Skip to main content

Archival and Manuscript Collections

Archival and manuscript collections in the Herskovits Library include personal papers, photographs, records and microforms. See guidelines for accessing our rare and archival materials.

Collections are owned by the Herskovits Library and the McCormick Library of Special Collections and University Archives, as indicated below.

For Herskovits Library collections, please contact us before your visit at 847-467-3084 or africana@northwestern.edu. Requests are filled within 1 to 2 business days.

Collections in Herskovits Library

Collection Date Range Boxes
Abdullah Abdurahman (1872-1940) Family Papers (See collection details) 1906-62 7
African American Institute Records (See collection details) 1982-85 7
African Studies Association Papers (See collection details) 1957-80 50
American Committee to Keep BIAFRA Alive Records (See collection details) 1966-80 2
Vernon Anderson Papers (See collection details) 1921-80 2
Claude Barnett Research Collection (See collection details) 1950-70 41
Black Sash Papers (See collection details) 1928-63 4
Dennis Brutus Defense Committee, Records of the (See collection details) 1963-83 4
Edward Harland Duckworth Photographs (See collections details) 1930-72 96, 4 trunks
Joseph E. Harris Papers (See collection details) 1929-2016 255
Alex Hepple Papers (See collection details) 1937-64 15
The Polly Hill Papers (See collection details) 1921-89 26
Images of Italians in Africa (See collection details 1936-1938  2
International Journal of African Historical Studies Editorial Records (See collection details) 1968-78 27
Leo Kuper (1908-1994) Papers (See collection details) 1952-66 21
Pier M. Larson Archive (See collection details 1984-2020  69 document boxes, 5 cartons, 5 oversize boxes, 1 map-case drawer, and 2.05 TB of data
Economic Survey of Liberia Records (See collection details) 1956-62 8
Legal Survey of Liberia Records 1
William B. Lloyd Jr. (1908-1995) Papers (See collection details) 1942-83 7
Vernon McKay (1912-1988) Papers (See collection details or view in Digital Collections) 1935-77 121
Simon Ottenberg Papers (See collection details) 1950-2000 35, 1 folio
Lydia Luhman Pederson collection (See collection details 1969-90  25
Edward Roux Clipping Scrapbook Collection 1941-64 4
Lavinia Scott (1907-1997) Papers (See collection details) 1930-59 4
Slides of Africa from the University of Wisconsin--Madison (See collection details) 1960-2000 99
Toward Freedom Newsletter Records (See collection details) 1937-75 7
Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers (See collection details) 1915-73 52
Jan Vansina Papers (See collection details) 1718-2010 136
Humphrey Winterton Collection of East African Photographs (See collection details or view in Digital Collections) 1860-1960 75 albums

Collections in the McCormick Library of Special Collections and University Archives

For access to the collections below, please see instructions on how to request collections and Plan A Visit to the McCormick Reading Room.

Collection Date Range Boxes
African Curriculum Project Records (See collection details) 1965-68 17
Dennis Brutus (1924-2009) Papers (See collection details) 1960-84 41
Clignet-Sween African Data Printouts (See collection details) 1965-75 35
Gwendolen M. Carter Papers (See collection details) 1915-91 180
Marilyn Greene (1945- ) Papers (See collection details 1962-2015 36
Melville J. Herskovits Biographical Materials (See collection details) 1920-96 1
Melville J. Herskovits Papers (See collection details) 1906-63 172
David Jolly Papers (See collection details) 1945-66 2
Program of African Studies Records (See collection details) 1955-83 60
Program of African Studies Interdepartmental Seminar on Africa Records (See collection details) 1949-58

1

Program of African Studies Lecture Series Audiotapes (See collection details) 1965-78

13