The American Colonization Society was formed in 1816 with the aim of helping freed people to emigrate from the United States to Africa. While attempting to remain neutral during the abolition debate, the Society drew support and attacks from both pro- and anti-slavery factions. After the Civil War, the Society continued work to aid emigration to Liberia and to support education and human welfare services in Liberia.

The Freedmen's Bureau (Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands) was established in March 1865 and was responsible for the welfare of newly freed citizens of the formerly Confederate states. It replaced and served as an office within the War Department. The Freedmen's Bureau documents, all from National Archives Record Group 105, provide detailed evidence from each southern state of the conditions of African Americans during the Reconstruction period.

Records of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi plantations from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.

This large commercial project sought to film plantation-related materials: diaries, letters, farm books, bills of sale, ledgers, and other records from various archives throughout the country. The University Libraries own Series J: Part 6 (Selections from the Southern Historical Collection, Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). These collections include papers from Gustavus Henry (Desha County)and James Trooper Armstrong (Jefferson County).

Includes: reports, investigations, legal decisions, regulations, and business contracts for the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes.

Provides documents produced by and correspondence to and from SNCC offices, including information on the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964, Voter Education Projects, Freedom Schools, field reports from various state offices (including Arkansas) sit-ins and other direct actions, and more.

The Southern Tenant Farmer's Union (STFU) was a bi-racial union of sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and small landowners. These documents contain information on the crisis in intellectual labor from the worker's point of view. The deplorable condition of these farmers, the founding and history of the union and its struggle for recognition are covered. The supplement, The Green Rising, features the personal papers and records of four of farm labor's dynamic leaders.

The collection includes the proceedings of various conventions, the resulting constitutions, and supporting documents. The library has purchased only the Arkansas collection (covering 1836-1969).