African-American Perspectives

Sources created by African-Americans are important since they are based on the actual experiences of blacks and reflect black perspectives and interpretations on a variety of issues. The existence of such records is rare, particularly during the period of slavery, causing the African-American voices that do exist to seem all the more precious.

The collections listed below are diverse in content, perspective, and format. These collections represent African-American women and men who were slaves, community organizers, professional educators, successful in business, and politically active. Because these sources originate from varied and somewhat exceptional perspectives, they should not be perceived as uniform or pure. For instance, users of the oral history interviews which bring to life the actual voices of black women should consider what impact the age, race, gender, or class of an interviewer might have on the voices. Nonetheless, as a group, the collection listed below are special because they are rare, and because they offer a much less adulterated view of African-American life than found in materials generated from an Anglo-American perspective.

The very existence of an African-American woman's collection, such as the papers of Elizabeth Johnson Harris, Helen Grey Edmonds, Fannie Rosser, or Clydie Fullwood Scarborough indicates a certain level of privilege or stature on the part of the woman's life it documents. Even the authorship of a single slave letter provides the creator with a certain measure of immediacy and historical authority unavailable to her in other aspects of her life. As African-American women who were taught to write, allowed to participate in the electoral system, and given the power to educate others, the women documented by these collections are exceptional. Those extant collections which center around black women must be understood for what they are - reflections of the changing status of African-American women in the United States, particularly the gains made by black middle class women during the 20th century.

Joseph Allred Papers, 1819-1864. 37 Items. Randolph Co. North Carolina.

Business papers and personal correspondence of Allred contains a letter dated August 29, 1857 from slave Vilot Lester to "My Loving Miss Patsy," a former owner. The letter is a passionate plea to hear news of other family members and to enlist help in trying to locate Lester's daughter since her current owner is willing to buy her so that they can be together.

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. Tapes of meetings, interviews, and car trips to Boston and Washington, D.C., of various directors and committee members of the cooperative. Issues discussed include disagreements, employment and firings, stealing, finances, violence and gang fights, drugs, students, and black and white division of labor.

Neill Brown Letters 1792-1867. 45 Items. Philadelphus, North Carolina.

Letters to Brown, a white Presbyterian minister, includes one letter from a slave reproaching Brown for turning his back on blacks and preaching to white.

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. Interviewees include various members of the Greensboro black community, including teachers and former students of Bennett College and North Carolina A & T, and others involved in local sit-ins.

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.

Elizabeth Johnson Harris Memoir Ca. 1867-1923. 1 Item. Augusta, Georgia.

Memoir of Elizabeth Johnson Harris, born in 1867 of ex-slave parents in Augusta, Georgia. The memoir provides information on the black community in Augusta as connected to the Rock of Ages C. M. E. church and the Church of the Good Shepherd, a white church that provided Sunday school instruction to black children. Harris also writes about her trip to Boston in the 1920s, and chronicles her visits to black churches there. Though her husband was a laborer who appears to have worked for an individual white family most of his later life, the family was part of a "middle class" black community. Her journal reflects the attitudes and community connections in that circle of people. Also included are copies of her poems that were published in local newspapers.

Rencher Nicholas Harris Papers, 1857-1965. 2,085 Items & 27 Volumes. Durham, North Carolina.

Papers of Rencher Nicholas Harris (1900-1965) a business executive of Durham, North Carolina who held positions with the Banker's Fire Insurance Company of Durham and who was Durham's first black City Councilman and the first black member of the Board of Education. The collection is probably most valuable for its contents touching on Harris' career in Durham City and County politics in the 1950s and early 60s, especially on the matter of race relations and Civil Rights. Of particular interest is his infrequent correspondence with Carla Myerson Eugster, a political activist in the local Civil Rights movement who appears to have had some influence on Harris' decision to go into politics.

Thaddeus Ellis Harris Papers, 1916-1933. 219 Items. North Fork, West Virginia.

Correspondence, legal, and financial papers of attorney in McDowell Co., West Virginia. Legal and financial papers include insurance policies, deeds, receipts, promissory notes, divorce and parole petitions. There are also several warm and affectionate letters from wife, Mary, which include several references to their teenaged daughter and a letter dated May 27, 1925 which gives a good view of housekeeping chores.

Charles N. Hunter Papers, 1818-1931. 2,944 Items & 18 Volumes. Raleigh, North Carolina.

Personal and professional papers of Charles N. Hunter (ca.1851-1931), educator and editor who was prominent in the effort to provide better educational facilities for black students in North Carolina and was instrumental in having several schools for black students constructed in the state. As a member of the North Carolina Industrial Association he also sought to expand the opportunities for blacks in agriculture and industry. In addition to correspondence concerning family life and personal finance, the papers reflect Hunter's various political activities on behalf of black people. It also includes 17 scrapbooks containing clippings and other items concerning race relations and social/political/economic affairs pertaining to African-Americans.

Joseph Long Papers, 1820-1902. 209 Items. Stephensburg, Virginia.

Letters of Joseph Long, Lieutenant in the First Regiment of the Virginia Military in 1814 and Captain in the 51st Regiment from 1821-1835. The collection consists mostly of letters written to Long by friends and relations who left Virginia and moved west to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, or Missouri before 1860. The letters intermittently discuss slavery and the price of slaves. Included is a letter written by a former slave who had escaped to Canada in 1840. The letter is a detailed account of the two years he spent traveling to Canada, his employment, the men who pursued him, and his current situation. His wife is with him, though it is not clear whether she ran with him or met him in Canada. He also talks of his feelings of hostility towards the United States and his ex-mistress, who he hopes is in Hell.

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. The papers reflect the intimate connection between her role as a business woman and her personal relationships. It is an important illustration of a black businesswoman's life in a fiscally sound black community, her subsequent activities, and obligations. Correspondents include her foster daughter, Mattie Douglas Burton, leader in the Fresno, California chapter of the NAACP. Photographs of Rosser's family and friends in the Durham community are also included.

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). Many of the photographs and tapes are with black women who discuss the various facets of their lives such as work, family, household chores, church and community.

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. Also letters from her husband, John Clarence Scarborough (1877-1972) founder of the black Scarborough-Hargett Funeral Home in Durham, her mother, family photographs, and other genealogical information about her father's family the Fullwoods.

Asa Timothy Spaulding Papers, 1930-1983. Ca. 36,500 Items. Durham, North Carolina.

Personal and business correspondence, printed material, legal and other papers relating to businessman Asa Timothy Spaulding's many business, religious, civic, educational and political interests, including his involvement with the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Mechanics and Farmers Bank in Durham North Carolina. Elna Bridgeforth Spaulding's personal and professional papers, including those from her tenure as Durham County Commissioner (1980-1984), are included.

Phillis Wheatley Papers, 1770. 1 Item. Boston, Massachusetts.

Letter of poet Phillis Wheatley, while she was still a slave owned by the Wheatley family of Boston, written for Nathaniel Wheatley, concerning a lawsuit.