Archival Collections

This collection of personal papers provides insight about Lemoine A. DeLeaver Pierce, Professor of Legal Studies and cultural historian. Pierce is a teacher whose commitment to life long learning stems from a continuing need to supplement her formal education, and a long standing family commitment to education. Professor Pierce has taught at: Kennesaw State University, the Keller Graduate School of Management, Morris Brown College, Clark Atlanta University, and the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. The collection is rich in family history and documents Pierce's professional career and multidisciplinary interests in law, world cultures and art history.

When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April of 1968, the Black theological students at Colgate Rochester Divinity School requested a program and professorship in Black Church Studies as a memorial to what King represented as a pastor and leader of the Black Church. After a forced close-down of the school by the Black students and a series of fundraising efforts, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Professorship in Black Church Studies was established. This position was filled by Henry H. Mitchell (clergyman, educator, author and at that time pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Santa Monica, CA) on July 1, 1969 and the program of Black Church Studies at CRDS/BH/CTS was launched in September 1969. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellows project began as the result of an idea given to Dr. Mitchell for a research and writing project for the purpose of developing literature, curriculum, and bibliographical materials in the area of Black Church practice.

Maurice Pennington was a photographer and cartoonist for The Atlanta Inquirer during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. A talented multimedia artist, Pennington documented the boycotts, sit-ins, and the arrests of students, commenting critically on the political and social climate in Atlanta through cartoons - skewering local politicians, admonishing Black leaders for their accommodationist views, and reminding his audience of the incompatibility of segregation and democracy.

The Morehouse College Photograph Collection includes photographs depicting the buildings and grounds, students, campus events and visitors, faculty, and individuals associated with Morehouse College dating from the 1880s through the 1970s. The images showcase aspects of the history of Morehouse College as the only all-male historically Black college in the United States. Morehouse College was founded by Reverend William Jefferson White in 1867, in Augusta, Georgia in the basement of Springfield Baptist Church and was known as The Augusta Theological Institute. After an invitation by the Reverend Frank Quarles in 1879, the College relocated to the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, and changed its name to Atlanta Baptist Seminary. The College relocated once more to its present home in the West End community of Atlanta, Georgia in 1890, and changed its name one last time to Morehouse College in 1913. Part of this collection is held in the RWWL Archives Research Center, the photograph album is held at the Morehouse College Archives.

Morris Brown College, a private, liberal arts institution located in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 1881 by the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church for the " moral, spiritual and intellectual growth of Negro boys and girls. "The original site for the school was located at Boulevard and Houston Street in Northeast Atlanta. On October 5, 1885, Morris Brown College opened with nine teachers and 107 students. By 1908 the school boasted an enrollment of nearly 1,000 students. It continued to offer instruction in industrial trades as well as academic fields and awarded two-year degrees in addition to four-year bachelor's degrees, but over time administrators placed greater emphasis on the development of the school's college-level curriculum. Morris Brown joined the Atlanta University Center in 1941, and along with Atlanta University, Clark College, Spelman College, and Morehouse College formed the largest consortium of HBCUs in the country. They remained members of the AUC until 2002. This collection contains photographs depicting Morris Brown College campus life spanning 1900 to 1990. Images include athletics, building and grounds, students and alumni, departments, events, faculty and staff, groups and organizations and individuals.

The National Association of Mathematicians (NAM) is a professional organization founded in January 1969 by seventeen mathematicians from underrepresented groups in response to the racism and exclusion they faced from other mathematical organizations. With a stated commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and equity, NAM provides support to and recognition for the work of minority mathematicians while promoting progress and advancement in mathematics. The newsletters contain organizational news, promotions, event information, and articles. It also highlights mathematicians from underrepresented groups.

Nora Ethel Floyd (1893-1969) was born in Georgia in 1893 and attended Atlanta University in from around 1911-1913. She married John Rosamond Johnson, the brother of James Weldon Johnson (a founder of the NAACP), in 1913. John Rosamond Johnson was a renowned composer, known for writing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (1900), which became known as the The Negro National Anthem. After marrying, the couple moved to New York City in 1914, where John was the director of the Music Settlement School for Colored People. The photographs in this collection feature groups of students and adults from the Atlanta University and Morris Brown College participating in the football game festivities. Other images include unidentified individuals, female students from Atlanta University, Eugene Dibble, and the marching band.

Pauline Alice Young, a distinguished educator, librarian, historian, and civil rights activist, was born in 1900. Her impactful career included teaching, lecturing, and extensive community involvement. Young's lifelong commitment to equality and civil rights advocacy left an indelible mark on Delaware, earning her numerous awards and a place in the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women in 1982.

This collection contains the photographs from the life and work of Reverend Robert E. Penn, a Baptist minister and educator. Penn was born in a rural coal mining town in West Virginia, and went on to receive degrees from Clark College, Gammon Theological Seminary, and Central Baptist Theological Seminary. He was a chaplain during World War II, and later after his pastoral work in Kansas City, Kansas, and Gary, Indiana, Penn returned to Atlanta to become Director of Field Education at the Interdenominational Theological Center in 1973. These photographs document Rev. Penns family life and friend in West Virginia, Indiana, and Georgia, as well as his work as Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Gary, Indiana, and Director of Field Education at the Interdenominational Theological Seminary.

The Scrapbook Collection consist of various scrapbooks documenting AUC institutions, with the majority of the institutional scrapbooks compiled by the school's public relations offices, and chronicle key events, memorials, and newspaper clippings collected by the creators. Other scrapbooks held within this collection, consist of individual scrapbooks documenting student life and experiences of the individual creators.