African American Collections

The Texas Collection offers a variety of materials for research documenting the African American experience in Waco and across Texas. These resources cover religion, civil rights, personal lives, professional careers, education, community organizations, and Baylor University history. Some of the people featured in these collections include:

• Marvin C. Griffin papers, Pastor and civil rights leader
• Oscar “Doc” Norbert papers, First African American mayor of Waco
• Jules Bledsoe papers, Internationally acclaimed professional opera singer
• Farmers Improvement Society records, Organization to assist African American farmers
• Vivienne Malone-Mayes papers, Mathematics professor at Baylor University

There are also resources available on Paul Quinn College, A.J. Moore High School, and more. Some materials have been digitized and are available via The Texas Collection Flickr page.

Descriptions of these collections are available online through BARD (Baylor Archival Repositories Database) or Baylor’s Onesearch catalog.