History Vault is an award-winning digitized collection of manuscripts and archival materials, giving students and researchers a first-hand look at pivotal moments in history through the power of primary sources.
The Library has gained access to two collections:
NAACP Papers
The NAACP Papers collection features almost two million documents digitized from NAACP branch offices across the United States, from the organization's founding in 1909 to 1972.
Browse through a rich history of primary sources detailing the NAACP's major campaigns, annual conferences, perspectives from leaders in the civil rights movement, and records of important court cases won in the fight for civil rights legislation. These papers catalog the deliberate discrimination baked into aspects of society, from employment to military service, and the methods of resistance and advocacy employed by the NAACP. The NAACP'S perspective on racial representation in the media of the day also includes primary sources such as photographs and newspaper clippings.
Collections include:
- NAACP Papers: Board of Directors, Annual Conferences, Major Speeches, and National Staff Files
- NAACP Papers: Branch Department, Branch Files, and Youth Department Files
- NAACP Papers: Special Subjects
- NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns—Education, Voting, Housing, Employment, Armed Forces
- NAACP Papers: The NAACP’s Major Campaigns—Legal Department Files
- NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns—Scottsboro, Anti-Lynching, Criminal Justice, Peonage, Labor, and Segregation and Discrimination Complaints and Responses.
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century
The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century collection offers all levels of researchers the opportunity to study the most well-known and also unheralded events of the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th century, sharing the perspective of the men, women, and sometimes even children who waged one of the most inspiring social movements in American history.
Broken into 4 parts, students and researchers can explore organizational records, personal papers and federal records touching on court case verdicts and FBI files, documents depicting the civil rights movement, and papers of major civil rights organizations and leaders.
Collections include:
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records, Supplement
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 1
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 2