Recently I’ve been asked where archival collections relating to human rights can be located in the US. I’ve compiled collections here at UConn below, and will post collections from other repositories in a separate post. Please bear in mind that some of these collections are recent acquisitions and are not yet open for public research. Before you visit the archives to look at the materials, make sure to email or call ahead to be sure that the materials you want to look at are accessible. Materials which have not yet been organized, or which have sensitive materials, may be restricted.
Human Rights Manuscript Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut
African National Congress Collection (a small collection of memorabilia collected as part of the UConn ANC Partnership in 1999)
African National Congress Oral History Transcripts Collection (133 transcripts of oral history interviews with leading anti-apartheid activists conducted between 2000 and 2006.)
Alternative Press Collections (independent and counter-culture newspapers and publications from activist movements for social, cultural, and political change. The collection contains thousands of newspapers, serials, books, pamphlets, ephemera and artifacts documenting activist themes and organizations.)
Center for Oral History Interviews Collection (includes interviews with Holocaust survivors in the Connecticut Region conducted in 1980-1981, as well as “Witnesses To Nuremberg, An Oral History Of American Participants At The War Crimes Trials.”
Dodd (Thomas J.) Papers (include materials from the Nuremberg war crimes trial before the International Military Tribunal from 1945-46)
Ho (Fred) Papers (accounts of Asian American culture and experience in the United States)
Mikhailov (Georgi) Collection (photographs and articles regarding Mikhailov’s experiences in Soviet Labor camps in Northeast Siberia from 1980-1983)
Human Rights Internet Collection (the publications library of Human Rights Internet, a Canadian NGO which collected human rights publications from around the world, including materials which are not found in any other libraries in North America.)
Impact Visuals Photographic Collection (photographs and slides which document the anti-apartheid movement and 1994 democratic elections in South Africa)
Malka Penn Collection of Children’s Books on Human Rights (over 140 children’s books and young adult literature dealing with a variety of human rights themes including slavery, the Holocaust, war, and discrimination.)
North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) Archive (over 100 linear feet of materials including holdings on human rights, politics, and socio-economic conditions in Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, and other parts of Central America.)
Refugee Case Files of the International Rescue Committee (records of the New Jersey office of the International Rescue Committee– some materials in the collection are restricted.)
Stolen Childhoods Image Gallery (Collection of noted photographer Robin Romano’s gripping images of child labor from around the world. Access available to the UConn community through HuskyCT; contact the curator for access.)
Tambo (Oliver) Papers (microfilm copies of the papers of anti-apartheid activist, Oliver Tambo; original documents are located at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa)
Xuma (A.B.) Papers (microfilm copies of the papers of anti-apartheid activist, A.B. Xuma; original documents are located at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa)
Other Collections at the University of Connecticut
African American Studies Institute, Archives and Video Collection (contains The Stanley Lawson Collection of Denver Post Clippings on African-American Life, History, and Music from 1986-2001, as well as selected newspapers and magazines.
Asian American Studies Institute, Japanese American Internment Resource Library (contains oral histories, books, videos and other materials documenting the internment of Japanese Americans during the second world war.)
