Research Guides: William &amp; Mary History: African Americans & William & Mary

University Archives

Alumni Association Records, UA 80, 1842-ongoing
Among the records are some relating to the Hulon Willis Alumni Association, named for the College's first African-American graduate.
Africana Studies Program Records, UA 182, 1997-2014
This collection has flyers, catalogs, and other materials created by the university's Black Studies program.
List of persons enslaved by the College of William & Mary, UA 339, 1780
A transcription of this list is available in the University Archives Subject File, folder "Slaves Owned by the College."
Office of Minority Student Affairs, UA 260, 1975-1990
This collection contains newsletters and other materials relating to minority students at the College.
Office of the Bursar Records, UA 72, 1739-1918, 1977-1987
The early bursars accounts (Acc. 1983.122) cover the years 1745-1770, 1743-1770, 1770-1786, and 1850-1875, and include numerous mentions of those enslaved by the College.
Office of the President. Lyon Gardiner Tyler Records UA 2.07 1888-1935
These collections include correspondence and other material related to the integration of William & Mary's student body and faculty ranks, as well as relations with Williamsburg's African-American community.
Office of the President. John Stewart Bryan Records UA 2.10 1933-1942
These collections include correspondence and other material related to the integration of William & Mary's student body and faculty ranks as well as relations with Williamsburg's African American community.
College of William and Mary: Office of the President. John Edwin Pomfret Records, UA 2.11, 1942-1951
These collections include correspondence and other material related to the integration of William and Mary's student body and faculty ranks as well as relations with Williamsburg's African American community.
Office of the President. Alvin Duke Chandler Records UA 2.12 1951-1960
These collections include correspondence and other material related to the integration of William & Mary's student body and faculty ranks as well as relations with Williamsburg's African American community.
Office of the President. Davis Young Paschall Records 00/02/UA 2.15 1942-1974
These collections include correspondence and other material related to the integration of William & Mary's student body and faculty ranks as well as relations with Williamsburg's African American community.
Office of the President. Thomas A. Graves, Jr. Records 00/02/UA 2.16 1940-1985
These collections include correspondence and other material related to the integration of William & Mary's student body and faculty ranks as well as relations with Williamsburg's African American community.
Office of the President. Records, UA 2.22, 1874-2010 and undated
These collections include correspondence and other material related to the integration of William & Mary's student body and faculty ranks as well as relations with Williamsburg's African American community.
University Archives Oral History Collection, UA 43, 1976-ongoing
This includes the 2005 interviews of the "Stony the Road We Trod" project to document the history of African Americans at the College and the ongoing Williamsburg Documentary Project, which includes many interviews relating to Afircan Americans.
Student Organizations Collection, UA 7.047, 1888-2015
This collection includes meeting minutes, programs, fliers, and other items commonly produced by student groups. Groups including the Black Student Organization, NAACP, historically black fraternities and sororities, as well as other organizations are represented. There are also racist depictions of African Americans to be found in the records of some other student organizations.
Department of Theatre, Speech, and Dance Records, Grassroots Theatre Oral History Project, UA 59, 1995-1999
The performances documented in this series include "Walk Together Children," a play about Williamsburg during the Civil Rights Era in the 1950s and 1960s; "Community Ties," a play about the Kingspoint, Mooretown Road, and Brook Haven neighborhoods; and, a project to document 20th Century history of Williamsburg through story circles with retired school teachers, church historians, the African-American community, and others.

Manuscript Material

Bruton Parish Records, Mss 91 B38, 1662-ongoing, include the church registers, which record the baptisms of some of those enslaved by the College.

Research Papers & Projects

Lemon Project home page -- especially the Research & Resources section

Integrating the College of William and Mary

by Lois Bloom

Lemon Project Paper, 2014

Black Education in Williamsburg-James City County, 1619-1984, compiled in 1985 -- a report

Morgan, Philip D.; The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities; Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools; Williamsburg Historic Records Association (Williamsburg, Va.) (College of William and Mary, Earl Gregg Swem Library, 1985)

President's Report to the [W&M] Board of Visitors, September 30, 1950, Selected

(about admitting African American students to the College of William & Mary)

Agenda, Meeting of the [W&M] Board of Visitors, January 9, 1960, Selected

(Richmong Times-Dispatch article about numbers of African American students in Virginia colleges)

Confederates on the Campus: "Dixie" and Secession

by Lois Bloom

Lemon Project Paper, 2013

A first look at the worst : slavery and race relations at the College of William and Mary

by Prof. Terry Meyers

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, vol. 16, issue 4 (April 2008), p. 1141-1168.

Thinking about slavery at the College of William and Mary

by Prof. Terry Meyers