African Americans
Subject
Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Scope Note: Here are entered works on citizens of the United States of Black African descent. Works on Black people who temporarily reside in the United States, such as noncitizens, students from abroad, etc., are entered under Black people--United States. Works on Black people outside the United States are entered under Black people--[place].
Found in 17 Collections and/or Records:
Mariah Crabb Papers
Collection
Identifier: RG 30-383
Scope and Contents
The papers of Mariah Crabb document her manumission, include information about her former enslavers, and detail the activities of her family members in the 1830s and 1840s. Of particular note is Mariah Crabb's handwritten Manumission Indenture. On July 1, 1831, Mariah and her family purchased their freedom for $150 from Martin, Elizabeth, and David Hausman.
Consisting largely of personal letters written to Mariah Crabb from her former enslavers, Martin and Elizabeth, the letters...
Dates:
1831-1878, undated; Majority of material found in 1834-1849
Found in:
Oberlin College Archives
Michael Meltsner Papers
Collection
Identifier: RG 30-428
Scope and Contents
The collection contains the papers of Michael Meltsner and covers his career as an author, a civil rights lawyer, and law school professor. It is organized into eleven records series.
Dates:
1949-2024, undated; Majority of material found in 1961-2024, undated; Other: Date acquired: 2014 May 29
Found in:
Oberlin College Archives
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Oberlin Unit 3196, Records
Collection
Identifier: RG 31-033
Scope and Contents
The records of the Oberlin Unit of the NAACP cover the period from ca. 1919 to 1976, and from 1990 to 2014. They comprise certificates of achievement, correspondence, Freedom Fund Banquet programs, membership campaign materials, reports, general NAACP information, and complaint case files. The latter are restricted.
Dates:
ca. 1919-2018, undated; Other: Date acquired: 2001 June 1
Found in:
Oberlin College Archives
Richard D. Brown Papers
Collection
Identifier: RG 30-356
Scope and Contents
The Richard D. Brown papers concern his teaching career and his efforts to initiate change in college policy. The collection includes term papers by students writing about their own family histories as part of the Anonymous Families History Project. In addition, the Brown papers contain drafts of a proposal for a study of policy making at the college. This particular file also includes correspondence between faculty and Brown’s own reflections on policymaking issues. Through the preparations...
Dates:
1966-2002
Found in:
Oberlin College Archives
Sylvia H. Williams Papers
Collection
Identifier: RG 30-359
Scope and Contents
The papers of Sylvia H. Williams primarily document her role as a curator at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1971-1983, and as Director of the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution, 1983-1996. The biographical files, correspondence, clippings, writings, and awards and diplomas provide documentation concerning her education, her interest in art and African Art, her work at the Brooklyn Museum and the Smithsonian Institute, and her accomplishments as a successful...
Dates:
1952-1997, undated; Majority of material found in 1971-1996; Other: Date acquired: 2003 January 3
Found in:
Oberlin College Archives
William E. Bigglestone Papers
Collection
Identifier: RG 30-151
Scope and Contents
The Bigglestone personal papers reflect William E. Bigglestone's interest in Oberlin history, with a special interest in the Oberlin Black community, and Oberlin during the mid-to-late 19th century. He was preoccupied with focusing on Oberlin's early themes (such as a place of refuge for enslaved people in pursuit of freedom, Black servicemen in the Civil War, and Oberlin College as an integral part of the town) and getting the record straight. The collection highlights Bigglestone’s...
Dates:
1818-2003, undated; Other: Date acquired: 03/03/1982
Found in:
Oberlin College Archives
William Grant Still and Verna Arvey Papers
Collection
Identifier: RG 30-162
Scope and Contents
Material at the Oberlin College Archives (Accession 1983/41)
The material given to the Oberlin College Archives consists of clippings, programs, writings by and about William Grant Still and Verna Arvey, a book of Still’s music, press kits and publicity for the opera “A Bayou Legend,” photographs, a copy of an oral history with William Grant Still for the California Black Oral History Project at California State University, Fullerton in 1967, and...
Dates:
1921 - 1995; Other: Date acquired: 1983 October 28
Found in:
Oberlin College Archives