This collection contains materials donated by the current Black Students Association, which was originally named the Black Americans for Democracy and began on the University of Arkansas campus in the late 1960s.

The Black Studies Program at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville was established in the fall of 1969 to educate students on the history, culture, and problems of African Americans. This collection covers the establishment and early years of the Black Studies Program at the U of A and includes minutes, reports, and notes of the Committee as well as course descriptions, correspondence, articles, and miscellaneous materials.

The University of Arkansas was created through the Morrill Act of 1862 which provided for the creation of “land grant” institutions for the purpose of teaching agricultural and mechanical arts. In 1871, Arkansas passed legislation to realize this act and created the Arkansas Industrial University. The collection includes organizational and departmental records of the University of Arkansas spanning from post World War I to the early 1990s

Gordon Morgan was the first African American professor at the University of Arkansas and participant in the Civil Rights movement on campus and in the community. The collection includes books, articles, and essays by Morgan and unpublished works documenting the Black experience on campus.

The Affirmative Action Plan (AAP), developed by the Director of Human Relations and the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, is designed to comply with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Executive Order No. 11246 and No. 11375, Revised Order No. 4, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In May 1973, the University of Arkansas submitted it fist version of the AAP. This collection documents the University of Arkansas' response to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX, and other similar legal acts.

Elaine Ogden McNeil (1913-2004) pursued a scholarly career in sociology at the University of Chicago and the University of Kansas. She joined the University of Arkansas faculty in 1954, was a very active in desegregation, and became the first director of the UA Black Studies committee in 1969.This collection contains personal and scholarly documents pertaining to the life and career of Elaine Ogden McNeil, particularly her scholarly work and involvement in desegregation, as well as photographs and newspaper clippings.