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African American Collections

Directory of African American Collections in Greater Philadelphia and Selected Suburban Areas

Compiled and Edited by:



This project was supported by a Grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
© 1998, Temple University, Samuel Paley Library, Urban Archives, Philadelphia, PA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(SUBJECT    -    PAGE)

Introduction - v

Explanation of Directory Entries - vi

Acknowledgements - vi

Collection Descriptions, Part 1 (Printed Pages 1 - 31)



Collection Descriptions, Part 2 (Printed Pages 32 - 69)



Collection Descriptions, Part 3 (Printed Pages 70 - 108)


Index - 109

Introduction

This directory compiles information about collections in Philadelphia and selected surrounding suburban areas that document the history of African Americans. The project was undertaken in response to the increase of interest in the history of African Americans by scholars, students, historians, and African Americans interested in their own heritage.

Due to the level of funding a variety of strict parameters had to be implemented in order to ensure the successful and timely completion of the project. The primary parameter was that all repositories had to fall within the current 215 and 610 telephone area codes. Another important parameter was that to be included in the directory a collection had to be primarily concerned with African Americans. Many collections in repositories include materials about African Americans but are not primarily about African Americans and could not be included in this directory. This directory will also not include collections primarily about Africans and Africa. The last major parameter was that the project staff could only visit a very limited number of repositories. Thus the repository and collection descriptions are often totally dependent upon the willingness of repositories to provide adequate information. Even with the parameters imposed, this directory includes forty-one repositories and one hundred and ninety-three collection descriptions.

Phase I of the project involved the gathering of addresses and other information about repositories which might include appropriate collections. In Phase II, these repositories were sent information about the project and were queried concerning their collections dealing primarily with African Americans. During Phase III, repositories responding affirmatively in Phase II were queried concerning collection descriptions. A few repositories were visited by project staff who assisted the reposiotory staffs in the preparation of general and collection descriptions. Phase IV involved the editing of text and review by repositories of their collection descriptions. The final Phase V included the indexing of collection descriptions and reproduction of the text.

The compilers of this directory feel they have successfully met their goal to identify and collect information about collections that document the history of African Americans within the above-stated parameters. In a sense this compilation may be the beginning. It is hoped that funds can be secured to include references to all those African American related collections that did not fit within the project’s parameters. If funds are secured an expanded version of the directory or a supplement to the directory may be produced.

Copies of this publication were distributed to all repositories originally queried and the text has been added to the Urban Archives Web site.

Explanation of Directory Entries

Entries in this directory are organized alphabetically by the name of the repository holding collections pertaining to African Americans. At the beginning of each repository’s entry is a section containing the repository name, mailing address, telecommunications access, contact person(s), access policy, hours of access, and a general description of the repository.

Following this preliminary information is an entry for each African American collection which can be found at the repository. Collection entries are headed by the title of the collection with inclusive dates. Following the heading is a section, in italics, which may include a shelf or other location, the formats of the collection, and the size of the collection. The final segment of the collection entry includes descriptive information about the scope of the collection, historical background, etc.

In most cases directory/collection entries were prepared by the repositories themselves.

Acknowledgements

The Urban Archives of Samuel Paley Library at Temple University is grateful to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission for providing the funds to support this project. Without their funding and support this important work would not have come to fruition.

Although the idea for this directory was primarily Margaret Jerrido's, the Project Director, she received her inspiration from George Brightbill, the Assistant Project Director, who had recently completed his own directory entitled PACSCL Photograph Directory. His past experience and expertise in selecting appropriate repositories, preparing forms, compiling information, and providing advice was invaluable in helping to put together this directory. I cannot express my appreciation enough for all his work. .

Brenda Galloway-Wright was knowledgeable about gathering information and even visited some repositories to assist in the preparation of collection descriptions. In addition, she was very persuasive and persistent in getting individuals from various repositories to respond to our various mailings which enabled us to keep to our time table. Finally, her artistic abilities are evident in this attractive and servicable directory. Thank you Ms. Brenda! We are indebted to Cheryl Johnson for helping out with many of the clerical duties. We also thank Chandra Laurence, a student assistant who was pressed into service when we needed additional clerical tasks performed. Thanks to each and every one of you for a job well done.

Finally, and most important, this directory would not have been possible without the cooperation and support of all those individuals who took the time to ensure that their collections were included in this important work.

December 1998

• Directory, Part 1, Pages 1 - 31
• Directory, Part 2, Pages 32 - 69
• Directory, Part 3, Pages 70 - 108

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