Emory has collected manuscripts, archives and rare books related to Southern history for nearly 100 years. The Rose Library's collections are particularly strong in the history of the American Civil War and the history of the civil rights and post-civil rights eras. The Rose Library is also strong in research collections devoted to the social and cultural history of the American South, with a particular emphasis on Georgia and Atlanta. Areas of particular strength include: the Civil War, Methodism, journalism, Jewish history, and culture.
The biographical profiles represented here are just a glimpse of the stories present in the Rose Library. Find more information on our Southern History collections.
Jacob M. Rothschild papers 1933-985
Personal papers of Rabbi Jacob M. Rothschild of Atlanta, Georgia consisting of correspondence, writings, clippings, printed and audiovisual materials, and memorabilia From early in his career in Atlanta, Rothschild spoke frequently on civil rights issues through the 1950s and 1960s when that stance was not popular. The bombing of the Temple in October 1958 was one of the negative results of the rabbi's position. Having developed a close friendship with Martin Luther King, Jr., during the early 1960s, Rothschild became less directly involved with the civil rights movement after King's death in 1968.
Billy Howard photographs (MSS 1365).
Atlanta photographer Billy Howard began photographing people with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in 1987. At the time, there was no effective treatment for the deadly disease -- people diagnosed with it faced the potential of an agonizing death, as well as stigmatization, discrimination, and isolation because of fears and misunderstandings of the disease. Once Howard printed the portraits, he asked the individuals to write on them a message about living—and dying—from HIV/AIDS. Together, Howard’s haunting portraits and the subjects’ courageously honest words, gave distinct faces and voices to the harrowing statistics of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center records (MSS 1332)
The organization opened, in 1973, as Nexus, a photography cooperative and the first photography gallery in Atlanta and the Southeast. In 1976 it moved into a former elementary school on Forrest Avenue (later renamed Ralph McGill Boulevard). The new location provided gallery space, room for artists' studios as well as the Nexus Press and Nexus Performance. During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, Nexus organized the Cultural Olympiad. Nexus changed its name to Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center in 2000.
Calvin Craig papers (MSS 612)
Craig was named Grand Dragon of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for the state of Georgia in 1960. It was a time when the struggle to desegregate schools and public accommodations Atlanta was reaching a peak. Craig and his cohorts vowed to preserve segregation and thwart the efforts of the civil rights movement. In 1967 Craig was elected to serve on Atlanta’s Model Cities Program, a federally funded program to improve blighted urban areas, by residents in Adair Park. During his time on the bi-racial Model Cities Program, he said he “discovered that an extremist whether black or white could not succeed, but what was required was mutual concession and agreement on both sides. . . .” As a of this revelation, Craig stepped down as Grand Dragon and resigned from the KKK. Craig returned to the Klan in 1975.
Neighbors Network records (MSS 1009)
Neighbor's Network was founded in Atlanta in 1987 with the mission to counter "hate-crime and hate-group activity through research, education, victims assistance and community action." The organization was staffed by a small group of volunteers and community organizers dedicated to exposing and promoting public awareness of hate group activity in Georgia. The collection includes administrative records, subject files, printed material and photographs.