Black Archives Research Center and Museum

Significant Dates:

Description:

Located in the historic 1907 Carnegie Library on the campus of Florida A & M University, the Black Archives Research Center and Museum provides important insight and information on the history of Africa and African Americans. The Black Archives was established by the Florida Legislature in 1971 and dedicated and opened to the public in 1977. Its mission is to collect, preserve, dispense and display materials relevant to the history of African Americans and black people worldwide, emphasizing especially their experiences, contributions, and interactions with other ethnic groups. More than a half million documents and thousands of artifacts from all over the world are housed in the repository, including a 500-piece Ethiopian Christian cross collection, and rare African books and maps, some dating back to the 1700s. Another special feature is the Archives' mobile unit. The unit travels throughout Florida and to neighboring states displaying historical artifacts on the contributions of African America n people.

Facts and Figures:

Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs, a black legislator from Duval County, introduced a bill to the Florida legislature in 1887 for the establishment of the State Normal College for Colored Students. On October 3, 1887, the State Normal College opened in Tallahassee, and Gibbs became one of the first instructors.

In 1891, the new institution became known as the State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students.

The Carnegie Library building, financed with the assistance of a $10,000 grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, was completed in 1907, and dedicated in February 1908. The first library on a black university campus funded by Carnegie, today it is the oldest remaining building at Florida A & M, and now houses the Black Archives Research Center and Museum.

In 1909, the Florida legislature officially changed the College's name to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes. It became a university in 1953.

The Florida Legislature mandated the creation of the Black Archives in 1971 to "serve the state by collecting and preserving source material on or about Black Americans from the earliest beginnings to the present."

Opened to the public in 1977, over 100,000 visitors come to the Archives annually.

The Archives has one of the nation's most extensive collections on African and African American heritage. The repository houses more than 500,000 documents, which include rare books, maps, photographs and papers. The museum has thousands of artifacts from various historical erase such as ancient and modern Africa and the periods of slavery, Reconstruction and Jim Crow. Some special exhibits focusing on such topics as black education, blacks in the military, the black church, black women and the history of racism and discrimination are on permanent display.

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Carnegie Library building is currently being rehabilitated with the assistance of historic preservation grants from the State of Florida.

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