African American History Manuscript Collections in the Rubenstein Library

Collection comprises 16 orders of service for funerals of African Americans from Birmingham, Alabama, between 1951 and 1979.

Handwritten diary containing an African-American woman's religious and philosophical reflections, inspirational clippings, and lists of books she read along with her opinions of them. Also contains references to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and the Central State Hospital for the Colored Insane.

Collection comprises Gaines Funeral Home (Pittsburgh, PA) ledger "Volume 2," dated 1924 March 23 - 1925 September 17. The records include names of the deceased, dates of birth, death and funeral service; place of birth; names of parents; occupation; name of attending physician; primary and secondary causes of death; clergyman; and places of funeral services and interment

Collection consists of research material for and drafts of Oakes's Ph.D. dissertation, which focuses on the career of Robert Elijah Jones (1872—1960), the first African American elected to the episcopacy in the former Methodist Episcopal Church (1920). Oakes's materials document the relationship between Jones and his close friend Booker T. Washington, Jones's accomodationist approach to racial integration, as well as the black struggle for equality in the predominantly white Methodist Episcopal Church in the first half of the twentieth century.

Collection comprises sermons, teaching materials, writings, and other professional papers of John Wilson Fleming, Baptist pastor, university administrator, and professor of history, philosophy, and religion at Shaw University. Handwritten drafts of sermons date from the 1950s to the 2000s, and make up almost half of the collection.

Chiefly letters (1893-1895) to Lyons from Happie and Frank Snider in Senatobia, Miss., and Cincinnatti, Ohio. The Sniders also comment on various African American Christian denominations, preachers, and practices (including a "meeting," a cemetary, and burying practices in Mississippi)

The Mason Crum papers include correspondence, printed material, hand written and typewritten manuscripts of books and articles, clippings, photographs, negatives, and glass slides, and an audio tape, dating chiefly from 1931-1959. Crum acquired the materials over the course of his career as a professor of Biblical literature who had interests in African American history, psychology, race relations, and recent Methodist church history.

The memoir provides glimpses of her early childhood, of race relations, of Harris' own ambivalence about her place as a black in society, and of the importance of religion and the church in her life.

Collection comprises primarily typescript or photocopied materials prepared for in-house use in the period before Elijah Muhammad's death. Also present is an orientation packet containing teachings and guidelines for new converts or members, especially intended for their first thirty days as Muslims.

Manuscript reminiscence entitled "A Negro Camp-Meeting." The anonymous white author visited an outdoor religious meeting of African Americans in Maryland around 1900. Includes descriptions of participants' clothing and physical appearance; their modes of religious expression; and the words to verses of spirituals.

Mixon's diary, 6 vols., covering scattered years from 1895 to 1915, an account of his travels and activities on behalf of the A. M. E. Church and referring to the condition of various churches in his district and to routine matters related to his office; and scattered comments on Masonry and on Payne University in Selma.

Records (50 p.), primarily 1909-1912 and 1932-1939, of former black church in Methodist Episcopal Church and after 1939 in Central Jurisdiction of the Methodist Church. Includes lists of members, financial accounts, and memoranda on church and Sunday school services.

St. Joseph African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in Durham, N.C. in 1869. The church fan collection consists of 16 fans distributed to congregation members.

Collection consists primarily of manuscripts and research materials related to Turnipseed's writings (1902-1960s), in particular his multivolume, unpublished autobiography I Tried: An Autobiography of Andrew Spencer Turnipseed. In addition, there are subject files on topics such as Methodism; civil rights; race relations and Southern politics; and public education, including higher education for African-Americans in Alabama.