Archival Collections
AAMLO's archival collection is a unique resource on the history of African Americans in Northern California and the Bay Area.
Finding aids are available in the Online Archive of California, opens a new window and digitized items in Calisphere, opens a new window.
The archive includes over 160 collections documenting prominent:
- families
- pioneers
- churches
- social and political organizations
AAMLO's oral history collection includes interviews with:
- local civil rights activists
- educators
- writers
- musicians
- the Eternal Voices video library, containing more than 80 years of African American East Bay history
The microfilm collection includes:
- newspapers such as Freedom's Journal, The Liberator, The People's Voice, Muhammad Speaks, and The Colored American Magazine
- WPA slave narratives from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee
- FBI Investigation Files on Marcus Garvey, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Elijah Muhammad, and W.E.B. DuBois
- Military enlistment records of African Americans serving in the armed forces
- California census records, 1910-1930
and others.
Visit AAMLO
659 14th Street
Oakland
(510) 637-0200
aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org
Hours
Monday: 10:00am to 5:30pm
Tuesday: 10:00am to 5:30pm
Wednesday: 10:00am to 5:30pm
Thursday: 10:00am to 5:30pm
Friday: 12:00pm to 5:30pm
Saturday: 10:00am to 5:30pm
Archival Collections at AAMLO
Wyatt (Faricita Hall) Papers
Correspondence, poetry manuscripts, photographs, awards, and guest books that document the life of Faricita Hall Wyatt (1912-1993).
Williams (Henry) Jr. Film Collection
Films and reel-to-reel audiotapes mostly documenting the Black Panther Party and student and union protest movements of the late 1960s.
Wells (Robertha J.) Papers
Documenting Robertha J. Wells, Earle Keikikane and the Wells family.
Twomey (Michael) Music Collection
Live music recordings of various jazz and blues musicians in clubs and concert venues around the San Francisco Bay Area between 1971-1996.
Schaupp (Edward E.) Papers
Artifacts, ephemera, and photographs mostly related to the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Ruffin (Goldie Byrd) Collection
Goldie Byrd Ruffin was a long-time resident of Oakland California with connections to African American political organizations.
Proctor (Eudora C.) Papers
Performer and dance instructor Eudora “Dodo” Proctor (1917-1993) was born on September 29, 1917.
Pinder (Jean M. Martin) Papers
Jean M. Martin Pinder (1916-2014) was among the first African American women to graduate from the Yale School of Public Health.
Pearman (Reginald) Photograph Collection
Photographic prints and negatives taken by Pearman when he worked as a photojournalist in the 1980s for the Oakland Tribune newspaper.
Page (Arthur R.) Collection
Arthur R. Page was one of the first African American baseball players to play on integrated baseball clubs in the United States Navy.
Newkirk (George L.) Papers
Newkirk served as the Director of Labor Relations and Management Development at the San Francisco Municipal Railway between 1985-1993.
Mount Olive Baptist Church scrapbook
The Mount Olive Baptist Church was founded in Hayward, California, by Rev. George Johnson Jr. on February 11, 1963.
Moore (Warren) Audio Recordings Collection
Audiocassettes of church sermons and interviews with members of the Moore family related to the family’s history between 1972-2002.
Leisure Arts Club Scrapbook
The Leisure Arts Club was founded on January 31, 1941 at the home of Althea Clark.
Harrison Family Home Movie Collection
Home movies recorded by the Harrison family of Richmond, California, in the 1960s.
Harris (Charlotte) Papers
Photographs of family and friends of Charlotte Harris in Seattle, Washington and Berkeley, California.
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