The Atlanta University Center (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation. This significant funding will bolster the library’s efforts to expand access to valuable resources while enhancing the digitization and preservation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCUs) collections. This grant marks an important milestone, adding momentum to an existing multi-million, multi-year collaborative project, the HBCU Digital Library Trust, which was initiated in 2023 with support from Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative.

The HBCU Digital Library Trust, a collaborative with a shared goal to deepen capacity and advance open, public access to African American archives and special collections, partners closely with HBCUs, the AUC Woodruff Library, the HBCU Library Alliance, and Harvard Library. Together, they sustain the capacity for the digitization, discovery, and preservation of African American history collections held by HBCU libraries and archives.

From this collaboration, the AUC Woodruff Library hosts the HBCU Library Alliance Digital Library portal, providing robust services for contributing HBCUs and hosting the digital collection platform. The digital portal includes archival materials from over 30 HBCUs, with a growing aim to digitize holdings from all of the 107 HBCUs located across 21 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since 2024, 16 HBCUs have either reconnected with or newly joined the HBCU digital collection repository via the HBCU Digital Library Trust. Furthermore, in 2024 alone, the digital portal has stored over 16,500 digitized items—including photographs, documents, and audiovisual recordings.

The new two-year investment from the MacArthur Foundation will deepen and sustain the capacity of HBCU libraries and archives to digitize, preserve, and globally share collections integral to African American history and culture. Emphasizing sustainability, this extended project will enable more institutions within the HBCU Library Alliance, in partnership with the HBCU Digital Library Trust, to access training, infrastructure, and support necessary for long-term digital stewardship.

“The MacArthur Foundation’s generous grant is a transformative next step for this vital work,” said Dr. Kimberley Bugg, CEO and Library Director of the AUC Woodruff Library. “It not only sustains but also expands our ability to provide global access to HBCU collections, ensuring that these critical narratives are preserved and shared with the world. We are committed to building an enduring infrastructure for digital preservation that reflects the depth, breadth, and richness of African American heritage.”

Adding to this sentiment, Andrea Jackson Gavin, Program Director for HBCU Digital Library Trust, stated, “It is an honor for our team to work with HBCUs to enhance virtual access and provide digital preservation, which we know is vital to supporting new scholarship, and long-term safeguarding of these unique collections. This support from the MacArthur Foundation represents the continuity of such important measures for our HBCU institutions.”

This extension underscores a shared commitment to equity, education, and inclusive historical preservation. As the project embarks on its next phase, it aims to serve as a model for sustainable digital access and partnership-driven cultural stewardship.

About the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
Established in 1982, the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library is named in honor of the late Robert Winship Woodruff, a philanthropist and former CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. The library serves three historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) – Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College. Beyond its aesthetic appeal, this state-of-the-art facility has become a leading repository of information resources and an innovator in the delivery of digital content.

The AUC Woodruff Library also houses the Archives Research Center, renowned for its extensive collection of materials related to the African American experience. This includes the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, as well as the Joseph Echols Lowery and Evelyn Gibson Lowery Collection.

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