About the Collection
This multidisciplinary collection includes books, magazines, photographs, manuscripts, sheet music, postcards, record albums, and artifacts of the African experience in the United States, Latin America, Caribbean, and Africa, dating from 1632 to the present. The collection is located on the 3rd Floor of West Pattee and has limited hours, however, materials from the collection can be accessed in the Special Collections Library during open hours:
Fall 2022 Hours
The Blockson Collection is open on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Areas of Research
Areas of research in the Blockson Collection include, but are certainly not limited to, the following highlights:
- Africa
- The African Diaspora
- Autobiographies and Memoirs
- Children and young adults' literature
- Civil Rights and Black Power
- Discovery, exploration and travel narratives
- Photography
- Poetry
- Postcards
- Religion
- Sheet music
- Slavery
- Sports
- Women's Literature
- Josephine Baker Collection
- Paul Robeson Collection
- Sculpture Collection
How to Search the Collection
Since the materials in this collection are all books, everything is cataloged and the Libraries Catalog can be used to search the collection.
Related Collections
- Charles L. Blockson collection on Josephine Baker, 1928-2003
- Charles L. Blockson collection of postcards and related materials, 1919-2000
Rights
Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.