Special Collections is a repository for various manuscripts, rare books and photographs that deal with the history of African Americans. Much of the collection's content is focused on the institution of slavery in the United States, particularly the South, concerning the lives of slaves and the transition from slavery to freedom that occurred at the end of the American Civil War. In an effort to broaden the collection's content to include material which celebrates and showcases the many accomplishments of African Americans in United States history, various external links have been provided to help researchers easily find and view the databases of other institutions.
The collection boasts many primary documents, most notably in the Small Manuscript collection, that allows researchers first hand access to information concerning the life of slaves in the Antebellum South and of freed peoples after the Civil War. The James C. Bonner collection contains information concerning Reverend Wilkes Flagg, a notable African American who resided in Milledgeville (native of Virginia). Flagg purchased his own freedom along with his family's and proceeded to become an important figure in Milledgeville history, both politically and socially.
The material available for research purposes comes from a host of mediums, manuscripts, photographs and university files.