SUSLA Archives Unlocked: Preserving the Shreveport Sun and Willie Burton Collections

FAIN: PG-52517-15

Southern University at Shreveport (Shreveport, LA 71107-4704)
Raegan Stearns (Project Director: May 2014 to April 2015)
Jane O'Riley (Project Director: April 2015 to February 2017)

The purchase of environmental monitoring equipment, light filters, and preservation supplies for a collection of archival materials on the history of African Americans in Northwest Louisiana. The collection includes print and microfilm versions of an African American newspaper, the Shreveport Sun (1927-2014), and the papers of historian William Burton, who published several works on the history of Southern University and of blacks in Shreveport.

Southern University at Shreveport’s Black Ethnic Archives (BEA) is requesting funding to purchase preservation supplies to properly store and care for department collections. The BEA collects, preserves, and makes available the original files and records documenting the underrepresented history of African Americans in Northwest Louisiana and contains approximately 2,000 linear feet of materials. The supplies will be used to re-house the BEA's “Shreveport Sun” and Willie Burton collections. The “Sun” is the oldest weekly Black newspaper in Louisiana and is the most comprehensive existing record of the lives of African Americans in Northwest Louisiana. Referred to as "the Father of Shreveport's Black History," Willie Burton’s decades of research produced the definitive texts documenting the activities and contributions of the area's African American population. His collection consists of photographs, books, manuscripts, fine arts, and artifacts.