Africana

The Africana Collections housed at Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections are among the largest in the United States. Since the early 1960s, these collections have been stewarded with the goal of supporting faculty and student research with projects devoted to the developing continent. Integral to the textual materials are the unique manuscript collections, which work to support the Africana collections and are valuable for academic research, instruction, and outreach.

Rare Africana materials includes volumes date to the 18th century; however, the core focus of the collection is on the 20th century. Collections include early editions of travel writing on Africa from European authors, original materials from the colonial period and rich collections from the postcolonial period with strengths from Senegambia, the horn of Africa, and Southern Africa, many of which are the research materials of professors retired from African Studies at Michigan State University. Additional materials include a special focus on political tracts, cookery and foodways, as well as comics and comic art.

For more information, please contact Erik Ponder, African and US Ethnic Studies Librarian or Leslie McRoberts, Head of Murray & Hong Special Collections