Special Collections

Jack Child Slide Collection
A collection of images collected by Jack Child, alumnus and former faculty member at American University. Child was a specialist in Latin America and Latin American culture, with an emphasis on Antarctica, Chile and the Falkland / Malvinas Islands. The Jack Child Slide Collection is one component of the Jack Child Papers which document his career and research interests. The Jack Child Papers are housed at the American University Library in the University Archives and Special Collections department.
Jack Child Stamp Collection
A collection of stamps, first day covers, stamp covers, and stamp albums collected by Jack Child, alumnus and former faculty member at American University. Child was a specialist in Latin America and Latin American culture, with an emphasis on Antarctica, Chile and the Falkland / Malvinas Islands. The Jack Child Stamp Collection is one component of the Jack Child Papers which document his career and research interests. The Jack Child Papers are housed at the American University Library in the University Archives and Special Collections department.
Drew Pearson's Washington Merry-Go-Round
Pearson's syndicated Washington Merry-Go-Round column publishedbetween 1932 and 1969., Andrew Russell (Drew) Pearson (1897-1969) was one of the most successful newspaper and radio journalists of his day. The collection presented here consists of Pearson's syndicated Washington Merry-Go-Round column published between 1932 and 1969. American University Library Special Collections Unit holds the typescript copies for the column that the syndicate sent to Pearson's office at the same time the typescripts were distributed to newspapers around the country. Articles as published in various newspapers may differ slightly from the original typescripts represented here.
Photographic Material and Other Art Work of Herbert E. Striner
Herbert E. Striner (1922-2015) was an economist and the former Dean of the Kogod School of Business at American University. His collection consists of over 9,000 negatives, prints, and slides depicting a wide variety of subjects in Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and the United States from the 1940s to 1998. Striner took numerous photos in and around Washington, DC region depicting landmarks such as the National Cathedral and C&O Canal. Some of the earliest images in this collection document life on a troop ship. Striner also photographed the Chinese table-tennis delegation’s April 1972 visit to the United States., Approximately 5,000 black & white negatives, 5000 color slides, and 1,000 color negatives depicting a wide variety of subjects in the United States and abroad from the 1940s to the present.
John R. Hickman Collection
Radio programs collected by John R. Hickman, The John R. Hickman Collection consists of broadcast quality audio recordings of vintage radio news and entertainment programs, from the 1920s through the 1970s. The digitization of this collection is a work in progress. To date (February 2007) select reel-to-reel tapes of major news events from 1939 - 1953, and episodes from Amos 'n' Andy, Biography in Sound, The Cavalcade of America, The Goldbergs, Hear It Now, Life Can Be Beautiful, Lux Radio Theatre, Mary Margaret McBride, One Man's Family, OurGal Sunday, The Original Amateur Hour, and The Romance of Helen Trent have been digitized.
Peace Corps Community Archive
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Archive, The Peace Corps Community Archive consists of materials created and acquired by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers during their service such as correspondence, diaries, films, photographs, reports, scrapbooks, and sound recordings.
Historic African River Road Connections
The Historic African River Road Connections (HARRC) Collection collects, preserves, and makes available materials created and acquired by members of the River Road African communities of Scotland, Tobytown, Bethesda, and Tenleytown founded during the Reconstruction Era.
ENLACE records
This collection is comprised of administrative documents from ENLACE and collaborators created between 1987-1994. The collection contains documents related to collaborations, correspondences, AIDS/HIV-related correspondences, newspaper coverage, events, meeting minutes, board records, newsletters, promotional materials, finances, and founding documents. The majority of documents are from the Washington, DC metropolitan area, however some correspondences come from other states and countries. Founded in 1987, ENLACE, the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Latino Lesbian and Gay Coalition, was the first organization in the DC area to center the experiences of lesbian and gay Latinas/os. The organization was multi-faceted, offering social events for the community to gather at while also working to combat anti-gay and lesbian violence and provide health and educational resources. Over the years the group was active, ENLACE collaborated with the DC mayor’s office, other community health organizations, and other gay and lesbian organizations. The organization was run by volunteers and had a membership base that helped run committees, attended events, and received bi-monthly newsletters. ENLACE dissolved in 1995 but helped blaze the trail for future queer Latinx organizations in Washington, DC. These materials were collected and donated by Letitia Gomez, a former president of ENLACE. The collection was digitized by Emma Busch CAS/BA '22 and funded by the AU Summer Scholars Program, the Department of Sociology, the AU Honors Program, and the University Library.
John E. Gillespie Civil War Letters
One year of letters written home by John E. Gillespie, a Union soldier from Chester County, Pennsylvania in a three-month volunteer unit that defended Washington, DC at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War. The unit eventually reorganized into a three-year unit that fought a number of battles including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. Gillespie's letters were written from June 1861 to May 1862.
The Photographic Archive of Robert Nickelsberg
Robert Nickelsberg worked as a TIME magazine contract photographer for nearly thirty years, specializing in political and cultural change in developing countries. After covering Central and South America and the conflicts taking place there in the mid 1980s, he established his base in Asia. Living in New Delhi from 1988 to 1999, Nickelsberg recorded the rise of religious extremism in South Asia. His work has also encompassed Iraq, Kuwait, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Indonesia. Nickelsberg has documented Afghanistan since 1988, when he accompanied a group of mujahideen crossing the border from Pakistan.