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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.