African American Collections at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives

In this guide, we highlight our collections from posters to streaming interviews relevant to African American experiences in the United States and abroad.

Select Archival Collections and Library Materials

Boyd (Leonard Russell) papers -  Diaries, correspondence, unit histories, clippings, and memoranda, relating to the activities of the 93rd Division at the battle of Bougainville, and in other operations in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

David Benjamin Bolen papers (1944-2001) - Speeches and writings, correspondence, dispatches, memoranda, reports, clippings, and photographs, relating to American relations with South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and East Germany. Also available on microfilm (32 reels).

Inventory of the Robert West Beyers papers - Speeches and writings, correspondence, notes, press releases, memoranda, and printed matter, relating to work of the Council of Federated Organizations (composed of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and other organizations) in carrying out a voter registration drive among black citizens of Mississippi in 1964, involvement of Northern college student volunteers, and attendant violence.

Overview of the The Ligurian campaign in Italy : processed volume - Relates to operations of the 92nd Infantry Division of the United States Army in the Ligurian region of Italy, from September 1944 to April 1945.

The Militant photographic collection (ca. 1900-2000) - Photographs, drawings, and printed reproductions of illustrations, depicting activities of antiwar, civil rights, labor, racial justice, women's rights and other protest movements in the United States and other countries, mainly from the 1960s through the 1990s.

Ruth Ricci Eltse papers (1935-1942) - Correspondence, writings, and photographs, relating to the Italo-Ethiopian War, to Italian colonization of Libya, and to Italian relations in North and East Africa. Includes an album of photographs of Benito Mussolini.

Rice (Condoleezza) papers - The Condoleezza Rice papers (1976-2019) consists of papers, photographs, albums, scrapbooks, videorecordings and media relating to her education, academic career and government service.

African American Library & Archives Materials

Select Posters from the United States

US 8107 - Poster depicting an African American warrior

US 8109 - Drawing of a black panther.

US 8112 - Photograph of Malcolm X.

US 8129 - Political prisoners of USA Fascism. Ministry of Information. Black Panther Party. Box 2967 Custom House, San Francisco, CA 94126.

Select Firing Line Episodes

The Firing Line broadcast records include videotapes from the Firing Line television show, as well as sound recordings, administrative and speaker files, program research files, photographs, transcripts, and other materials from the show. The types of program research materials available for each program are listed in the Episode Guide. The Episode Guide also includes a summary and guest list for each episode, as well as a link to the episode details page on Hoover's digital collections website. 

How Does It Go with the Black Movement? Guest: Huey P. Newton Taped on January 23, 1973.

The Black Panthers Guests: Cleaver, Eldridge, 1935- 13 November 1968

“Was the Civil-Rights Crusade a Mistake?" Guest: Godfrey Cambridge Taped on January 15, 1968

"Black Power" Nat Hentoff, Taped on March 3, 1967

The Republic of New Africa Milton Henry Taped on November 18, 1968

Civil Rights and Foreign Policy Floyd B. McKissick Taped on August 22, 1966

Julian Bond and John Lewis on Firing Line 1974 , “Politics and Black Progress”

Thomas Sowell "The Economics and Politics of Race"

Thomas Sowell "The Economic Lot of Minorities"

The Civil Rights Movement 

Herbert Romerstein collection - The Herbert Romerstein collection consists of material collected by Herbert Romerstein (1931-2013) over a period of many decades, during which he served as a staff member of United States Congressional committees (House Committee on Un-American Activities, House Committee on Internal Security, and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence) and of the United States Information Agency. Materials relevant to the subject of African American history include correspondence, issues, and reports on the National Negro Congress, the Afro-Asian Peoples’ Solidarity Committee, the League of Struggle for Negro Rights, and the National Negro Labor Council.

Robert W. Beyers papers - The Robert W. Byers papers are narrowly focused on a single episode in his career: the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964. Its goal was to secure voter registration of black Mississippians and otherwise to promote improvement of their condition in what was widely considered to be the most thoroughly segregated state in the country. His collection contains speeches, writings, correspondence, notes, press releases, memoranda, and printed matter, relating to work of the Council of Federated Organizations, involvement of Northern college student volunteers, and attendant violence.

Benjamin F. Holman papers - Benjamin F. Holman was a pioneering black journalist and television reporter. His collection includes correspondence, memoranda, racial incident case reports, other reports, pamphlets, press releases, and clippings, relating to desegregation of schools and other facilities in the U.S.; racial or ethnic friction involving black, Hispanic, American Indian and other minority communities; and efforts of the Community Relations Service to resolve such situations.

William X. Scheinman papers - William X. Scheinman was a leading figure in the activities of the African-American Students Foundation, which brought African students to the United States and arranged for their college education. His papers contain correspondence, writings, reports, bulletins, serial issues, clippings, photographs, sound recordings, video tapes, and motion picture film relating to American relations with Africa, the political and economic development of Kenya and other African countries, assistance to African students in the United States, and especially to the Kenyan political leader Tom Mboya.

John H. Bunzel papers - John H. Bunzel was an American academic who served as president of San Jose State University (1970-1978), senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution since 1978, and a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. His papers include materials regarding activities of the Civil Rights Commission in monitoring the status of civil rights in the United States, such as investigating allegations of race or sex discrimination in voting, employment, or housing and considering affirmative action and comparable worth concepts.

Civil Rights Movement Library Materials

The Black Power Movement

Militant Photograph collection - The Militant photographic collection consists of pictorial material created or collected by the staff of The Militant for possible publication in the newspaper. Relevant photographs, cartoons, and printed reproductions of illustrations include those depicting activities of civil rights, racial justice, and other efforts to secure racial justice and equality in the United States and other countries mainly from the 1960s through the 1990s.

William T. Poole collection - William T. Poole was a research analyst for the House Un-American Activities Committee from the mid-1960s until the Committee’s dissolution. His papers contain pamphlets, leaflets, and serial issues pertaining to the Black Liberation Army, Black Panther Party, and other organizations promoting the rights and advancement of African Americans.

Kenneth G. Fuller collection - The Kenneth G. Fuller collection contains leaflets, pamphlets, and serial issues, mostly related to the New Left and counterculture in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1965 and the mid-1970s. His collection includes material related to black militancy, especially that exemplified by the Black Panther Party.

The New Left collection - The New Left collection largely relates to radical movements for political and social change in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. It is the largest resource in the archives devoted to this turbulent period in American history. Topics of note include student radicalism, black militancy, and revolutionary organizations.

Black Power Library materials

Black Panther Library materials