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John Gay is a former professor and current scholar of Liberian and African studies. He began his career as a missionary for the Episcopal Church, teaching at Cuttington College in Liberia. John also had a number of fellowships that allowed him to develop his research and publish several works covering the civil war conflicts, culture, and social issues in Liberia. Though retired, John continues to have an active role in Liberian studies and currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the International Institute for Justice and Development. This collection contains his research, student publications, and other scholarly works.

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.

A student of Cuttington College, Fr. Christopher K. Kandakai became an ordained Epsicopal priest in 1951. He was Liberia's longest serving Episocpal priest and served as rector and priest-in-charge of many Episcopal churches in Liberia and trained many Episcopal theologians. Additionally, Kandakai was an avid linguist who translated the New Testament into both Gola and Vai languages. This collections contains materials pertaining to the Episcopal Church as well as to adult education and linguistics. A large selection of his materials are written in Vai, only one of two African languages with an original script, unrelated to Latin or Arabic.

William Siegmann was the leading expert on the arts in Liberia and Sierra Leone. His collection contains an exhaustive lists of resources, both primary and secondary, pertaining to the arts, culture, language, and history of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Also included are materials from his various projects, espeically those from his "Aesthetics of Power: African Art Along the Windward Coast." Correspondence with various museums and universities, personal and teaching materials are also in this collection.