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THE BLACK EXPERIENCE: A Guide to African American Resources in the State
Library
and Archives of Florida
INTRODUCTION
 This resource guide is intended
to present an overview of the resources that are available for the study of
African American history in the State Archives of Florida. It is an update
of the material presented in the 1988 (revised 2002) publication The Black
Experience: A Guide to African American Resources in the State Library and
Archives of
Florida.
This revised guide includes recent acquisitions in addition to older resources
which
remain important. We hope that this publication will benefit historians, genealogists,
students, and other researchers by making those records in the Archives relating
to African Americans better known, more accessible, and easier to use.
A vast array of sources documents the black
experience in Florida. This
publication describes available sources from state
and local government records, manuscripts (non-government records and papers),
the Florida Photographic Collection, films and videos, and the State
Archives holdings of selected National Archives Microfilm Publications. It
also describes sources found in the Florida Collection
of the State Library of Florida and lists sources
in several other repositories. Additional
information about the State Archives of Florida's holdings is available via
the Archives’ online
catalog.
Among the Archives’ state government holdings, the governors’ administrative
correspondence represents a rich source of documentation. Files relating to
topics such as slaves, slavery, freedmen, the civil rights movement, segregation
and desegregation, lynching, busing, black education,
Florida A&M University, affirmative action, riots, and the Legislative
Black Caucus are among the myriad subjects related to black history
found
in the governors’ records. Similar topics can also be found throughout the
Archives’ state government
records collection.
Included in the manuscript collections
are slave books, bills of sale for slaves, church membership rosters, baptism
records, marriage records, the Black Teachers
Association records, and the papers of Leona Cooper, Eunice Liberty, and Judge
Joseph Lee, a prominent black Republican during Reconstruction and in subsequent
years.
Photographs are abundant. Hundreds
of images show African Americans in everyday settings, serving in state government
capacities, and working in various agricultural industries. The Federal Emergency
Relief Administration’s Photo Album contains a wealth of photographs depicting
black life in Florida, including a number of
photographs depicting black adult education, black school nurseries, and African
Americans working on road construction and in mattress factories.
The collections also include photographs by photographers
such as Richard Twine and Alvan S. Harper. Most of the images, which number
in the thousands, can be viewed via the online Florida
Photographic Collection.
A welcome supplement to this online version
of the guide is the film and video
collection containing footage of personalities such as Jake
Gaither and civil rights activist Reverend C.K. Steele, and of topics such
as Florida
A&M
University, a black funeral, civil disturbances, and sports events. Other additions
include links to the full descriptions from the Archives
online catalog for
all the collections listed here, as well as an expanded list of other repositories
and relevant publications.
Other African American-related resources at the State Archives can be found
on the Florida Memory Project Web
site. Black
History Month At the State Archives of Florida lists many of these resources.
These include several educational units from the Online
Classroom and photographic
exhibits found
on the Florida Photographic Collection section of the Florida Memory Project.
Finally, we have extensive
Florida
Folklife
Collection page, with a searchable online catalog to descriptions of all
of the collection’s
images and audio recordings as well as numerous downloadable audio and visual
files. The Florida Folklife Collection is a rich collection of folklife records
documenting the ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity reflected in the
communities of our state.
In addition to the collections of
the State Archives, the sources found in the Florida Collection
of the State Library of Florida are also listed. These include a biography
file, containing newspaper
clippings and articles on prominent African Americans, a card file on legislators,
black newspapers, the Gavin Papers (a collection relating to a black family
in Wakulla County), a microfilmed copy of the Mary McLeod Bethune Papers,
and an amalgam of published sources.
Other Sources:
While the titles listed in this
volume represent the State Archives’ richest sources of documentation on black
history in Florida, the Archives holds many additional collections not
listed here which the enterprising researcher could find useful for black history
research.
Records Descriptions:
The following information is provided for each
collection described in this guide:
- The creator or creating agency
- Series or collection title
- Inclusive dates of the records (semicolons denote gaps
in date spans, approximate dates are
noted by c., and undetermined dates by N.D.)
- Volume
- Series or collection number:
- S=State government records
- L=Local government records
- M=Manuscripts
- Restrictions (when applicable)
- Series or collection description (may include
history, form of material, subjects)
- Reproduction note (if available in a form other than the
original and not otherwise noted)
- Language note (if other than English)
For example:
Professional Practices Commission.
Official Minutes, 1964-1980,.75 cubic foot
S 1037
Restricted by Florida Statutes Chapter 987.6543.
The Commission was established in 1963 (Ch. 63-363, Laws) to develop criteria
for the teaching profession in the areas of ethical and professional performance,
and to recommend actions in cases of violation of those standards. In 1969,
the Commission became a Council and part of the Department (Ch. 69-106, Laws).
The Council was dissolved in 1980 (Ch. 80-190, Laws). The series contains the
minutes of the Commission and Executive Committee meetings.
Reproduction Note: Also available on microfilm.
Language Note: Some documents in Spanish.
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