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“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

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

Seeing the World from a Different Perspective

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July is Disability Pride Month. This post is contributed by Ellen Welch, Manuscripts and Archives processor. Ellen recently processed a letter, MSS 16844, typed and signed by Helen Keller.

MSS 16844, Letter written by Helen Keller. November 25, 1944.

Helen Keller (1880-1968) was an influential twentieth century author, activist, educator, and humanitarian.  Born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost the ability to see and hear due to an illness that she contracted before she was two years old. Throughout her life, Keller advocated for people with disabilities, labor rights, and women’s suffrage, and co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 1920.

The letter written by Keller that Special Collections holds is dated November 25, 1944, and contains an appeal for funds for the American Foundation for the Blind, where she worked for twenty years. The letter is intriguing–particularly when you consider that Keller had to develop the skills to type without the ability to see the keys on the typewriter. The bottom of the typed letter also bears Keller’s handwritten signature.

Helen Keller using a typewriter at Radcliffe College, 1900.

My curiosity about how Keller would have been able to type the letter led me to research how that was possible. In 1892, Frank H. Hall, superintendent of the Illinois School for the Blind, invented the Hall Braille Writer. According to Erik Larson in his 2004 book A Devil in the White City, during the 1893 Chicago World Fair Keller approached Hall, hugged, and kissed him, thanking him for his invention. Keller would have been about twelve or thirteen at the time. She was taught to use the Hall Braille Writer by her teacher, Anne Sullivan (1866-1936). Sullivan held Keller’s finger to every key and hand spelled the letter of the alphabet that the braille key represented. This was slow work and required a great deal of memorization. With practice, Keller was able to type. No one typed for her. Through assistive technology, Keller had the ability to type independently.

As seen on MSS 16844, Keller could also write by hand. Her handwriting is legible and consistently upright like the writing in calligraphy. The neat handwriting of someone who could not see what they were writing seemed unusual to me. Upon viewing Keller’s letter, my first thought was that someone else typed it for her and she signed her name at the bottom. As a person without a visual disability, I assumed it would be impossible for a person who is blind to use a typewriter. I was previously unaware of the challenges that a blind person must overcome in typing and writing. Processing this letter allowed me to confront a bias I was unaware of and revealed the challenges a person with disabilities might encounter and overcome.  

I learned that it bears this specific style because of the use of an assistive writing board and a method called square-hand. People with visual disabilities would place a piece of paper on the writing board, which had horizontal grooves on it. The paper would press into the grooves, creating lines that could be felt as a person’s hand moved across the page, keeping their writing straight. As they wrote along the grooves, with their left index finger they would cover the letter they had written with their right hand, preventing the letters from overlapping. They would often use a finger’s width to create spaces between the words they wrote. Writing within the grooves gave letters a square appearance, which is where the term square-hand comes from.

A nineteenth century writing board used at the Perkins School for the Blind. (2)

A letter that Keller wrote when she was nine years old. Notice the tiny wiggle at the beginning of the drops of the letters “y,” “g” and “p,” showing the indent of the writing board. (1)

In the nineteenth century, there were many different tactile reading and writing systems for people with visual disabilities, including Embossed Roman letters, Boston line letter, New York Point, and French, English, and American braille. The origin of braille came about during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) when, in 1815, a French artillery captain named Charles Barbier de la Serre (1767-1841) developed a tactile code using raised dots for soldiers to use to silently communicate in the dark. This system came to be known as night writing. The National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris (est. 1785) adopted night writing to teach their students. In 1824, a fifteen-year-old student at the school named Louis Braille (1809-1852) modified Barbier’s night writing code, making it more legible for people with visual disabilities. Barbier’s code adapted phonetic sounds, whereas Braille’s interpreted letters of the alphabet, included numbers and punctuation, and was more compact and easier to quickly interpret. Braille’s improved method bears his name, braille. By 1916, it was the dominant tactile reading method. At present, there are over one hundred and thirty-three braille codes for different languages.

The title page of a book printed in Boston line letter, published in 1836 by what is now the Perkins School for the Blind. (2)

Sample page from Procedure for Writing Words, Music, and Plainsong in Dots, by Louis Braille, 1829. (2)

While braille has prevailed as the tactile reading method, other methods were also being developed in the nineteenth century. There was inconsistency and controversy among the various schools for the blind between maintaining the use of New York Point or moving to braille. This became known as “The War of the Dots,” which lasted in the United States for nearly eighty years. Caught in the middle of the debate, people with visual disabilities had to learn as many as five or six different tactile reading methods. When they gained literacy in one, it wasn’t unusual for them to discover that the books they wanted access to were exclusively printed in another format. (3) New York Point was often recommended by instructors without visual disabilities because it was more accessible for them. However, by 1854 braille prevailed with the help of educators and advocates with visual disabilities.

Keller was distraught that she had to learn multiple tactile codes to access reading material. In 1909, she advocated for the adoption of braille. By 1932, all English-speaking countries used it because of its improved accessibility. Almost two-hundred years after Braille proposed his method, braille is used worldwide in over one hundred and thirty languages. While people with deaf blindness, like Keller, still rely on methods like braille for access to materials, in the late-twentieth and now into the twenty-first century, people with visual disabilities also have access to audio text, voice-recognition software, artificial intelligence, and other technologies. (3) From writing boards, line types, and braille to assistive developments for the typewriter, audio text and artificial intelligence, technology over the past two-hundred years has increased inclusion, equity, and access for people with disabilities.

Through processing this letter typed and signed by Helen Keller, I have become aware of the many ways that people with disabilities have had to interact with the world around them throughout history. The determination and strength they have shown in developing, learning, and advocating for inclusive technologies is incredible. In a world that often overlooks or takes for granted the challenges they face; it is important to recognize them and their accomplishments. The presence of Keller’s letter in our collection serves as a reminder of her achievements and is an inspiration for us all.

For more information about Helen Keller:

Sources:

  1. Riener, Mimzy, “How Did Helen Keller Navigate her World,” Late Night Writing Advice Blog. https://mimzy-writing-online.tumblr.com/post/683836657798152192/how-did-helen-keller-navigate-her-world.
  2. McGinnity, B.L., Seymour-Ford, J. and Andries, K.J. (2004) Reading and Writing. Perkins History Museum, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA. https://www.perkins.org/archives/historic-curriculum/reading-and-writing/
  3. Letizia, Nelle, “History of tactile print systems explored in new Vancouver exhibit”, Washington State University Library, 29 May 2024. https://news.wsu.edu/news/2024/05/29/history-of-tactile-print-systems-explored-in-new-vancouver-exhibit/

“Theatre for All the People: Meet Ernie McClintock, award-winning theatre director and teacher”

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This post is contributed by Ellen Welch, Manuscripts and Archives processor about a recent acquisition: the Ernie McClintock Papers (1937-2003) (MSS 16810). It has been wonderful and transformative to see the world of theatre through the eyes of Ernie McClintock. Curator Krystal Appiah described the acquisition in this way,

“From the moment I saw the collection description, I knew that I wanted to add Ernie McClintock’s papers to the library so that others could learn about his unique contributions to Black theater and acting in Richmond, Harlem, and beyond. I’m also grateful to his family for understanding the importance of these papers by preserving them for so many years and now trusting the Small Special Collections Library to continue that stewardship.”

Special Collections thanks Geno Brantley, Donna Pendarvis, Elizabeth Cizmar, Derome Scott Smith, Mary Hodges, and Iman Shabazz for helping with the identification of photographs, and sharing their stories and love for Ernie McClintock and Ronn Walker. 

Born on the southside of Chicago, Ernie McClintock (1937-2003) was an American director, producer, actor, writer, teacher, theatre artist, and major force behind the scenes of the Black Arts Movement (1965-1975). He taught acting to hundreds of students across the country and directed award-winning plays in Harlem, New York (1966-1989), and Richmond, Virginia (1991-2003). The papers are a rich resource for drama students, researchers, and communities interested in theatre and Black theatre, specifically. The collection represents the works and dreams of a Black and gay theatre director who supported the voices of Black men and women—and multicultural communities—by directing their performances and teaching them acting in local and national theatres. With minimal financial support and years of hard work and determination, McClintock directed over two hundred productions. 

Ernie McClintcok

Actor headshot of Ernie McClintock from (1960-1965)

McClintock’s life was the theatre, and the actors and set/stage workers were like his family. They worked, ate, and sometimes lived together. McClintock received seven AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee) awards and won the Living Legend Award from the National Black Theatre in 1997. He also won the Billy Graham artistic excellence award in 2002—two scripts by Billy Graham about Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis are included in the collection. Too expansive to put in one category, anyone studying Black Theatre Arts will repeatedly come across the exemplary and inclusive work of Ernie McClintock.  

New York

Ernie McClintock met his long-time partner, Ronald “Ronn” Tyrone Walker, (1936?-1999) in Chicago in 1962. Then they moved to New York. Walker, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, was an artist and theatre set designer. He and Ernie worked as a team on theatre productions. Walker received three AUDELCO Awards for his work with set designs and lighting. He was recognized for creating stunning visual images for the stage. He also painted collages of icons like Magic Johnson, Nelson Mandela, Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, and others. 

Ronn Walker

Ronald “Ronn” Tyrone Walker

Ernie McClintock and partner Ronn Walker

Caption: Ernie McClintock and long-term partner and artist, set designer, Ronn Walker. They lived and worked together for 38 years.

Ernie attended acting classes on a scholarship at the Gossett Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, New York, in 1965-1966. Oscar award winner and founder of the academy, Lou Gossett, Jr. was impressed by McClintock’s intuition and asked him to teach acting classes alongside him and acting legend James Earl Jones. After six months of teaching at Gossett’s academy which was attended by white and Black students, McClintock wanted to create a Black theatre school centered on Black self-expression, storytelling, and community healing. McClintock, Walker and their friend, historian and artist Marcus Primus, opened the Afro-American Studio for Acting and Speech in Harlem on March 28, 1966.  

Afro-American Studio for Acting and Speech

Afro-American Studio for Acting and Speech, Harlem, New York

The school was unique in that it was inclusive of gay people, Black women, and Afro-Caribbeans at a time when they were not getting cast in roles in other theatres. In her book, Ernie McClintock and the Jazz Actors Family, Elizabeth Cizmar writes, “McClintock stood as an outlier in the movement”—he was left out of the mainstream of the Black Arts Movement “because he insisted on including a multitude of voices in his theatres.” The movement discriminated against gay people and Black women, particularly dark-skinned women. In addition, McClintock directed plays that made powerful statements about social justice and depicted struggles of African American people. His productions included Dream on Monkey Mountain (Afro-Caribbean people), Equus (masculine gay men), Spell #7 (Black women), A Raisin in the Sun, El Hajj Malik, Lord Do Remember Me, Rainbow on a Moon Shawl, and The River Niger. McClintock’s work was recognized for excellence in Black theater and created more visibility and inclusion for marginalized groups.

Actors who were part of the Afro-American Studio (1966-1972)

Actors in the Afro-American Studio (1966-1972), the 127th Street Repertory Ensemble (1973-1986), and the Jazz Theatre of Harlem (1986)

While in New York, Ernie crossed paths with many famous actors, directors, and playwrights, who had enormous respect for his work. He worked with Tupac Shakur, Ossie Davis, James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Morgan Freeman, Lou Gossett, Jr., Sammy Davis, Jr., Marcus Primus, Woody King, Jr., Ntozake Shange, Amiri Bakara, and many more. Tupac Shakur enrolled in the Afro-American Studio in 1983. 

Ernie and Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur and McClintock; Tupac enrolled in the Afro-American Studio in 1983 at the age of twelve.

Tupac was the understudy for Travis Younger in A Raisin in the Sun in 1984 and successfully took over the part when the actor could not continue. Throughout Tupac’s successful career, he kept in touch with Ernie McClintock. Many of the lyrics in his songs focused on healing for the community. Co-actors Hazel Smith, Lee Levy Simon and McClintock were close to him, and the play based on Tupac’s poem, The Rose That Grew Out of Concrete was a homage to Shakur.

Tupac Shakur in the cast of El Hajj Malik

Tupac Shakur in the cast of El Hajj Malik. He was mentored by McClintock.

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sammy Davis, Jr. (towards back in the center) worked with the Boys Choir of Harlem. McClintock (not pictured) was the stage director.

James Walker

James “Jimmy” Walker, from the 1970’s television show, “Good Times.”

Richmond:

In 1986 Ernie McClintock and his partner Ronn Walker, along with other theatre directors in New York, felt the financial strains of the 1980’s and closed their theatres. In addition, fifty-seven of McClintock’s’ friends and company members were dying from illnesses related to HIV and AIDS.  McClintock and Walker decided to leave New York and, after searching several cities, they settled in Richmond, Virginia. In 1991 McClintock created the Jazz Actors Theatre, where he focused on training young actors.

McClintock also worked for the City of Richmond’s Parks and Recreation to create Black productions at the Dogwood Dell. There were many African Americans living in Richmond, but the city itself was conservative and did not have many Black theatre productions (Cizmar). McClintock was tenacious and fought for three or four productions per year. He also brought the National Black Theatre to Richmond.

Performances included Before It Hits Home, From the Mississippi Delta, Miss Ever’s Boys, and Ndangered. He also directed new plays written by young playwrights and actors like Derome Scott Smith (R.I.O.T), and Jerome Hairston.

Jazz Actors

Jazz Actors Theatre: Top row: Mia Burdie, Cheryl Sullivan, dl Hopkins, Linwood Jones, Ed Broaddus, Jakotora Tjoutuku, Mary Hodges. Bottom row: J. Ron Fleming, Toni McDade-Williams, and Derome Scott Smith. Richmond, Virginia.

Awards:

Audelco Award recipients

Ernie McClintock’s production of Equus won six AUDELCO Awards in 1982. From left to right: Jerome Preston Bates won for best supporting actor, Greg Wallace won for lead actor, McClintock won Dramatic Production of the Year, and Ronn Walker and Geno Brantley won for their lighting design.

Teaching:

McClintock developed his own “Jazz Style Acting Technique,” or “The Commonsense Approach to Acting.” He believed that for actors to play a part, they must know their authentic self and bring that into their acting using their personal life experiences and imagination of the character. Much like a jazz ensemble, the individual characters play a role with improvisations and create a story together. He saw theatre as a temple of healing, particularly for African Americans who were mistreated throughout American history. He created lesson plans and voice exercises that required the actors to understand their identity as a person and an actor.

Breathing

Bolanyle Edwards who portrayed Maxine in Spell #7 said that McClintock’s voice exercises “helped actors get in touch with who they are.” (Cizmar)

Jazz Actors Theatre

Ernie McClintock with actors from the Jazz Actors Theatre, Richmond, Virginia. Ernie McClintock is in the back row, top left.

The McClintock papers contain personal notebooks, scripts, theatre programs, reviews, working files from performances, photographs, and audiocassettes from interviews and productions.

The journals reveal Ernie’s driving passion to create a first-rate theatre and his commitment to teaching African American actors. They contain passionate peptalks that he wrote to inspire himself to keep working toward his goals and daily to-do lists to keep him on track. He also wrote about his loneliness, and his ongoing struggles to find financial support for his life-long dream of sharing Black Theatre as an integral part of society’s culture.

Ernie pep talk

Ernie McClintock pep talk to himself from his diary.

A page from Ernie McClintock's diary

A page from Ernie McClintock’s diary about teaching young actors.

One can still hear Ernie McClintock’s voice on the audiocassette tapes from interviews and performances and follow the lesson plans from the Afro-American Studio for Acting and Speech. Current actors and researchers can benefit from this great teacher and theatre artist who cared as much about the actors as he did about the quality of the performance—and the healing for marginalized communities. His legacy lives on in this collection.

Sources:

Cizmar, Elizabeth M. Ernie McClintock, and the Jazz Actors Family: Reviving the Legacy. New York. Routledge. 2023.

Brantley, Geno. Conversations during his visit to Small Special Collections. October 26, 2023.

Ernie McClintock papers, MSS 16810. Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

We’re Hiring! Informational Webinar for Open Positions

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We're hiring! graphicJoin us for a virtual information session on Monday, December 4, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. to share details of three open positions in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library: Exhibitions Coordinator, Reference and Instruction Librarian/Archivist, and Digital Archivist.

Register for full details—or, to receive a recording of the webinar if you can’t join at the scheduled time: https://virginia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4E-mssAKRj2pY0Ij0zSyZw

Exhibitions Coordinator
Status: Apply online in Workday; application review began December 6, 2023
Reporting to the Curator of Exhibitions, the Exhibitions Coordinator will assist in the planning, production, promotion, and management of physical and online exhibitions. This role also supports the Library’s Registrar functions to track, document, and prepare materials requested for loan by internal and external organizations, and is a key member of the Small Special Collections Library’s outreach effort, assisting in programming, events, tours, social media, and other activities that promote exhibitions and the accessibility of our collections.

Digital Archivist
Status: Apply online in Workday 
Reporting to the Head of Technical Services, the Digital Archivist facilitates acquisition, processing, discoverability, and access for the rare and unique holdings of Small Special Collections. This position will primarily be responsible for processing digital archival materials, utilizing ArchivesSpace to create finding aids and digital objects for online publication to full national standards. Primary duties will also include leading and managing the Special Collections web archiving program.

Reference & Instruction Librarian/Archivist
Status: Apply online in Workday; application review began January 8, 2024
The Reference and Instruction Librarian/Archivist will join the reference team in Special Collections and will report to the Head of Operations. This position will be responsible for providing excellent research support for students, faculty, scholars, and community members in addition to providing instruction support for students. Duties include managing reference desk, responding to remote reference requests, and reading and interpreting library catalog records and finding aids.

About the Small Special Collections Library:

Staff in the Small Special Collections Library steward an extraordinary collection documenting American history, particularly early American; American and English literature; bibliography, book history, and book arts; African American studies; the built environment; history of the state of Virginia and the University of Virginia; and material culture. As significant as our collections are, we recognize that there are silences and gaps in the documentary record.  The ideal candidates for these positions are intellectually curious and eager to learn the stories revealed in our collections, to build upon them, and to share them widely.

Thank you for your interest in our job openings!