About Us

History

The Alabama State University (ASU) Archives (also known as University Archives) is housed on the second floor of the Levi Watkins Learning Center. The primary role of the University Archives is to collect materials related to ASU, its administration, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other stakeholders. The University first attempted to organize an archive in 1971. That effort was solidified in 1973, when the Black Caucus of the American Library Association sponsored an Institute for the Training of Librarians for Special Black Collections and Archives at ASU. After this training, an archive was officially organized at the ASU library. At the same time, Special Collections was created to collect and house materials by and about African Americans in general, with particular emphasis on the modern Civil Rights Movement. The LWLC has aggressively sought to collect and preserve materials related to this period as much as possible in recent years. Collaboration between the University Archives and the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African American Culture has stimulated these collection development efforts.

Mission

The mission of the Alabama State University Archives is to collect, arrange, preserve, and make accessible permanent records in support of the administration, and the school’s teaching, research, and service agenda; in addition, the University Archives has a particular interest in the acquisition, arrangement, and preservation, of rare and unique collections related to the modern civil rights movement and African-American cultural expressions in Alabama.