Special Collections and University Archives

Special Collections include personal papers and primary source materials that focus on Jacksonville and Northeast Florida. These materials document local history, political development, civil rights, education, literature, urban planning, visual and performing arts, archaeology, and social welfare.

Primary sources documenting Civil Rights events and the History of Jacksonville's Black Community include:

• Eartha M. M. White Collection details the notable activities of Ms. White from the 1870s to the 1970s. Eartha White was a philanthropist, an entrepreneur, and a humanitarian who was involved in the local and national NAACP, anti-lynching movement, universal suffragism, and community advocacy. The Eartha M. M. White Collection includes personal and business correspondence, documents, notes, memorabilia, printed materials, ephemera, and photographs.
• Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Papers document civil rights events occurring in Jacksonville in the 1960s. Mr. Hurst was the president of the youth NAACP in Jacksonville at that time and helped organize lunch counter sit-ins to protest racial inequality. His papers include photographs and accounts documenting those activities, along with his collection of Black Heritage stamps.

• Rosa G. Holmes Walker Collection documents a Black businesswoman in Jacksonville during the early twentieth century. Her collection includes local burial records.
• Nathaniel Glover Collection documents Jacksonville’s first Black Sheriff, including correspondence, personal, printed materials, and photographs.
• Robert Allen Burt Collection is comprised of material from a Black photographer documenting urban Jacksonville, Florida.
• Afro-American Life Insurance Company Collection documents an early twentieth century, Black-owned insurance company that served as the leading financial center of the Black community in Jacksonville.
• Sallye Brooks Mathis Papers include information about Ms. Mathis’ activism regarding education standards in Duval County/Jacksonville.
• Grace Brooks Solomon Papers include information about Ms. Solomon's political activism, most notably for her work during her presidency of the Minority Women's Coalition.
• K. Mélanie Edwards Collection consists of family materials collected by Mildred Johnson Edwards, the only child of John Rosamond and Nora Floyd Johnson. John Rosamond Johnson and his brother James Weldon Johnson were born in Jacksonville, Florida. They were both composers and educators and are known for their collaborative anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

Collections relating to the theme of civic development and local politics can be found in some of these Northeast Florida regional primary resources:

• John Mathews, Jr. Collection documents a Jacksonville resident and Florida State Senator and includes his personal and business papers, correspondence, speeches, and scrapbooks.
• George Simons, Jr. Collection documents urban planning of the city of Jacksonville and other Floridian cities.

• Ed Gamble Cartoon Collection includes the cartoonist’s illustrations documenting Jacksonville’s politics.
• Arthur Sollee Papers include the personal and business papers from the Director of the Jacksonville Expressway Authority, 1956-1972.
• Joe Carlucci Collection includes the papers of a local politician and contains correspondence, administrative files, newspaper clippings, and printed materials
• Richard Martin Collection documents the consolidation of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida.
• Tommy Hazouri Collection includes personal items, newspaper clippings, and a scrapbook relating to Mr. Hazouri’s political and legislative activities.
• Jacksonville, Florida, Government Consolidation Collection documents the city of Jacksonville, Florida and Duval County merger into a consolidated government.
• Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. Records consists of reports, annual reports, studies, and quality of life surveys conducted by the Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. for Jacksonville and Northeast Florida.

Special Collections and University Archives has several collections that focus on women’s history and the contributions of women in Northeast Florida:

• Dr. Edna Louise Saffy Papers document the career of a Jacksonville native and human rights advocate active in local, state, and national elections as well as groups such as the Human Rights Commission, the National Organization for Women (NOW), the Florida Women’s Alliance, and the Jacksonville Women’s Network. Dr. Saffy’s papers include memorabilia, correspondence, programs, ephemera, political campaign materials, and photographs.

• Dr. Ronni Sanlo Papers consists of correspondence, news clippings, magazines, essays related to Dr. Sanlo's activities in the Florida Lesbian and Gay community.
• National Organization for Women, Jacksonville, Florida, and Jacksonville Women's Movement Collection comprised of materials detailing the activities of the organization committed to the Jacksonville Women’s Movement.
• Papers of the Women's Public Leadership Consortium chronicles the group's activities and development, 1979-1994.
• Women’s History Collection documents the Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women and includes programs, invitations, and posters.
• Nola Perez Papers chronicles a local author who is the poet laureate of Fernandina, Florida.
• Philippine Nurses Association of Northeast Florida Collection documents the organization’s involvement in the Jacksonville community.
• Christine Rasche Papers detail the academic activities of one of UNF’s founding sociology faculty whose studies included issues involving women and crime.
• A related collection is the Records of the American Society of Criminology, Division on Women and Crime Collection which describes activities of the first division of the American Society of Criminology to discuss issues related to women who are victims and/or offenders in the criminal justice system.

Several collections record experiences of early settlers in the Jacksonville region or images of Northeast Florida, including:

• John P. Varnum Family Collection consists of correspondence from a local family (1841-1927).
• Elisa Hatch Letters detail experiences on the Florida frontier (two letters, May 29, 1842 and July 23, 1843).
• S. S. Hyatt Letter with details of social and leisure activities in Jacksonville and the surrounding region (one letter, February 6, 1846).
• A. B. Temple Letter describes business, travel, and leisure activities in the Jacksonville region (one letter, January 25, 1869).
• Fleming Family Letters consists of letters from early settlers to Northeast Florida (1879-1930).
• E. A. Lee, Letter describes experiences as a winter visitor to Jacksonville (one letter, February 9, 1886).
• H. & W. B. Drew Company and Drew Family Collection documents the activities of the Columbus Drew Stationery Printing Company (later renamed the H. and W. B. Drew Company).
• Northeast Florida Regional Postcard Collection contains 19th and 20th Century postcards related to Northeast Florida’s agricultural, shipping, manufacturing, and tourism industries.

• Richard H. Mette Collection consists of memorabilia and ephemera that are representative of the businesses and attractions of the Northeast Florida region that were collected and curated by Richard H. Mette
• Lawrence V. Smith Image Collection consists of over 55,000 35mm slides from Mr. Smith’s 45 year career as a professional photographer. His work, as depicted in this collection, provides a visual documentation of the region, particularly in the transportation industry, in the second half of the twentieth century.
• George Lansing Taylor Image Collection consists of nearly 10,000 digital images of historic architectural sites in the United States, primarily dated between 2005-2019.
• Mandarin Garden Club documents the history of this Jacksonville regional club through its scrapbooks, newsletters, and yearbooks.

The theme of military history can be found in several collections, including:

• Camp Joseph E. Johnston Collection consists of letters from a soldier during World War I who trained in Jacksonville’s Camp Joseph E. Johnson as well as photographs of the Camp (1917-1919) and some ephemera.

• Carl Hayden Quinn Collection includes the personal effects of a soldier who served during World War I.
• Ansel Brooks Smith Collection includes postcards, and telegrams documenting the activities of a medical doctor who served World War I soldiers on a variety of bases.
• Fort Caroline Research Collection includes materials mapping out the colonial era, French fort in Jacksonville, Florida.
• Black Floridians and the Civil War: Facsimiles of Pension Records of the 21st, 33rd, and 34th United States Colored Infantry Regiments consists of copies of primary documents compiled by Dr. Daniel L. Schafer from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regarding applications for Union army veteran's pensions submitted from veterans of the United States Colored Infantry regiments, their widows, and other relatives. The records of the three regiments represented are for soldiers from Northeast Florida. The bulk of the materials are concentrated in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries.