Houghton Library, Harvard University’s largest rare books and manuscripts repository, is home to hundreds of thousands of materials relating to history across the world. Houghton’s collections related to Black history range from the 18th century through today, but have historically been difficult to discover amongst all the other material. This collection brings together a curated collection of materials ranging from the Early Republic through Reconstruction.

In the summer of 2020, under the leadership of Digital Collections Program Manager Dorothy Berry, Houghton Library put a year-long pause on its digitization projects to focus on curating a digital collection of materials relating to African American history and culture. Houghton’s collections span from the earliest written materials on papyrus to cutting edge 21st century book arts, and while our digitization has run the gamut, we have not historically centered Black history. This project is a first foray into actively sharing our rich collections related to Black experiences from the 18th through early 20th century.