Collections : [Liberian Collections]

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 materials in the David Zuber Collection include reports, newsletters, and news clippings from various agencies.

The materials in the Jeanette Carter Reports include reports published by international organizations, the Liberian government and various countries. It also consists of clippings from international news media websites, programs and publications and correspondence.

The materials in the Peter Sevareid Papers include correspondence, one of Sevareid's publication drafts, and conferences programs and papers. It also consists of research materials, including publications, reports, news clippings and interviews from the Liberian Customary Law Project.

The Jane Martin Collection contains materials she gathered including reports, newsletters, and programs. Also included are materials pertaining to the Rajo Poetry Contest

Norman R. Peters was a member of the United States Peace Corps who spent over four years in Liberia. The collection contains handwritten and typed stories regarding the local Gborbo Krahn people as well as news related material on the 1980 coup.

The Friends of Liberia collection consists of educational, and government material. Within the collection there is also information about the organization, and "subject files."

Willie A. Whitten completed his Ed.D. from Indiana University in 1966. He made several trips to Liberia throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) worker in order to gather research for his dissertation. His research interests include education in Liberian villages with an emphasis on adult education and the conducting and planning of town meetings. This collection consists of newspaper and magazine articles from Liberia, government reports, and materials from the Voinjama School District, as well as 11 open reel tape recordings of town meetings and music from Liberian tribes. Also included are a collection of color transparencies showing images of tribal villages and culture, as well as a set of 86 artifacts containing items such as musical instruments, household tools, textiles, and decorative figurines.

A. Romeo Horton was best known in Liberia as a banker, the founder and former president of Liberia's first indigenous bank, the Bank of Liberia. Horton was also a dedicated public servant and was committed to economic cooperation in West Africa. In addition to his work in Liberia, Horton also had a successful career in Philadelphia as the president of the Phildelphia Corporation for Development and Cooperation and helped establish the United Bank of Philadelphia. This collection contains materials pertaining to his career as a banker, his involvement with numerous organizations, government materials, and his manuscripts and drafts.

The materials in the William Kory Collection include papers and publications collected by Kory on Liberia. These materials include censuses, Liberian Studies Association papers, and geographic materials.

The materials in the Jana Bertkau Collection include notes and publications pertaining to Liberian linguistics, specifically the Bassa language.

The Kathleen d'Azevedo collection spans the dates 1956-1996. The collection consists of d'Azevedo's research on school-aged children from various villages in Liberia as well as correspondence and programs.

The collection consists of field notes, research material, manuscripts and conference papers. Also included is a list of conference dates and papers that coincide. There is also a removed material Bibliography.

Raymond Smyke worked in African education for over 30 years teaching and developing programs to assist teachers and leaders in English and French speaking countries. He was the executive secretary of the World Confederation of Teachers and published several books and articles on Africa, especially on Momulu Massaquoi, a king of the Vai people and the first indigenous African diplomat, and his family

The Liberian Newspaper Collection is one of the largest collections of Liberian newspapers in the world. An exhaustive list of titles, including many with small circulation or a limited run. The collection is ever growing and the finding aid will be updated frequently to reflect the additional titles.

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.

The Jeanette Carter Papers spans the dates 1928-2014. Renowned anthropologist on West Africa and women, this collections includes her research on women in Liberia and the Gambia, personal accounts of the Liberian Civil War, her field notes, research on ethnic groups, and extensive reports, publications and news articles on Liberia.

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.

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.

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.