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Afr. African Americans

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Identifier: Afr
This topic covers manuscript collections that are by or about African Americans or Black people and their histories.

Found in 53 Collections and/or Records:

Griffin Funeral Home records

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Griffin
Abstract

Records of the Griffin Funeral Home, and its predecessor, the Bell Auto & Undertaking Company, which served the African American community in Chicago,1929-2007. Entries contain the decedent's name, address, occupation, physical characteristics, next of kin, date/place of birth, date/place of death, minister's name, and place of burial. Limited information of plot purchasers is also included.

Dates: 1929-2007

Harold L. Lucas papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Lucas
Abstract

Papers documenting the activities of organizer, preservationist, and entrepreneur Harold L. Lucas. Material is related to African American communities, both in Chicago and nationwide. Also includes other activities including historic building preservation, Bronzeville history, heritage tourism, and political work for the city of Chicago.

Dates: approximately 1970s-2010s

Helen Balfour Morrison photographs of Kentucky African American communities

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Morrison-KY
Abstract

Prints and negatives by Helen Balfour Morrison from her multiple trips to African American communities in Kentucky during the 1930s and 1940s.

Dates: 1935-1946

Henry Clay Letters

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Clay
Abstract

Letters of Henry Clay, prominent statesman and orator, during his career as US Senator, concerning political topics which include the election of Jackson, secession, the temperance movement, and slavery.

Dates: 1825-1851

Hiram Scofield Papers

 Collection
Identifier: VAULT-Ruggles-426
Abstract

Forty-four diaries, 1857-1906, together with a few letters and miscellaneous items, documenting Hiram Scofield's Civil War service as an officer with the 2nd Iowa Infantry and commander of the 47th Colored Infantry Regiment, and his post war personal and professional life as a Washington, Iowa, attorney.

Dates: 1857-1906

Hoke Norris Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Norris
Abstract

Collection of correspondence, works, research materials, and personal information by and about Hoke Norris, reporter, book reviewer, novelist, and public affairs director. Norris worked for several papers including the Raleigh News and Observer, the Winston-Salem Journal-Sentinel, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Daily News.

Dates: 1934-1977; Majority of material found within 1956 - 1977

Hugh Holton papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Holton
Abstract

Chicago policeman and police fiction author. Holton's papers consist of his published and unpublished works, book production and promotional materials (including posters), awards and certificates, clippings, correspondence, photographs, and a full working police uniform.

Dates: approximately 1994-2003

Illinois Central Railroad Company Archives

 Collection
Identifier: IC
Abstract The Archives of the Illinois Central Railroad Company document the activities of the Company and its subsidiary lines and companies from before its charter on Feb. 10, 1851, through and a bit beyond 1972, when the line merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad to become Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. The collection includes correspondence of administrators and staff, minutes, reports and legal documents, financial records, stock information, historical material, maps, blueprints, and...
Dates: 1831-1984; Majority of material found within 1851 - 1970

Jack Conroy papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Conroy
Abstract

Works, correspondence, and papers of American novelist, folklorist, and editor Jack Conroy. Conroy's novel The Disinherited, published in 1933, is considered a classic in proletarian literature and depicted in gritty detail the realities of the Great Depression. Conroy also edited radical journals The Rebel Poet, The Anvil, and The New Anvil.

Dates: 1864-1991

James Francis Driscoll collection of American sheet music

 Collection
Identifier: Driscoll
Abstract The James Francis Driscoll collection of American sheet music, amassed by engineer and organist J. Francis Driscoll (1875-1959), is one of the largest and most representative collections of its kind. The approximated 80,000 pieces of sheet music and related material were arranged into sections by Driscoll himself, and reflect his collecting interests and preferences. Some of the music is arranged according to imprint information (i.e. American imprints, publishers’ imprints, illustrated...
Dates: approximately 1770s-1959

James Taylor Graves papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Graves
Abstract Mainly Civil War (1862-1863) and European trip (1867) letters of James Taylor Graves addressed to his widowed mother, his sister Martha Louise Graves, and his brother John Morrison Graves. Graves' Civil War letters, written from Camp Miller at Greenfield, Mass., en route to Louisiana via New York City, and from various places in Louisiana, discuss camp life, ship transport, the treatment of Negroes, Southern guerrillas, skirmishes with Confederate forces, the siege of Port Hudson, and other...
Dates: approximately 1850-1891; Majority of material found within 1862-1867

John Fischetti papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Fischetti
Abstract Political cartoons and assorted miscellaneous items (clippings, photographs, correspondence, etc.) of Pulitzer Prize-winning artist John Fischetti. Fischetti worked for several newspapers and magazines during his long career, including Coronet, Esquire, the Chicago Sun, the New York Herald Tribune, the Chicago Daily News, and the...
Dates: 1942-1995

Jona Goldschmidt collection of underground newspapers and Marynook neighborhood materials

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Goldschmidt
Abstract Underground and counter-culture newspaper collection of Jona Goldschmidt, a Chicago activist, lawyer, and professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Loyola University. Includes late 1960s-mid 1970s materials about the Vietnam War, prisoners' rights, civil rights, women’s rights, yippies, socialism, and the Black Panther Party. Also included is Goldschmidt's collection of neighborhood newsletters, fliers, and clippings about Marynook, a neighborhood on Chicago's South Side that strove...
Dates: 1959-1983; Majority of material found within 1960 - 1979

Joseph Bachellor Goddard Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-177
Abstract Incomplete (pages 81-296) manuscript of an anti-slavery essay written by Joseph Bachellor Goddard, a Congregational minister in Londonderry, Vermont, and 1816 graduate of Williams College, who argued for the elimination of slavery, but sharply criticized the program of the American Colonization Society. Goddard preached in Londonderry from 1827 to 1838, and later in Pitcairn, St. Lawrence County, N.Y. Also included are a typed transcript prepared by Eleanor Goddard Worthen, a...
Dates: 1816-1833

Milo Kendall papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Kendall
Abstract

Vermont native who settled in Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois, in 1846 and practiced law there for over sixty years. Papers include extensive records of Kendall's legal practice, family correspondence, and real estate records.

Dates: 1798-1925; Majority of material found within 1845-1906

MoMing Dance and Arts Center records

 Collection
Identifier: Dance-MS-MoMing
Abstract

MoMing was a center in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood for dance training and avant-garde performance as well as an art gallery. It was formed in 1974 by Jackie Radis, Jim Self, Susan Kimmelman, Eric Trules, Kasia Mintch, Tem Horowitz, and Sally Banes. Along with local artists, it hosted many guest dancers and artists of renown, including Trisha Brown, Bill T. Jones, Mark Morris, and Meredith Monk. It officially dissolved in 1991.

Dates: 1968-1991; Majority of material found within 1974-1990

Oliver Barrett-Carl Sandburg papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Barrett-Sandburg
Abstract Correspondence between Oliver R. Barrett, lawyer and collector of Abraham Lincoln material and poet Carl Sandburg, primarily pertaining to the interest of both men in Lincoln, plus a few other letters of Oliver Barrett and his son Roger; numerous brief undated notes from Sandburg to Barrett and work notes on Lincoln's biography by both men; copies of several articles and numerous poems by Sandburg; miscellaneous printed items relating to Sandburg, his work and his public appearances; and...
Dates: approximately 1860-1966

Prescott family papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Prescott
Abstract

Collection of family papers, genealogical material, books, and some correspondence about the Baumann Family side of the Prescott, Lyons, Carrington, and René families. Also includes photographs of various family branches, including Lyons, Carrington, Prescott, and Ferguson.

Dates: 1900s-2010s

Pullman Company records

 Collection
Identifier: Case-Pullman-Main
Abstract Records of this railroad sleeping-car operator and manufacturer. The Pullman Company (originally Pullman's Palace Car Company) revolutionized rail travel, dramatically increased employment opportunities for African Americans who served as porters on its cars, and had a significant impact on the American labor movement. Records for the entire firm are included until the mid-1920s division into operating and manufacturing companies; after that date, records mainly chronicle the activities of...
Dates: 1859-1982

Rodgers Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Rodgers
Abstract Correspondence, essays, financial and legal documents, genealogies, journals, newspaper clippings, and four photographs relating to the Rodgers family, descendants of Rev. John Rodger (1735-1812). The papers document the life of an American pioneer family in Virginia, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Oregon, New Mexico, and California, and cover topics such as farming life, homestead claims, politics, livestock and grain industries, and religion. There is an overland journal penned by Andrew Rodgers,...
Dates: 1773-1925; Majority of material found within 1830 - 1890

Sheila Malkind photographs

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Malkind
Abstract

Malkind, a Chicago photojournalist, worked for the Ruth Page Foundation from 1981 to 1992. Her photographs primarily feature cultural life in Chicago, dance and performing arts events, as well as her personal life. The collection also includes clippings, correspondence, publicity materials, written work by Malkind and Ruth Page, and audio recordings.

Dates: 1960-2003; Majority of material found within 1985-1993

Sherwood Ross papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Ross
Abstract

Papers of Chicago journalist Sherwood Ross, including articles he wrote for the New York Enquirer (1956-1957) and the Chicago Daily News (1962), a syndicated column for Reuters (1992-2002), material from his public relations and social activism work for the National Urban League and records belonging to Sherwood Ross Associates, a media consulting firm Ross founded in 1970.

Dates: 1956-2014

Slim Brundage papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Brundage
Abstract

Writings and correspondence of Slim Brundage, founder of the College of Complexes, which operated on and off out of several locations on Chicago’s Near North Side during the 1950's-1960's as a forum where speakers and the audience debated controversial topics and read poetry. The collection also includes a variety of documents relating to the College of Complexes itself, such as correspondence, press releases, speaker solicitations, and poetry written by the College’s “students.”

Dates: 1955-1997; Majority of material found within 1964-1972

The Negro in the City

 Collection
Identifier: VAULT Case folio-E185.6-.M48-1922
Abstract Set of 44 lantern slides produced by the Committee on Conservation and Advance of the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) that document the daily life of African Americans during the early years of the Great Migration from the rural American South, as well as outreach activities conducted by the MEC to assist them with finding work and social services. A majority of the slides show African American Methodist Episcopal church buildings in cities, such as Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, New York,...
Dates: 1922?

Theodore Kornweibel research papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Kornweibel
Abstract Research materials assembled by Theodore Kornweibel, a professor of African American studies at San Diego State University, used in the writing of monographs about federal surveillance of and campaigns against African Americans, 1917-1925, and federal efforts to compel Black loyalty during World War I. The collection consists of copies of FBI and other federal agency records, including case files obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, detailed notecards, printed federal documents,...
Dates: 1910-2001