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Hooper-Renwick Black Studies Collection

Hooper Renwick School historical display case
Community members at outdoor ribbon-cutting ceremony
Modern library interior with wooden ceiling and bookshelves
Author signing book at library speaker event

The Hooper-Renwick Special Collection at the Gwinnett County Public Library is grant-funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and encompasses a broad and diverse range of titles reflecting the Black diasporic experience.

The collection consists primarily of nonfiction works, the majority of which are available to check out with a valid library card at all Gwinnett County Public Library branches. Additional nonfiction holdings are housed on-site in the Black Studies Room at the historic Hooper-Renwick Library. The print collection further includes titles for readers of all ages, encompassing select works of fiction and classic literature that illuminate the Black experience in America.

Through this grant, the Library is also able to provide access to a robust archive of digitized historic Black newspapers, including several publications from the Atlanta area, offering an invaluable resource for research and scholarship.

Digital Resources

African American Newspapers, Series 1
African American Newspapers, Series 2
African American Periodicals

Explore African American history, culture, and daily life in the 19th and 20th centuries.

America’s Historical Imprints

Searchable monographs, pamphlets, broadsides, government documents, and ephemera enable researchers to explore America’s distant and not-so-distant past.

Includes six databases:

  • African History and Culture, 1540-1921: Imprints from the Library Company of Philadelphia
    • The history of Africa through more than 1,300 rare books, pamphlets, almanacs, broadsides, and ephemera.
  • Afro-Americana Imprints from the Library Company of Philadelphia
    • The world’s preeminent collection of books, pamphlets, and broadsides for African-American studies.
  • Black Authors, 1556-1922: Imprints from the Library Company of Philadelphia
    • Creative works by African and African-American authors across nearly four centuries.
  • Caribbean History and Culture, 1535-1920: Imprints from the Library Company of Philadelphia
    • Explore the history of the Caribbean through more than 1,400 rare books, pamphlets, almanacs, broadsides, and ephemera.
  • Civil War Broadsides and Ephemera
    • Explore the American Civil War through rare broadsides, playbills, posters, music programs, menus, ephemera, and more.
  • The American Slavery Collection, 1820-1922: From the American Antiquarian Society
    • More than 3,500 rare books, pamphlets, graphic materials, and ephemera covering all aspects of slavery in America.
American Race Relations

Thousands of commentaries on African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, and Native American history covering foreign reactions to America’s struggles with racial justice from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights movements and beyond.

Civil Rights in America

Premier archive of official publications and primary source material related to civil rights in the United States from the 19th century through the 20th century.

The Civil War: The Antebellum Period to Reconstruction

Featuring newspapers, government documents, and rare printed materials, this collection from the Readex Archive of Americana covers politics, society, and daily life during the American Civil War period: 1840-1877.
Atlanta Daily World

In 1932, Scott’s Atlanta World became a daily and added “Daily” to its title, becoming the first black daily in the U.S. in the 20th century and the first successful one in all U.S. history.

Hooper-Renwick Black Studies Room Collection

Explore the collection of titles in our Black Studies Room here.