African History Commons^™

0731: Claudia Peyton Papers, 1921-1984, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists primarily of correspondence sent from Claudie to family and church members in the United States between 1921 and 1979. Some early letters from the 1920s contain photographs of her time in Africa. Other materials include printed material such as her publication “Twenty Years in Africa”, a Mount Union Sentinal Newsletter, a poster and letter about her book “Forty-Six Years in Africa”, letters from her adopted children in Africa about her estate, negatives of her last visit to Huntington in 1963, unrelated birth announcements sent to family members, and envelopes.

0690: James Wilson Papers, 1842-1854, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection contains a color copy of a bill of sale (1842) for two slaves and receipt (1854) for one slave, livestock, and other purchases by James Wilson, Cabell Couny, Virginia (now West Virginia) farmer. Individuals mentioned in the collection include Thomas M. Shelton, John M. Rece, and James C. Wilson, Celia (no age listed, 1854 document), Minerva (18 years old?, 1842 document), and Edmund (13 years old, 1854 document).

Oral History Interview: Lowell E. Long, Lowell E. Long

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Lowell E. Long’s interview focuses on the region of Appalachia: its location, environments, people, and identity. Mr. Long was born in April 1941 in War, McDowell County, WV. His family moved to East Liverpool, OH, after World War II, and relocated to Huntington, WV, in January 1945. In the audio clip provided, Mr. Long discusses what it means to be Appalachian and focuses on family bonds and sense of belonging in the region. During his interview, he describes his family’s use of folk medicine. Mr. Long provides descriptions of the segregated neighborhoods and schools of Huntington, WV, during his childhood. …

"It Don't Mean A Thing If It Got That Swing": Langston Hughes's Musical-Poetic Fusion Of The Vernacular And Literary Traditions, John Hall

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Early in his literary career, Langston Hughes was faced with a question that occupied his writing and led to an important innovation in American literature: how could Hughes describe the experiences of African-Americans while using the forms and traditions of a Western (i.e., predominantly Anglo-American) literary culture which often sought to exclude, even negate, the very experiences and oral traditions which he sought to express? Hughes's desire to create an individual poetic voice which could present the African-American community as a whole soon led him to modify traditional Western literary forms by incorporating African-American oral and vernacular forms into his …

0522: Ancella Bickley Collection, 1908-1947, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

West Virginia educator. Papers consist primarily of programs of events related to African-Americans in West Virginia, especially Douglass High School in Huntington, West Virginia.

0493: Revella E. Hughes Papers, 1895-1987, Marshall University Special Collections

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This addendum to the Revella E. Hughes papers consists of correspondence, professional papers, photographs, holograph music manuscripts, notebooks, plaques, certificates, photographs, and audio cassette tapes. Also included are programs and announcements of concerts, recitals, and other musical events in which Miss Hughes participated. The newspaper clippings and programs encompass the range of Miss Hughes' performing career, from 1909, at Hartshorn and Memorial College in Richmond, Virginia, until her final appearances in West Virginia in 1985 and 1986.

Printed and manuscript musical arrangements comprise the bulk of the collection. Correspondence, primarily from 1970 until 1986, includes letters from the Marble Collegiate …

0491: Carrie Eldridge Combined Collection, 1678-2014, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Carrie Eldridge is a genealogical researcher in Chesapeake, Ohio. This collection contains photocopies of many county record books of the Appalachian areas of West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, ranging from the American Revolution until the early twentieth century. It also contains her personal research files on topics related to slavery and the Underground Railroad in Ohio and West Virginia as well as local history topics such as church and family histories.

0452: Pauline Fairfax Plaques, 1984 And 1986, Marshall University Special Collections

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Huntington, West Virginia, public school teacher; member of Carter G. Woodson Memorial Committee. This collection is composed of two plaques, one from the First Baptist Church of Huntington on March 31, 1984, and the second from the Black History Month Committee at Marshall in 1986. The bulk of Mrs. Fairfax' papers went to West Virginia State College, Institute, West Virginia.

0435: Edna Duckworth Typescript, 1984-1996, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

"A Black History of Huntington", includes comments by and material from Nelson L. Barnett Jr. "Ramblings of a Scorched Soul" was added to this collection later.

0410: Revella E. Hughes Papers, 1895-1984, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection of Revella E. Hughes papers consists of photo reproductions of the pages of her press book pertaining to her career in New York and on tour. Original pressbook located in the Moorland-Springarn Research Center, Howard University. Later accession includes holograph arrangements for the organ; research papers written while a graduate student at Northwestern University, where Dr. Hughes earned a Masters of Music degree in 1942. Newspaper clippings comprise the bulk of the collection. Also included are programs and announcements of concerts, recitals, and other musical events in which Miss Hughes participated. The newspaper clippings and programs encompass the …

0418: Whittaker-Glanville Family Papers, 1856-1985, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Papers consist primarily of diaries, newspaper clippings, correspondence, genealogies and photographs of five families: the Glanville-Carter families of St. Louis, Mo.; the Whittakers of Preble County, Ohio; Dorothy Whittaker Atkins of Huntington, West Virginia.; and the Heacocks of Bucks County, Penna.

A significant part of the collection are the diaries of Annie Heacock, a teacher at the Penn School for freed slaves in Beaufort, South Carolina, 1864-1869. Other diaries include the Civil War diary of John Whittaker, a surgeon in the 81st Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the Whittaker-Glanville …

0413: Mason Co., W. Va. Court Records, 1805-1890, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Assorted records of the county and circuit courts discarded when the old courthouse was razed, ca. 1955. Included are estate appraisals, school house plans, wolf scalp claims and oaths of allegiance. Also included in this collection is accession 0473, composed of photo reproduction of marriages, 1806-1850, and the Register of Free Negroes, 1838-1860.

0389: Ann Katherine Flagg Papers, 1964, Marshall University Special Collections

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Three unpublished and one published play by Ann Katherine Flagg, African American woman writer and former faculty of West Virginia State College. Plays consist of Unto the Least of these; Blueboy to Holiday--over; and A Significant Statistic. Includes Great Gettin' up Mornin'. New York: 1964.

Oral History Interview: Josephine R. Gorby, Josephine R. Gorby

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Josephine Gorby was born on February 24, 1908. She began her teaching career in a one-room school in Wimmer, McDowell County, WV. In 1931 she began teaching in Lawrence County, OH. Mrs. Gorby’s interview focuses on growing up on a farm near Proctorville, OH, her experiences as an educator, her family’s experience during World War I, and the 1937 flood of the Ohio River and its tributaries. In the audio clip provided, Mrs. Gorby discusses the impact of the 1937 flood on the school house in Athalia, OH. During her interview, she also focuses on the construction and use of …

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Tape recordings and transcripts of oral interviews with residents in the West Virginia-Ohio-Kentucky Tri-State region regarding such topics as farming, schools, health care, folk customs, and many others related to life in this Appalachian region.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the Marshall University Oral History Collection here.