Collections

The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University houses a diverse body of primary sources associated with the African American experience, from literature and history to politics and popular culture. These include an extensive collection of correspondence, literary manuscripts, photographs, and ephemeral material as well as rare books, periodicals, pamphlets, and other printed matter.

Camille Billops and James V. Hatch donated their collection of research materials on African American visual and performing arts to Emory University in 2002. Assembled over the past forty years, this is one of the premier collections of its kind. The Billops-Hatch collections provides a major resource for research in African American arts and letters of the 20th century. Highlights of the collection are:

• Thousands of rare and out-of-print books, periodicals, posters, and pamphlets on all aspects of African American history and culture
• Interviews with more than 1,200 writers, artists, poets and other cultural figures
• Records of Karamu Theatre (Cleveland, Ohio) neighborhood house settlement, nationally known for its dedication to interracial theater and the arts
• Scripts of nearly 1,000 African American-authored plays
• Paul Robeson photographs, theater programs, and other printed material, including an extensive clipping file

The donation of the Billops-Hatch collections led—directly or indirectly—to the acquisition of the papers of important African American artists, critics, art historians, collectors, and educators, including:

• Amalia Amaki
• Benny Andrews
• John Biggers
• Barbara Chase-Riboud
• Gylbert Coker
• Delilah Jackson
• Paul R. Jones
• Amos P. Kennedy, Jr.
• Samella S. Lewis
• James A. Porter

In addition, we house the records of organizations like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).  In collecting and providing access to the materials found in the Rose Library’s African American Collections, we play an active role in preserving the history of the United States.

For more information about the Rose Library's African American collections, please contact:

Pellom McDaniels III, Ph.D.

Curator of African American Collections

404-727-6276

pellom.mcdaniels.iii@emory.edu

or

Randall K. Burkett

Research Curator for African American Collections

404-727-0129

rburket@emory.edu

Image: James A. Porter papers