The Amaza Lee Meredith Papers, 1912-1983, document a slice of Virginia's history in the twentieth century. This founder of the Fine Arts Department lived a life abundant in contributions well beyond her career at Virginia State University, while some materials relate directly to her work as a faculty member. Her devotion to education spanned over four decades; these papers reflect her efforts. Born in 1895, Meredith was raised in a period which some consider the lowest point in African-American history since the antebellum era. A product of such adversity, she adjusted to work and achieve during and after a time of legal segregation. This collection speaks to her successes in overcoming the "obstacles" of both race and gender.

Beginning in 1930, Meredith corresponded frequently with family, most notably, her sister, Maude Terry. These letters reveal the depth of love and loyalty the family cultivated and nurtured for lifetime. They demonstrate the difference in women's roles between the black and white interdependent relationship with men; black women have received greater support from their peers in the arena of independence. In this vein, Meredith's family gave her nothing short of a full endorsement for her outstanding achievements. It is likely that such contributed to her ability to surmount societal resistance.

Many of Meredith's peers were educators. Her papers include correspondence with Helen Edmonds, Anne Crittendon Preston, and Jean Murrell Capers (who later made her mark in politics). The remaining correspondence comes from people of varied backgrounds, also as viable research material.

Another group of personal correspondence related to Stafford Evans, a prized students of Ms. Meredith. While there is some continuation of correspondence into the 1980s, most of these letters were written while Evans served in the navy from 1943-45. Included are copies of The Mananan, a WWII Black sailors' March and December of 1945. This sub-series lends expression to the ambiguity, which black soldiers felt while in fighting for a democracy to which they themselves were not privy.

Meredith's business records document the origins of the Azurest Syndicate in 1953. Ms. Meredith worked with her sister, Ms. Terry, to pioneer the development of a Black summer resort area known as the Azurest North. The Syndicate served to regulate the subdivision's lot sales. The unique aspect of this venture are numerous: the development of a black resort in this time period, the syndicate, and the project's creation and development by two Black women - whose careers were unrelated to such a field.

It appears that, from the 1950's through the 1970's some homes in Azurest North were designed by Ms. Meredith. Though she had no known formal architectural schooling, she created countless line and ink drawings as well as blueprints, which are also included in this collection. Several of these projects succeeded in being built. For many more, the end result is as yet undetermined.

Unquestionably, Meredith designed and built her own home, known as Azurest South, which she truly reflects her artistic gift. Blueprints, line drawings, and sketches of this home are available for research.

Found in another series are the plans for the proposed V. S. U. Alumni House. Beginning in 1949 and working through the next decade, Meredith was active with the Alumni House Committee in attempts to produce an Alumni House. She retained general Alumni records from as early as 1936 and ending in 1969.

Lastly, she created more than a dozen scrapbooks, devoting each to a different subject and/or person. They contain documents, photos, letters, news clippings, and ephemera, which combine to form a rich source of research on their topics. The materials cut across all the other sub-series in these collections.

Amaza Meredith maintained a life-long friendship with Edna Colson, former head of the Education Department at V. S. U. They also shared a residence and had mutual friends. Clearly, in order to research either person in- depth, it will be necessary to study the other. Some further correspondence exists in Colson/Hill the sub-series of MS. Colson's personal correspondence dating from 1905-79. This includes information of the trip to Europe made by Colson and Meredith. Some materials, however are restricted (Box 29).