American music history has largely ignored or disregarded the contributions of African Americans. Rose Library contains over 30 archival collections of various sizes that both uncover and recover the critical role African Americans played in the music culture of the United States. Collections include composers,  entertainers, and scholars. 

The variety of materials includes: manuscript letters and scores, photographs, and published music by and about African Americans. This exhibit displays just a few highlights.   Clint Fluker, the former curator of Rose Library’s African American collections and now Senior Director of Culture, Community, and Partner Engagement for the Libraries and Museum at Emory, describes the importance of these archival collections:  

“The African American music collections are so significant because they enable those who use the materials to engage with history through one of our most enduring artistic mediums. Music has always told a story of African American history that so often cannot be captured using words alone. In fact, at times, it is the sound that grabs our attention, provides new insights, and penetrates the soul.”

While African American voices have often been silenced in American (and especially Southern) politics, economics, history, and culture, yet African American music has often found a way to endure.

Today, artists such as Octavia Butler, N.K. Jemison, and Tananarive Due are household names  who are representative of the term Afrofuturism—an aesthetic and philosophy closely aligned  with Black-authored speculative fiction genres (i.e. science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.). But this was not always the case. Just ten years ago, Afrofuturism was not part of the popular zeitgeist. One aspect of the popularization process included the canonization of writers—such as those previously mentioned—who were held up as exemplars of the term. But what of the other contributors to the field?    

The title of this exhibition, “Readers of the Lost Arkhive,” references one of these contributors, Henry Dumas. Dumas’ 1974 short story, “Ark of Bones,” features two young boys as they discover a great Ark in the Mississippi River that houses the souls of every Black person who ever lived. The soul is often described as an immaterial essence of a human being — a spark of energy that enables us to live, imagine, and create. This means that the dreams, imaginations, and the infinite stories of Black people are preserved on Dumas’ Ark. In like manner, this exhibition serves as an Arkhive that houses the spectacular worlds created by Black authors from the 1773-1987. Though not exhaustive, the following selections demonstrate the depth and breadth of Rose Library’s holdings in this area and further adds to the growing discourse on Black speculative world-building. 

The old adage remains true: never judge a book by [only] its cover - especially in special collections libraries.

Inner Beauty explores the vast world of rare books and highlights a diverse set of books that demonstrate the different elements that can contribute to a book’s rarity. Rare books often elicit images of beautiful leather-bound covers, gilt edges, and iconic dust jackets, but an exploration  beyond their covers can reveal so much about the book’s history of ownership, reception among readers, and even be inspirations for new works. It invites viewers to contemplate and balance the beauty of pristine first editions with the play and creativity of heavily marked and worn readers’ copies. The selections within the exhibition serve as both an introduction and request to explore the world of rare books beyond their covers.  

The Rose Library holds several hundred thousand volumes of books and serials dating from the 13th century to the present. With formats ranging from scrolls to miniature books. Our collection is a significant resource for the study of the history of Western print culture. Our rare book collection complements and builds upon our other collecting strengths. We hold one of the world’s most significant research collections of printed material documenting the African American experience, and our other print collection highlights include contemporary literature and poetry, gay and lesbian pulp novels, and regional history. We also collect the personal libraries of authors and artists whose papers we hold, including inscribed and annotated editions. Particular strengths include the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, books printed in the American South, Belgian imprints, French Revolution pamphlets, Victorian yellowbacks, modern British and American literature, artists’ books, travel guides, and fine literary first editions.

To locate an individual book title please search Library Search and limit to the Rose Library.

*Definitions are drawn from the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) glossary available online at abaa.org.