information about several organizations such as The American Business Women Association (Tara Chapter), The Atlanta Quettes, The Professional Secretaries Club, and The Professional Women of Atlanta, in which Mrs. Archer was active.
John Wesley Dobbs / Prince Hall Masons Collection
The John Wesley Dobbs / Prince Hall Mason Collection consists of 2.5 linear feet of materials, 1950 to 1968. Arranged in two series: Personal Papers, and Photographs which appear to be items that belong to Mr. Joseph Phinazee.
Johnnie P. Jones / Elmira Stafney Jones Family Collection
The collection contains: Fourteen (14) Black & White Photographs of family members. Two (2) copies Jerrymiah Stafney's insurance policy. One (1) copy of The Eureka--Security Fire and Marine Insurance property policy. One (1) copy of Facial Notes. One (1) copy Diploma presented to Private Jerrymiah. One (1) copy of Beaumont School of Vocational Nursing Diploma. Notebook pages with Chemistry class notes. One (1) original copy of Warranty Deed Atlanta Title. One (1) copy Bell Aircraft Cooperation Certificate of Employment Award. One (1) pamphlet entitled, Guaranteed Loans for Veterans. One (1) blank white envelope with unused Eisenhower 8 cents stamp affixed and one (1) original copy of the insurance policy entitled National Service Life Insurance. One (1) original copy of Louisville Fire and Marine Policy. One (1) 10' x 8" Black & White group photograph of students. One (1) Black & White group photograph of a student music band. One (1) copy of Cannolence Beauty College Senior Class Prom and one (1) Atlanta Daily World newspaper clipping, and one (1) one copy of an original beautician license. One (1) original copy of a Sunday school certificate and one (1) torn copy of a rental receipt, and one (1) postcard with a photographic scene. One (1) Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Insurance Endowment policy. One (1) original copy of Atlanta Public School Certificate of Appreciation. One (1) original copy of a high school Diploma. One (1) original copy of a junior high school Diploma. One (1) color painting of a woman's head (portrait).
Joseph Everhart Boone Papers
Minister, civil rights activist, and business owner, Joseph Everhart Boone was the son of the late John L. and Mattie Roberts Boone. He was raised in the Simpson Road community of Atlanta, Georgia, and married an Atlanta educator, Althea Williams (Selma). Minutes and agendas; scrapbooks; photographs; reports and printed material and ephemera; personal papers, books; and artifacts are the elements of the collection.
Josephine Harreld Love Collection
The collection is approximately 1 ½ cubic feet. It contains one issue of the newspaper. The Georgia Broadaxe, May 11, 1912, Vol. III, No.13; one black and white 8" X 10" photograph of the home of Dr. Edgar and Mrs. Lizzie Bowden. Ms. Love also donated to the library eight (8) plaques. The plaques are in various sizes, and they are nailed onto a 21" X 23 ½ " wooden board.
Julian Bond Papers
Julian Bond first donated the items in this collection in 1996. It is made up of speeches, correspondences, addresses, and interviews. This collection also includes poetry written by Mr. Bond, personal and business papers, organizational and institutional material such as The Voter Education Project; Political Associates; and The Southern Elections Fund. There are several news articles, political ephemera, serial publications such as; News, Texas Times, Poverty Law Report. Written proposals for Journal of Black Politics, and The 1974 Massachusetts Black Caucus Legislative Proposal.
Komozi Woodard Amiri Baraka Collection
This collection of Amiri Baraka materials was made available by Dr. Komozi Woodard. The collection consists of rare works of poetry, organizational records, print publications, over one hundred articles, poems, plays, and speeches by Baraka, a small amount of personal correspondence, and oral histories. The collection has been arranged into eighteen series. These series are: (1) Black Arts Movement; (2) Black Nationalism; (3) Correspondence; (4) Newark (New Jersey); (5) Congress of African People; (6) National Black Conferences and National Black Assembly; (7) Black Women's United Front; (8) Student Organization for Black Unity; (9) African Liberation Support Committee; (10) Revolutionary Communist League; (11) African Socialism; (12) Black Marxists; (13) National Black United Front; (14) Miscellaneous Materials, 1978-1988; (15) Serial Publications; (16) Oral Histories; (17) Woodard's Office Files; and (18) Audio Visual. Dr. Woodard collected these documents during his career as an activist in Newark, New Jersey.
Ku Klux Klan Collection
The Ku Klux Klan collection consists of correspondence, brochures, ephemera, and audiovisual materials relating to the Ku Klux Klan and a variety of racist literature and minstrelsy. The items found in this collection give insight to the domestic terrorist group known as the KKK and racist ideas in general.
Links Inc., Dogwood City Chapter Records
The collection consists of correspondence; minutes of meetings; committee reports; programs; financial and legal records of the Dogwood Chapter of The inks, Inc. The bulk of this information is from 1988-1991. Two scrapbooks of activities of the Dogwood Chapter are included. About half of the collection includes material on the National organization and the Southern Area organization. Organizational manuals; National Conference programs and proceedings; the organization's newsletter and journal; invitations' to Link-sponsored events throughout the world; membership directories; copies of the Link song and pledge; and photographs of events are all part of the collection.
Links, Inc., Atlanta Chapter Records
The collection consists of correspondence; minutes of meetings; committee reports; programs; financial and legal records of the Atlanta Chapter of The Links, Inc. The bulk of this information is from 1988-1991. Two scrapbooks of activities of the Atlanta Chapter are included. About half of the collection includes material on the National organization and the Southern Area organization. Organizational manuals; National Conference programs and proceedings; the organization's newsletter and journal; invitations' to Link-sponsored events throughout the world; membership directories; copies of the Link song and pledge; and photographs of events are all part of the collection.
Links, Inc. Buckhead-Cascade City Chapter Records
The Buckhead/Cascade City Chapter of The Links, Inc. collection consists of correspondence, meeting minutes, committee reports; programs, financial records. The bulk of this collection is from 1995-2019. Printed materials from the Regional/National organization, photographs of the chapter, and audiovisual items are included in this collection.
Lisa Ann Pertillar-Brevard Papers
The collection consists of biographical information about Mrs. Pertillar-Brevard; newspaper and magazine articles on a variety of subjects; copies of periodicals and publications in which Mrs. Pertillar-Brevard has contributed; publications of the University of Maryland that pertain to African-American issues; and various brochures and pamphlets.
Living Atlanta Oral History Collection
A collection of fifty (50) audiocassette tapes which are actually a 50 - part documentary series produced by WRFG Radio (89.3 FM) in 1977.
Long-Playing (LP) Record Collection
The Collection contains around 200 records which are largely musical but also include non-musical recordings. The musical recordings include a wide variety of genres including rock, pop, rap, jazz, blues, gospel, and classical. The composers and/or performers, as well as the compositions, provide examples of African-American contributions to the field of music. The non-musical recordings are speeches, stories, debates, etc.
Lorenzo Benn Papers
The Lorenzo Benn papers consist of biographical information, correspondence, financial records, publications, legislative works, and photographs. There is also a desk plate and funeral program for Lorenzo Benn.
Lucille V. Hill Papers
The collection is approximately 7 cubic ft. and consists of correspondence pertaining to Mrs. Hill's community activities; invitations; numerous certificates; newspaper articles on various subjects; yearbooks of Tuskegee Institute for 1944 and 1945; plaques; photographs; a scrapbook; event programs; videotapes and audiotapes; books; and artifacts. A significant amount of material is available on her son, James A. Hill, Jr., including high school and college yearbooks; correspondence; high school newsletters; political campaign materials; certificates; a speech; and photographs.
Marguerite F. Simon Papers
This collection, which was donated to the Auburn Avenue Research Library by Marguerite F. Simon in 1995, is an assortment of periodicals, books, sheet music, and news clippings. One of the highlights of the collection is Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1965: An Ebony Picture Biography, a 76 p. paperback book published just after his untimely death that covers the life of Dr. King and has many wonderful photographs from the Civil Rights Movement.
Mary Parks Washington Papers
The collection primarily consists of newspaper clippings, art exhibit announcements, photographs, correspondence, photo albums, and scrapbooks. These materials document Washington’s work as a visual artist, arts educator, and arts advocate; her lifelong educational pursuits; her friendships with artists; and her participation in civic and community service organizations. The materials on Chadwick School, Booker T. Washington High School, and David T. Howard High School is especially informative about African American education in Atlanta in the 1930s and 1940s.
Miles G. and Moses Amos Papers
The Moses/Miles G. Amos collection consists of materials relating to Moses Amos (1866-1928), the first Black pharmacist in Georgia, and Miles Green Amos (1898-1995), his nephew, who was also a pharmacist and drugstore owner in Atlanta, Georgia for over 40 years. The bulk of the collection is correspondence relating to Miles Amos' professional and civic activities in Atlanta. He was well known in Atlanta's political circles, the 1940s-1970s, and the correspondence with mayors and alderman reflect that fact. There is also a signed letter from Martin Luther King, Jr. as president of the Montgomery Improvement Association in Montgomery, AL. Approximately 1 linear foot of material relates to Miles Amos' real estate endeavors -- financial records, correspondence, maps. Many photographs of the Amos Drug Store and of civic events exist. Some correspondence to India Amos, Miles Amos,' wife exists. Documents relating to the illness and subsequent death of Carl Amos, Miles' brother, are included. Photographs and papers from Miles Amos' school years at Wilberforce University and graduation in 1920 exist. There is also a separate box of 39 phonograph records (78 RPMs).
Moving Image and Recorded Sound Collection
The Moving Image and Recorded Sound Collection includes audiovisual materials ranging from radio shows, concerts, lectures, music, and speeches. These materials are available in the format of cassette tapes and long-playing albums.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Atlanta Branch Records
The NAACP Atlanta Branch Records document the administration and committee work of the organization. The collection comes primarily from Jondelle Johnson’s tenure as Executive Director from 1972-1985 and her leadership with the Special Projects Committee in the 1990s. Presidents represented in the collection include Samuel W. Williams, C. Miles Smith, Lonnie King, and Julian Bond. The collection spans nearly 40 years and documents the Branch’s activities and initiatives through legislation, housing rights, employment rights, and training, youth work, membership and fundraising, publicity, conventions, church work, community involvement, economic development, education, veterans, prisoners, and administrative functions.
The Records contain correspondence, reports, financial documents, brochures, flyers, posters, photographs, publications, articles, newsletters, press releases, meeting minutes, and agendas.
National Black Arts Festival Records
Ms. Deborah Heard donated the first NBAF collection to the Auburn Avenue Research Library on August 14, 1996. Her donated items include: Textiles - commemorative tee-shirts, caps, a sweatshirt, and a canvas tote bag. Ephemera - commemorative buttons, compact disc recording, and publications, such as program guides, brochures, exhibit catalogs and guides, flyers, promotional packages, catalogs, annual reports, The Drum, Essays, tour guide pamphlets, news clippings, and poetry.
The second part of the collection was donated by Mr. Clyde Hudson, on November 27, 1999. His donated items include: Audio cassette tapes, program booklets, exhibit catalogs, photographs (scrapbooks, albums, etc.), financial records, administrative records, correspondence, reports, folk arts records, minutes, and banners.
National Conclave of Grady Graduate Nurses Collection
Minutes and agendas, scrapbooks, photographs, reports and historical writings, printed material and ephemera, personal papers of individual nurses, books, and artifacts including textiles make up the National Conclave of Grady Graduate Nurses Collection. The material documents the history and activities of the conclave, the lives and professional accomplishments of its members, the history of Grady Hospital and its School of Nursing, and the historical role of Mrs. Ludie C. Andrews.
Conclave Historian Mary Dixon Smith chaired the Collection Committee (co-chaired by Dora Edwards Way), which coordinated the assembly of the National Conclave of Grady Graduate Nurses Collection. In 2000-2001, the Committee solicited biographical information and historical records from Grady Graduates and their families. With these donations, Mrs. Smith created History and Profile books, which contain biographical data on over 100 nurses, and assembled the Conclave's records (minutes, reports, convention programs). Mrs. Smith and the Committee also assisted with an exhibit at Auburn Avenue Research Library, coinciding with the 2001 Conclave in Atlanta, about Mrs. Andrews and the Grady School of Nursing.
Though many Grady Graduates' donations were added to the National Conclave's records, to the Profile books, or used for the exhibit, the committee also compiled personal collections from donating nurses. These individual collections, arranged by form, make up all of Series III and IV, and the bulk of Series VI and VII.
Neighborhood Arts Center Financial Records
The records of the Neighborhood Arts Center reflect 15 years of the institution's existence in Atlanta, Georgia. The collection is approximately 49 cubic feet, with about half of the collection being financial records of the organization. It is divided into several series: Board of Director's Information; Organizational Correspondence; Funding Sources; Program Activities; Office, Building and Equipment Information; Mailing Lists, Forms, Contracts; Artwork and Artifacts; and Financial Records.
The financial records were processed in the order in which they were stored in individual boxes. No attempt was made to sequentially arrange the financial material because program files were designated as the priority for research use of this collection. The financial material is voluminous and consists of varied types of records from payroll ledgers to invoices and receipts of goods and services received.
This collection contains financial records of the Neighborhood Arts Center which include their dealings with Trust Company Bank and Citizens Trust Bank, on various types of Accounting transactions. The records also include reports/tax information from the IRS and different kinds of vendors, who provided services and other financial support to the center.
Neighborhood Arts Center Records
The records of the Neighborhood Arts Center reflect 15 years of the institution's existence in Atlanta, Georgia. The collection is approximately 49 cubic feet, with about half of the collection being financial records of the organization. It is divided into several series: Board of Director's Information; Organizational Correspondence; Funding Sources; Program Activities; Office, Building and Equipment Information; Mailing Lists, Forms, Contracts; Artwork and Artifacts; and Financial Records.
The program files are primarily arranged by subject, and, within-subject, chronologically. There are approximately 24 cubic feet of program files. There are approximately 2 cubic feet of photographic material which includes slides, negatives, prints, and galley contact sheets.
Oakland Cemetery Collection
The collection contains: One (1) Numerical list of burials, Month, Day and Year from January to December and from 1850 to 1997; One (1) Alphabetical list of burials from A to I and from the year 1850 to 1997; One (1) Alphabetical list of burials from J to Z and from the year 1850 to 1997.
Olive Lindsey Wakefield Collection on Langston Hughes
The Langston Hughes papers that are available at the Auburn Avenue Research Library are a collection of approximately 55 items. Much of the material is correspondence to Mrs. Olive Wakefield of Springfield, Illinois during the years 1945-1955. Play announcements; copies of periodicals which include his poems; and reviews of some of his works are also included. There is also a bibliography of his work and announcements of his speaking and reading engagements. Autographed copies of three of his books are included.
Oral history Interview with Annie L. McPheeters
This transcript contains the typed manuscript of Kathy Nasstrom of The Georgia Government Documentation Project. Ms. Nasstrom is interviewing Mrs. Annie L. McPheeters, Mrs. McPheeters is telling Ms. Nasstrom how she became a Librarian and what where her choices for choosing Librarianship as a career. Annie L. McPheeters received an associate's degree in English and Education at Clark College in 1929, where she worked as a library assistant and later became the acting librarian. After teaching in Summerville, GA and Greenville, SC, McPheeters earned a bachelor's degree in library science from Hampton University in 1933. A year later, she went on to become the first African-American professional with The Atlanta Public Library. In 1950 Mrs. McPheeters accepted the position of a Reference Librarian with Georgia State University, becoming the first African-American faculty member at the school. She later obtained her master's degree in library science from Columbia University in 1956 and furthered her education by enrolling in journalism courses at Georgia State University and Clark College during the seventies.
Othello "Chico" Renfroe Collection
The collection consists of papers of Othello "Chico" Renfroe from ca. 1938-1991. The papers include scrapbooks, photo albums, baseball game books, and audiotapes documenting the Negro baseball leagues, the integration of African Americans in the white leagues, African American athletes, and the civil rights movement, as well as Renfroe's activities as a sports broadcaster. The scrapbooks contain clippings, photographs, correspondence, programs, and baseball cards. The clippings include articles written by Renfroe for the Atlanta Daily World. The audiotapes consist of broadcasts made by Renfroe for basketball and football games at high schools in the Atlanta/Macon (Ga.) area and of college basketball and football games for schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. A few of the tapes are of radio talk shows featuring Renfroe discussing sports.
Oral history Interviews of the Atlanta 1950-1979 Oral History Project
The collection consists of the 111 audiocassette tapes and 76 transcripts recording oral history interviews that form the "Atlanta, 1950-1970 Oral History Project" conducted by the Atlanta Public Library and the Junior League of Atlanta and interviewed over eighty Atlanta residents between the years 1974 and 1980 in order to supplement existing printed resources in local history and biography from those years. The project was intended to portray the personal observations and expressions of the individuals interviewed. Not all histories have tapes and not all transcripts are complete.
Otis Dennis Howard Collection
The collection contains: One hundred twenty-five (125) 12" X 19" black and white comic strips, Forty-seven (47) 7 X 16" (black and white) comic strips, and One (1) 8¾" X 22" (black and white) comic strips of "Cool Willie"; Fifteen (15) 11½" X 17" comic strips draft; Fourteen (14) 14" X 17" (black and white) comic strips of "Hidden History"; One (1) folder of correspondence and galley proofs of manuscripts entitled Hidden History: The Omitted True Story of Black People.
Paradise Missionary Baptist Church (Atlanta, Ga.) Records
The Paradise Missionary Baptist Church Collection dates from 1947 to 2013 and it consists of Church Anniversaries, Special Events, Social Clubs, Correspondences, and a Photograph collection.
Paul E.X. Brown WERD Records
The materials included in this collection are records of WERD, Atlanta's first Black-owned and operated Radio Station. The records are composed of program schedules, correspondence, and some ephemeral items. A large portion of these records is the sworn affidavits of the owners, stockholders, and employees of WERD. These testimonies were sent to the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) in Washington, D. C. for the increase of power to the radio station. The collection also contains several audio and reel-to-reel tapes of various events discussed or broadcasted by WERD. The materials in this collection roughly span the 1940s and 1950s. These items were donated to the Archives Division by Paul E. X. Brown.
Peyton Austin Allen Papers
The Peyton Austin Allen Papers includes newspaper clippings, photographs, and a framed poster. The collection spans the years 1887-1936.
Phoenix Arts and Theatre Company Records
This collection contains correspondence, exhibition brochures, and catalogs, invitations, interviews, photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, features, biographical data, newsletters, photographs, and posters documenting art-related events, programs, awards, covering various events and programs locally and nationally. Additional materials include: Literary productions (reproductions) minutes, fliers, financial records, and reports. The collection covers the period 1892 through 2000.
Pitts Family Papers
The Pitts Family Papers contains letters, photographs, and a family history written in April 2000. The one (1) box collection contains information from 1938 to 2000.
Playbills Collection
The Playbills collection consists of programs from stage plays performed at local theatres in metro Atlanta. These plays were written by African American writers, many of which are notable plays such as Fences by August Wilson, Bubbling Brown Sugar by Loften Mitchell, and Soul Possessed by Debbie Allen.
Portia Allen Hunt Family Papers
The Portia Allen Hunt Family Papers includes obituaries for Mrs. Portia Allen Hunt; Sergeant Roosevelt Hunt, Jr; Mrs. Mabel Allen; Mrs. Lelia Scott Allen; Ms. Odessa Allen Wyatt; Mr. Luther Allen; Mrs. Ina Hunt, and Mr. William H. Hunt.
Also included in the collection are photographs; newspaper clipping announcing the death of Mrs. Portia Allen Hunt; certificates awarded to Mrs. Hunt; letters of correspondence to Mrs. Hunt from Fulton County Health Department; Veterans Administration Hospital; City of Atlanta Department of Fire; Veterans Administration Regional Office; and photographs of Mrs. Hunt and other members of the Hunt and Allen Family.
Poster Collection
The Auburn Avenue Research Library Poster Collection includes posters and historical reproductions that chronicle many events in African American History. The posters were produced primarily through offset and photomechanical printing methods with some hand-done items. Some of the subjects covered are political campaigns, educational items, special events, lectures and plays, and theatrical productions. Some feature original artwork or are autographed by prominent African Americans. The poster collection is continually evolving as we acquire new items of interest.
Prentice Herman Polk photograph Collection
The Prentice Herman Polk Photograph Collection consists of over sixty (60) photographs taken mostly in the 1930s and 1940s. Three of the photographs are of P. H. Polk at an exhibit of his photographs. The remaining photographs are the work of Prentice Herman Polk and are representative of the different types of photographs he took. Twenty-seven (27) of the photographs are of George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver was a favorite subject of P.H. Polk, and photographs of Dr. Carver constitute a substantial and distinguished body of his work. In addition to George Washington Carver, Polk photographed numerous famous individuals who visited Tuskegee. Included in the collection are photographs of Henry Ford, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, W. C. Handy, Lena Horne, and Pearl Buck. Also in the collection are examples of his photographs of faculty, students, and events at Tuskegee Institute which he took as the school's official photographer.
In addition to the photographs, the collection contains a videotape of a television program that highlights the life and work of P. H. Polk. The program contains numerous segments in which P. H. Polk is interviewed.
President Barack H. Obama, Jr. Presidential Election and Inauguration Collection
The collection contains memorabilia from the election. The items included are newspapers, articles, magazines, and various other items like a china plate, Christmas ornament, action Figure Doll, coins, and bumper stickers.
Rare Periodicals and Newspaper Collection
The collection consists of approximately 500 original issues of historical newspapers and magazines, with a focus on African American history. The periodicals include publications of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, sororities, fraternities, and professional organizations. All newspapers are bound and are not complete runs.
Ray Moore Collection
This small collection is made up of original folders arranged by Ray Moore, a former news reporter with WSB-TV in Atlanta during the 1960s. He categorized these folders by subjects. Some of the subjects include: Martin Luther King, Jr., Sit-Ins, School Desegregation, and Church Burnings. Still today, the folders are in the exact order as placed by Moore.
Rev. Alice Elizabeth Thompson Papers
The Rev. Alice Elizabeth Thompson Collection consists of only twelve (12) items. These items are largely original works by Mrs. Thompson and are representative of her published materials. Within the collection, there are three (3) pamphlets that contain addresses, essays, etc., four (4) pieces of sheet music, and three (3) poems. The collection also contains one (1) newspaper clipping about Mrs. Thompson and one sales catalog with a listing of some of her published materials.
Rev. Nelson Henry Smith Papers
The Nelson H. Smith Collection (3 linear ft.) consists of typescript and handwritten sermons Smith delivered at New Pilgrim Baptist Church in Birmingham and various other churches, revivals, conventions, associational meetings, and events throughout his career. Most of the sermons are undated, but cover the period of Smith’s ministry from 1953 to 2006.
Richard A. Long Papers
This collection contains sources for the study of African American Culture and History and the Humanities. Dr. Richard Long gave the Archives Division a varied collection of books, chapters, articles, and abstracts. The collection also contains book reviews, works of poetry, posters, and unpublished lectures presented by Dr. Long. There are some video interviews with him as well as some audio-cassettes of his lectures. The bulk of the collection is made up of dance performance programs, art exhibit opening invitations, conference programs, and schedules, the papers of symposia participants, galley proofs of books, draft dissertations, and a variety of other items.
Roland L. Freeman Papers
The collection contains: Two (2) Books; Three (3) Pamphlets, Three Flyers, Three Newspaper article clippings, and Two Invitation cards.
Roscoe Conkling Simmons, Sr. Family Papers
The collection consists of approximately six linear feet of materials that document the lives of Roscoe Conkling Simmons and his family. The collection ranges from 1914 to 1981 with the bulk of the papers ranging from 1937 to 1959. It is arranged in four series: Simmons Family, Letters; Photographs and Books, and features correspondence, cards, and telegrams. It also contains invitations, diaries, newspaper clippings, photographs, and books.
Ruby Parks Blackburn Papers
Correspondence to and from Georgia Jones, as well as information on her political campaign for Georgia State Representative from the 31st District in 1976, are included in the collection.
There are 6 notebooks, 3 ledgers, and 1 scrapbook relating to the Georgia League of Negro Women Voters in the collection. There are 2 record books of the Negro Cultural League. There are 7 personal scrapbooks, primarily containing newspaper articles. Correspondence from such figures as Herman Talmadge, Julian Bond, and Maynard Jackson exist.
Samuel Howard Archer Collection
The collection consists of papers of Samuel Howard Archer from ca. 1898-1990. The papers include some personal correspondence (1923-1937) including letters of recommendation (1898-1902), newspaper clippings, tributes, and letters of condolence from academic institutions throughout the South regarding Archer's death. Other materials relating to Archer include records documenting his involvement in Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; Friendship Baptist Church (Atlanta, Ga.); awards and certificates; newspaper clippings (ca. 1964) relating to race relations in Nashville (Tenn.); and publications of various colleges particularly Morehouse College (1923-1983, with gaps), Spelman College (1939-1944, with gaps), and Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College (1931-1935). The collection also contains some material relating to Archer's wife Jessie Thelma Beasley Archer and his sons Samuel Howard Archer, Jr. and Nelson T. Archer.
Samuel L. Davis Papers
This is a small collection stored in one (1) box only, and it is about ½ cubic foot. It includes newspaper clippings from the Atlanta Daily World, June 10, 1978, giving the obituary of Mr. Samuel L. Davis; letters of correspondence; four (4) United States District Court Affidavits; and a brief biographical sketch of Mr. Davis.
Sanford Henry Lee Papers
This small collection consists of certificates, plaques, news clipping, and books that pertain to the life and career of Sanford Henry Lee.
Selena Sloan Butler Papers
The Selena Sloan Butler family papers document the family's personal, professional, and civic activities from 1886 to 1983 through correspondence, certificates, newspaper clippings, periodicals, scrapbooks, photographs, engravings, artifacts, programs, personal journals, notes, pamphlets, and publications. The photographs and photo-engravings portray the Butler family and other African American men, women, and children in social settings, though information about the dates, names, and locations is mostly unknown. Family correspondence, cards, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks document daily life and relationships, various community activities, and sympathy letters and cards regarding Henry Butler Sr.'s death.
Local educational institutions, including the Gammon Theological Seminary and Spelman College, are documented through graduation programs and alumni materials. The Butler family's activities in civic and educational associations are illustrated in minutes, correspondence, and reports from the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers, the Phyllis Wheatley Y.W.C.A., the Atlanta Women's Club, Ruth Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star, and the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge. In addition, the collection consists of biographical information and newspaper clippings covering a variety of subjects, including education for African Americans, Auburn Avenue businesses, race relations, and women's issues.
Sheet Music Collection
The Sheet Music collection consists of music dating from 1878 to the mid-1940s. These pieces are mostly rearranged negro spirituals and hymns, with the remaining consisting of music from minstrel shows.
Shirlene Holmes Papers
The Shirlene Holmes papers, 1972-2007, documents her professional and personal life through correspondence, diaries, journals, scrapbooks, photographs, print materials, publications, audio-visual formats, and ephemera. The primary focus of the collection is her work as a playwright, which includes drafts, rewrites, scripts, and related printed material. Unless otherwise noted, all plays are written by Holmes. Also documented is Holmes’s career as a professor at Georgia State University and her various ties to artists, African American, women’s, and lesbian and gay communities, primarily in Atlanta, Georgia. Her work in the Communications and Theater departments at GSU include course syllabi and assignments, and student papers.
Southern Regional Council Clippings and Publications Collections
The Southern Regional Council maintained a collection of materials that provided daily, detailed coverage of more than thirty years of social and economic change in the South, with a concentration on the major social change experienced in the United States in the twentieth century: the dismantling of the Southern system of racial segregation and the beginning of an end to White Supremacy. The collection consists of hundreds of thousands of news clippings and is unique; no other collection of news clippings on the subject matches or even begins to match its scope; no collection of newspapers matches its ease of accessibility to news coverage from a spectrum of sources filed according to subject and date.
Stephanie L. Sheppard photograph Collection
The collection contains: Forty-six (46) Colored Photographs (of which forty (40) photographs are 12" x 8" in size and six (6) mounted photographs are 9 1/2" x 5 1/2" in size) of peacefully demonstrators supporting to halt the proposed legislation abrogating Indian treaties with the U. S government. The walk is known as "Walk for Justice", and sometimes called the "Longest Walk," participants, led by Dennis Banks in 1994, walked 3, 600 miles from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco to Washington, D.C., as shown in the photographs. The purpose was to bring public awareness to the current Native issue.
Summerhill Community Oral History Interviews
These narratives focus on the residents of The Summerhill neighborhood. Some of the residents discuss what it was like growing up in the Summerhill neighborhood. Some of the residents discuss their childhood and their teen years in the community of Summerhill.
Summerhill is one of the oldest black neighborhoods in Atlanta. The community was officially organized during the Reconstruction Era and was one of the two areas where the city allowed "freed colored" people to settle. The other main area where blacks were allowed to settle was the old Fourth Ward that encompassed Auburn Avenue.
Sweet Auburn Neighborhood Project Oral History Interviews
The collection consists of oral history interviews and transcripts of interviews of residents and merchants in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia in 1978. The interviewees discuss the personal background, social and economic conditions among the African American residents of Sweet Auburn, recollections of the riot of 1906, the fire of 1917, the Depression, the Butler Street Urban Renewal Project (1950s), cross-town migration, and the civil rights movement. The collection also contains information regarding research and preparation for the grant project.
Tau Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Records
This collection contains several Executive Board and Committee Reports, programs, flyers, and souvenir journals. Also included are many ephemeral items such as buttons, an AKA coaster, keyring, a membership card, matchbooks, and other items.
The 27 Club Records
The 27 Club Records is approximately ½ linear foot. It contains documentation of correspondence, administrative records of membership and officer election, by-laws, meetings/minutes, financial records, newsletters, leaflets, and newspaper clippings. The collection, which spans the year 1949 to the late 1960s.
The Fan Collection
The Fan Collection held by the Auburn Avenue Research Library consists of fans featuring black businesses and other Atlanta organizations. Some of these fans feature the images of prominent African Americans. The date range of the fans held in this collection range from 1928-2000.
Thomasville Heights Neighborhood Project Collection
Documentation of this community in Southeast Atlanta exists in the form of photographs, slides, an audiotape recording of a visit through the Norwood community, and the creative writings of the students. Students composed essays entitled "Change Agent Stories" describing how they would change their neighborhood if they could. They also composed original poems on their community.
Photographs of 24 of the 25 students are a part of the collection, as well as photographs of landmarks in the Thomasville Heights neighborhood, and of a learning session at the Auburn Avenue Research Library in February 1996.
The collection was presented to the library in a program at the school on Feb. 8, 1996. It is approximately 1/2 cubic feet in size.
T.M. Alexander, Sr. Papers
The collection, spanning from 1956 to 1994, consists of works in print, written by and about T. M. Alexander, Sr., an audiocassette, photographs, plaques, posters, and correspondence covering his professional, political, civil rights, and community involvement. Of special note are the unpublished manuscript, The Montgomery Boycott: The King and I, an account of T.M. Alexander, Sr.'s role in the civil rights movement in Montgomery and Atlanta, and insurance policies granted to Montgomery churches between 1956 and 1957. The collection also touches on Alexander's bid for 7th Ward Alderman in 1957 and contains posters related to his alma mater, Morehouse College. Included are a 1961 recording, History of the Black Man, and photographs and correspondence from George Bush, Gerald Ford, and Lyndon Johnson.
Utopian Literary Club Records
The collection is approximately 1/2 cubic feet. It contains a scrapbook which contains programs, invitations, photographs, news clippings, speeches, and memorabilia; minutes of meetings from 1985 through 1996; program announcements; biographical sketches of performers at Club meetings and functions; and a proclamation from Atlanta, GA Mayor Bill Campbell naming March 30, 1996, as Utopian Literary Club Day.
Vertical File Collection
The Vertical Files consist of a collection of resources organized by various topics. These items include newspaper articles, programs, obituaries, and ephemeral materials. These topics range from education and social clubs to organizations and civil rights leaders.
The Vertical Files are a great resource for researchers hoping to gain information on the African diaspora in Atlanta from 1920-2000.
WERD Oral History Interviews
In October 1949, radio station WERD changed ownership and became the nation's first black-owned and operated broadcast station. This collection of Audiocassette tapes documents programmed interviews of individuals who were instrumental in the early development of the radio station.
Radio station WERD operated from 1949 to 1970. It served the Atlanta community for twenty-one years providing information on and about local, regional and national news events. This historical documentary compiled and produced by Mr. Harold Lamar consists of twenty (20) segments broadcasted from October 3 - 7, 1989 on WVEE-WAOK in Atlanta, Georgia.
Wesley and Chere Hall African American Comic Book Collection
This collection of various comic titles range from the 1940s through 2010s. Each issue has African American characters featured in the issue.
Western H. Moore Collection of Civil War Letters
Types of materials found in this series include family correspondence written from March 1863 until December 1868 between Western H. Moore, a black soldier who was stationed in South Carolina and Virginia during the American Civil War and his family in living Mercer County, Ohio. The series of correspondence offers a unique and rare perspective on the African American experience in the war. The collection also includes a letter from Julius Converse to Hon. Justin S. Morrill with regards to the non-payment of bounty to African-American soldiers from Vermont assigned to the 54th Massachusetts Regiment.
Willard L. Strickland Papers
This small collection contains mementos given by Ms. Ethelrene Culbreath. Included in these items are photographs, programs, an acceptance speech, a handmade bookmark, and a news article on the "Atlanta Eight".
William B. Inmon Collection
The collection contains: One (1) Kappa Alpha Psi Paddle [c. 1929]; One (1) Atlanta Alumni Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity 50th Anniversary Program; One (1) 8" X "10 (black & white) photograph of Kappa Alpha Psi members; One (1) 8' X "10 color photograph of Kappa Psi members. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Series I: One (1) Kappa Alpha Psi Paddle; Series II: One Atlanta Alumni Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity 50th Anniversary Program; One (1) 8" X "10 (black & white) photograph of Kappa Alpha Psi members; Series III: One (1) 8' X "10 color photograph of Kappa Psi members.
William B. Matthews Papers
This collection is made up of a number of items pertaining to former educator William B. Matthews. Some of these are: personal papers, family letters, documents generated by the Knights of Pythias masonic lodge, and correspondence received from Booker T. Washington. In addition, a 1922 annual from Central Colored High School and more than 70 photographs and - tintypes, which date back to the early 1900s, are included in the collection, as well.
William L. Calloway Papers
The William L. Calloway Papers include two boxes of materials. Box I includes a photograph of Mr. Calloway with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Georgia State Senator Leroy Johnson; an autographed copy of the 2nd edition of Mr. Calloway's pamphlet size book from the oral history, The "Sweet Auburn Avenue" Business History. The author gives his acknowledgment to Mrs. Jennifer Echols of Central Atlanta Progress for helping him to compile this information. Box II contains a print of an African American child with a homemade fishing pole, play fishing amid the trash and debris of an urban scene, his somber expression depicting the hardship of his young life. This box contains a framed certificate of award to Mr. William L. Calloway for distinguished contribution to the business through service and leadership, given by the Atlanta Action Forum, in 1991.
William M. Boyd Collection
The collection contains One (1) 4x6" black & white photographs of Dr. William Madison Boyd c. 1953. Two (2) 8x10" black & white photographs of Dr. William Madison Boyd at WERD Radio Station. One (1) 8x19" black & white photograph Dr. William Madison Boyd with Mr. Horace Ward and other, gentlemen at Elk's convention, Atlanta, Georgia in August 1953. One (1) 8x10" black & white photograph of Dr. William Madison Boyd and Ray Wilkins, March 1955. One (1) 8x10" black &white photograph of Mr. J. B. Blayton, Jr. and Dr. William Madison Boyd at WERD Radio Station. One. (1) 8x10' black & white photograph of Dr. William M. Boyd, Mr. Walter White, Mr. Thurgood Marshall, Mr. C. L. Harper, and the unidentified man left of Mr. Harper. May 22, 1954: One (1) 8x10" black & white photograph of Dr. Boyd, Mr. Walter White, Mr. J. M. Hinton. and Mr. Carl Johnson. May 22, 1954, Atlanta, Georgia NAACP Annual Conference, One (1) reproduced article "People You Should Know."
Willie Earl Johnson Korean War Photographs
This bulk of this collection contains photographs from the Korean War featuring various civilians, soldiers as well the environment surrounding their camp. It also includes postcards of several Landmarks in Washington and California from the 1940s.
Yates and Milton Drugstore Records
This small collection is made up mostly of financial ledgers from Yates and Milton Drugstores, which reveal daily financial records from April 1955 to December 1972. Each ledger has been placed in a box. However, the last box, which contains and unbound ledger, includes a drugstore poster, as well. It lists drugstore items and prices.
ZAMI Records
The collection consists of secretarial paperwork of ZAMI, organizational Herstory, newspaper clippings and tributes, employment and organizational descriptions of staffing, instructional workshops and presentations, travel expense, ceremonial program handouts, support group developments, and meetings, and editorial publications are also included along with letters of correspondences and collaborations. Other materials relating to ZAMI include records documenting the organization’s local involvement and community engagement, such as the Rainbow Basketball Tournament and their annual Audre Lorde Scholarship Fund.
This collection also includes scholarships application, profiles of applicants, thank you notes, financial records, and clothing appeal reflecting the evolution and development of ZAMI. The collection also contains some material relating to Mary Ann Adams, Founding Executive Director, and the YouthPride Center in Decatur, Charis Bookstore, and the Atlanta Lesbian Cancer Initiative.
Yearbook Collection
The Auburn Avenue Research Library’s Yearbook collection spans from 1938-2000 and is a result of donations from various sources. The collection represents middle schools, high schools, and colleges.
