UBC faculty, staff and students can now access the NAACP Papers, a digitized collection of primary source materials documenting the major campaigns of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) from 1909 to 1972. This collection is made available through the ProQuest History Vault.
UBC Law Library purchased permanent access to select content thanks to funding provided by the UBC President’s Academic Excellence Initiative (PAEI), with additional acquisition support provided by Koerner Library, as part of the Humanities & Social Sciences collection.
The NAACP Papers collection is divided into six modules, which contain internal memos, legal briefings, and direct-action summaries from NAACP branch offices located throughout the United States of America. These archival materials provide a unique view into the NAACP’s early legal battles to fight discrimination of Black students in schools and their campaigns to end segregated education. The collection also includes key records from campaigns for voting rights, fair employment legislation, and against residential segregation and discrimination against Black servicemen and women in the US military.
“We’re very appreciative of the PAEI funds that helped in securing this tremendous resource, which will undoubtedly benefit many scholars and students across UBC,” says George Tsiakos, Head, UBC Law Library. Tsiakos is also thankful to Dr. Yuvraj Joshi, Assistant Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, who recommended that the Law Library acquire access to these key primary source materials.
“People tend to associate legal change with judges and lawyers, but activists often play a vital role in creating change. In my legal scholarship, I call for a much deeper engagement with the perspectives of Black activists. The History Vault contains a wealth of material documenting Black activist experiences and perspectives and I am immensely grateful to the UBC Library, especially Susan Parker and George Tsiakos, for sharing this knowledge with UBC scholars and students,” says Dr. Joshi.
The NAACP Papers collection is fully searchable and available remotely to UBC Library users with a CWL through Indexes and Databases and the library catalogue.
This project is part of UBC Library’s strategic direction to create and deliver responsive collections.
Learn more about our Strategic Framework.
