Prepare for a visit to AAMLO with these special topic resource guides.
This resource guide is intended to help users locate holdings at AAMLO related to enslaved African Americans in California.
It highlights holdings in the following areas:
● Selected Library Material at AAMLO
● Selected Archival Collections at AAMLO
Other collections may contain relevant materials. Please contact AAMLO (aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org) with any questions or to schedule an appointment to view materials in person.
Selected Library Materials
Archy Lee's Struggle for Freedom by Brian McGinty
Pioneers of Negro origin in California by Sue Bailey Thurman
Slavery in California by Delilah L. Beasley
The Force of a Feather : the Search for a Lost Story of Slavery and Freedom by DeEtta Demaratus
Biddy Mason Speaks Up by Arisa White
Selected Archival Collections
Gibson Family Papers. Lucinda Ray Gibson was a descendent of Nelson Ray (1820-1882), who obtained his freedom from enslavement in 1864 and came out to California to mine for gold. Through his profits, Ray acquired enough money to pay for his wife and children's freedom and settled in Placerville, where he worked as a carpenter and blacksmith.
Mayme C. Netherland Collection. Mayme (Mary) C. Netherland (1877-1973) was born to Oscar Thomas Jackson and Mary Ellen Jackson (née Scott) in Oakland, California. Her maternal grandfather, John Scott (1815-1916), was born enslaved in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. At the age of 23, he escaped and joined a band of Cherokee Indians. During this time, he helped other enslaved persons escape along the Underground Railroad. After two years of freedom, Scott was caught and sold to Lieutenant Hoskins of the U.S. Army. Scott served alongside Hoskins in the Mexican-American War and was a member of John C. Fremont’s 1844 expedition to California. At the end of the expedition, Scott escaped again and found a rich gold mine in Calaveras County.
Hadwick Thompson Papers. Hadwick A. Thompson (1919-2002) was born on November 17, 1919 the son of Hadwick and Edna Thompson of Willows, California and the grandson of California pioneer Alvin Aaron Coffey (1822-1902). Coffey was born enslaved in Mason County, Kentucky. The Thompson papers include one photograph of Alvin Aaron Coffey.
Ruth Beckford Papers. Includes an interview with Mayme (Mary) C. Netherland, discussing the experiences of her grandparents as enslaved persons.
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection. Includes one photograph of philanthropist and Los Angeles civic leader Bridget "Biddy" Mason (1818-1891). Born enslaved in Georgia, Bridget “Biddy” Mason sued for her freedom in a landmark 1856 court case.
African American Museum & Library at Oakland Photograph Collection. Includes one photograph of Edmond Edward Wysinger (1816–1891). Born enslaved and forced to migrate to California during the Gold Rush, Wysinger purchased his freedom using the savings from his mining. In 1890 he filed a historic lawsuit against the Visalia School District making it illegal for California public schools to ban African American students.
African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection. Includes photographs and documents related to California civil rights pioneer and abolitionist Mary Ellen Pleasant (1814-1904). As a prominent figure in San Francisco’s African American community, Pleasant was involved in Archy Lee's fugitive slave proceedings, contributing to his legal fees and temporarily housing him.
Thelma Gibson Radden Papers. Nurse and educator Thelma Gibson Radden (1903-2004) was born on February 18, 1903 in Oakland, California to Charles Nelson Gibson and Maude Esther Gibson. She was a fourth-generation Californian with her family tracing their roots in the state to 1864, when her great-grandfather Nelson Ray (1820-1882) moved to Placerville, California from Lexington, Missouri. Born a slave on the Verlinder Ray Plantation, he was freed following the death of his slave owner and he purchased the freedom of his wife, Lucinda Ray, and their three daughters after arriving in California and they were reunited as a family in Sacramento in 1877.
Additional Information
Search the library using the catalog.
Consult AAMLO's finding aids in the Online Archive of California.
We are working to create new resource guides. Have an idea for a new guide? Contact us at aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org.
