Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78010660
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The records of the American Colonization Society were given to the Library of Congress by the society in 1913 and 1964-1965.
Between 1936 and 1963 the Library laminated some of the records and rebound most of the correspondence volumes. In many instances this process resulted in volumes that were originally arranged and numbered by the society being organized into two or three parts. In 1970 the records were reprocessed to include the later additions and were prepared for microfilming. The finding aid was revised in 2009 by Anita Nolen. The finding aid was updated in 2023 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
In 1979, the Library published
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library Photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Maps have been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the records of the American Colonization Society.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings in the records of the American Colonization Society is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The records of the American Colonization Society are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
A microfilm edition of these papers is available on 331 reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition as available.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, American Colonization Society Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The records of the American Colonization Society span the years 1792-1964, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1823-1912. The records include a variety of material, but in terms of content and physical size the various correspondence series predominate. The society's major interests and activities changed in emphasis during its long history, and this change is reflected in the voluminous correspondence, which ranges in subject from routine administrative and financial matters to the problems of slavery, the status of enslaved people and formerly enslaved people in society, and the advantages and disadvantages of emigration and colonization. The collection is organized in seven series: Incoming Correspondence, Outgoing Correspondence, General Correspondence, Financial Papers, Business Papers, Subject File, and Miscellany.
During the decades prior to the Civil War, the society sought to implement its solution to the "slavery problem" – colonization of formerly enslaved people and their descendants in Africa – by establishing the colony of Liberia on the west coast of Africa and raising money to transport and support emigrants. Also during this period the society came under attack from critics, particularly William Lloyd Garrison and other abolitionists, who termed it proslavery and succeeded in winning over some previously ardent colonizationists, notably Gerrit Smith, a major contributor to the society's efforts prior to 1835. The efforts of the society to maintain neutrality on the subject of slavery and to appeal to all sections of the country are also reflected in the correspondence. Notable correspondents of the pre-Civil War period include Lyman Hotchkiss Atwater, Benjamin Coates, Elliott Cresson, John H. Eaton, Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, Reverend R. S. Finley, Thomas R. Hazzard, Silas Howe, John H. B. Latrobe, John Maclean, and Anson Greene Phelps. An index to incoming correspondence for the period 1839-1855 is located in at the end of the Domestic Letters subseries of the Incoming Correspondence series.
Correspondence in the collection also reveals the difficulty the society experienced in obtaining funds to carry on its work. Letters document the largely unsuccessful efforts to get financial aid from the United States Congress and state legislatures, and reports received from agents around the country attest to the difficulty in obtaining individual contributions and the lack of cooperation from various state auxiliaries.
After the Civil War, the society's activities centered primarily on helping people who wished to emigrate and on providing funds for their support after arrival in Liberia. The correspondence, accordingly, is concerned mainly with obtaining funds for these purposes through private contributions and with counseling those who wished to emigrate. Letters requesting help in moving to Liberia are numerous until 1910, when the activity of the society in this area diminished. Lists of applicants for passage to Liberia appear in the correspondence during the late-nineteenth century as well as in separate registers and rolls contained in the Subject File series. Major figures in the society in this later period were William Coppinger and William McLain. Correspondents include D. C. Haynes, John H. B. Latrobe, John Orcutt, and Joseph Tracy. A large number of communications are from the firm of Yates & Porterfield of New York, through which the society arranged passage to Liberia for the emigrants.
After the turn of the century the society was primarily concerned with the support of education in Liberia, and correspondence is devoted chiefly to administrative and financial matters, particularly cooperation with the Phelps-Stokes Fund in support of the Booker Washington Agricultural and Industrial Institute founded at Kakata, Liberia, in 1929.
Throughout its history, the society received reports from Liberia telling of the conditions of the various settlements. Some of the earliest letters were written by Jehudi Ashmun, one of the society's first agents in Liberia, describing the progress and problems of the colony in 1823 and the need for American support. Later reports and dispatches from the colony come from Stephen Benson, Thomas Buchanan, first governor of Liberia under the commonwealth system, Edward W. Blyden, J. W. Lugenbeel, and Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809-1876), who became the first president of the Republic of Liberia in 1847. There is also correspondence from ordinary settlers in which they relate their travel experiences, describe the settlements they established or into which they moved, and discuss future plans.
Additional records documenting the administrative functions of the society include financial ledgers, account books, and registers of names of contributors and subscribers to the
The collection is arranged in seven series:
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 14,745
Letters received by the society from within the United States concerning all areas in which the society was involved and letters from Liberia before 1833. Subjects include memberships, contributions, finances, emigration, and the
Correspondence is bound in volumes and generally arranged in chronological order. Most of the volumes dated after 1839-1840 contain an alphabetical index to the letters within.
Letters received by the society from colonists and society and colony officials in Liberia.
Letters from Liberia before 1833 are interfiled in Series I-A. Arranged chronologically.
Letters received by the society in response to a special circular appealing for funds to send the enslaved people liberated by T. D. Herndon of Virginia to Liberia.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters received by McLain from friends and members of his family generally concerning personal matters.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters received. Much of the early material consists of letters from Jehudi Ashmun in Liberia concerning the conditions and problems in the colony in the 1820s.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters sent by society's administrative officers, chiefly the current secretary, concerning general matters.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters written by Gurley when he was corresponding secretary of the society.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters of the secretary of the Massachusetts Colonization Society concerning matters involving that organization, particularly its relations with the parent society.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters received from Liberia.
Arranged chronologically.
Incoming and outgoing correspondence relating chiefly to administrative matters when the activity of the society was limited and membership dwindled.
Arranged chronologically.
Receipts, account books, ledgers, statements, and miscellaneous papers of a purely financial nature. A small amount of correspondence concerning financial matters is included.
Arranged by type of material and therein chronologically.
*Containers IV:94-IV:96 were filmed out of sequence
Annual reports, proceedings and minutes of the annual meetings of the board of directors and the executive committee, membership and donation records, and papers concerning the
Arranged by type of material and therein chronologically.
Correspondence, manuscripts, reports, legal papers, and other material.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Unidentified indexes and memorandum books, printed matter, and newspaper clippings.
Arranged by type of material and therein chronologically.