Literary Collection

The flagship Literary Collection dates from 1773 to the present.  Over 30,000 rare and out-of-print books, written by or about blacks and a vast collection of documents and manuscripts make up the Literary Collection.  Spanning a wide range of interests the collection is rich in areas such as children’s literature, the arts, pre-Civil War material, blacks in the American West, autobiographies and poetry, to name a few. A unique scholarly reserve, the Literary Collection expresses, validates and celebrates the African American aesthetic.

The Literary Collection is significant because it provides a substantial academic base for research and analysis of African American life previously only available on the East Coast and in the South. 

Dr. Mayme A. Clayton, 2003 holds a signed, first edition copy of Alex Haley's

"Roots," 1976.  Alex Haley (1921-1992) was WSBREC's National Board Chairman

    

     "Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral," 1773 by Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784),

     a rare signed, first edition.  Phillis Wheatley is considered by leading experts to be the first author

     of African descent to be published in America.  Her book of 39 poems book was published in

     London when Phillis was about 16 years-old.  Phillis' book received international acclaim.

     At the time, it was illegal in the United States to teach slaves to read or write. It was a crime

     punishable with a $5,000 fine and/or public flogging.  Mayme A. Clayton Library & Cultural

    Center has  the distinct honor to serve as custodian of the only known signed copy rare and

    distinguished American treasure.

A rare portrait of Phillis Wheatley shows her facing forward, wearing an evening dress and

jewelry. The portrait appeared in Revue des Colonies in Paris between 1834 and 1842.

Photo credit: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Life, NYPL

"Howdy Honey Howdy," 1901 (First Edition) by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

Dunbar was a leading exponent of the Harlem Renaissance and the first African American

poet to gain national prominence.  Illustrated by photographs of the Hampton Institute Camera Club.

"The Story of the Jubilee Singers," 1888, First Edition

From the mid-1800s many black colleges fielded groups of singers to sing spirituals. This was at a time

when most black music was performed by white minstrel musicians in blackface and vulgar caricature,

a small group of exceptionally well trained and talented black singers at Fisk University in Nashville,TN

achieved international acclaim for their stirring and professional performances of tradition black spirituals.

This book tells their story and contains some of their music.

Children's Literature is one of several sub-collections. 

"Twelve Years a Slave," 1853 by Solomon Northrup, First Edition,

Published by New York International Book Company at 17 and 19 Waverly Place, NY

The inside cover page reads as follows:  "The story of a free colored man, kidnapped in

Washington, D.C.in 1841, sold into slavery and after a twelve year bondage reclaimed by

state authority from a cotton plantation in Louisiana. In the book there is a special dedication: "To Harriet Beecher Stowe whose name throughout the world is identified with the Great Reform, this narrative, affording another leg to "Uncle Tom's Cabin," is respectfully dedicated."

                 

          A signed copy of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Stride Toward Freedom," 1959 is one of many

          signed first edition works my noted African American authors that are part of the collection.

          The signatures of Oscar Micheaux, Booker T. Washington, Eartha Kitt, George Washington

          Carver, W.E. B. Du Bois and Countee Cullen are just a few contained within the signed first

          edition collection.