A radical archive arrives at Harvard

A French print in support of Davis declares “Save Angela!” Photo courtesy of the Schlesinger Library

Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library has acquired Davis’ archive, a trove of documents, letters, papers, photos, and more that trace her evolution as an activist, author, educator, and scholar. The papers were secured with support from Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research….

The acquisition is in keeping with the library’s efforts to ensure its collections represent a broad range of life experiences. In 2013 and 2014 an internal committee developed a diverse wish list, “and a foundational thinker and activist like Angela Davis was very naturally at the top,” said Kamensky….

The collection includes a painting done for Davis by a death-row inmate in California, and a manuscript of her autobiography with edits by her friend Toni Morrison. There are numerous photos of the young Davis, including a shot of her posing with Fidel Castro. Reels of tape from her radio show “Angela Speaks” are also part of the archive, as is material related to her arrest in connection with the 1970 shooting of a superior court judge by an acquaintance who used guns registered in Davis’ name….

Over the next year archivists will sort, document, and digitize some of the material in preparation for a series of events in 2019, including an exhibition and a Radcliffe conference featuring Davis that will focus on family, gender, and issues around incarceration.