The Stanford University Archives contains more than 2,200 collections documenting the history of Stanford, including over 30,000 linear feet of physical records and more than 20 TB of digital content featuring a wide range of topics, groups, and individuals. 

Collections are cataloged in SearchWorks. Collection finding aids are available via Online Archive of California. Many digital exhibits are available via Spotlight. 

The following collections, listed in chronological order, include extensive content relating to the history of Black students:

• Associated Students of Stanford University records, 1891-2018 

Collection includes correspondence, minutes, reports, publications, financial records, and other materials. Includes materials relating to the ASSU Minority Affairs Task Force, 1982, and the University Committee on Minority Issues, 1999. This collection can be searched via the Online Archive of California.

• Stanford University, Office of Student Activities and Leadership records, 1943-2008

Collection includes founding materials for many student organizations, including the African and Afro American Studies Majors and Minors Association, Stanford Black Business Student Association (SBBSA), Black and Queer at Stanford, Black Graduate Students Association, Black Liberation Month Committee, Black Pre-Law Society, Stanford Black Premedical Organization, Association of Black Education Students (ABES), Black Community Service Committee, Black Community Project Fund, Black Convocation Organizational Committee, Black Law Students Association, Black Pre-Business Society, Black Student Leadership Network, Blacks in Transition. Also information files on fraternities and sororities, 1943-2003, including Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Kappa Alpha Psi. Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California.

• Harold K. Boyd records, 1955-1980
  Office files of Harold Boyd from his work in the Office of Student Affairs, consisting of correspondence, memoranda, minutes, publications. Subjects include student conduct, legislative council, fundamental standards commission, and general office operation. Includes materials on an introduction to Stanford for Black freshmen. Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California. (Note Boyd also participated in several oral histories).
   
• Stanford University, President's Office Sterling-Pitzer transitional records, 1964-1970

These records were generated during the tenure of President Kenneth Pitzer as well as his predecessor J. E. Wallace Sterling. Includes materials on “Educational Opportunities for Disadvantaged Minorities,” 1964-1966. Note: J. E. Wallace Sterling, Stanford’s fifth president, served from 1949 through 1968. Kenneth Pitzer took office on December 1, 1968 and served until September 1970. Collection materials can be searched via the Online Archive of California.

• Richard W. Lyman, President of Stanford University papers, 1965-1981

This collection consists of records from Richard W. Lyman's term as President of Stanford University (1970-1980), along with the records of the Provost. Some of the records were generated by the previous administration of Kenneth Pitzer. Includes coverage of the formation of the Black Student Union, the production of the student publication, Black on Black, as well as the development of the African and African-American Studies program at Stanford. Materials can be searched via the Online Archive of California.

• Black Community at Stanford collection, 1967-1990

The collection is primarily made up of newspaper clippings but also includes some newsletters from campus groups, flyers, and brochures. The topics are the Black community at Stanford, 1979-1990; the program on African and African-American Studies, 1979-89; and Martin Luther King at Stanford, 1967 (clippings only). Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California.

• Stanford University, Program in African and African American Studies, records, 1968-2002

This collection includes materials relating to the Program in African and African American Studies at Stanford University, including reports, slides, and other related materials. African and African American Studies (AAAS) was the first ethnic studies program created at Stanford University and the first program of African and African American Studies at a private institution in the United States. Materials can be searched via the Online Archive of California.

• Kenneth S. Pitzer, President of Stanford University papers, 1968-1970

This collection includes materials from the tenure of President Kenneth S. Pitzer. Includes the "Ten Demands" shared by BSU students in 1968 during the "Taking of the Mic," files on minority programs, Black Power, Black Theatre, and the formation of the Black Student Union, as well as materials documenting the destruction of the campus bookstore following the meeting between Pitzer and representatives of the Black Student Union. Materials can be searched via the Online Archive of California.

• Stanford University, Assistant to the President of Black Affairs records, 1968-1973

The records of the office of James E. Simmons under its several titles includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, general material on Black affairs at Stanford and some additional files on Native American students. Note: In 1968, Stanford University created the new office of Assistant Provost for Minority Affairs, naming James E. Simmons to the post; in 1969, Mr. Simmon's title was changed to Assistant to the President for Black Affairs. The office developed and supported educational, economic, and social activities of black Stanford students, faculty and staff on campus and in East Palo Alto, and worked with the Black Student Union. Convinced of the necessity to integrate the needs and concerns of blacks at Stanford with other minority groups and seeing more staff and faculty resources for black students on campus, Simmons recommended the discontinuation of a separate Black Affairs Office in 1973 and the redeployment of its services to the Dean of Student Affairs, the Office of Financial Aids and the Graduate Division. Also includes Simmons' 1973 report to the President. Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California.

• Stanford University's Provost Office records, 1970-2012

Records of Vice Provost Raymond F. Bacchetti consist of correspondence, memoranda, minutes of meetings relating to the Budget Adjustment Program (BAP), 1970-1975; records for the academic year 1972-1973, including correspondence, memoranda, salary charts and graphs of income and expenditures ; correspondence and memoranda relating to Black and Chicano students at Stanford, 1970-1971. The third series, Minority Affairs, deals with the concerns of Black and Chicano students at Stanford in 1970-1971. Included are memoranda on budgeting for funding of Black and Chicano Studies programs, hiring of minority faculty members, minority admissions, correspondence from the Black Student Union (BSU), and MEChA, the Chicano students' organization, and newspaper clippings collected by Mr. Bacchetti on topics concerning minority students. Also includes interdepartmental memoranda and correspondence on budgeting for the Black Studies Program, and correspondence from the Black Student Union, including list of demands, and the administration's response. Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California.

• Ujamaa records, circa 1970-2012

The records consist of administrative materials, newspaper clippings, photographs, posters, and audiovisual materials created and/or collected by the Ujamaa theme dormitory at Stanford University. These materials document the administration and history of the theme house from the 1970s to 2012. Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California.

• Stanford University Black Community Services Center records, 1973-2019

Correspondence, memoranda, proposals, questionnaires, programs, publications, and flyers pertaining to the activities of Black students at Stanford and the history of the Center. Other groups represented include the Black Recruitment and Orientation Committee, Ujamaa House, Joint Center for African Studies, Stanford African Student Association, Stanford Black Pre-Medical Organization, and Stanford Out of South Africa. Note: The Black Community Services Center is a division of Student Affairs. It initiates and coordinates Black student involvement in community service programs and provides primary advising and support services for Black students. Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California.

• Stanford University, Committee on Black Performing Arts, 1977-1990

The materials consist of administrative records, correspondence, publications, and ephemera documenting the Committee on Black Performing Arts. Materials can be search online via the Online Archive of California. Also see the Stanford University, Institute for Diversity in the Arts, records, under Audiovisual resources.

• African Student Organizations at Stanford collection, 1982-2010

Collection includes event materials, newsletters, publications, correspondence, and other records, primarily from the Stanford African Students Association, 1989-2010; other organizations include Association of Stanford Southern Africans, Stanford Ethiopian and Eritrean Students Association, and Stanford Nigerian Students Association. Also included are video recordings (VHS) from Africa Week, sponsored by the Stanford African Students Association, 1996 and 1997. Materials can be search online via the Online Archive of California. 

• Stanford University, Institute for Diversity in the Arts, records, 1982-

The materials consist of audiovisual recordings of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts, the Committee on Black Performing Arts, and other related events. This collection can be searched via the Online Archive of California. See also Audiovisual resources.

• Stanford University, University Committee on Minority Issues records, 1986-1989

Records include correspondence, reports, surveys, questionnaires, interviews, tables, articles, brochures, clippings, audio tapes, and other items pertaining to minority students, faculty, and staff at Stanford University, compiled from University documents, reports, and data files and from interviews and surveys with students, faculty, and staff conducted by SRI International and Pacific Management Systems. Note: The University Committee on Minority Issues (UCMI) was established by the President and Provost in October 1987 in response to a demand by the Rainbow Agenda (a coalition of minority groups) to explore the critical concerns of minority students, faculty, and staff at Stanford University. Materials can be searched via the Online Archive of California. The UCMI Final Report is available online via Searchworks.

• Stanford University, Office of Judicial Affairs, Ujamaa Incident records, 1988

Defaced posters, notes, notices, and a letter that were presented as evidence at the judicial hearing in response to a racial incident at Ujamaa House, the Black theme dormitory on campus. Note: The final report on this incident was published in the Campus Report of January 18, 1989. Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California.

• Prison Renaissance Project, Records, 2016-2018

Correspondence, poetry, artwork, and other written documents sent by artists from San Quentin State Prison to Stanford artists, as well as the culmination of these writings into a zine published by the Stanford Renaissance Project in May 2018 called ‘Incarceratedly Yours, Issue I’. Collection includes website and zine. Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California.

• Racism Lives Here Too Movement, Records, 2018

Includes 3 photographs depicting Stanford Law School students with a banner stating "Racism Lives Here Too," as well as 23 posters bearing quotes attributed to Stanford students and professors. The banner and posters were hung at Stanford Law School in February 2018 by students associated with the Racism Lives Here Too Movement. Materials can be searched online via the Online Archive of California.

• Jack Owicki Photographs of the Black Lives Matter Movement, 2020

Includes 67 photographs of the Black Lives Matter memorial installation on the Oval by the entrance to Stanford University, created July 10, 2020 by the student-led group Abolish Stanford. These photos were taken on July 12, two days after the installation was created, and on July 22, after flowers had been added to each memorial photograph.