Collections : [Liberian Collections]

William V. S. Tubman (1895-1971), Liberia's longest serving President, served from 1944–1971. Tubman's presidency was marked by great changes in the economy, politics and social environment of Liberia. The materials in the collection include papers from the years of Tubman's presidency, his personal correspondence and memorabilia from Tubman's family.

Warren d'Azevedo is a retired ethnographer, renowned for his work in anthropology and African studies. D'Azevedo began his research in the 1950s, focusing primarily on African cultures, including the Gola ethnic group of Liberia and the Native American Washoe culture of the Great Basin. This collection consists of d'Azevedo's writings, photographs, memorabilia, and U.S. and Liberian government documents and teaching materials.

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 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.

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.

The materials in The Svend Holsoe Newspaper Collection are originals, photocopies, and citations from numerous small press newspapers in Liberia and West Africa. Most are from the 19th century and early 20th century.

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.

The materials in The Svend Holsoe Collection: Edward James Roye Materials include research materials and manuscripts of Holsoe's work pertaining to Edward James Roye, Liberia's 5th president.

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 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.

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

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

Gerald Currens' experience with Liberia began in 1951 as a Lutheran missionary. In 1968 he began his graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Oregon, which had a strong program focused on Liberia. In December 1971, Currens began his abroad research in Liberia for his PhD dissertation study on upland rice cultivation and other features of subsistence based economies in rural Liberia. His main area of study was Lawalazu which is a Loma speaking town several miles from Voinjama, the capital for Lofa County. The collection consists of his field notes, data, questionnaires, personal research documents, personal and nonpersonal published and unpublished papers, copies of "The Loma Weekly," and a great variety of small educational readers produced by the Loma Literacy Center.

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

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.

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 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 collection consists of correspondence, reports, records, minutes, and other miscellaneous manuscript items. These materials are typically either photocopies of items from the Liberian Archives in Monrovia, Liberia, or are typescript copies/notes created by Dr. Holsoe in the course of his research. The collection also includes material from the research notebooks of Dr. Peter Murdza.

The collection consists of correspondence, reports, records, minutes, and other miscellaneous manuscript items. These materials are typically either photocopies of items from the Liberian Archives in Monrovia, Liberia, or are typescript copies/notes created by Dr. Holsoe in the course of his research. The collection also includes material from the research notebooks of Dr. Peter Murdza.