The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

National Archives and Records Administration. Archives II

8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, Maryland 20740-6001

Phone: 301-837-2000; 866-272-6272

Repository URL: http://www.archives.gov/

Repository description (extant): The National Archives was established in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt, but its major holdings date back to 1775. They capture the sweep of the past: slave ship manifests and the Emancipation Proclamation; captured German records and the Japanese surrender documents from World War II; journals of polar expeditions and photographs of Dust Bowl farmers; Indian treaties making transitory promises; and a richly bound document bearing the bold signature "Bonaparte" -- the Louisiana Purchase Treaty that doubled the territory of the young republic.

NARA keeps only those Federal records that are judged to have continuing value -- about 2 to 5 percent of those generated in any given year. By now, they add up to a formidable number, diverse in form as well as in content. There are approximately 9 billion pages of textual records; 7.2 million maps, charts, and architectural drawings; more than 20 million still photographs; billions of machine-readable data sets; and more than 365,000 reels of film and 110,000 videotapes. All of these materials are preserved because they are important to the workings of Government, have long-term research worth, or provide information of value to citizens.

Repository type: Federal Repository

Collections:

Department of Justice. Class 144 (civil rights) sound recordings
Interviews relating to alleged civil rights abuses in Americus, Georgia
The March
Department of Justice. Class 144 (civil rights) films