Founders of the Niagara Movement,
ca.1905

The acquisition of the papers of W.E.B. Du Bois in 1972 established SCUA as a center for research in African American history. In subsequent years, the University of Massachusetts has supported the publication of three volumes of Dr. Du Bois’ correspondence and SCUA has served as a resource for many dozens of scholarly articles and books on Du Bois and his legacy. SCUA has also made efforts to build around the Du Bois collection, adding other important printed and manuscript materials both in African American history and in the history of efforts to promote social change.

Beyond Du Bois, significant collections in African American history include the papers of the abolitionist Hudson Family of Northampton, the expatriate playwright Gordon Heath, the sociologist, educator, and former president of Lincoln University, Horace Mann Bond.

Each February, in commemoration of Dr. Du Bois’s birthday, SCUA and the Du Bois Department of Afro-Americans Studies at UMass co-sponsor a colloquium on Du Bois and his legacy. Our lecturers have included distinguished scholars such as Herbert Aptheker, Randolph Bromery, Clayborne Carson, and David Levering Lewis.

• Antislavery Pamphlet Collection
  • Several hundred pamphlets relating to political antislavery in the United States, with an emphasis opn New England.
  • See our Antislavery pamphlets digital archive
• Aronson, James. Collection, 1946-1983
  • Editor of the National Guardian
• Banks, Katherine Bell. Papers, 1926-1960.
  • Letters from W.E.B. Du Bois to Banks, a family friend
• Bond, Horace Mann. Papers, 1830-1979
  • Educator, President of Lincoln University
• Brown, John. Papers (microfilm), 1826-1942 (bulk: 1856-1859)
• Du Bois, W. E. B. Papers, 1868-1963
  • See also Du Bois Central for additional resources on Du Bois, including photographs, digital collections, and more.
    See also the film documenting the Du Bois Homesite dedication ceremonies in Great Barrington, Mass., 1969.
• Heath, Gordon. Papers, 1940-1991
  • Expatriate writer, actor, director, and musician
• Hudson Family. Papers, 1780-1955
  • Family papers of the antislavery activist Erasmus D. Hudson
• International Oil Working Group. Records, 1981-1986
• Massachusetts. Special Commission on Unequal Education Opportunities. Records, 1974-1978
• Obrebski, Joseph and Tamara. Papers, 1923-1974
  • Anthropological field work in Jamaica, 1947-1948
• Urban League of Springfield (Mass.). Records, 1970s
• Trent, Lloyd A. Family Papers, 1850-1996