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Manuscript Archival Collections

 

 

United Negro College Fund Archives 1935-1983
(bulk dates 1944-1965)


114 linear feet (3525 fiche - University Microfilms International) Research use restricted to microfiche only

 

NOTE: A paper copy of the finding aid, with container list, is available at the Woodruff Library Archives & Special Collections Department for in-house consultation and may be available via Interlibrary Loan.

 

Private higher education for African Americans suffered a crisis in the 1940s, as financial gifts from benefactors and foundations decreased as a result of the Great Depression and the Second World War. The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) was created to remedy this situation. Under the leadership of Dr. Frederick D. Patterson, President of Tuskegee Institute, private black colleges and universities began uniting their resources in an annual fund-raising appeal. In its first annual campaign in 1944, the UNCF raised $765,000, a sum three times larger than that raised by the individual colleges in separate campaigns the previous year. The UNCF continues today as a consortium of private, accredited four-year historically black colleges and universities, offering scholarships, mentors, internships, and other education-related programs.

 

Most of the materials in the UNCF Archives are records generated between 1944 and 1965. These records include reports and publications of member institutions, writings, speeches and administrative records of UNCF officers, including those of Dr. Patterson, who served as President from 1944-1958 and 1964-1966, and the organization's first Executive Director William J. Trent, who served from 1944-1963. The records also contain files of the Communications, Controller, Educational Services, Fund-Raising, and Research departments. Records dating prior to 1944 mostly include articles and reports collected by Patterson. Material dated after 1965 includes brochures, publications, news releases, and magazine clippings.

 

For more information about the current activities of the United Negro College Fund click here.