Q: What is the relationship between Morehouse College and the Robert W. Woodruff Library (RWWL) of the Atlanta University Center?

A: The Robert W. Woodruff Library is the official and only library operating to serve the information needs of the students and faculty of Clark Atlanta University, the Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College and Spelman College.Serving a combined student body of nearly 10,000, the Library and its four member institutions represent one of the nation’s largest and most unique consortiums of institutions of higher learning.

Q: Is the Woodruff Library Archives & Special Collections Department experienced in handling significant collections?

A: The Robert W. Woodruff Library has a long and strong history of successfully maintaining and administering valuable historical collections and artifacts. Now in its 81st year, the Archives & Special Collections unit was created in 1925 at Atlanta University. When the Atlanta University Center consortium was established in 1982, the separate and special collections from each school were combined and located in RWWL.

RWWL Archives & Special Collections materials are regularly referenced in articles, books, exhibits, films, Web sites and other scholarly works and used daily by students, faculty, authors, journalists, curators and other researchers nationally and internationally.

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Archives & Special Collections holdings include:

Atlanta University Center History—Yearbooks, catalogs, reports, photographs, publications and administrative files documenting administrators, faculty and academic programs of present and past Atlanta University Center schools (Atlanta University, Clark College, Clark Atlanta University, Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College and Spelman College,

Atlanta Urban League Papers—Administrative files of this social service agency for community development, health care, employment and housing opportunities

Clarence A. Bacote (1906-1981) Papers— Personal and professional papers of Atlanta University History Professor and civic leader in organizations such as Atlanta Branch of the NAACP, Atlanta Negro Voters League, Georgia State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and Fulton County Democratic Party

John Brown (1800-1859) Collection – Letters by and about this American abolitionist who led the raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, W.Va., in 1859

Countee Cullen/Harold Jackman Memorial Collection – Documentation on African American contributions and achievements in the arts including letters, writings, photographs, and programs of such luminaries as James Baldwin, Countee Cullen, Owen Dodson, W.E. B. DuBois, Katherine Dunham, Langston Hughes, Rose McClendon, Paul Robeson and Leigh Whipper

John Henrik Clarke (1915-1998) Africana Collection – Personal library of Africana historian and scholar that features numerous autographed books on African history, civil rights, Black Nationalism, Pan-Africanism and African independence movements

Hoyt Fuller (1923-1981) Papers – Writings and correspondence of Fuller, writer, editor, and activists who helped define the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s and launched the concept of the “Black Aesthetic”

C. Eric Lincoln (1924-2000) Papers – Personal and professional papers and research files of Lincoln, educator, scholar and author of The Black Muslim in America and The Black Church in the African American Experience

Maynard Jackson (1938-2003) Papers—Administrative files of Atlanta Vice Mayor and three-term Atlanta Mayor

Walter Rodney (1942-1980) Papers – Writings, correspondence and teaching materials of Pan-Africanist historian, educator, political activist and author of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

Henry Slaughter (1871-1958) Collection and Library – African Americana documents, photographs and books of the early 18th through mid-20th century acquired by Slaughter, noted Black bibliophile and collector

Southern Education Foundation Papers – Administrative files of the SEF that was established to increase educational opportunities for African Americans and other disadvantaged citizens in the South

Southern Regional Council Papers—Administrative files of this civil rights organization for improvement of economic, civic, and racial conditions in the South

Voter Education Project Papers —Administrative files of this national project based in Atlanta to educate African Americans and other disenfranchised people about voting rights

Highlights among the collections are:

Hundreds of books, including several autographed by Angela Davis, Marcus Garvey, Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King, Jr., Zora Neale Hurston and Booker T. Washington

Postcards of Malcolm X during his pilgrimage to Mecca revealing his transition to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz

1988 Seoul Olympic Torch presented to Mayor Maynard Jackson in 1990

Benjamin Banneker’s almanacs published in 1792 and 1793

Civil War sword of Horace Bumstead, Officer in U.S. Colored Troops, 43rd Regiment (Bumstead served as second president of Atlanta University)

Q: How large is the Woodruff Library Archives & Special Collections Department?

A: The department has storage facilities that house more than 7,300 linear feet of archival material, as well as a quiet and secure reading room for research and study, and office and work space used by archivists and curators to process collections.

Q: What archival expertise does the Woodruff Library have at its disposal?

A: Six archival professionals—two archivists, two curators and two technical assistants—are employed within the RWWL Archives & Special Collections Department. These highly-trained staff members are charged with the cataloging and care of more than 1 million historical documents housed within the department. In addition, staff assist both on-site and virtual library users with location of historical documents for research and study.

Staff credentials:

Karen L. Jefferson Head of Archives & Special Collections
~ Certification from the Academy of Certified Archivists
~ One of only 154 Fellows chosen from among the 4,000 members of the Society of American Archivists (SAA); one of only six (6) African American Fellows
~ More than 25 years of archival experience
~ Specialization in African American Studies
~ Former program officer for the National Endowment for the Humanities

Meredith Evans, Ph.D., Curator of Printed Materials holds:
~ Master’s degrees in history and library and information science
~ Doctoral degree from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in library and information science

Andrea Jackson, Curator of Archives & Manuscripts
~ Master’s degree in history with a certification in historical editing and archival management

Stacy Swazy Jones, Processing Archivist and Reference Coordinator holds:
~ Master’s degree in library and information science

Q: What will be the Woodruff Library’s role in housing the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection?

A: At the request of Morehouse College, RWWL will serve as “custodian” of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection, housing and overseeing the security and preservation of the Collection until further arrangements are made. The Library’s Archives & Special Collections Department staff will inventory and properly prepare the Collection for preservation and storage in a secure vault. Woodruff Library also will work closely with a new curator for the Collection hired by Morehouse College upon recommendation of the RWWL CEO & Director and with a local advisory committee of librarians and archivists from other institutions such as: