Charles W. Chesnutt Library Archives and Special Collections

About Special Collections

Special Collections contains books, journals and other printed materials that relate to the African-American Experience in education, history, socio-economics, politics, the theatre and fine arts. Other subject areas include slavery, the Emanciapation Era, the Civil Rights Movement, biographies, philosophy, poetry and novels. The University's Chesnutt Library purchased most of the collection, while the remainder were donations from private individuals and organizations. Books are arranged by the Library of Congress Classification System.These materials can be accessed via FSU's Online Catalog and are part of the "By and About African Americans" collection.

It also serves as a repository for the personal papers of individuals and families with a relationaship to Fayetteville State University such as the Charles Chesnutt Family Papers, James Seabrook Papers and the Rudolph Jones Papers which include a large collection of scrapbooks. These collections usually contain personal and business correspondence, greeting cards, photographs, unpublished manuscripts, legal and financial documents, scrapbooks, ephmera and artifacts. Most of these collections' material relates to the history of Fayetteville State University.

Who May Use the Special Collections?

Special Collections is open to faculty, administrators, students, staff and outside researchers. Patrons should review the Special Collections and Archives: Procedures for Using the Collections [PDF] and Conditions of Use Agreement [PDF]) before they visit the department.

Do Materials Circulate?

No. The materials housed in the Archives and Special Collections Department can only be used within the department. Permission may sometimes be granted to patrons to photocopy or scan items with the decision and consent of the University Library Technician or library personnel assigned to monitor the area. Items may be loaned to other institutions for a stated period of time with the consent of the Director of Library Services or the Director's designee.  Completion of a loan agreement is required. 

Listed below are guides to three often used collections: Charles Waddell  Chesnutt Family, James Ward Seabrook and Rudolph Jones.

Guide to the Charles W. Chesnutt Family Collection in NCEAD, Word, Adobe PDF Finding Aids Charles Waddell Chesnutt Anne Chesnutt Waddell Sara Chesnutt Andrew Jackson Chesnutt	Guide to the James Ward Seabrook Collection in NCEAD, Word, Adobe PDF	Guide to the Rudolph Jones Collection in NCEAD, Word, Adobe PDF