Collection ID: UA3

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
University of Rochester
Extent:
9.69 Cubic feet and (30 containers)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item title, item date], African Students Center Records (University of Rochester), UA3, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Background

Scope and Content:

The African Student Center Records contains five series: Administration Files, Correspondence, Finances, Student Files, and Photographs.

Within the Administration Files series, there are three subseries: General Administration Files, Richard White's Individual Academic Folders, and Calendars. The General Administration Files subseries includes documents pertaining to the State Department and to services available to students, as well as monthly evaluation and grade reports. It also includes several folders for students who did not enroll at the Center. Richard White was the senior counselor at the African Student Center. His Individual Academic Folders include materials relating to exams and grades. The Calendars subseries contains director and secretary calendars from 1964-1967. This series as a whole contains files from 1957-1967; the bulk of these materials are from 1963-1967.

The Correspondence series includes correspondence within the Center and the University of Rochester as well as between the Center and other schools; groups and organizations, including the African-American Institute; and the State Department. For example, it contains correspondence with the State Department relating to students and student housing, and with groups in Rochester that assisted students when they arrived. This series also includes materials such as instructors' reports, grade reports, and course schedules. The dates of the materials in this series range from 1960-1968.

The Finances series contains materials relating to finances within the Center and payments the Center made to outside entities. Examples include salaries for faculty and staff of the Center, staff and student travel expenses, and health and medical fees. The dates of the materials in this series range from 1964-1967.

The Student Files series contains folders for students who attended the Center, as well as some folders for students who planned to attend, but ultimately did not. These folders contain a variety of materials, including initial interview information, petty cash vouchers, grade reports, photographs of the students, and information about students' transfers to other schools. The bulk of these materials are from the years 1964-1967.

The Photographs series contains unidentified photographs of students, photographs from a trip to Niagara Falls, and a template with which the Center made students' identification cards for the University. The materials in this series are from circa 1964-1967.

The collection, as a whole, contains materials from 1946 to circa 2014; the bulk of these are from 1964-1967, when the Center was in operation. Among the materials falling outside of this range are exams that were administered prior to students' arrival at the Center and recent emails and news articles added to the collection circa 2009-2014.

Biographical / Historical:

The African Student Center was opened in 1964 at the University of Rochester by the United States Department of State. It was the second African Student Center to open in the United States; the first was established at Lincoln University. The goal of the Center was to allow young adults from Africa the opportunity to obtain a higher level of education that was, oftentimes, not available to them in their home countries. Students were chosen based on their previous levels of educational success, their long-term goals of helping their country, and their leadership potential.

While at the University of Rochester's African Student Center, students would take courses through the University School, a division of the University that offered evening and summer classes to provide students with more flexible schedules. Students started out with a light academic load, often in preparatory classes for the standard classes other University School students took. If the African students were successful, they could increase their class load to that of a full-time student to continue working toward their chosen degree. Some students enrolled in the College at the University of Rochester on a full-time basis; others transferred to other institutions across the United States. The Center worked with the African-American Institute (AAI), which administered the State Department's scholarship program for African students pursuing higher education in the United States and which oversaw placement of students at colleges after they had completed their orientation program at the African Student Center.

The Center closed in September 1967. A Rochester Times-Union article published on 27 September 1967 connected the closure to budgetary concerns. According to the article, funds were allocated by the State Department based on the assumption that a majority of students would return to their home countries after completing their undergraduate degrees, but some funding was also available for those who wanted to pursue advanced degrees in the United States. When more students chose to remain in the United States to further their studies than had been anticipated, the overall budget was insufficient to support the program as a whole.

Acquisition information:
The African Students Center Records were transferred to the University Archives by Robert Allen, former director of academic advising at the University School of the University of Rochester, on 30 June 2005.
Processing information:

Some folder titles in the collection include dates; these dates have been rendered in parentheses in order to distinguish them from dates identified during the processing of the collection. In the case of the folder "African-American Institute Placement (September 1965), May-September 1965," for example, the date "September 1965" came from the original folder, whereas the range "May-September 1965" refers to the actual dates identified during processing. Many folders in the collection contain undated material that is assumed to be part of the date range provided.

Monthly Evaluation Reports and Grade Reports, initially located after Student Files; Richard White's Individual Academic Folders, initially located after Financial folders; a Check-Out List; and Calendars were incorporated into the Administration Files series.

Several empty folders were removed; their titles were Trips; New Students - Notification - University; New Students Post Office Boxes; Letter from Dean Assum; Departure Material; New Arrival Appointment Schedule; Departure Questionnaire; Academic Records; New Arrival Materials; and Nkabine, Mandlakayise.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

For access to this collection, please contact the University of Rochester Archives (archives@library.rochester.edu) at least two business days prior to your planned visit.

Please note: Some materials may be restricted or require permission for use.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

To request reproductions or permission to publish materials from the collection, please contact the University of Rochester Archives (archives@library.rochester.edu). Researchers may be responsible for determining any copyright questions.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item title, item date], African Students Center Records (University of Rochester), UA3, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
Rush Rhees Library
755 Library Road
Rochester, NY 14627, United States
CONTACT:
(585) 275-2121
archives@rochester.edu