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This collection contains images of both African and African American individuals. The subjects photographed include military personnel, men, women, and children. Some individuals were photographed inside of a photographer's studio. The images vary in size and format and range in date from circa 1850s-1945. Each item has a description at the file level.

Nineteenth century records regarding African-Americans, including deed of emancipation (1829), two brief autograph letters by abolitionists Charles Sumner and Wendell Phillips (1850, 1882), eight copies of "The Anti-Slavery Record", a significant abolitionist publication (1835), and twenty popular song broadsides featuring minstrel song themes (ca. 1830s-1860s).

This series contains one daybook and general account ledger from Augusta County, VA with details on African American laborers and customers noted as "colored." Functions as a daybook and a store ledger including the current and past accounts of the keeper and their customers as early as 1873. Paper bound by half calf and marbled boards.

Letters written from Lee to Manning Marius Kimmel, a fellow Confederate officer and to other acquaintances concerning former Confederate officers, Reconstruction and Kimmel's experiences fighting as a mercenary with Maximilian in Mexico. Includes letter, 4 November 1875, discussing the participation of Black people in the dedication of the equestrian statue of Stonewall Jackson on Monument Avenue in Richmond and the typescript of the speech, 11 August 1875, made by W. H. Payne when nominating Lee for governor.

This collection is composed of 69 Property Tax Books and 3 Land Tax Books for James City County, Virginia, 1866-1948, and 42 Property Tax Books and 2 Land Tax Books for Williamsburg, Virginia, 1865-1927.

The John Newton Bell papers includes personal and professional correspondence from relatives, business associates and religious figures throughout Virginia and the greater Appalachia. Letters document subject areas including the Civil War, the hospitalization of women in mental health facilities, agricultural issues, and religious matters related to the Presbyterian Church.

Papers of Katherine G. Johnson. Includes assorted artifacts, family photographs, awards, honorary degrees, correspondence, and other material regarding the career and life of Katherine G. Johnson. The bulk of the collection is focused on material relating to the release of the 2016 film Hidden Figures while other material details Katherine Johnson's early life and her family history. Such material includes news clippings, magazine articles, and fan mail to Katherine G. Johnson.

The racial and ethnic ephemera collection contains various materials regarding race, ethnicity, and racism in the United States. The collection includes papers and items that promote racial prejudice and propaganda. The collection also contains items and papers that exemplify the fight for civil and equal rights. African Americans are the most broadly represented group in the collection. Other ethnic groups include Native Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, and Cuban Americans. Ku Klux Klan pamphlets and anti-immigration publications are also included. Through this collection, the American struggle of racism and prejudice is realized.