African Americana

Approximately 400 items including letters, documents, and other pieces of ephemera all relating to Nannie Mae Rice Banks (1895-2000), the matriarch of a close-knit African American family living in the American South. Almost the entirety of correspondence in the collection is addressed to Banks. Correspondents include Banks's little brothers Naymon E. Rice (1914-1955) and James C. Rice (1916-1963), and her nephew James Lester Rogers (1920-1945), all of whom served in World War II. Additional letters are written to Banks from a young man, World War I soldier Private Solomon G. Payne (1895-1962) as well as other family members and acquaintances. Despite penning so few letters in the collection (approx. 3-4), the dominant presence in the archive is that of Nannie Mae Rice Banks, a woman who emerges as the keystone of support for her family throughout several tumultuous decades.

World War I letters (approx. 24 letters) reflect a youthful Nannie Mae as she engages in a flirtatious correspondence with a young African American soldier. Letters written by Naymon Rice to his sister during the Great Depression (approx. 130 letters spanning 1931-38) provide powerful insight into suffering and deprivation that some African Americans faced during the Great Depression. The World War II-era letters and documents (approx. 160 pieces) testify to a variety of wartime experiences and to the immense contributions of African American soldiers to the war effort. 

Conditions vary but generally fair to good. Most letters quite legible while covers tend to be in poorer condition with period damage. An extensive and more detailed description of the archive with selected quotes can be found online:  https://www.historybroker.com/collection/rice/1000.htm