Archive Collections

CARTER FAMILY COLLECTION

Back Row-L Exalted Ruler Richard Carter with Grand Exalted Ruler Hobson Reynolds; Mrs. Bertha Carter and P. M. Blair

CHARLES CONLEY COLLECTION

Attorney for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

FLORA (ELMORE) MOORE-ANDRY COLLECTION

1965 Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March Stokley Carmichael in Center

FRANK BRAY COLLECTION

One of the first two Black County Commissioners elected in Montgomery, AL

GWEN PATTON COLLECTION

1965 Voting Rights March on Edmund Pettus Bridge Selma, AL; Patton in center with scarf

IDESSA REDDEN COLLECTION

Idessa Williams-Redden (1912-2005) Pioneer Voting Rights Activist

LUCILLE TIMES COLLECTION

Mrs. Times marched the entire 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery (1965) Her home housed 34 marchers, both black and white and from all over the country. She and her husband, Charles, owned Times' Cafe, a hub for the movement. Items Displayed were used in the cafe, 1950's circa.

MADISON FAMILY COLLECTION

Filed the first class action lawsuit for voting rights on behalf of African-Americans, 1943

PORTIA TRENHOLM-HAMLAR COLLECTION

(Sitting) Mrs. Portia Lee Trenholm with infant Harper Councill Trenholm, Jr. (Standing) Portia, Dr. Harper Councill Trenholm, Sr. and Edwyna. Portrait of Dr. George Washington Trenholm in background.

RUFUS LEWIS COLLECTION

Rufus Lewis, Father of Montgomery and Central Alabama's Voting Rights Movement

Richard and Bertha Carter Collection – 103 photographs depicting church activities, Black schools and the Elks organization in Montgomery, circa 1950--; limited manuscripts.

Charles Conley Collections – Legal briefs, handwritten legal notes, news paper articles.

Rufus A. Lewis Collection – Photographs, scrapbooks, small artifacts, manuscripts, news articles, original posters and leaflets, news articles, phonographs, covering his life as the leading organizer for Montgomery and Central Alabama’s Voting Rights Movement, circa 1940--

Madison Family – Photographs, deeds, manuscripts, circa 1880--

Flora Moore-Andry Collection – Photographs depicting Black families and the 1965 Voting Rights March in Montgomery, small artifacts and manuscripts, circa 1900--

Gwendolyn M. Patton – 93 video interviews and 18 transcriptions thereof of Montgomery foot-soldiers and pioneer voting rights activists; 16 audio-tapes and transcriptions of Black and White involvement and observations of the 1965 Voting Rights March; 20 water-color and oiled-based paintings by students of Dr. George Washington Carver, using paint that they had created, circa 1920; original leaflets, posters and movement buttons; photographs, manuscripts and news articles, circa 1960--

Lucille Times – Her apparel worn on the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March and other small artifacts; limited manuscripts.

Idessa Williams-Redden – Scrapbooks, manuscripts, original posters and leaflets.

Jessie Williams – Original Alabama State Normal School (now Alabama State University) diplomas signed by Presidents John W. Beverly (1920) and H. Councill Trenholm (1929), and signed Madame Butler School of Beauty Culture (1918); photographs depicting Black life, circa 1950-60; limited manuscripts.

(Limited to Montgomery, AL)

  • Alabama School Desegregation
  • Alabama State Teachers Association
  • Black Family Life
  • Black Civic and Fraternal Organizations
  • Black Pioneers in All Fields
  • Black Political Organizations
  • Citizenship Schools
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • Federal Voting Rights Registrars
  • Freedom Rides
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • Montgomery Improvement Association
  • Montgomery Support Groups for Desegregation
  • Montgomery Teachers Federal Credit Union
  • Movement Foot Soldiers, mainly women
  • Movement Lawsuits
  • Movement Lawyers
  • Movement Leaders, mainly men
  • Movement Strategies and Tactics
  • Southern Christian Leadership Conference
  • Southern Regional Council
  • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
  • Tuskegee Institute (University)
  • U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
  • U.S. Department of Justice
  • Voting Rights Movement and its Organizing Tools

*All COLLECTIONS have primary source materials on these subjects.

Processed by Dr. Gwendolyn M. Patton
Date Completed: January 2002

  1. Nina F. Beauchamp—a small collection, consisting of high school year books (1938 & 1939); photographs, circa 1960-70s; retirement celebration.
  2. Mattie Paige Carr—a small collection, consisting of a miniature voting machine used in home-based “citizenship schools” and Rufus A. Lewis’ “voting rights clinics” during the days of the literacy test as the pre-requisite to become a registered voter; a scrapbook covering Montgomery’s Black women in politics; interview on video tape.
  3. Virginia Foster Durr—a small collection, consisting of news articles ; 90th birthday party celebration with autographed photographs by U.S. President Bill Clinton and First-lady Hillary Clinton with Mrs. Durr; souvenir program booklets; awards and plaques; 3 different interviews on video tape.
  4. Kay Kyzar—small collection on Black Debutante Society in Montgomery, 1961.
  5. Robert F. Odum—small collection, consisting of a framed “...Photograph of a Lynching” 39" x 27" with an accompanied poem of same title by Odum; KKK recruitment flyers, the Fiery Cross Bulletin, KKK certificates with original signature of Robert M. Shelton, Imperial Wizard of the KKK.
  6. Trenholm State Technical College—an extensive institutional archives collection, covering 4 presidents and 4 interim presidents’ administrations; academic programs; student activities; self-studies; photographs; artifacts; “Rosa Parks’ ‘Quiet Courage’” 8/25 autographed edition of medium charcoal drawing by Jameel Rasheed, 1994; Dr. MLK, Jr. National Holiday Commemoration painting by F. Coles, 1983.
  7. Michael and Louisa Weinrib—a gift of an original oil painting, “Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge and Marching for Voting Rights,” by master folk artist, Bernice Sims. 
  8. Ninety-three (93) video interviews and programs of Montgomery’s pioneer voting rights activists, (Gwen Patton Collection).
  9. Thirty-seven (37) audio interviews and programs of Montgomery’s pioneer voting rights activists, (Gwen Patton Collection).
  10. Thirty-one (31) oil and water-color paintings of Dr. George Washington Carver’s students (Tuskegee Institute students), circa 1890-1930, (Gwen Patton Collection).
  11. Isaac Scott Harthaway Carver mold and plaque #240, Washington mold and plaque #241, two (2) Booker T. Washington/ George Washington Carver Liberty Coins molds[“Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial, VA.  George Washington Carver National Monument Foundation, Mo.  That this world under God shall have a new birth of freedom,” and “From Slave Cabin to Hall of Fame, Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial, Franklin County, VA.  In God We Trust.”], (Gwen Patton Collection).
  12. Diane Ward Grayson's Candy Store; Photographs of Black men with cars and horses (circa 1920).