Special Collections is home to various manuscripts, rare books, photographs, and exhibits associated with African American history. Much of the collection is centered around the institution of slavery in the United States, particularly the South, concerning the lives of the enslaved and the transition from slavery to freedom that occurred after emancipation, at the conclusion of the American Civil War. To support broader research inquiries into the accomplishments of African Americans in United States history, external links to relevant databases and further resources are provided.
The collection's primary documents, predominantly in the Small Manuscript collection, provide researchers access to information concerning the lives of the enslaved in the Antebellum South and of freed people of color after the Civil War. The James C. Bonner collection contains information on Reverend Wilkes Flagg (1802-1878), a formerly enslaved African American, who purchased his and his family's freedom and became a socially and politically influential Milledgeville resident.