Collections : [Virginia Commonwealth University, Cabell Library]

The collection contains materials covering Willett's years with the Richmond City schools and includes reports, studies and notebooks of his speeches before different organizations.

The Henry L. Valentine papers, 1970-1989, is a collection of materials used by Valentine during his tenure on the Richmond City Council and as Vice Mayor of Richmond. The papers provide insight into the administrative duties of local government in the Richmond area during the 1970s and 1980s. The materials which cover Valentine's tenure during the years 1977-1978 are of particular note due to the demographic shift of the City Council to include its first-ever Black majority of members. This collection provides a unique look into a local politician's agenda and actions during a time of pivotal changes in the representation of Black citizens of Richmond, VA.

The Heslip M. "Happy" Lee, consists primarily of correspondence, committee work, writings, and publications and newspaper clippings. The bulk of the material is from 1950-2003. The correspondence section of the collection is rich with details on Lee's activities as executive deirector of the Virginia Council on Human Relations in the early 1960s and as a consultant in the late 1960s and 1970s to various educational, urban, and community programs in North Carolina, Georgia, and other localities.

The collection includes minutes, correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, various publications and other materials related to Warden's interests in civil rights and prisoner treatment. The materials date from the mid-1960s until the mid-2000s although the bulk of the collection is from 1969-1971. A significant portion of the collection is comprised of materials from her activities within the Virginia Commission on Human Relations, Richmond Y.W.C.A., and Offender Aid and Restoration. The collection also contains some items related to her husband George Warden's work at the Manhattan For Hire Car Corporation.

The Historic Fulton Oral History Project contains 17 interviews with 32 named interviewee participants. The interviewees are teachers, activists, clergy, and community leaders who grew up in the predominantly African American Historic Fulton community from the 1930s through the 1950s.

Papers, 1959-1988, of H. Mitchell Meyer consisting of documents relating to the Federal Arts Council of Richmond, his class notes, and sketches and prints.

The collection includes correspondences, reports, files and published materials dating from 1941 through 1977. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1950s through the mid 1970s and focuses on Mr. Edwards activities with the National and Virginia Municipal Leagues, the City of Richmond, the annexation of Chesterfield County.

The collection contains correspondence, notes, typescripts, reviews, bills and miscellaneous materials dating from 1917 to 1981. The bulk of the collection focuses on correspondence throughout the 1920s and 1930s, especially that of James Branch Cabell and Carl Van Vechten (including copies of letters written to Van Vechten from Stagg obtained from Yale University by Edgar MacDonald). Other notable correspondents include: Essie Robeson (wife of Paul Robeson, see 3.5), Marjorie K. Rawlings, Tom Rutherfurd (Rutherfoord), Gertrude Stein, Alice Toklas, Frances Newman, Langston Hughes, Ben Ray Redman, Ellen Glasgow, and Montgomery Evans. Much of the Evans correspondence are copies of letters from Stagg to Evans from the Morris Library, Southern Illinois University. These were provided by Dr. Edgar MacDonald during his research of Hunter Stagg.

The materials were created by those connected with the "Illusion vs. Reality" project in 1991-1992, predominantly in Richmond, Virginia and the surrounding counties of Henrico and Chesterfield. The collection contains interviews, releases and transcripts, reports and syllabi from the courses, and the original grant application. These interviews discuss the African American, Black Islamic, Asian, and Native American experience in Richmond, dealing with religion, education, literature, and culture in central Virginia. Not every interview has a transcript, and only a few items have their signed releases. None of the VHS interviews have transcripts or releases. Please see the Conditions Governing Use for more detailed information.

The records are generally complete from 1900 to 1990. However, there are few or no records for the years 1943 to 1950.