African Americans
O
Organization for Black Struggle Records, 1970-2016 (S1240)
3 cubic foot, 72 folders, 905 photographs, 35 video cassettes
The Organization for Black Struggle Records (OBS) contains correspondence, press releases, flyers, and newsletters pertaining to the group's mission to address the needs and issues of the Black working class in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Topics of interest include housing and job discrimination cases, criminal justice reform, and apartheid in South Africa.
Counties
Organization History of Ferrier Harris Nursing Home Manuscript, 1979-1980 (S0411)
0.01 cubic foot
This collection contains a brief history of the Ferrier Harris Nursing Home written by Harriet (Lamb) Williams, a former board member of the nursing home and daughter of Ferrier Harris, the organization’s namesake.
Counties
Ozarks Folksongs Collection, 1919-1957 (C3774)
3.1 cubic feet
Original copy of the four volumes published by SHS, 1946-1950. Includes photographs used in the publication and a typescript of Chapter XIV, "Unprintable Songs," left out of the printed version. In addition there are two volumes entitled "Unprintable' Songs From the Ozarks" which were sold to the Society in 1956, but without publication rights.
P
"A Page from the Past", no date (C0690)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The collection contains the reminiscences of Kate Crutcher Smith about a ledger of people enslaved by the family of General Thomas Adams Smith.
Subjects
Papers for people enslaved by Frederick A. Hamilton, 1837-1844 (C2026)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The papers contain a deed of trust between Frederick Hamilton and B.F. Sharp and Beston Callahan, indenturing three enslaved people as security for notes, along with a bill of sale for enslaved people.
Subjects
Henry E. Parberry Papers, 1829-1865 (C3147)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The papers of Henry E. Parberry contain copies of a receipt for sale of an enslaved woman and child to James Parberry, 1829; Civil War letters concerning conditions in prison camps in New York and Maryland; and other miscellaneous letters and letter fragments.
Thomas D. Pawley III Papers, 1930s-2010s (CA5546)
35 cubic feet
Papers of a professor of speech and theater at Lincoln University, poet, and playwright; member of Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Humanities Council, Mid-America Arts Alliance, and other organizations. Includes manuscripts, correspondence, organizational records, teaching materials, and miscellaneous.
Payne-Broadwell Family Papers, 1803-1903 (C0983)
4.8 cubic feet, 11 volumes
The Payne-Broadwell Family papers contain the business, personal, and legal papers of Moses U. Payne and his nephew Moses M. Broadwell. Moses U. Payne resided in Boone County, MO, from 1823 to 1895. Moses M. Broadwell's papers contain significant family letters and revealing correspondence from the Civil War and from the Reconstruction era. Also present are miscellaneous papers of the Oliver C. Roby family.
Subjects
Counties
Maggie Peoples Papers, 1963-1971 (S0215)
0.01 cubic foot
The papers of Maggie Peoples document her life as St. Louis-area civil rights leader. The collection includes material from the National Council of Negro Women, Women in Community Service, St. Louis Bicentennial Committee, a photograph, and an oral history interview with Mrs. Peoples.
Counties
Peter Tamony Memorial Lecture Collection, 1986-2003 (C3944)
0.3 cubic feet, 20 audio cassettes
Audio cassettes and transcripts of speeches, photographs, and advertisements documenting the Peter Tamony Memorial Lecture series at the University of Missouri.
Phillips Family Papers, 1863-1935 (R0169)
0.01 cubic foot (1 folder)
The Phillips Family Papers contain photocopies of miscellaneous personal papers of the Phillips family of New Madrid County, Missouri. Included are the inventory and sales records of the estate of Shapley R. Phillips and a letter from Robert E. Lee concerning the attendance of Murray Phillips at Washington College in Lexington, Virginia.
Counties
Phillips Family Papers, 1853-1942 (C4008)
0.3 cubic feet (13 folders)
The papers of the Bryan and Phillips families of New Madrid, Missouri, include various wills, deeds, accounts, genealogy, miscellaneous material, and photographs.
Counties
Ann Pittman Collection, 1972-2004 (S0332)
1.8 cubic feet
The Ann Pittman Papers contain correspondence, program booklets, sheet music, and grant applications, documenting her efforts to preserve African American spirituals.
Counties
Ann Pittman Missouri Folklore Project, 1997 (S0598)
0.4 cubic foot, 7 folders, 11 audio tapes
This collection contains an oral history project documenting the life of Ann Washington Pittman, an African American song folklorist and singer.
Counties
Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church Programs, 1945, 1975-1980 (S0120)
0.1 cubic foot
The Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church Programs contains church service programs and anniversary booklets documenting the church’s history as one of the oldest Black churches in St. Louis.
Counties
Powers Museum (Carthage, Mo.) Collection, 1836-1916 (C3052)
2 rolls of microfilm
Collected papers of the Powers Museum. Principally Wright family genealogical research done by Curtis Wright of Carthage and Wright family correspondence. Also includes Captain George W. Roby, U.S. Army Commissary of Subsistence documents, 1864-1865; and manumission documents from St. Louis, MO, 1836-1854.
Counties
Gloria Pritchard Papers, 1910-1983 (S0150)
1 cubic foot, 254 photographs
The papers of Gloria Pritchard contain correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Pritchard's life and career as an African-American radio host and activist. Prichard was known for her radio shows, "World of Women (1957-1965) and "Great Negro Artists" (1960-1961) on KATZ. She was also active in Democratic politics, African-American Women's Clubs, and Civil Rights groups.
Counties
Pritchett Family Papers, 1753-1984 (C4013)
0.6 cubic feet (15 folders)
The papers consist of correspondence, published volumes, genealogical information, legal documents, and miscellaneous materials of Carr Waller Pritchett, Henry Smith Pritchett, and Ida Pritchett.
Subjects
Counties
Proud Magazine, 1971-1981 (S0356)
0.4 cubic feet
The collection contains issues of Proud from 1970-1981. However, the issues do not comprise a complete set. Washington University holds copies of all back issues. Topics discussed include: African-American history, urban careers, religion, education, politics, housing, African-American community leaders, health, community organizations, music, and sports.
Subjects
Counties
Leonard Pryor Photograph Collection, no date (P0576)
1 folder
Copy prints of photos of Lake Placid, Missouri, used in a 2000 Review article by Gary Kremer.
Subjects
Counties
R
Edward Luckey Radford Manuscript, 1979 (S0186)
0.25 cubic feet
The Edward Luckey Radford Manuscript contains the unpublished dissertation titled Implementing Court Ordered Desegregation for The Ferguson Reorganized School District R2: A Case Study by Edward Luckey Radford. In his dissertation, Radford chronicles the integration of the Berkeley, Kinloch, and Ferguson R2 school districts from 1971 to 1979.
Subjects
Counties
Rainbow Diamond Optimist Club (Columbia, Mo.) Records, 1991-1993 (C4526)
0.3 cubic feet (11 folders)
Records of the Rainbow Diamond chapter of Optimist International--a service club organization focused on youth development--including governance and membership materials; event information and photographs; and newsletters.
Counties
Beulah Ralph Photograph Collection, 1946-1970 (P0516)
10 photographs
Copy photos of Boone County, with focus on the African American community, including images of Douglass School and early black police officers.
Subjects
Counties
Vance Randolph Letter, 1934 (C2049)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
To Warren Douglas Meng, Jefferson City, MO, from Pittsburgh, KS, Oct. 16, 1934.
Answer to letter from Meng concerning crime songs sung by Negroes in a Missouri penitentiary.
Counties
George Rawick Papers, 1841-1988 (S0630)
36 cubic feet, 51 audio tapes, 24 photographs
The papers of George Rawick contain correspondence, writings, and publications relating to Rawick's research on slavery in the United States and his research on the American labor movement. Materials of interest include transcripts of slave narratives Rawick collected from the Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration.
Subjects
Reed-Carter Family Papers, 1867, 1893, 1976, 1980 (S0134)
0.01 cubic foot, 1 folder
The Reed-Carter Family Collection contains a pamphlet titled Trails West: Breckenridge Hills (A Brief History), histories, and newspaper clippings of the Reed-Carter family, the first African-American family in Breckenridge, Missouri.
Counties
Ribeau Family Papers, 1870-1982 (R0101)
0.1 cubic foot (5 folders)
The Ribeau Family Collection contains photocopies of correspondence, tax receipts, and miscellaneous records of an African-American family in Sainte Genevieve, Missouri. They lived in a historic poteaux-en-terre house built in 1778.
Counties
Michael Roberts Papers, 1940-1991 (S0525)
0.25 cubic feet
Michael Roberts was a St. Louis real estate and media entrepreneur of WHSL-TV, St. Louis' first African-American owned television station. The papers, which range from 1960-1991, photographs and newspaper clippings.
Subjects
Counties
Marvin S. Robinson II Papers, 1970-1990 (K1070)
30 c.f.
Robinson is a community activist with interests in local government, politics, social, health and cultural issues, and the establishment of the Quindaro Ruins in Kansas City, KS as an historical site. Includes personal journals and writings, correspondence, newsletters, news articles, and reference files maintained by Robinson. Concerning his efforts to save Quindaro, and other activism in the African-American community
Subjects
Counties
Bennie G. Rodgers Photograph Collection, 1940-1989 (S0629)
1.7 cubic feet, 28 folders, 828 photographs
Bennie G. Rodgers Collection contains papers and photographs related to Rodgers’ career as a journalist and editor for the St. Louis American newspaper and his work as a civil rights activist. The 828 photographs in the collection include images of community leaders, schools, churches, events, and organizations.
Counties
James H. Rollins Papers, 1961-1981 (C3056)
3 cubic feet
James Henry (Jimmy) Rollins was a black civil rights activist and University of Missouri law student who was convicted of dispensing marijuana in 1968, jumped bail to avoid prosecution and was subsequently caught and imprisoned in 1974 for that and other crimes. The papers consist primarily of letters from the imprisoned Rollins to one of his supporters, and of notes, newspaper clippings, case files, and other printed material related either to his case or to contemporary political and racial conditions in Columbia and at the University of Missouri.
Subjects
Counties
Edmond Rutter Papers, 1853-1855 (C0394)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Bill of sale for an enslaved African American by Betsey Rutter to her husband. Notice in regard to stray horse in Knox County, MO. Letter from General Land Office, Shelby County, MO.
Subjects
Counties
S
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri School Board Records, 1851-1885 (R0021)
(1 roll of microfilm)
The Sainte Genevieve, Missouri School Board Records contain a microfilm copy of the minutes of the Board of Directors of Schools in Sainte Genevieve, Missouri. The minutes include discussions and resolutions on settlements of adverse claims to land owned by the school board, and also records the establishments of the first public schools in Sainte Genevieve.
Subjects
Counties
William Henry Schrader Reminiscences, no date (C1519)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The reminiscences describe slavery in Missouri, including treatment of slaves, punishment, education, desire for freedom, fugitives, and character sketches of individual slaves. Also described are the Kansas-Missouri border conflicts, the Civil War in Missouri, bushwhackers, Claiborne Fox Jackson, the 1856 and 1860 presidential campaigns, German immigrants, Missouri Republicans, and Linneus and Brunswick, MO.
Adolf E. and Rebecca Schroeder Folk Song and Folklore Collection, 1957-1987 (C3826)
0.2 cubic feet (9 folders), 184 audio cassettes, 2 audio discs, 23 audio tapes, 2 video cassettes
The collection contains recordings and related material of Missouri and Ozark folk musicians and folklorists, primarily Max Hunter, Loman Cansler, and R.P. Christeson. The recordings include songs and discussions on many aspects of folk song collecting and folklore.
Second Baptist Church, Neosho, Missouri Centennial Collection, 1976 (R0821)
(1 folder)
This is "We've Come This Far by Faith", a centennial anniversary booklet for the Second Baptist Church of Neosho in Newton County, Missouri. The African-American congregation was founded in 1876.
Subjects
Counties
Settoon Family Papers, 1838-1896 (C0980)
0.06 cubic feet (3 folders)
Letters to and from the Settoon family of the Louisiana delta country concerning family and financial matters. The documents relate to property matters, including enslaved people.
Sharp End Heritage Working Group/Committee Records, 2014-2016 (CA6580)
0.1 cubic feet, 2 oversize items
Correspondence, agendas, meeting notes, proclamations, and miscellaneous material of a committee supported by the City of Columbia to mark important sites along Columbia's African American Heritage Trail.
Subjects
Counties
Elijah J. Shaw Scrapbook, 1914-1971 (S0323)
1 microfilm roll
Elijah"Lige" Shaw began drumming in minstrel shows at age 10 in Jackson, Tennessee. He traveled with Bowen's and Blondon's Dandy Dixie Minstrels, the Original Georgia Minstrels, and other theatre and dance orchestras until he settled in St. Louis in the late 1920s. He
worked as a drummer in St. Louis and served several terms as president of Musicians Local 197. The collection contains playbills, correspondence, advertisements, and newspaper clippings on jazz musicians and civil rights sit-ins.
Subjects
Counties
Milton Shaw Papers, 1824-1921 (C0428)
0.1 cubic feet (5 folders)
Letters from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri discussing slaves; farm crops, implements, and stock; property indentures; church membership; trade; schools; and teaching. Genealogical materials on the Denton family. Originals on microfilm; typed copies in folders.
Sheppard Family Papers, 1844-1877 (C0429)
0.13 cubic feet (6 folders)
Miscellaneous letters from Philadelphia; Tennessee; Cincinnati; Springfield and St. Louis, MO; and England. A letter from Paris, TN, describes local preaching techniques.
Originals on microfilm; typed copies in folders.
Subjects
Counties
Sikes Family Papers, 1845-1859 (CG0019)
0.02 cubic feet
The Sikes Family Papers contain eight enslaved bills of sale to William Sikes of New Madrid County, Missouri. These documents reflect the name, age, and price of each enslaved person. Three additional documents show land transfers and a tax assessment of personal property.
Subjects
Counties
"The Slavery Background of Foster's My Old Kentucky Home," Thomas D. Clark, 1936 (C2792)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Reprint from THE FILSON CLUB History Quarterly, 10 (January 1936).
Subjects
Thomas Adams Smith Papers, 1852-1919 (C0166)
0.2 cubic feet (11 folders), 2 oversize volumes, 2 rolls of microfilm
The papers of a Saline County, Missouri, doctor, and landowner include family correspondence, clippings, miscellaneous bills and papers, and a copy of a record book providing the births, death, and sales of enslaved people belonging to the estate of Thomas Adams Smith and Crawford Early Smith.
Counties
Smith-Cotton Family Papers, 1834-1929 (C0399)
0.15 cubic feet (7 folders)
Papers of George R. Smith, a Missouri pioneer lawyer and politician, and his daughters, Sarah E. Cotton, and Mrs. M.E. Smith. Some letters about the George R. Smith College. Smith was the founder of Sedalia, Missouri.
Counties
Daniel F. Snoddy Family Papers, 1817-1861 (C0434)
0.16 cubic feet (8 folders), 1 roll of microfilm
Bills of sale; county, state, and asylum tax receipts; school tuition receipts; bill of sale for enslaved individuals; notice of public sale after death of Daniel F. Snoddy. Letter from Snoddy giving brief description of towns, crops, and trade in Missouri. Letters from relatives in the southern states.
Counties
Spengler Family Papers, 1850-1870 (C4034)
0.25 cubic feet (3 folders)
Correspondence to Daniel H. Spengler, of Bentonsville, Virginia, from his brothers Philip and Samuel and other relatives and friends living in Missouri and Virginia, covering the periods 1856 to 1860 and 1865 to 1870. Also included are a map of New York City; a photocopy of the Warren County, Virginia, census of 1850; a railroad advertisement; two train tickets; and accounts of travel expenses.
Counties
St. Louis American Newspaper, (S0325)
37 microfilm rolls
Weekly newspaper of the African American community in St. Louis.
Subjects
Counties
St. Louis Argus Newspaper Photograph Collection, 1950s (S0586)
0.01 cubic foot, 8 photographs
This collection contains 8 photographs of the St. Louis Argus staff and its building.
Counties
St. Louis Association of Colored Women's Clubs, 1901-1980 (S0218)
0.02 cubic feet, 9 folders
Collection includes minutes, photographs, histories, convention programs, yearbooks, pamphlets, and publications of the Informal Dames, the Auroran Club (of the YWCA), the Prudence Crandall Club, and the association.