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Afr. African Americans

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Identifier: Afr
This topic covers manuscript collections that are by or about African Americans or Black people and their histories.

Found in 53 Collections and/or Records:

Alfred Balk papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Balk
Abstract Papers of Iowa-born and Northwestern-educated journalist Alfred Balk, documenting his career, first as a Chicago newswriter for WBBM, reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and freelance contributor to major national magazines, and later as an editor at the Columbia Journalism Review, World Press Review, Saturday Review, and IEEE Spectrum, and faculty member at Columbia and Syracuse. Includes correspondence, working files for his freelance articles, his books and other writings, together with...
Dates: 1941-2010; Majority of material found within 1953-1993

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. ephemera collection

 Collection
Identifier: Wing oversize-ZP 983-K344
Abstract

Posters, paper fans, broadsides, and other ephemera created by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.

Dates: approximately 1990-2012

Ann Barzel dance research collection

 Collection
Identifier: Dance-MS-Barzel Research
Abstract

Materials collected by dance critic Ann Barzel, documenting the history of dance in Chicago and worldwide. Research collection includes brochures and other publicity, newsclippings, programs, souvenir books, audiovisual material, posters and prints, photographs, scrapbooks, and artifacts.

Dates: approximately 1830-2010

Art & Soul records

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Art&Soul
Abstract Art & Soul (1968-1969) was a nonprofit workshop and gallery project designed and organized by the Conservative Vice Lords, Inc. in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art. It provided a platform for the West Side community to pursue creative collaboration and arts education. These records include organizational and funding proposals, course materials, photographic copies, slides and DVDs, interview transcripts, and media coverage relating to Art & Soul and the Black Arts...
Dates: 1917-2018; Majority of material found within 1968-1992

Benjamin Henry Grierson papers

 Collection
Identifier: VAULT-Ayer-MS-3039
Abstract Volunteer military officer during the Civil War, organizer of the U.S. Army Tenth Cavalry in 1866, commander of various Western army posts and active in opening the Western frontier until retirement in 1890. Grierson’s papers consist of correspondence (including over a hundred letters to his wife, Alice Kirk Grierson), documents such as orders, reports and maps and other military material, as well as personal miscellany relating to his service in the Western Territories. Microfilm copy...
Dates: 1865-1890

Blackburn family papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-071
Abstract

Papers of A. B. Blackburn, A. W. Blackburn, W. H. Blackburn of North Carolina, and other family members. Consists of correspondence, journal account book, financial documents, deeds, wills, Civil War documents, and other miscellaneous items.

Dates: 1803-1907

Carlos W. Colby Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Colby
Abstract

Primarily correspondence (129 letters) of Illinois farmer and Civil War soldier Carlos W. Colby, written between 1862 and 1865, to his sisters, brother, brother-in-law, and niece, plus a dozen Civil War letters written by Colby’s future brother-in-law James Rowe. Also includes Colby’s reminiscences of his boyhood and his service in the 97th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, some family correspondence, genealogical material and a few photos.

Dates: 1821-1937; Majority of material found within 1861 - 1865

Charles W. Gallentine Letters

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Gallentine
Abstract

Letters home, 1862-1863, by Charles W. Gallentine of the 7th Illinois Cavalry, from Camp Butler, Springfield, Ill., Jacinto and Corinth, Miss., Memphis and LaGrange, Tenn., and Lawrence Co., Ala., regarding camp life, skirmishes, men killed and wounded, Southern guerillas, northern Copperheads and the draft, Southern plantations and slave attitudes, Union and Confederate prisoners, etc.

Dates: 1861-1863

Chicago Black Lives Matter protest collection

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-ChicagoBLM
Abstract

Announcements, flyers, artwork, buttons, newsletters, photographs, posters, t-shirts, and other materials collected by various individuals at Chicago protests, 2015-2016, responding to recurring police violence and civil rights violations against black citizens. This documentation was solicited as part of a 2016 Newberry Library exhibition, From Civil War to Civil Rights, and also includes responses to events posted by visitors to the exhibition.

Dates: 2014-ongoing

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company records

 Collection
Identifier: CB&Q-Main
Abstract

Correspondence, reports, maps, blueprints, financial documents, advertising materials, photographs, and other items documenting the history of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company (CB&Q), which existed from 1855 to 1970.

Dates: 1820-1999

Chicago Children's Choir records

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-CCChoir
Abstract

Records of the Chicago Children’s Choir, now known as Uniting Voices Chicago, documenting the Choir’s history, programs, operations, and growth since its founding by Christopher Moore in 1956 at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago. Includes administrative files, publicity materials, performance and tour records, information about staff and singers, photographs, and audiovisual recordings.

Dates: 1944-2008; Majority of material found within 1956-1998

Chicago Reader records

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Chicago Reader R
Abstract

Original copy of articles, legal files, miscellaneous administrative files, and unsolicited manuscripts of the Chicago Reader alternative weekly newspaper.

Dates: 1971-2000

Contract Buyers' League interview and meeting sound recordings

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-FitzGerald
Abstract

39 reel-to-reel tapes (plus digitized (MP3) copies), containing interviews conducted by Jeffrey FitzGerald with Contract Buyers' League members, lawyers, and supporters, together with recordings of group meetings in Woodlawn, 1969-1971.

Dates: 1968-1971

Daniel Lyman Chandler Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-128
Abstract

Twelve letters of New Englander Daniel Lyman Chandler from Chicago, Illinois, and Ogden, Kansas, to his relatives,1855-1863, which describe life in Chicago and in the Kansas Territory. Also, two other letters from his nephew John and a woman named Elisabeth Hewins.

Dates: 1855-1866

Dill Pickle Club records

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Dill Pickle
Abstract

Miscellaneous material relating to the Dill Pickle Club of Chicago, Illinois (1916-ca.1933) and its leading founder, John (Jack) Jones. The bulk of the collection, most of which was removed from two scrapbooks, consists of handbills, fliers, programs and posters announcing and advertising numerous lectures, readings, parties, plays and other regular activities. Also includes art work, business and membership items, clippings, a few letters, photographs, poetry and Jack Jones memorabilia.

Dates: 1906-1941; Majority of material found within 1915-1935

Djalaal Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Dance-MS-Djalaal
Abstract

Chicago performer and instructor in dance and exercise. Djalaal has studied Middle Eastern, Indian, North African, modern, flamenco and other exotic dance forms, and for thirty years has been teaching belly dancing at area colleges and cultural organizations. Small collection consists of advertising and publicity items, clippings, photographs, programs, and a few of her writings.

Dates: 1974-2000

E. Winston and Ina D. Williams NAACP papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Williams-NAACP
Abstract

Papers of Chicago NAACP and labor union leader E. Winston Williams, who served as president of the Chicago Southside NAACP chapter from 1971-1974. Papers also reflect activities of Ina D. Williams (wife of E. Winston Williams), who played an integral behind-the-scenes role in Williams' administration. Collection includes photographs, clippings, programs, brochures, and correspondence documenting the activities of the NAACP chapter and Williams’s involvement with Chicago labor unions.

Dates: 1940s-1986; Majority of material found within 1957-1986

Edgar McLean Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-McLean
Abstract

Correspondence, writings, and official military documents of 1st Lieutenant Edgar McLean. McLean fought for the Union in the Civil War with the 122nd Illinois Regiment, and then became a Lieutenant in the 110th U.S. Colored Infantry. Most correspondence was written by Edgar McLean’s mother and other relatives to him during his service.

Dates: 1859-1868

Edith Shaw family and Provident Hospital photo album

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-ShawE
Abstract Photograph album of Chicago nurse Edith A. Shaw (1910-1993), an African American woman who resided on the South Side of Chicago. Shaw graduated from Provident Hospital's nursing student program in 1932. Photographs in the album include her family, her friends and fellow students, nurses and doctors, and some photos taken in and outside of the hospital. Also includes a lot of candid photography at the beach and with friends, along with some formal portraits of her family and from her sister...
Dates: approximately 1923-1943

Elvira Sheridan Badger papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Badger
Abstract Six personal diaries and one diary fragment kept by Elvira Cecelia Sheridan Badger of Kentucky and Illinois, spanning the years 1859 through 1903. Also popular antebellum piano music compiled and bound for Badger before her marriage. Facsimile of notebook kept by Alpheus Shreve Badger about his move to Chicago and the subsequent freedom of his slaves in 1852. Diary entries concern the daily lives of a well-to-do family, including their 1861 move to Chicago, Illinois. Sentiment in Kentucky...
Dates: 1859-approximately 1930; Majority of material found within 1859-1878

Ernest A. Griffin family papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Griffin Family
Abstract

Papers of family historian Ernest A. Griffin, proprietor of the Griffin Funeral Home on Chicago's south side, including family documents, photographs, audio/visual material, genealogical notes, and materials relating to the history of Camp Douglas (on which the funeral home stood) and Charles H. Griffin who served in a colored regiment during the Civil War. Also includes documentation of the funerals of prominent African Americans.

Dates: 1862-2007; Majority of material found within 1910-1995

Eve L. Ewing papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Ewing
Abstract

Correspondence, works, publicity, biographical material, ephemera, family papers, and photographs of author, poet, and academic Eve L. Ewing.

Dates: 2000s-2010s

Everett family papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Everett
Abstract Primarily correspondence of the Everett family, concerning family news and health issues, and also covering abolition, temperance, women's rights, rights of African-Americans, and moral reform. Printing, education, pioneer life, and religion are all discussed within the papers. Papers include materials of Robert Everett, the pastor of Welsh Congregationalist churches in Oneida County, NY, and publisher of Y Cenhadwr Americanaidd (The American Missionary), a...
Dates: 1794-1949; Majority of material found within 1838 - 1927

First Presbyterian Church records

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-First-Presbyterian
Abstract

Parish records, church bulletins and programs, business records, artifacts (including missionary artifacts), etc., of this church founded at Fort Dearborn in 1833 and now in Woodlawn. The congregation has included many prominent Chicago families such as the Shedds, Buckinghams, and Fields, and became one of the first racially integrated congregations in Chicago, in 1953. Also includes information on the Blackstone Rangers, who used to meet in the church in the late 1960s.

Dates: 1833-1999

Gartz family papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Gartz Family
Abstract Diaries, letters, scrapbooks, photographs, financial documents, and some artifacts, art, and audiovisual materials documenting Chicago life from the 1910s through the 1960s and 1970s. The Gartz family settled in West Garfield Park, Chicago, and lived there as the all-white, mostly European immigrant families community changed to an all African American community due to housing discrimination in Chicago. Donor Linda Gartz wrote the book "Redlined: A Memoir of Race, Change, and Fractured...
Dates: 1870-2018