Richard Wright Collection of Graphic Images of African Americans

Access and use

Location of collection:
College of William and Mary
Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
400 Landrum Drive
PO 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (757) 221-3090
Fax: (757) 221-5440
Restrictions:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Terms of access:

Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Preferred citation:

Richard Wright Collection of Graphic Images of African Americans, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
21.68 Linear Feet 52 boxes
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Richard Wright Collection of Graphic Images of African Americans, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection, compiled by Richard Wright, focuses on the evolution of the Black American image in print media, cartoons and comics. Wright organized his own historical timeline titled "Good Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics," also referred to as "Clean Fun: Blacks in Comics," in a series of binders with artist biographies and time period summaries. Item titles have been retained from the original labels.

Materials in this collection include: books, comic books, magazines, prints, reference books, slides, photographs, CDs, DVDs, sheet music, newspaper strips, lithographs, and artwork.

Biographical / historical:

Richard Wright (1946-2019) grew up in New York and attended college at Bradley University in Peoria, IL on an academic scholarship. He originally planned to study chemistry but graduated with a Bachelor of Political Science instead.

Wright moved to Stamford, Connecticut, where he met and married Minister Deborah V. P. Wright (1953-2012). They had three children together: Aaron Person, Joslynn S. Hamlet, and Porchia M. W. Smith.

Wright spent the bulk of his career working as a court officer in the social services Department of Child Support in Connecticut until his retirement in 2013. He then moved to Williamsburg, Virgina, where he lived until his passing in 2019.

He was an active member of Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Stamford, Connecticut. He served as a member of the trustee board, and sang in the Male Chorus and Inspirational Choir. Upon relocating to Williamsburg, VA, he joined Colossian Baptist Church in Newport News, and once again served as a choir member.

Outside of the church, Wright also served as the president of the Stamford Chapter of the NAACP, was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., and worked as a volunteer and mentor for a substance abuse rehabilitation program called Liberation House.

While living in Stamford, Wright began collecting Black comic books in 1986 because "he wanted to have a hobby." His collection eventually grew beyond comics to include books, art works, photographs, and audio visual materials on the same topic. He saw the images that he collected over the years as a way to better tell the story of the depiction of Black Americans in visual media. In 2019, Wright donated his collection to William & Mary so that it might be "a helpful resource to students" in the future.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Richard Wright.
Processing information:

Comic book volumes and other published materials included with this collection have been transfered to Rare Books and cataloged individually.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into nine series: Research files, Collecting records, Minstrel shows, Scrapbooks and portfolios, Original artwork, Print and poster reproductions, Newspapers, Printed materials, and Audiovisual materials.

Published books and comics can be found in our Rare Books collection.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard