Africana Studies

Africana Studies Archives and Special Collections Draft Collection Development Policy 

Scope 

Africana Studies is the interdisciplinary and comparative study of the social, cultural, political, and economic expressions of people of African descent. The term Africana Studies is sometimes used interchangeably with Black Studies, African American Studies, and Afro-American Studies. The nomenclature change to Africana expresses the teaching and research of a broader geographical focus beyond North America which includes and not limited to the Caribbean, North America, Latin America and Africa hence the study of the African Diaspora. As an interdisciplinary field Africana Studies requires the collecting of research across disciplines to adequately build a research collection about people of African descent. Some areas of Africana scholarship include literature, linguistics, history, political science, religion, sociology, anthropology, economics, labor, law, legal issues, performing/visual arts, military history, psychology, and science. This is not a comprehensive list of Africana scholarship, but these examples demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of Africana Studies. 

The Africana Studies collection development policy in Cushing Memorial Library & Archives supports the research and teaching of the joint and affiliated faculty of the Africana Studies Program that is now a part of the College of Liberal Arts’ Interdisciplinary Critical Studies. These collections are important for scholars studying African American history and the history of the African Diaspora that includes Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Europe. The collection also supports students, staff, and faculty with similar research interests throughout the campus. 

Types of Materials Collected 

Primary sources are materials created in the time period being studied. These sources can include (but are NOT limited to): diaries, manuscripts, newspapers and periodicals of the time, monographs of the time, government records (including legislative reports, debates, and testimony, as well as court opinions and census records), religious records (including sermons and tracts, are published at the time), oral histories, et al. Primary source materials can be in almost any format from printed collections of correspondence, archival manuscript collections, microfilmed newspapers, or digitized monographs. All formats are desirable with permanent archival access as a major consideration. 

Collection Strengths 

Primary source archival and manuscript collections are purchased for Cushing Memorial Library & Archives, but primary source electronic materials or microfilm collections are purchased for Evans Library. The archival and manuscript collections housed in Cushing include, but are not limited to family papers, writings, correspondence, oral histories, extensive book and photographic collections, and archives. 

1. The majority of the materials are related to the Black Power Movement, Civil Rights Movement, and its alternative Hispanic and Asian Movements. Papers of activists, academic, and literary figures such as Angela Davis, Alex Haley, Amiri Baraka, Ernest Gaines, the Black Panthers, Eldridge Cleaver, Jayne Cortez, Charles Levy Civil Rights Collection, Berenice Napper, Jeff Stumpo-JavaShock papers, Political and Radical collections, and materials related to enslaved Africans. 
2. There are significant collections that focus on popular culture that include Black Superheroes, Charles Criner Papers and Art Collection, historical trade cards and photographic postcards. 
3. The plight of enslaved Africans and the early Black communitiy in the US are included in a number of collections such as Slavery and Emancipation documents, Guadalupe Baptist Association, William Harrison Mays, The Crawford Family Letters, Abolitionists Archive, Warrington Penn Portraits, and The Cherokee Freedman Collection. 

Current Collecting Foci 

Interested in Black revolutionary and alternative movements in the US and globally, the Diaspora of African people, and collections related to Africana popular culture. 

Institutional Repository / Digitization Projects 

Digital Black Bibliographic (DiBB) Project-a grant funded joint project of Professors Amy Earhart, Rebecca Hankins, Maura Ives, and Sarah Potvin. The collection contains working papers and Afro-Scholar newsletter from the 1970s-80s. 

In Fulfillment of a Dream: African Americans at Texas A&M University Online exhibit. 

Campus-wide exhibit developed and housed at Cushing Memorial Library and Archives. This exhibit attempts to explore the complex history of African Americans on the TAMU campus since its founding in 1866. 

Texas Agricultural Extension Service - Images of a Rural Past online exhibit 

In the early 1970s, the Texas A&M University archives acquired a large collection of photographs from the Agricultural Communications Office of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. This collection consists of nearly 7000 photographs, many feature African Americans. The vast majority are black and white images ranging from the 1930s through the late 1970s, although some photographs date from earlier and later periods. These images were captured by photographers working throughout the state, and document many activities aimed at improving the lives and livelihood of rural Texans. Farming, home improvement, raising of livestock, and other programs of the Extension Service were illustrated and the photographs were retained for educational and publicity initiatives. Through a grant from the TexShare Access to Local Holdings program, the images have been digitized and entered into a searchable database. 

Connections with Other Cushing Collections 

Women & Gender Studies Collections (GLBTQIA+) 

Sports/Martial Arts Collections 

Hispanic Studies Collections 

Area Studies Collections 

Created: 9/14/2020 

Curator: Rebecca Hankins