Collections

The Alan Bell collection consists of original newsprint and magazine copies, poetry, journals, and directories that focus on the lives of the African American lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Publisher Alan Bell produced a monthly hard news alternative to many of the infotainment-oriented publications that appeared throughout America's Black gay communities during this period. The BLK magazine was published from December 1988 until March 1994. It began as a 16-page black and white newsprint, and later grew to 40 pages with glossy color covers, paid circulation, and national product advertising until it ceased publication in March 1994. A total of 41 issues were published, all of which are in the collection.

Contains a variety of published and unpublished material that relates to the Jewish Holocaust and Armenian Genocide. Examples of materials include: letters, periodicals, personal narratives, etc.

The Niara Sudarkasa Collection documents the career of anthropologist, Africanist, professor, and university president Dr. Niara Sudarkasa. The collection contains correspondence, scholarly writings, publications, research files, audio visual materials, awards, and business papers dating from 1934 to 2006. The collection also includes Dr. Sudarka's personal library of more than 2,500 books, journals, and pamphlets. The collection highlights Dr. Sudarkasa's professional achievements including becoming the first woman president of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and first Black faculty member of the Anthropology Department at the University of Michigan. Her papers are a unique resource on Yoruba language and culture, ethnic groups in higher education, and the Black Power Movement in the United States. They also document her work to strengthen international programs at Lincoln and the University of Michigan.

The collection reflects Mr. Sutphin's admiration for Frank Lloyd Wright, whom he met on a number of occassions while at university. He, along with friends and colleagues, made a point to travel to Wright-designed works throughout the United States, where he took high quality color photographs which will soon be added to our digital collections. He also collected articles from trade publications related to Mr. Wright's work.

The Simpson Collection contains a galley print of "Hugh Shearer: a voice for the people" by author Hartley Nieta, two LIFE magazines (a April 12, 1968 issue with MLK on the cover and a September 12, 1969 issue with Coretta Scott King on the cover), and two volumes from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association conference proceedings in 1992 and 1994.