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The Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Photograph of John Hope Franklin. Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. Duke University.

African and African American Collections

The library's holdings in this area are administered under the John Hope Franklin Collection of African and African American Documentation, one of the primary research centers within the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. Founded in November 1995 with the support of its namesake, the distinguished historian John Hope Franklin, the Collection seeks to collect, preserve, and promote the use of library materials bearing on the history of Africa and people of African descent.

Representative Collections

The web site for the Franklin Collection has an extensive description of its holdings. Among the highlights are:

Manuscript Collections

Oral History Collections

Photographic Collections

Digital Collections

Collection Guides / Finding Aids

Most of the collections in this area have fully accessible and searchable finding aids. In addition, the Franklin Collection maintains a selected guide to its holdings.

Collection Policies

Existing Collection Strengths and Focuses: Personal papers and records of important national, regional, and local African American individuals and institutions; 18th-19th-century plantation records; personal papers of American missionaries; materials concerning the British presence in Africa; 20th-century intellectuals (African American, racially-focused, and/or trans-Atlantic); 20th-century literature and expressive culture (particularly post-Harlem Renaissance); racial consciousness in Brazil; African diaspora.

Contact Information

The Director of the Franklin Collection is Karen Jean Hunt. For questions about the collection or its programs, you may e-mail her, or contact her by telephone at: 919-660-5922.

For general information about finding materials in the library's collections and how you can use them, requesting permission to reproduce, or other information as well as reference questions about the holdings in this area:

E-mail: special-collections@duke.edu
Phone: (919) 660-5822
FAX: (919) 660-5934

If you are getting in touch via e-mail, please be sure to include your return e-mail address in the body of the message, since it sometimes gets stripped from the header in transit. Also, if you expect a response, make sure to include a phone or fax number or postal address where we can reach you, since sometimes it is difficult or impossible to respond via e-mail. Thank you!