In celebration of Black History Month, the Tennessee State Library and Archives is highlighting two collections relating to the state’s African-American history that have been added within the last year.
Last fall, TSLA added a collection called Guide to African-American Genealogy-Related Documents Prior to 1865, which includes a large selection of Supreme Court cases, state acts from 1796 through 1850, legislative petitions from 1799 to 1861, church records, correspondence, diaries, memoirs and other documents.
TSLA also added a new collection, Reconstruction and the African-American Legacy in Tennessee, to the Tennessee Virtual Archive within the last year. That collection, which includes photographs, scrapbooks and other images, can be found on the web at: http://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/reconstruction.php
“We are very fortunate to have a wide selection of resources about African-American history at the State Library and Archives,” said Secretary of State Tre Hargett. “These resources are available and intended for use by Tennesseans year-round. However, due to the heightened interest of researchers during Black History Month, we want to call attention to some of the newer materials we have available. Researchers may also find many of our older collections of interest, including This Honorable Body, which recounts the story of 14 African-American legislators, many of them former slaves, who served in the Tennessee General Assembly between 1873 and 1889.”
For questions about available resources, contact TSLA’s public services division at 615 741-2764. Or to find Internet links to African-American collections of note at TSLA, visit the web at: http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/bibliographies/aa3.htm