Dr. Lavonia Allison signs a Contract of Gift to the State Archives as Cultural
Resources Deputy Secretary Jeff Crow (C) and N.C. Central University
Chancellor Charlie Nelms look on. (Photo courtesy of N.C. Central University)
In a ceremony on the historic campus of N.C. Central University Tuesday, Department of Cultural Resources Deputy Secretary Jeff Crow accepted a gift on behalf of the State Archives from Dr. Lavonia I. Allison of Durham.
The donation includes records of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People (DCABP) from 1935 to the present; records of the N.C. Black Leadership Caucus (NCBLC), circa 1977 and 1980; brochures, signs, and buttons from the campaigns of Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988; and items from the national democratic campaigns of 1992, 1996, 2004, and 2008.
“The nearly 3,000 private collections that have been donated over the past one hundred years to the State Archives include correspondence from every president of the United States, and from a variety of agencies and organizations including the NAACP and the Freedman’s Bureau,” said Cultural Resources Secretary Lisbeth C. “Libba” Evans. “The addition of Dr. Allison’s papers marks an important way to strengthen the resources available for African American history at the State Archives.”
The North Carolina Office of Archives and History will microfilm and scan the items, and provide microfilmed and scanned copies of the documents to N.C. Central University in order to make available to researchers there this important part of North Carolina history.
Founded in 1903, the State Archives is the third oldest state archival program in the nation. Throughout its 105 years of existence, the Archives have been at the forefront of preserving and providing access to North Carolina’s records and collections of historical significance. The State Archives is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture.