American Historical Ephemera and Photography, Featuring African Americana

25 3/4 x 5 1/2 in. printed photographic presentation for Spelman Seminary (partially taped to mat on verso, some light creasing and soiling throughout). Featuring a large halftone group portrait of the students and teachers of Spelman on campus grounds, credited to Thompson Photo Co. of Poughkeepsie, NY and captioned "Spelman Seminary 1912 - 13" in the original negative. View of likely the entire enrollment at Spelman with multiple college buildings visible in background.

Typed letter with facsimile signature ("Florence M. Read"). Atlanta, GA, 11 Mach 1939. 8 1/2 x 11 in. (creasing). On "Spelman College / Office of the President" letterhead. Letter outlines the importance of Spelman and solicits donations toward the Clara Howard Student Loan Fund. Florence Read served as President of Spelman College from 1927-1953.

3 7/8 x 7 1/2 in. promotional card for Spelman Seminary, "The Best School in the World for Negro Girls" (heavy creasing with some separation to creases, adhesive residue to verso). Features a halftone image of the campus at top, with training programs and instructions for receiving more information below. At bottom, text announces that the "School Opens October 5, 1915," though ink edits have changed the date to "September 30, 1919." Various unrelated ink inscriptions to verso.

The Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary was founded on 11 April 1881 to be a school specifically for Black freedwomen. The name was later changed in honor of the abolitionist family of John D. Rockefeller's wife, the Spelmans, in 1884. The college awarded its first degrees in 1901, and is the oldest private historically Black liberal arts institution for women in the United States.