Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation

MSS 16839, William Bryant scrapbook, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was purchased from McBride Rare Books by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 16 February 2024.

Content Description

This collection contains one scrapbook belonging to William Bryant of Little Rock, Arkansas. Bryant, son of a physician and an African American, attended the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama between 1936 and 1939, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Education.

The scrapbook is notable as it is made from thick wooden boards, metal hinges and bound with two long screws and wingnuts. The front cover artfully has the title inlaid in wood reading "Tuskegee Inst. 39."

The scrapbook, compiled during his last year at Tuskegee, includes autograph greetings from friends and faculty, event programs including programs for music, theater, and dance, photographs, newspaper clippings, and Tuskegee Institute commencement ceremony materials. After his time at Tuskegee, Bryant attended graduate school at the University of Arizona. Bryant eventually became a teacher, focusing on special education.

Notable events include a performance by famed singer Etta Moren and a March 1939 visit by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• African American students
• African American universities and colleges