Discovering Georgia Hidden Treasures: Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center Celebrates 80 Years Preserving Black History

Discovering Georgia’s Hidden Treasures is the theme for this years’ Georgia Archives Week. One of Atlanta’s hidden treasures is the Archives & Special Collections in the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center.

2005 marks the 80th anniversary of the archives collection at the Woodruff Library. Atlanta University began collecting Black history in the 1870s and formally referred to the materials as the “Negro Collection” in 1925. Transferred to Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center (AUC) in 1982 when the libraries from the AUC schools merged; the Negro Collection is the foundation for the Library’s Archives & Special Collection department.

The first major manuscript acquisition for the Negro Collection was received in 1932 with the gift of papers of Thomas Clarkson, a noted English abolitionist of the eighteenth century. In 1935 the letters of American abolitionist John Brown were acquired. Growth in the collection gained momentum with the establishment of the Harold Jackman Collection of Contemporary Negro Life in 1942 and purchase of the personal library of bibliophile Henry P. Slaughter in 1946.

The Woodruff Library continues to build and expand the collection and today has over 7,000 linear feet of materials. Researchers have access to a broad array of manuscript collections and organizational records. Among the collections acquired under the auspices of Woodruff Library are papers of jazz flutist and Clark Atlanta University band director Wayman Carver, editor and author Hoyt Fuller, former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, sociologist and educator C. Eric Lincoln, and Pan-Africanist historian and political activist Walter Rodney. There are records of the Atlanta Urban League, Chautauqua Circle, Southern Education Foundation, and Southern Regional Council as well as documentation about the Atlanta University Center institutions. The book collection has grown to over 20,000 volumes and includes the personal library of Africana scholar, author, and educator, John Henrik Clarke.

Karen Jefferson, Head of Archives & Special Collections noted that “although well-known by researchers and scholars nationally, many in the Atlanta area and some at the Atlanta University Center are not familiar with this treasure chest of Black history located in their midst. However, the collections are continually used by students, researchers and scholars and you can find credit lines for the Archives’ materials in exhibits, books, journal and news articles, theses and dissertations, films and Internet sites.”

Ms. Loretta Parham, Library Director/CEO stated the "The Archives and Special Collections is an important resource for the city of Atlanta, the colleges and the African American record. We want to be the Archives of choice for receipt of personal papers and collections. Eighty years from now, we want people to be as excited about this collection as we are today, because of how well it is cared for and how easy it is to access.”

Georgia Archives Week, October 1-9, celebrates the value of Georgia’s historical records, publicizes the many ways historical records enrich peoples’ lives and recognizes those who maintain the historical records of Georgia’s communities.