African American Studies  Tags: african american  

Slave Letters Bibliography
A Guide to Slave Letters in the Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.

Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Cooperative Audio Tapes, Ca. 1966-1967. 33 Items. New York, New York.
    Tapes of meetings, interviews, and car trips to Boston and Washington, D.C., of various directors and committee members of the cooperative.

William Henry Chafe Interviews, Ca. 1970. 99 Items & 28 Cassette Tapes. Greensboro, North Carolina.
    Tapes and transcripts of 71 interviews conducted by Chafe, professor of History at Duke University, in preparation for his book "Civilities and Civil Rights" which documents aspects of the Civil Rights Movement in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Earnest Sevier Cox Papers, 1821-1973. 13,000 Items. Richmond, Virginia.
    Correspondence, writings, and printed materials of racial separatist and white supremacist include a considerable amount of correspondence with Mittie Maude Lena Gordon, black founder of the Peace Movement of Ethiopia which was based in Chicago, and correspondence with Marcus and Amy Jacques Garvey concerning the Back to African Movement.

Duke University Oral History Program Papers, 1973-1978. Ca. 600 Items. North Carolina And Oklahoma.
    Audio cassette tapes (ca. 325) and transcripts, chiefly concerning the Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina during the 1950s and 1960s, including sit-ins in Durham, N.C., and race relation in Oklahoma, focusing on the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.

Winfield Henri Mixon Papers, 1895-1932. 10 Items And 7 Volumes. Selma, Alabama.
    Papers of Mixon who was an official of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the organizer of the first African American women's conference in Nashville in 1895. In addition to scattered clippings concerning the conference, the collection includes travel journals

Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice (Duke access only): Digital collection documents key aspects of the history of slavery worldwide over six centuries. Content from the John Hope Franklin Collection of African and African American Documentation at Duke University, as well as several other North American and European libraries.

Online Archival Collections
Special Collections Library, Duke University

Elizabeth Johnson Harris: Life Story Elizabeth Johnson Harris was born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1867 to parents who had been slaves. Her 85 page handwritten memoir provides glimpses of her early childhood, of race relations, of her own ambivalence about her place as an African-American in society, and of the importance of religion and education in her life. This on-line collection includes full text of her memoirs as well as several of her poems and vignettes that were published in various newspapers during her lifetime.

Hannah Valentine and Lethe Jackson: Slave Letters Hannah Valentine and Lethe Jackson were house slaves at Montcalm, the family home of David and Mary Campbell, located in Abingdon, Virginia. During the years David Campbell served as Governor of Virginia (1847-1850), he and his family moved into the Governor's mansion in Richmond, taking several of their slaves with them but leaving Hannah and Lethe to care for the homestead. These letters were written by Hannah Valentine and Lethe Jackson to their mistresses and other slave family members during this time period. The letters provide a rare firsthand glimpse into the lives of slaves and the relationships they had with their owners.

Vilet Lester Letter Slave letters are very rare documents. This letter from Vilet Lester is one of less than a dozen such letters we have been able to identify among the vast amount of plantation records held at the Duke Special Collections Library. In this particular case, Vilet's letter stands alone with virtually no other documents - no slave lists, work records, or owner's letters - to give us further information about her. Although many of the facts of Vilet Lester's life may be elusive, she still gives us a rare and precious view into slave life through this letter.

Black Women's Political Activism

Women-In-Action For The Prevention Of Violence Records, 1968-1981. 3,100 Items. Durham, North Carolina.
    Records of Women In Action for The Prevention of Violence and Its Causes, Inc., Durham Chapter, a non-profit inter-racial organization founded in Durham in 1968.

Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Cooperative Audio Tapes, Ca. 1966-1967. 33 Items. New York, New York.
    Racially integrated cooperative, the purpose of which was to provide food, generic drugs, child care; to ensure local employment; and to provide goods and services at a nominal cost.

William Henry Chafe Interviews, Ca. 1970. 99 Items & 28 Cassette Tapes. Greensboro, North Carolina.
    Tapes and transcripts of 71 interviews conducted by Chafe, professor of History at Duke University, in preparation for his book "Civilities and Civil Rights" which documents aspects of the Civil Rights Movement in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Earnest Sevier Cox Papers, 1821-1973. 13,000 Items. Richmond, Virginia.
    Correspondence, writings, and printed materials of racial separatist and white supremacist include a considerable amount of correspondence with Mittie Maude Lena Gordon, black founder of the Peace Movement of Ethiopia which was based in Chicago, and correspondence with Marcus and Amy Jacques Garvey concerning the Back to African Movement.

Duke University Oral History Program Papers, 1973-1978. Ca. 600 Items. North Carolina And Oklahoma.
    Audio cassette tapes (ca. 325) and transcripts, chiefly concerning the Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina during the 1950s and 1960s, including sit-ins in Durham, N.C., and race relation in Oklahoma, focusing on the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.

Helen Grey Edmonds Papers Ca. 1951-1976. 4,000 Items. Durham, North Carolina.
    Correspondence and printed materials of Helen Grey Edmonds, Professor of History at North Carolina Central University. The two largest groups of papers concern her interests and activities as a member of the Republican Party, 1950s-1970s and her work as an alternate delegate in the United Nations General Assembly in 1970.

Winfield Henri Mixon Papers, 1895-1932. 10 Items And 7 Volumes. Selma, Alabama.
    Papers of Mixon who was an official of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the organizer of the first African American women's conference in Nashville in 1895. In addition to scattered clippings concerning the conference, the collection includes travel journals sporadically kept from 1895-1915 which contains the names of community members he worked and stayed with as he carried out his job as a presiding elder.

Fannie B. Rosser Papers, 1867-1968. 1 Linear Foot. Durham, North Carolina.
    Personal and business papers of Fannie B. Rosser, secretary for the North Carolina Mutual Insurance Co. in Durham, North Carolina, and property owner in Durham and Lynchburg, Virginia.

Eva J. Salber Papers, 1975-1984. Ca. 1,000 Items. Durham, North Carolina.
    Oral history tapes, transcripts, slides, photographs, and other background material relating to Salber's interviews with elderly rural people in northern Durham County which provided the basis for Salber's book, Don't Send Me Flowers When I'm Dead (1983).

Clydie Fullwood Scarborough Papers, 1923-1983. 950 Items. Durham, North Carolina.
    Chiefly personal and professional papers of Mrs. Scarborough, manager of the Scarborough Nursery School in Durham for over fifty years. Includes scrapbooks, clippings, printed material, and photographs relating to the nursery school.

Asa Timothy Spaulding Papers, 1930-1983. Ca. 36,500 Items. Durham, North Carolina.
    Personal and business correspondence,; Elna Bridgeforth Spaulding's personal and professional papers, including those from her tenure as Durham County Commissioner (1980-1984), are included.