“Your History:” Cartoons Depicting Black History

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Content Warning Note: The blog about this collection contains racial terminology and imagery typical for the time that contemporary viewers may find offensive. The purpose of this note is to give users the opportunity to decide whether they need or want to view these materials, or at least, to mentally or emotionally prepare themselves to view the materials.

This post by Manuscripts and Archives Processor Ellen Welch introduces a recent acquisition: a scrapbook labeled “Negro History” (MSS 16835) compiled by Bernard Proctor, a celebrated World War II captain in the Tuskegee Airmen and a descendant of the West Indies. (See this oral history video series by the Visionary Project for more about Proctor and his life.) The scrapbook consists of cartoons detailing historical vignettes about Black history from a weekly newspaper series—”Your History” published by the Pittsburgh Courier, an African American newspaper and edited by Robert L. Vann. The series was written by Jamaican American journalist Joel Augustus Rogers (1880-1966) and illustrated by Samuel Milai during the years 1940-1950 and then by George Lee from 1934-1937. Proctor collected, cut out, and pasted the cartoons on paper and placed them in a 3-ring binder. The series in this archive includes the dates 1948-1950; the newspaper ran the series from 1934-1966. 

Black-and-white photo of Joel Augustus Rogers, dated 1936.
Joel Augustus Rogers, 1936. (Courtesy of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.)

While working as a Pullman porter in Chicago, Joel Augustus Rogers travelled across the country before he launched his career as one of the leading Black journalists of his generation. [1] He wrote regularly for many newspapers including the Pittsburgh Courier (1921-1966) and the New York Amsterdam News (1920-1935). Moving to New York in 1921, Rogers wrote and published at least sixteen different books and pamphlets, “a significant body of work that covered the global African community from ancient to modern times and the diaspora.” [2] 

Dr. William E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963), a scholar in American history, wrote, “No man living has revealed so many important facts about the Negro race as has Rogers. He traveled to sixty different nations, studying civilizations, highlighting achievements of ethnic Africans, and challenging prevailing ideas about the social construction of race.” [2, 3] 

The illustrations and descriptive texts in “Your History” span the history and achievements of Black figures in many key events, such as the birth of Buddha, the birth of Christ, the United States Civil War, Antebellum, and American Reconstruction. Rogers states that Black people were rulers of Africa and were revered as Gods (before the transatlantic slave trade began in the sixteenth century). His historical vignettes are mostly true facts, but some are embellished because he used extremes to counter the severe racism embedded in Western culture. The text of Rogers’s cartoons frequently begins with superlatives like “one of the most honored,” “one of the best known,” “one of the greatest,” or “one of the first.” Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. asserts, “J. A. Rogers was as serious a researcher as they come, as serious as W.E.B. Du Bois and Carter G. Woodson.” He explained that, even though Rogers embellished some of the stories, he raised questions that would stimulate other researchers to dig deeper into Black history. [3] Gates characterized Rogers’s work as an invaluable resource:

“[Rogers was] a major—in many cases the only—source for the ordinary Black person to learn of their history from the 1920s through the ’70s. They certainly did not get it in their schools and universities or find out about it in mainstream newspapers and books. Rogers brought the idea of Black history to the fore, maintaining that the conventional scholars had a blind spot…” [4] 

The series depicts Black men and women as leaders of every field: doctors, nurses, preachers, teachers, lawyers, property owners, politicians, planters, farmers, athletes (Olympians), artists, scientists, mathematicians, archeologists, dentists, musicians, and astronomers. The historical vignettes are patterned after Robert Ripley’s “Believe it Or Not” style of cartoons. They are brief, easy to read, and designed to capture attention. 

Included in the collection are articles from the Chicago Defender about Black people in history and another series written in the Pittsburgh Courier by James M. Rosbrow (also illustrated by Samuel Milai) titled “Negroes in the Halls of Congress.” This column is about Black men who were born into enslavement and became United States senators and congressmen in the Republican Party during Reconstruction (1865-1877). They championed legislation to further civil rights and improve conditions for Indigenous people until the southern white Democrats regained their political platforms and ousted them. However, their efforts greatly contributed to the civil rights movement by establishing racial equality and citizenship in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. 

This description of the Pittsburgh Courier characterizes the importance of this archive:

“Through thirty years of persistence, Vann’s paper ultimately helped change the moral tone of American race relations for future generations. Dozens of editorial campaigns and thousands of newspaper articles, features, and cartoons slowly chipped away at the edifice of white supremacy and affected the way people discussed race, rights, and human dignity. This collective effort pushed multiculturalism closer to the mainstream of American political culture outside the South and helped make possible the formation of powerful interracial coalitions during the civil rights years.” [5]

Explore some of Rogers’s cartoons in the collection below. There are hundreds more of the cartoons, too many to mention and yet too fascinating to omit. This archive is a must see! In the words of Dr. John Henrik Clarke (1915–1998), a prominent African American historian, professor, and pioneer in Afrocentrism and Pan-African studies, Rogers “looked at the history of people of African origin and showed how their history is an inseparable part of the history of mankind.” [2]

Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring an illustrated portrait of Elizabeth Keckley and text about her
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Keckley, businesswoman and philanthropist. (J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Elizabeth Keckley,” Your History, c. 1949.)
“Elizabeth Keckley” transcription

Elizabeth Keckley (1818-1907). One of the ablest women, though but an employee, who ever lived in the White House. Closest friend and confidante of Mary Todd, wife of Abraham Lincoln, She had been born a slave and had bought her freedom. A skilled dressmaker, she had worked in the South for Jefferson Davis and coming to Washingtonshe worked for rich families until she came to Mrs. Lincoln, who became extremely attached to her. She was tall, stately, cultured, one writer said, “She would have been an outstanding personality at the court of Louis XIV.” Her book, “Behind the Scenes,” dealing principally with Mrs. Lincoln, was the literary sensation of 1868. Later, she taught domestic science at Wilberforce University and prepared the Negro exhibit for the Columbian Exposition…….

Keckley wrote a popular book about her experiences with Mary Todd Lincoln at the White House, featuring anecdotes such as the one below:

“In 1863 the Confederates were flushed with victory, and sometimes it looked as if the proud flag of the Union, the glorious old Stars and Stripes, must yield half its nationality to the tri-barred flag that floated grandly over long columns of gray. These were sad, anxious days to Mr. Lincoln, and those who saw the man in privacy only could tell how much he suffered. One day he came into the room where I was fitting a dress on Mrs. Lincoln. His step wasslow and heavy, and his face sad. Like a tired child he threw himself upon a sofa and shaded his eyes with his hands. He was a complete picture of dejection. Mrs. Lincoln, observing his troubled look, asked: 

“Where have you been, father!” 

“To the War Department,” was the brief, almost sullen answer, 

” Any news!” 

“Yes, plenty of news, but no good news. It is dark, dark everywhere.” 

— Excerpt from Elizabeth Keckley, Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House (New York: G.W. Carleton & Co, 1868). (A1868.K42)

Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring text about Africa and an illustration of a Black man with a cape seated on a camel, gesturing below to various people and animals
J.A. Rogers, illustrated by A. S. Milai, “Africa,” Your History, July 9, 1949.
“Africa” transcription

Africa: Mother of Western Culture… Home of religion, medicine, art, science, and music… First to discover and use iron. Its temples, pyramids, and wealth of its pharoahsuneclipsed after 5000 years. Led in world culture for the first 6000 years … Its people invaded Europe several times improving it … They also contributed immensely to the development of nearly all the countries of the New World. Africa is today the world’s greatest region of untapped wealth … (This reproduction is from a drawing of the Middle Ages.)

Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring an illustrated portrait of Henry O. Flipper in uniform alongside text about him
J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Henry O. Flipper,” Your History, February 5, 1949. 
“Henry O. Flipper” transcription

Henry O. Flipper. First Negro graduate of West Point Military Academy… During the four years he spent there (1873-1877) he was socially ostracised [sic] by the other cadets because of color. He sat beside them in the same classes and ate and marched with them, but none spoke to him all that time… Should a white student have spoken to him, he too would have been ostracised [sic] … At the last day, however, (June 14), when he passed creditably and got his diploma, some classmates, no longer afraid, came up and shook his hand warmly… The Northern Press praised him for his “pluck and gentlemanly qualities.” One wrote, “Honor to the African; shame to the Anglo-Saxon.” He is the author of “Colored Cadet at Westpoint,” (1878). 

Excerpt from Henry Ossian Flipper, The Colored Cadet at West Point: Autobiography of Lieut. Henry Ossian Flipper, U. S. A., First Graduate of Color From the U. S. Military Academy (New York: Lee, 1878). (U410.P1 F6 1878):

CHAPTER X: TREATMENT 

“A brave and honorable and courteous man 
Will not insult me; and none other can.”—Cowper. 

        “How do they treat you?” “How do you get along?” and multitudes of analogous questions have been asked me over and over again. Many have asked them for mere curiosity’s sake, and to all such my answers have been as short and abrupt as was consistent with common politeness. I have observed that it is this class of people who start rumors, sometimes harmless, but more often the cause of needless trouble and ill-feeling. I have considered such a class dangerous, and have therefore avoided them as much as it was possible. I will mention a single instance where such danger has been made manifest. 

        A Democratic newspaper, published I know not where, in summing up the faults of the Republican party, took occasion to advert to West Point. It asserted in bold characters that I had stolen a number of articles from two cadets, had by them been detected in the very act, had been seen by several other cadets who had been summoned for the purpose that they might testify against me, had been reported to the proper authorities, the affair had been thoroughly investigated by them, my guilt established beyond the possibility of doubt, and yet my accusers had actually been dismissed while I was retained.* This is cited as an example of Republican rule; and the writer had the effrontery to ask, “How long shall such things be?” I did not reply to it then, nor do I intend to do so now. Such assertions from such sources need no replies. I merely mention the incident to show how wholly given to party prejudices some men can be. They seem to have no thought of right and justice, but favor whatever promotes the aims and interests of their own party, a party not Democratic but hellish.

Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring an insignia alongside text about the 3rd United States Colored Troops. Insignia features an American flag on a pole held together by a Black soldier and a white female figure with a bundle of arrows at her side. Banner text reads, ‘Rather die freeman than live to be slaves. 3rd United States Colored Troops.’
African American troops won the war for the Union according to Abraham Lincoln. [11] (J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Banner of the 3rd U.S. Colored Troops,” Your History, August 13, 1949.)
“Banner of the 3rd U.S. Colored Troops” transcription

Banner of the 3rd U.S. Colored troops (Feb. 3, 1863) which won great distinction in the Civil War. They came mostly from Philadelphia whose white inhabitants at first objected to them but later praised them highly. Lincoln said in effectthat without the Negro the North could not have won but so great was hostility at first that New York City warned Massachusetts that if it sent its Negro troops through there, it would not be responsible for their safety…The Negroes passed New York City in ships…..

Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring an illustration of Alfred Wood surrounded by two rangers
Alfred Wood, a formerly enslaved man and later a trooper in the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry, served as a Union spy and scout during the Civil War. Wood was originally from Vicksburg, Mississippi, and emancipated himself to join the Union Army. [12] (J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Alfred Wood,” Your History, January 1, 1949.)
“Alfred Wood” transcription

Alfred Wood (Old Alf), of the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry was one of the greatest scouts of the Union Army in the Civil War… Was of mixed Negro, white and Indian stock..Operated chiefly around Vicksburg, Miss… Once, captured, he imitated so well the talk and manner of a plantation slave, that when he claimed he had shot a union soldier and was running away, he was allowed to go… Thanks to his light skin and long hair, he once joined the TexasRangers and learnt their plans… He is credited with withmuch of the success of the Union Army in Mississippi…..

  • Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring an illustration of five Black sailors around a cannon alongside text about Negro gunners.
    While the U.S. Navy was integrated, many Black sailors were given roles as cooks and stewards. It is possible that some Black gunners were aboard the U.S.S. Monitor. There were at least eight African American men aboard the vessel, identified as William Nichols (officer’s steward), Siah Carter (born Josiah Hulett who successfully ran away from Shirley Plantation, Virginia), William Scott, Robert Howard, Robert Cook, Edward Cann, Daniel Moore and William Jeffrey. [13, 14] (J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Negro Gunners,” Your History, June 11, 1949.)
  • Black-and-white photograph of a crew on a ship
    Crew of USS Monitor with Lieutenant Siah Hulett Carter (seated front right), July 9, 1862. (Courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum and Park.)
“Negro Gunners” transcription

Negro Gunners fought in what was one of the most celebrated naval battles of all times—that between the Confederate ship, “Merrimac” and the Union “Monitor” in the Civil War… This was the first clash between iron-clad vessels in history…These expert Negro gunners are shown on the deck of the monitor with its battle-scarred turrets… (This sketch was made from a reproduction of a navy photograph of that time…)

Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring an illustration of a Black soldier with a rifle alongside text about Les Pionieers Noirs
J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Les Pionniers Noirs,” Your History, c. 1949. 
“Les Pionieers Noirs” transcription

Les Pionniers Noirs, or Black pioneers, was one of Napoleon’s crack Negro regiments… They fought in the great battles of the Napoleonic Wars. In Italy they served under Victor Hugo’sfather and captured Fra Diavolo… Another famous regiment was Corps d’ Afrique, which was mounted … Negro soldiers were also in the white regiments as privates and officers, the most famous of which was General Dumas, commander of all cavalry, white and Black … ( Sketched from a drawing of a Black pioneer in a print dated 1803.)

Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring an illustration of Couba Cornwallis offering a goblet to a seated white man rubbing his forehead alongside text about Cornwallis
Cuba (Couba) was an expert healer and Obeah woman from the Ashanti tribe. Her relationship with Cornwallis enabled her to secure her freedom from enslavement. Renowned as the Queen of Kingston, Cuba opened a small hospital/convalesce home to practice medicine and purchased property in Port Royal. [6, 7] (J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Couba Cornwallis,” Your History, April 30, 1949.) 
“Couba Cornwallis” transcription

An African Negro girl of Jamaica, West Indies is credited with saving the life of Lord Nelson, naval hero who did most to save England from Napoleon… In 1780, when he was stricken with fever and dysentery in Nicaragua, and brought ashore at Port Royal, Jamaica, at death’s door she gave him an African remedy that checked the disease… She was the common-law wife of Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, whose guest Nelson was…England gave her a pension for this and other services… She died in 1848… 

Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring a large illustration of a bust of Buddha's head alongside text about Buddha
J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Buddha,” Your History, October 17, 1949. 
“Buddha” transcription

According to Buddhist writings which are 1300 years older than the oldest Christian ones, the first Buddha, Ies Christna, was born 1366 B.C. in India. He was jet-Black. Christ-na, or Krishna, means “the Black one.” His hair was woolly, or peppercorn, like this one. He was born of a virgin, and though he came to save mankind, he was persecuted and crucified at the age of 33. He spent three days and nights in hell then ascended to heaven. He had ten disciples, and his symbols were the cross and swastika. Most noted Buddha was Gautama of the 6th century B.C. Though there are now Chinese, Japanese and European-looking Buddhas, the first ones appear as unmixed negroes … Southern India, at least, was originally inhabited by Negroes, and the black skin of most Indians is a Negro inheritance. Buddhism, after 3,300 years is still one of the world’s great religions, being the principal one in the East….

Aged news clipping pasted on paper featuring an illustration of the Three Wise Men, with Balthasar depicted as a Black man, alongside text about Balthasar
J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Balthasar,” Your History, December 25, 1948.
“Balthasar” transcription

Transcription: Balthasar, one of the Three Wise Men from the East said to have been at the “Birth of Christ.” The wise men not only came from the East,but the legend originated there … The first Christ was born in India about 1366 B.C. He is described as “coal black, wooly haired.” ……. A later Indian Christ born 1330 B.C. was also coal-black, wooly-haired, and worshipped by wise men. He was crucified in his 33rd year. All Christs were Black, including the one worshipped by the West, until the whites rose to power and painted him as being white. The New World also had its Black Christs long before Columbus, the most famous being in Guatemala, which is still worshipped by the Indians … Originally there were probably no whites among the Wise Men, but white European painters made two of them white. Anatole France noted French writer [,] has a story in which a white queen falls in love with Balthasar. The legend of Christ throughout the Ages is intended to make man kindlier to his fellowman…… The subjects who posed for Balthasar were usually Negro favorites of kings, queens and great lords of Europe. These characters were sketched from a reproduction of a painting by Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516), the famous Flemish painter …. 

Aged news clipping pasted on paper with text about the word 'Slave'
In the Middle Ages, so many Slavic people were taken captive and sold into slavery by Germanic people that contemporary writers used the Latin word Sclavus (“Slav”) to mean “a personal slave.” This became slave in modern English. [8] (J.A. Rogers, illus. by A. S. Milai, “Slave,” Your History, c. 1949) 
“Slave” transcription

The word “slave” was originally applied to white people. It comes from “Slav” a Russian people captured by the Germans. —Milai—

Sources:

  1. Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. Public Broadcasting Service 2013. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/j-a-rogers100-amazing-facts-about-the-negro/ 
  2. Rashedi, Runoko. “Critical Assessment of Joel Augustus Rogers” Global Presence 002 https://www.knarrative.com/gap002 
  3. Gates, Henry, Louis, Jr. “Who Was Joel A. Rogers?” The Root. November 17, 2014. https://www.theroot.com/who-was-joel-a-rogers-1790877731 
  4. Rogers, J.A. “J.A Rogers: Selected Writings” Edited by Louis J. Parascandola. The University of Tennessee Press. 2023. JSTOR https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.9669490 
  5. Cilli, Adam Lee. “The Pittsburgh Courier’s Discursive Power, 1910-1940” Black Perspective. African American Intellectual History Society. September 8, 2021. https://www.aaihs.org/the-pittsburgh-couriers-discursive-power-1910-1940/#fnref-234057-3 
  6. Freeman, Jude. “Who Was Queen of Kingston Cubah Cornwallis?” Black History Month. October 25, 2018. https://iambirmingham.co.uk/2018/10/25/who-was-the-queen-of-kingston-cubah-cornwallis/
  7. Kramer, Kyra Cornelius. “The Amazing Life of Cuba Cornwallis” February 13, 2020. https://www.kyrackramer.com/2020/02/13/the-amazing-life-of-cuba-cornwallis/ 
  8. “Slave” Merriam Webster dictionary. Accessed 9/23/25. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave#:~:text=Slavic%20people%20were%20so%20frequently,then%20slave%20in%20Modern%20English.
  9. “Sainte Dominque” Wikipedia (Napoleon and Toussant L’Ouverture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue_expedition 
  10. “3rd United States Colored Cavalry Regiment” Wikipedia. Accessed 9/23/25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_United_States_Colored_Cavalry_Regiment 
  11. Hubbell, John T. “Abraham Lincoln and the Recruitment of Black Soldiers” Volume  2, Issue 1, 1980 pp. 6-21. Journal of Abraham Lincoln Association. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0002.103/–abraham-lincoln-and-the-recruitment-of-black-soldiers?rgn=main;view=fulltext
  12. Main, Edwin M. “The Story of the Marches, Battles, and Incidents of the Third U.S. Colored Cavalry- A Fighting Regiment in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865″ Volume 2 1837. Free Download. Internet Archive. Louisville, Kentucky. Globe Print Company. 1908 https://archive.org/details/storyofmarchesba02main/page/38/mode/2up 
  13. Fleming, Hannah. “Meet (a few) Monitor Crew” February 15, 2017. The Mariners Museum and Park. https://www.marinersmuseum.org/2017/02/meet-monitor-crew/
  14. Reidy, Joseph. “Black Men in Navy Blue During the Civil War” Fall 2001, Volume 33,  No. 3. Prologue Magazine. National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2001/fall/black-sailors
  15. “Elizabeth Keckley” National Women’s History Museum. 2021 https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/elizabeth-keckley
  16. O’Gan, Patri. “Duty, Honor, Country: Breaking Racial Barriers at WestPoint and Beyond” National Museum of African American History & Culture. Smithsonian. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/west-point

Photo-Process Phriday… Blueprints!

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The Conservation Lab is taking over the Photobook Phriday post this week to feature a Photographic process: blueprints!

Recently, the conservation lab has been working on blueprints from the Charles M. Robinson Collection. A blueprint is essentially a photographic process used to copy architectural drawings. A support (paper or piece of linen) is coated with a material that is sensitive to light. Then that support is put in contact with a photographic negative or object and exposed to light, which makes the lines of the negative or object water soluble. The now water-soluble lines are then washed off, leaving an image that is mostly blue with white lines where the negative had touched the surface. A fixing solution is usually also required, which prevents re-sensitizing of the surface.

Image of a blueprint showing the inside of a building. A hand at the top left of the image is holding back half of the blueprint to demonstrate it has been torn in half.
Example of a blueprint from the Charles M. Robinson collection that has been torn through the middle.

Charles M. Robinson was an architect in the Richmond, Virginia, area who was active between the early 1900s-1930s. UVA Library’s Special Collections acquired Robinson’s archives as well as successor architectural firms in 2019 because of the wealth of information regarding the design of public buildings and schools for Black and minority citizens in Virginia.

The blueprints in the lab are designs for the Acca Temple in Richmond, at the northwest corner of Main and Laurel streets. The design for the building was inspired by Mosque Temples and opened in 1926. Today, the location is known as the Altria Theater.

The Acca Temple blueprints were working blueprints, which means they were heavily used by the architects and construction workers on site. In this set of blueprints, there are 22 individual pages 36″ x 36″ square that are bound together with brass brads between a linen cover sheet that is 72″ x 36″. They are on two different kinds of supports: paper and coated linen, and both kinds are stained and torn, showing the evidence of their use. The archivists responsible for processing, or describing, this collection identified this set of blueprints as needing help from Preservation primarily because of the large tears through the middle of page 6 of the Acca Temple blueprints, as well as other pages.

CAV Collections Conservator Brittany Murray dry cleaned the blueprints with soot erasers and cosmetic sponge erasers. The designs were so dirty that without cleaning them, it would be nearly impossible to adhere torn pieces back together. Conservator for Special Collections Sue Donovan then reached out to photograph conservators to ensure we were applying the most up-to-date information about blueprint mending to the items in the lab. The Conservators first tried applying strips of thin Japanese paper, previously coated with an even layer of wheat starch paste and then reactivated with an ultrasonic mist of deionized water. These mends were unfortunately not strong enough to hold on the paper or the linen, however. So Sue used wheat starch paste to realign the edges of jagged tears and then applied strips of a thin Japanese paper called Tengucho to the verso of the blueprints with an even layer of wheat starch paste.

A blueprint is being mended, with a stack of board weight down with a black weight on top of a torn section of the blueprint.
The overlapping areas of the large tear through page 6 of this set of blueprints are reattached to each other with paste, weight down under a small stack of blotter and board and a heavy weight.

These mends were dried under small stacks of non-woven polyester strips, blotter, board, and weight. Blueprints are sensitive to alkalinity and light, so the blotters were tested to make sure the pH was suitable for blueprints prior to using them for the mending process. While the blueprints were in the lab, they were covered up to protect them from light when they were not actively being worked on.

Image of an off-white paper with a tear in the middle that has been mended over with a lighter, white transparent paper.
Close-up of the mends on the verso of this blueprint, showing the Japanese paper, which looks whiter than the surrounding paper, applied over the tear.
Close-up of a mended tear through the wording "Framing Plan Manager's Office Floor Slab" on a blueprint. the tear was mended on the verso of this same area in the previous photo.
The recto of the same mend, showing the tear through the media.

The blueprint has now been completely mended, and work will continue on the other blueprints in this collection, including blueprints made on coated linen.

Image of a blueprint with a large tear going through the middle of the page that has been mended.
The same blueprint from the first photograph, now mended.

A Day in the Life of A Book Wizard (Cataloger)

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A day in the life of a book wizard

This post is contributed by Kim Cull, McGehee Rare Book Librarian.

Today, we share a look into the life of a book wizard (cataloger) here in Special Collections. Cataloging is a very important job within all libraries because without catalogers, we would have a difficult time discovering what the library has available on their shelves. Cataloging is essentially the process of creating and maintaining bibliographic and authority records in the library catalog. Cataloger work with metadata, i.e. data about data. Here within Special Collections, our catalogers describe printed items from Gutenberg’s time all the way to the present. They see a lot of very interesting materials which anyone is welcome to come and use.

We will be spending the day with cataloger Kim Cull, but she is a tad camera shy. Because of this, she will be represented by one of our favorite American Girl dolls in miniature, Molly McIntire. If you did not know, Kim is primary cataloger for the McGehee Miniature Book Collection, hence the need for a miniature doll.

 

A miniature Molly McIntire standing in front of miscellaneous rare books.

A miniature Molly McIntire standing in front of miscellaneous rare books.

Today, we have caught Kim in the middle of cataloging a collection of children’s books given to us by Josephine Iselin. This collection is quite fun to catalog because first books have to be unboxed; plus, the illustrations are amazing! Each book is a delightful surprise and a mystery waiting to be discovered. Today, we get to look at A toad for Tuesday by Russell E. Erickson, Lothrop, Lee, & Shepard Co., New York, 1974. Step one in the cataloging process is making sure the book is supported in one of our book supports – yes, even staff have to use them.

Molly McIntire looking at, "A Toad for Tuesday," by Russell E. Erickson.

Molly McIntire looking at, “A Toad for Tuesday,” by Russell E. Erickson.

Next step in the cataloging process is to review the title page and then check to see if a copy already exists in the library. In the past, catalogers would check large filing cabinets filled with card catalogs. Today, catalogers do all of their cataloging and reference work with the computer using our online catalog. If there is an existing record in our local library, all that needs to be done is adding another call number for the Special Collections copy and then describing the item. If a record does not already exist, then the cataloger must search the wider, international catalog first and then create or download a record.

Molly McIntire looking at the computer screen.

Molly McIntire looking at the computer screen.

Cataloging is similar to coding or programming in the sense that we have specific numbered fields that correspond with different elements of a item being described. For instance, the title of the book gets transcribed into the 245 field, the publisher’s statement in the 264 field, and a description of the books binding in the 590 field. The more fields we add, the longer and hopefully better the record will be. We try to add tracings or subject headings in the 600 fields that can be used in searches to help patrons find what they are looking for.

Screen shot of the bibliographic record for, "A Toad for Tuesday."

Screen shot of the bibliographic record for, “A Toad for Tuesday.”

Once cataloging is completed, it is time to make the book shelf ready. In Special Collections, this means writing out the call number on a special bookplate and pasting it in the book. Then, we write the call number on a paper slip, add a barcode, and then send the book to the stacks for our students to shelve. Sometimes, the book gets boxed and sent to off-site storage, but never fear! All materials sent off-site can be retrieved within 72 hours.

The most important part in a cataloger’s day is their tea (or coffee) break. Catalogers are fueled by caffeine. It is also good to take a break from staring at computer screens. Once recharged, the cataloger begins the process all over again with another book.

Molly McIntire enjoying a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Molly McIntire enjoying a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Thank you for taking the time to read about our catalogers’ work. If you have any questions, they are happy to speak about their work.

Staff Spotlight: Brittany Murray

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Headshot of Brittany Murray.

Brittany Murray (she/her) recently joined the UVA Library as the Charlottesville and Virginia Collections Conservator. She is responsible for the conservation and preservation of collection items from local communities in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. She graduated from New College of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in art history (in 2016) and recently completed her master’s degree in art conservation at the University of Delaware. Brittany has previously interned at the Library of Congress, the American Philosophical Society, and the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts. In her spare time, she enjoys watching horror movies, making affordable versions of New York Times recipes, and finding cute coffee shops.

Read on to learn more about Brittany!

What was your first ever job with books or libraries?

My first ever job working with books or libraries was during my first summer in undergrad. I interned in the research library at the Wolfsonian-Florida International University, located in the Art Deco District in Miami Beach. The building is beautiful, and the collection focuses on art and design. I made tons of enclosures that summer.

What was the first thing you collected as a child? What do you collect now? (oh, c’mon, admit it).

As a 90s kid, I collected Beanie Babies. They are now in a plastic tub under my bed, currently depreciating in value. They make fabulous paper weights if you remove the PVC pellets and replace them with buckshot.

Hopefully you’ve been roaming Grounds and Charlottesville a bit since your arrival. What’s your favorite new discovery other than Special Collections?

I am really enjoying the bakery scene! MarieBette, Belle, and Cou Cou Rachou make delicious pastries. There are also a ton of bookstores—my favorite so far is New Dominion.

Tell us what excites you about your job?

What excites me about my job is that I get to handle historical materials, and I get to see the parts of a book that are usually unseen (for example, the spine linings of a book are often printers waste, contemporary to the time of binding). Compared to other art conservation specializations, what makes library conservation so interesting and important is that we are preserving items that will be handled and read by students and researchers, with the ultimate goal of improving accessibility.

Tell us something about Special Collections or UVA that is different from what you expected.

I am a huge fan of children’s books, and I did not expect us to have such a large collection!

If you could be locked in any library or museum for a weekend, with the freedom to roam, enjoy, and study to your heart’s content, which one would you choose?

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Historic Medical Library is above the Mütter Museum. They have an amazing collection of anatomical texts, with flaps! They are kinda like the precursor to pop-up books. The prints in these books are also finely illustrated and fun to study.

H is for Horror

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This post was written by Cory Capron, Receiving & Cataloging Specialist for Resource Acquisition and Description.  

An icon with a large H and the silhouette of a figure from the Night of the Living Dead.

For the ABCs of the UVA Library, Rich Miller, Bryan Kasik, and I set out to tackle H is for Horror by specifically focusing on horror films. Instead of a display featuring objects like laser discs and film posters, we were interested in sharing raw information about the genre’s history and the films that are accessible through Library collections and other open resources. Seeking a way to do this that we felt would be interesting and compelling, we created a slideshow that provides a cursory survey of horror films from the dawn of moving pictures through to the beginning of the 21st century. For each decade, we’ve included a brisk summary and our personal film recommendations, from essential classics to underrated favorites. Though there was a sincere effort to acknowledge international films, these are admittedly quite American-focused selections, drawing on films that, if not from the United States, either became popular or proceeded to influence U.S. horror in a significant way. A more ideal presentation ultimately proved a bit too ambitious to realize within the format of something that could be casually taken in, so compromises were made for length and viewability. In the end, we hope the exhibit stimulates conversation—a water cooler of sorts for students, faculty, and staff to discuss what is absent as much as what is included.   

The survey can be watched on a large monitor that we’ve installed on the fourth floor of Clemons Library, where it will be displayed on repeat for students and staff to view at their leisure through June 13, 2026.

For those wanting to watch some of these films, I have included a PDF listing all the titles featured in the exhibit with links to their Virgo pages (or external resources where necessary). I have also included many of the additional films we wanted to feature but ran out of space for, as well as a list of relevant academic works on horror films, for further study.  

Enjoy the full horror film list and recommended readings!

Re-Digitizing the Holsinger Studio Collection for the 2022 Visions of Progress Exhibition

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This post was contributed by Stacey Evans, senior imaging specialist and project coordinator in the Digital Production Group at the University of Virginia Library. 

Introduction

Visions of Progress: Portraits of Dignity, Style and Racial Uplift catalog cover featuring featuring a black-and-white photograph of an African American woman in a high-necked lace blouse and a floral hat, set against a dark background.

“Can we re-digitize a set of glass plate negatives of African American portraits from the Holsinger Studio Collection?” That question came from Curator of Exhibitions Holly Robertson as the Visions of Progress: Portraits of Dignity, Style and Racial Uplift exhibition approached in 2022.  

The UVA Library’s Holsinger Studio Collection (MSS 9862) consists of approximately 10,000 wet-plate glass negatives and 500 celluloid negatives from the commercial studio of Rufus W. Holsinger—and later his son, Ralph—based in Charlottesville, Virginia. The unique collection includes 600 portraits of Africans Americans in central Virginia and offers insights into life in central Virginia from the late 19th century to the early twentieth century. 

I have known John Edwin Mason, the exhibition’s chief curator, since the early days of my freelance photography career in Charlottesville. I first encountered photographs from the Holsinger Studio Collection soon after moving to Charlottesville in 1996. Holsinger’s landscape photographs appear throughout the city, and, for Virginia Magazine assignments, I retraced his steps—pairing my contemporary images with his early twentieth-century views. 

In more recent years, I noticed Holsinger’s portraits reproduced on vinyl across Charlottesville on buildings and construction fences—a striking reminder of his enduring visual legacy. Joining the University Library in 2020, I was delighted to be in a position to revisit this collection in a new context. So, when the question of re-digitization arose, my answer was yes. As someone new to cultural heritage imaging and the process of digitizing glass plates, I began my research. 

The Holsinger Studio Collection was first digitized in the 1990s using flatbed scanners. Advances in digital imaging now allow us to capture significantly greater pixel detail and a wider tonal range. Re-digitizing the plates would not only enhance image quality but also provide researchers access to un-cropped versions that include portrait numbers corresponding to sitters’ names recorded in two fragile business ledgers held in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. 

Gallery view showing wall-mounted photographs, backlit photographs in windows, and display cases featuring African American portraits from the Holsinger Studio Collection.

2022 installation of the Visions of Progress exhibition in the Small Special Collections Library

Research & Production 

The primary sources for my research included the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative (FADGI), the Digital Transitions Transmissive Digitization Guide, and a blog post by TownsWeb Archiving. I hold a BFA in Photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design, earned in 1995. My early professional experience included positions as a newspaper lab technician and as a first assistant to an architectural photographer. During that time, I gained extensive experience converting slides and film negatives into digital files using drum and desktop film scanners. However, before this re-digitization, I had no prior experience working with glass plate negatives or using a digital camera system as the capture device—now the preferred approach in cultural heritage imaging. 

A screenshot from working with Capture One software showing a 4”x5” black-and-white film target and object, content, and speculative artist’s intent versions of two plates featuring African American women.

From the equipment available in our studio, I selected an XF Phase One camera with an 80-megapixel digital back and a 120mm macro lens, paired with Capture One Cultural Heritage software, a DT Film Stage table, a lightbox, and a sheet of glass to stabilize the plates. I began the workflow by creating a Lens Cast Correction (LCC) profile for the session, capturing the film stage and glass in position to ensure even illumination across the frame. Next, I photographed an Image Science Associates 4”x5” black-and-white film target to establish a baseline for exposure, white balance, and resolution. This target served as a reference for tonal consistency and system performance throughout the session.  

Once the setup was calibrated, we proceeded to photograph each plate (emulsion side up), adjusting the shutter speed as needed to compensate for the varying densities and contrast levels among the negatives. My objective was to produce an uncropped primary file that faithfully represented the full tonal range of each plate—retaining both highlight and shadow detail. In my research, I learned that there are typically three “versions” to consider when digitizing for archival purposes: object, content, and speculative artist’s intent. We decided to preserve both the object and speculative artist’s intent versions. 

From left to right is the library’s metadata catalog link, filename, title, caption, and a thumbnail of each image.

The two preservation formats of the Bill Hurley glass plate negative and associated metadata as shown in the UVA Library’s internal tracking system.

Interpreting artistic intent can be challenging when working with glass plates from a studio more than a century old. Fortunately, John had several original prints from the Holsinger Studio, and, when it came time to finalize the digital renderings, he joined me at the workstation as I fine-tuned images. I tend to prefer flatter tonal curves that preserve subtle detail giving printers more to work with, while John advocated for a bit more contrast based on his Holsinger prints in hand. We met in the middle, taking into consideration both our professional perspectives. 

The re-digitized glass plate of Jessie White, accessible through Virgo, shows two images of White, an African American woman, sitting slightly diagonal on a chair with print publications on her lap. Her hair is just below the ears and might be tied back. She wears a full-length white skirt with a white three-quarter length sleeve blouse. The blouse is embroidered with a pin, and a black rectangular shaped bow on toward the collar. Her left gaze is slightly off camera to the right, and the right image holds a more straightforward gaze.

A detail from the Holsinger Studio Ledger which tracks customers and their portrait purchases. From left to right is the date, the sitter’s name, identification number, and cost.

Each glass plate negative has an identification number etched into the emulsion of the plate. These numbers enabled us to identify portrait sitters based upon a ledger in the Holsinger Studio Collection that included the name of the sitter and how much they paid. For example, Jessie White (X02319) paid $1.00 for her photograph on May 25, 1914.

Working alongside me was Exhibitions Coordinator Jacquelyn Kim. She worked closely with John and Holly to select which portraits would be included and created a spreadsheet to record the corresponding metadata for each plate.  During the digitization sessions, she handled the plates with care, allowing me to focus entirely on image capture and adding the identification number to the metadata.  

Outcome  

A two-page catalog spread with text describing Bill Hurley’s life in Charlottesville and the speculative artist’s intent reproduction of Hurley’s glass plate, originally photographed in 1909 at the Holsinger Studio. Hurley is seated with a slight diagonal holding a lit match gazing directly at the camera with a cigarette in his mouth. He wears a hat, suit, vest, white shirt and tie and long pants.

The resulting images are beautifully reproduced in the exhibition catalog. We maintained the full frame of each plate, leaving a thin black border to assure researchers that no detail was omitted. The delicate textures of lace, the richness of skin tones, and the soft transitions in shadow and light all contribute to the dignity and depth of these portraits. Beyond their technical achievement, these re-digitized images strengthen the connection between the glass plates and the people they represent—linking descendants today with the stories of their ancestors’ portraits of dignity, style, and racial uplift. 

Although the exhibition has come and gone, the new files are accessible through the University of Virginia Library’s Virgo catalog. Forty portraits are featured in an exquisite catalog along with essays and descriptions of the plates. 

The re-digitization of the Holsinger Studio glass plates reflects the University of Virginia Library’s ongoing commitment to advancing cultural heritage imaging and digital preservation. I am grateful to have contributed to this work alongside dedicated colleagues who share a passion for both technical excellence and historical storytelling. 

A two-page catalog spread featuring photos and descriptions of the lives of Susie Smith and Harvey Foster. Smith is seated in a long coat and hat. Foster, dressed formally, stands beside a seated companion.

Staff Spotlight: Anastasia Scholze-Wang

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Please join us in welcoming our newest archivist: Anastasia Scholze-Wang. We are so excited to have her! Continue reading to learn a little bit about her.

Anastasia (she/her) joins the Special Collections Technical Services team as a processing archivist. In this position, she will work to survey, process, describe, and build finding aids for various collections. She has a BA in Music Performance (Voice) and an MLIS, both from the University of Iowa, in Iowa City. In her free time, Anastasia enjoys reading, singing with her guitar, and taking meandering walks at dusk.

What was your first ever job with books or libraries?

I was lucky enough to secure a job at Iowa’s music library right as I began my freshman year of college! I needed a job badly, and they had one open slot on Wednesday evenings. I picked up more shifts as the semester went on, and then worked as much as I could all through undergrad and my masters.

What was the first thing you collected as a child? What do you collect now? (oh, c’mon, admit it).

Maybe basic, but I think it was just books (or maybe the occasional rock) as a child… Now I’m building a vinyl record collection. It’s small, but growing. I would love to own more physical media – I have a fear of losing access to my digital music collection!

Hopefully you’ve been roaming Grounds and Charlottesville a bit since your arrival. What’s your favorite new discovery other than Special Collections?

The trees and hills! The hills can be brutal (especially if you’re still waking up as you walk into work), but I love seeing the mountains on the horizon. The trees are also so much taller than what I’m used to; they’re beautiful. It’s hot here, but there’s a lot of shade from said trees, which I really appreciate.

Tell us what excites you about your job?

Getting to know the materials and the people who make up the collections. At my last archives position, I worked on one specific project organizing the papers of an orchestra conductor who previously taught at the University of Iowa. I loved getting to know him through his letters, photographs, and other materials, and I’m very excited to get to do that here. I’m excited to learn more about Virginia and UVA history, and to be able to do it in a supportive environment that values reparative work.

Tell us something about Special Collections or UVA that is different from what you expected.

I didn’t realize how peaceful it would feel on campus. I started in the summer, so there’s not as much going on as during the school year. I love taking my lunch outside and finding new nooks and crannies to just sit and enjoy the sun for a while.

If you could be locked in any library or museum for a weekend, with the freedom to roam, enjoy, and study to your heart’s content, which one would you choose?

So many! I think my top two would be the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City to see a favorite artists’ (Remedios Varo) works and archive, and the LoC to spend time in the Music Division!

A Discovery and an Eclipse: Langston Hughes’ Rise to Fame

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This post was written by Small Special Collections Library Curator George Riser.

At the age of 22, after leading a peripatetic existence, Langston Hughes moved to Washington, D.C., and took a job as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel. One day, he saw a notice announcing renowned poet Vachel Lindsay would be giving a reading in the hotel theater that evening. Hughes writes in his autobiography, The Big Sea (PS3515.U274 Z464 1940), “I very much wanted to hear him read his poems, but I knew they did not admit colored people to the auditorium.”

That afternoon, Hughes wrote out three of his poems—“The Weary Blues,” “Jazzonia,” and “Negro Dancers”—and placed them in the pocket of his busboy uniform. Again, from The Big Sea:

“In the evening when Mr. Lindsay came down to dinner, quickly I laid them beside his plate and went away, afraid to say anything to so famous a poet, except to tell him I like his poems and that these were poems of mine. The next morning on the way to work, as usual I bought a paper—and there I read that Vachel Lindsay had discovered a Negro bus boy poet! At the hotel the reporters were already waiting for me. They interviewed me. And they took my picture, holding up a tray of dirty dishes in the middle of the dining room. The picture, copyrighted by Underwood and Underwood, appeared in lots of newspapers throughout the country.”

Newsclipping. See caption.

Josephine Tighe Williams, “Discovery of a New Writer of Poetry Among Workers at a Washington Hotel,” Star, December 13, 1925. Papers of Vachel Lindsay (MSS 6259)

News page clipping featuring photo captioned "Langston Hughes, Washington's Bus Boy Poet"

Josephine Tighe Williams, “Discovery of a New Writer of Poetry Among Workers at a Washington Hotel,” Star, December 13, 1925. Papers of Vachel Lindsay (MSS 6259)

Lindsay’s “discovery” of Hughes introduced his works to a broader audience and helped him garner wider literary acclaim. However, by the time they first met in 1925, Hughes had already begun establishing his own reputation.

In fact, Hughes had published several poems in popular Black journals—such as Crisis, Opportunity, and Alain Locke’s guest-edited issue of Survey Graphic—and had signed a contract for his first book. It was through his acquaintance with Locke that Hughes met Georgia Douglas Johnson, who hosted the S Street Salon in her home—a weekly gathering of celebrated poets, writers, and artists. There, Hughes met, among others, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Bruce Nugent, and Carl Van Vechten, who sent some of Hughes’ poems to his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf. Not long after, Hughes received a letter from Blanche Knopf, Alfred’s wife and business partner, saying his poems had been accepted for publication.

Dust jacket for The Weary Blues, featuring a person's silhouette against a bold red background looking at a mounted fixture emitting a circle of warm yellow light.

Dust jacket designed by Miguel Covarrubias. Langston Hughes, The Weary Blues (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926). Clifton Waller Barrett Library (PS3515.U274 W4 1926)

The Weary Blues (PS3515.U274 W4 1926), Hughes’ first published book of poetry, came out the following year in 1926. It would not be long before Langston Hughes would become one of the most influential and celebrated poets of the Harlem Renaissance and beyond, eclipsing the fame of his early advocate, Vachel Lindsay.

Shown here are five typed and signed poems Langston Hughes sent to Vachel Lindsay at his address in Spokane, Washington. Marks made by Lindsay in black ink are visible on the pages. These poems are found in Box 65 of the Papers of Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (MSS 6259) in the Clifton Waller Barrett Collection of American Literature.

The Philip Slaughter Daybook Treatment, Part 1

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The Philip Slaughter Daybook Treatment, Part 1 

To Wash a Manuscript 

 By: Sue Donovan, Conservator for Special Collections.

Sue Donovan, Conservator for Special Collections, is currently engaged in a long-term, intricate treatment that you might be able to see as you walk past the Special Collections Conservation Lab in Shannon Library for the next few months. On the bench is the Philip Slaughter Daybook (MSS 6556), dating from 1808-1816, which is a manuscript written in iron gall ink. A daybook is a recording of daily information for a given location, and the term is often seen for a plantation logbook in the 1800s. The Slaughter Daybook is such a manuscript and recounts the day-to-day purchases and events of a plantation in Culpeper County, Va. One of Sue’s favorite entries is the recipe for soothing rheumatism: it involves placing earthworms inside a stoppered vial within bread dough and then cooking it all together. This results in steamed earthworm juice that you can rub on your aching knees, and a fresh loaf of bread! A true two-birds-one-stone situation.  

A beige book on a black background. The first page is completely detached and placed to the left of the main textblock. There is black handwriting on all pages. The edges are ragged and have many losses.

The Philip Slaughter Daybook, before treatment.

 The daybook was acquired by UVA Library Special Collections in 2018 and was brought to the attention of Preservation Services in 2023/24. Because the book was written in iron gall ink and was bound with a sewing method that put severe strain on the paper, the manuscript was in poor shape. Iron gall ink is a type of writing media that was in widespread use from the Middle Ages up until the early 20th century. It is made with three main components: iron (metal salts), tannic acid, and gum arabic. Other ingredients could be (and were) added, and proportions and recipes for ink were highly variable. Iron gall ink had originally been made for use with parchment, a durable and relatively alkaline writing surface made from animal skins, for which it was beneficial for the ink to “bite” into the parchment. When paper started to be used as a writing surface hundreds of years later, that ink’s capacity to bite became a slow-motion tragedy for many manuscripts.  

Over time, iron gall ink can actually eat through the paper, causing letters to drop out or whole lines of text to crack.  The Philip Slaughter Daybook was unfortunately a victim of what conservators call “inherent vice,” due to the iron and acids in the ink, and every page of the manuscript had instances of drop through.  

A beige sheet of paper with brownish-black ink that has a hole in it, made visible by a white background under the beige paper.

A letter that has “dropped through.”

In addition, the paper used for the manuscript, while it was originally a relatively good quality paper, had degraded over time and was discolored and acidic. Acidic environments can speed up the degradation of iron gall ink, and metal ions can accelerate the deterioration of paper, so the manuscript needed an intervention that would arrest deterioration and allow researchers and staff members to use the daybook safely.  

Calcium phytate treatment is a multi-step process that reduces the metal ions and the acidity in the paper. The treatment requires multiple baths in different chemicals, which is not without risks, but comes with undeniable rewards as well. The first part of the treatment requires bathing the paper in deionized water to remove acidic degradation products and water-soluble metal ions.  

Three beakers containing water are shown against a white paper background. The first beaker is quite yellow, the second beaker is slightly yellow, and the third beaker appears almost completely clear.

The conservator uses beakers of water from each subsequent bath to determine the effectiveness of washing the pages. The first bath removes a high quantity of acidic degradation products, as seen in the first beaker on the left, which is quite yellow. Each following bath is less yellow, which shows that the acidity is being washed away.

In the second part of the treatment, the manuscript pages are washed in a solution of calcium phytate, which complexes free radical metal ions and changes them into water-soluble particles that can be washed away. If the free radicals were allowed to stay in the paper, they would continue to cause damage. Making them water soluble and washing them out thus improves the long-term life of the paper. During this stage of the treatment, testing strips made in-house from a chemical called bathophenanthroline help determine if the metal ions are being complexed and taken out of solution. Every 10-20 minutes a folio is removed from the Calcium Phytate bath, lightly rinsed, and then a specific area of written text is tested. Using plastic tweezers because metal tweezers can cause a false positive, a drop of acetic acid is placed on the testing strip, which will turn pink if metal ions are present. If the strip is very pink, the folio is returned to the bath in a different location, e.g. underneath another folio if it had previously been floating on the top.  

Conservator Sue Donovan, a white woman with brown hair wearing a denim button-up top and black gloves, gently manipulates a folio from the Philip Slaughter Daybook in the calcium phytate bath.

Conservator Sue Donovan gently manipulates gently manipulates a folio from the Philip Slaughter Daybook in the calcium phytate bath.

Once the testing strips are mostly white, the paper is deacidified in a bath of calcium bicarbonate, a solution made with calcium carbonate, deionized water, and a water carbonator. An exterior size of 0.5 % gelatine is brushed onto the paper to provide more protection against metal ions and to restore sizing that was lost during the washing. Finally, the pages are allowed to air dry for one hour, and then they are placed under blotters, felts, and light weight to dry.  

With the curators in Small Special Collections Library, Sue discussed how the benefits to washing the manuscript would outweigh the risks of the treatment. The time this treatment needs is a significant factor in weighing whether to proceed: It takes about 6-8 hours to complete all steps of the calcium phytate treatment for one batch of documents, not counting the drying time in the felts. Four folios are washed during one session, and the solutions have to be made either the night before or the day of treatment. Overall, Sue estimates that the treatment will likely take over 150 hours for the washing steps alone.  

Luckily, Sue has discovered that applying pre-made mending strips to damp (not soaking) pages significantly cuts down on mending time, which goes to show that innovations are being made every day!  

Picture of a pair of tweezers holding a translucent strip of paper above the surface of a wet iron gall ink document.

A mending strip held above the wet surface of the iron gall ink document.

While it is a long treatment, it will be satisfying to accomplish. The washed pages are brighter and more legible, as seen in the first two batches of folios that were washed as a trial. Furthermore, once the pages are washed and metal ions are removed, mending materials applied with more water can be used, which means stronger but also faster application. Mending iron gall ink documents that haven’t been washed can be quite slow and tedious, since conservators must limit the amount of moisture used during the application of wheat starch paste typically used in paper conservation. The Slaughter Daybook, therefore, can be more safely handled and more strongly conserved because of the steps taken to wash the acids and the metal ions out of the paper.  

Once the washing and mending are done, the manuscript will need to be bound back together, but that will be addressed in another blogpost! The overall goal for the daybook is for it to be used safely in the reading room, but in the meantime, the manuscript has been fully digitized to facilitate access to the content within. Make sure to check out what Sue and colleagues Nicole and Melanie are up to in the lab when you walk by Shannon 200!  

Introducing Six Triple Eight’s Madeleine Coleman Roach

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This post, by Manuscripts and Archives Processor Ellen Welch, introduces a new acquisition: the Madeleine Coleman Roach Papers (MSS 16869), documenting the service of a twenty-three-year-old African American woman, Madeleine Coleman, in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of the United States Women’s Army Corps during the Second World War.  

The 6888th Battalion was an all-female mostly Black military unit that has been made famous by several books and movies—most recently in a 2024 film, Six Triple Eight, directed by Tyler Perry and filmed in Atlanta, Georgia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and the United Kingdom (available on Netflix). The 6888th accomplished the near impossible feat of clearing a huge backlog of mail addressed to service members abroad. The women systematically sorted and routed an estimated backlog of 17 million items to over seven million service members in record time, which significantly uplifted the morale of service members in the war. The collection contains photographs, diaries, a memory book, a prayer book, certificates, newsletters, telegrams, menus, and ephemera belonging to Corporal Madeleine Coleman. Watch Six Triple Eight and then visit the Special Collections Library to meet Corporal Coleman and the extraordinary women in this collection.   

Madeleine Coleman Roach 

Madeleine Coleman, originally from Milstead, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia, moved to New York and enlisted in the Army on January 1, 1943, following the enlistment of her boyfriend and future husband, John Roach, also from New York. She entered active service in September and was promoted to corporal, the same rank as Roach. Coleman was determined to follow him abroad and to achieve equal military rank. She trained in Fort Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Devens, Massachusetts; and Camp Sibert, Alabama, before heading overseas in 1945. John Roach trained at several locations in Texas and was also stationed overseas. They both trained as stenographers and corresponded with each other throughout the war until they married in 1946 in Roen, France.  

The 6888th Battalion 

Newspaper clipping with two photos of the 6888th Battalion, shown working as switchboard operators and interacting with a bulletin board.

The 6888th Battalion at work. Corporal Coleman was one of 855 African American and Hispanic women (one from Puerto Rico and one from Mexico) in the 6888th who served overseas in Birmingham, England and Roen, and Paris, France.  Madeleine Coleman Roach Papers (MSS 16869)

One page of a newsletter entitled “Special Delivery” featuring an illustration of an overflowing mail bag in its header.

The 6888th wrote a camp newsletter entitled “Special Delivery.” Two complete issues and four partial issues are in the Madeleine Coleman Roach papers (MSS 16869).

African American women were selected from the Women’s Auxiliary Corps (WAC), the Army Service Forces, and the Army Air Forces to form the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, nicknamed “Six Triple Eight.” First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights leader Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune successfully advocated for the admittance of African American women as enlisted personnel and officers in the WAC. The response was the creation of the 6888th, a unit assigned to clear the significant backlog of mail for service members abroad. (2) General Eisenhower wanted this mail to be delivered as a means of helping with the morale of the troops. (1) Major Charity Edna Adams Early was selected to command the battalion. She was proud of the work her unit did, performing their tasks in record time. The women were trained to identify enemy aircraft, ships, and weapons and to be prepared mentally and physically for full military operations. In Birmingham, England, and in Roen and Paris, France, they found warehouses stacked to the ceilings with mailbags and rooms filled with packages of spoiled food and gifts, along with rodents. (3) The 6888th tracked individual service members by maintaining about seven million information cards, including serial numbers to distinguish different individuals with the same name. Recently recorded oral history interviews with two surviving 6888th members—Fannie Griffin McClendon and Anna Mae Robertson —provide first-person accounts of their work. 

The Assignment

The assignment for the 6888th was to expedite a two-year backlog (17 million letters and packages) of mail to the seven million World War II American service members, government personnel, and Red Cross workers stationed in England and France. (2)  

Warehouse with hundreds of bags of mail.

“Bags and bags of mail. Mission Accomplished.” Courtesy of National Archives via National Museum of United States Army.   

Many pieces of mail and packages from home failed to reach service members because the military units moved quickly to new locations or because names and addresses were incomplete. Some mail had been sitting in bags for two to three years. With no encouragement or news from home, morale became very low. The 6888th Battalion sailed for two weeks from the U.S. to Glasgow, Scotland, on the ship Ile de France amidst threats from nearby German U-boats.  Arriving by train in Birmingham, England, in February 1945, they worked in poorly maintained buildings such as the King Edwards School or airplane hangar warehouses, described as a “cold, dark, dirty warehouse” with broken windows, infested with rats and with mold growing on the mail. They fixed up the school and cleared the mail backlog in 90 days (half of the expected six months). They worked around the clock in three consecutive eight-hour shifts, seven days a week, and learned to become detectives searching envelopes for clues to determine the intended recipient. (3) Their filing system and efficiency made them so successful that they were asked to clear up the Army mail in Roen and Paris, France, which they did in five months. Their motto was “No Mail, Low Morale.” (2)  

Discrimination 

Initially the women of the 6888th recognized that the assignment was considered secondary to war efforts performed by white men and women. Despite the discrimination and racism of white officers and fellow soldiers, the women of the 6888th are now recognized for their achievement with awards, monuments, and praise. Their work is valued as being an important component of the World War II military effort. “They fired no shots, and they fought no battles … And yet, their courage and their dedication achieved a different kind of victory. Almost 80 years later, the 6888th continues to stand as a testament to the outstanding achievements of Black women Soldiers throughout U.S. Army history.” (3)  

September 4 diary entry.

Coleman describes being forced into a segregated unit in Camp Sibert, Alabama. Madeleine Coleman Roach Papers (MSS 16869)

Coleman often wrote in her diary about the racial discrimination she and her fellow battalion members faced during training and from fellow Americans serving overseas. She described experiences of racism at Camp Sibert, Alabama, particularly from white women or, as she called them, “Southern crackers.” She wrote about segregation and “the appalling lack of democracy and equality in the United States.”   

She also mentioned discrimination against women in the service. According to an article by Melissa Thaxton and Jennifer Dubin, “It is estimated that 150,000 women served in the WAAC/WAC during the war, about 4% of whom were African American.” Segregation practices required African American women in the Army Corps to remain at 10% of the overall force. Even after receiving full military training and extensive education for skilled positions in medicine or education, they would be placed in clerical positions or as manual laborers. While white men in America had served in military combat since the Revolutionary War, no women were allowed to enter military service until 1901 (and only then, as nurses). The military did not accept African American women until World War II—and then only in limited roles. The women in the 6888th were the first female African American unit to serve in World War II. They were successful despite the discrimination they faced. In 2022 they were recognized for their service with the Congressional Gold Medal “…not only for their successful completion of their mission at the end of World War II, but for their sustained collective pursuit of racial and sex equality in the face of significant social and political barriers.” (3)  

Retired Colonel Edna W. Cummings declared, “The Congressional Gold Medal is the nation’s gratitude for the 6888th Battalion and the thousands of African American women who served in the Army during World War II. Their service will never be forgotten as soldiers and trailblazers for gender and racial equality.” (3)  

Alyce Dixon, a former corporal in the 6888th expressed her feelings about her service, “We’re all human — whether Black, white, red or brown, and we all have something to offer.” (3)  

Elaine Bennett explained that she joined the WAC “because I wanted to prove to myself, and maybe to the world, that we [African Americans] would give what we had back to the United States as a confirmation that we were full-fledged citizens.” These pioneer women who had limited opportunities for employment at home sought a life of adventure and patriotism amidst adversity and made a difference in the world. (3)  

Madeleine Coleman’s Diary

Madeleine Coleman in uniform.

Corporal Coleman had an active social life at dances at the service club. Madeleine Coleman Roach Papers (MSS 16869)

Coleman’s diary, written before her service overseas, features excerpts from her daily life of training, marching, drilling, and working in the office and field in the Army from 1943-1944. She wrote about her exhaustion from work, her anxieties about army inspections, and her private thoughts on the harsh treatment against African Americans and women in the Corps, especially at Camp Sibert, Alabama. She often encouraged herself with positive messages, such as “what’s next for you little girl.” She also described her social experiences, with dates and dances at the service club. Her diary entries reflect her commitment to John Roach while she compares him with other men that she dated.  

 

Of interest are diary entries which exhibit straightforward curiosity when she learned about women in lesbian relationships for the first time. 

September 10 diary entry.

Coleman describes her surprise that her friend is a lesbian. Madeleine Coleman Roach Papers (MSS 16869)

Photographs  

There are about 35 photos in the collection depicting Coleman’s service and showing women in uniform, many in Rouen and at the French Riviera. Included is a photograph of her commanding officer, Major Charity Adams Early, who was a popular leader and one of the highest-ranking African American female officers in the nation. There are also documents of John Roach’s military service in Texas, Italy, and Army bases in the South Pacific.  

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Notebook open to a spread: "Impressions of Places I Have Seen Overseas."

Coleman’s “Memory Book” highlights the various places she lived and worked during the war. It includes signatures and messages from fellow soldiers. Madeleine Coleman Roach Papers (MSS 16869)

After the War

Postcard featuring Cunard White Star Liner "Queen Mary" at sea.

Sailing home. Madeleine Coleman Roach Papers (MSS 16869)

After the war, Madeleine Coleman Roach became a secretary at the Woodrow Wilson Vocational School (August Martin High School) in New York City. She graduated from York College with honors in African American Studies in the early 1980s. Part of the college library is named for her. John Roach was employed with the postal service. They had two daughters, Rouena and Phoebe, and lived in South Ozone Park, New York.  Madeleine Roach died in 1984 at the age of 65 following the death of her beloved husband, John Roach, in 1983.  

 With an origin story that started with discrimination and segregation as part of the WAC, the  6888th was a precursor to the Civil Rights movement in America.   

 “The Six Triple Eight’s achievements are remarkable considering the fraught social and political climate of the time. Indeed, the women of the 6888th Postal Directory Battalion proved to be pioneers in military service during an era when racial segregation was law, and few opportunities were available to women to work outside the domestic sphere.” (3) 

 The current celebration of the 6888th Battalion in films and documentaries as well as in books and archives is well-deserved and long overdue.  

Sources  

  1. Chamberlain, J. “African American Women in the Military During World War II” Posted in African American History, Films, Military, Motion Pictures, U. S. Army. The Unwritten Record. National Archives. 12 March, 2020. https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2020/03/12/african-american-women-in-the-military-during-wwii/  
  2. Fargey, Kathleen. “Women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion” 14 February, 2014. Buffalo Soldier Educational and Historical Committee. Accessed 3/21/25. https://www.womenofthe6888th.org/the-6888th 
  3. Thaxton, Melissa and Dubina, Jennifer. “A Different Kind of Victory: The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.” National Museum of United States Army. Accessed 3/21/25. https://www.thenmusa.org/articles/a-different-kind-of-victory-the-6888th-central-postal-directory-battalion/ 

For More Information 

Rose, Naeisha. “Remembering a 6888 Veteran”. Queens Chronicle. Queens New York. 13 February 2025. Accessed 2/25/25
https://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/remembering-a-6888-veteran/article_0ef47078-4275-5df5-ae74-4fb5f9c1e9f3.html 

Lauria-Blum, Julia. “No Mail, Low Morale, The Six-Triple-Eight Delivered” Metropolitan Airport News. 1 February 2025. “No Mail, Low Morale” The Six-Triple-Eight Delivered! 

Perry, Tyler, “Triple Six Eight: Everything you need to know. Tudum by Netflix. Accessed 3/17/2025 https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/tyler-perry-new-netflix-movie-six-triple-eight