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Using Records about Slavery in the Southern Historical Collection: Home

This tutorial is meant to orient and direct users to materials that document the history of slavery in the Southern Historical Collection in Wilson Special Collections Library.

Introduction

image of left corner of Wilson Special Collections Library

This tutorial is meant to orient and direct users to and within materials that document the history of chattel slavery in the Southern Historical Collection in the Wilson Special Collections Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The tutorial begins with a brief history of the Southern Historical Collection. Section two describes document types and formats commonly associated with primary sources about slavery in the SHC. This section also provides suggestions for collections to search based on your topic of interest. Section three outlines the basics of researching slavery specifically within the SHC by providing research strategies for identifying collections, boxes, and items to begin your search. 

This tutorial was developed collaboratively by Chaitra Powell and Lydia Neuroth with support from members of the Community Driven Archives Team, Archival Technical Services, and Research and Instructional Services.

This tutorial is not meant to answer every single question related to your research project. Feel free to contact a reference archivist at Wilson Library. If you have questions, please email our research staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu or call: 919-962-3765. Navigate to our homepage for further information about visiting.