Collections : [Liberian Collections]

Bai T. Moore was a renowned poet and author whose work was greatly influenced by his experiences growing up in Liberia. In addition to Moore's career as a writer, he served as a government official for several years, first as Chief of the Liberian Bureau of Agriculture, and later, as Deputy Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism. This collection consists of government papers, ethnographic materials, published works, manuscripts, and drafts of his writings.

Dorith Minna Ofri-Scheps (1930-2015), known as "Jɛbɛ" to the Vai people, was a linguist and scholar of the Vai language and culture. Her dissertation, "On the Object of ethnology: a propos of the Vai culture of Liberia 1963-88" was submitted and defended in 1991, at the University of Bern, after the outbreak of the First Liberian Civil War had interrupted her field research.Her correspondence covers many aspects of Vai language and culture, touching on the cumulative work of August Klingenheben, Bai Tamia Moore, Gail Stewart, Jangaba Johnson, C. K. Kandakai, and many others. Her research drew on interviews with Mɔmɔlu Cole, and her assistants included Morris Davies, who died in the war, Fatu Kiazolu, and in later life Poppy Willard.

The Svend Holsoe Collection: Vai Materials contains information about the Vai, both the ethnic group and language of Liberia and South-Eastern Sierra Leone. Included is Holsoe's dissertation, research, photocopied 19th century documents on the region, people, and language, as well as reference materials and writing samples of the unique Vai script.