Campus Life

Hidden Gems: The Charles L. Blockson Collection

University Libraries collection showcases African-Americana and the African Diaspora

The Charles L. Blockson Collection includes everything from postcards and manuscripts to statues and records, all documenting the African experience across multiple continents. Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

"Hidden Gems" is a new ongoing series highlighting many of the places and experiences available across Penn State to the campus and local communities. 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — On the third floor of West Pattee Library, on Penn State's University Park campus, visitors can access a unique collection of history from African, African American, and African Diasporic cultures over five centuries. 

The Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora offers a look into the African experience in the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, with materials dating as far back as 1632. A majority of the collection focuses on the history and achievement of African Americans from approximately 1900 to 2006.

Visitors can learn from items covering a range of subjects, from slavery and civil rights to exploration and biography. Some collection items document the difficult history of anti-black racism and oppression, while others illuminate the rich diversity of Black creative expression.

Through Penn State University Libraries’ Blockson collection, visitors can view historical postcards, manuscripts and sheet music alongside a collection of literature for all age groups. Records and other artifacts also provide a look into arts and culture, especially the lives of famous Black performers Marian Anderson, Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson.

The Blockson Collection is only open by appointment, during which visitors can sit and explore the materials. Outside of an appointment, materials can be viewed through the Eberly Family Special Collections Library during its operating hours. Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

Items in the Blockson Collection include records like this 1966 Langston Hughes collection, "The Glory of Negro History." Through prose and song, Hughes narrates the history of the African American people from the struggles of slavery to the accomplishments of notable African Americans in history. Subjects include Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, sporting legends Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis and the music of William Grant and Ella Fitzgerald.     Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

The Blockson Collection contains materials from as far back as the 1600s, offering a broad view of topics including slavery, civil rights, travel and exploration, along with autobiographies and memoirs. That's in addition to artifacts like the statues sitting on top of bookshelves. Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

The Blockson Political Buttons and Artifacts series contains a range of objects, including buttons, medallions, coins, paperweights, wall hangings, tintype and Daguerreotype photographs and a penknife all relating to Black history. Buttons make up the largest part of this collection with topics from Black activism to arts and entertainment being represented. Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

Documents within the collection capture historical accounts of travel and expedition, as well as artistic expression through mediums such as music, poetry and literature. This sheet music is for the opening number from 1901 J. Rosamond Johnson and Bob Cole musical "The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast," which opened on Broadway and ran for 7 months before decamping to start its London tour. The light love song, “Nobody’s Looking But De Owl and De Moon,” was later removed from the show, but the song went on to have many different recordings and editions.   Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

The Blockson Collection is only open by appointment, during which visitors can sit and explore the materials. Outside of an appointment, materials can be viewed through the Eberly Family Special Collections Library during its operating hours. Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

Items in the Blockson Collection include records like this 1966 Langston Hughes collection, "The Glory of Negro History." Through prose and song, Hughes narrates the history of the African American people from the struggles of slavery to the accomplishments of notable African Americans in history. Subjects include Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, sporting legends Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis and the music of William Grant and Ella Fitzgerald.     Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

The Blockson Collection contains materials from as far back as the 1600s, offering a broad view of topics including slavery, civil rights, travel and exploration, along with autobiographies and memoirs. That's in addition to artifacts like the statues sitting on top of bookshelves. Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

The Blockson Political Buttons and Artifacts series contains a range of objects, including buttons, medallions, coins, paperweights, wall hangings, tintype and Daguerreotype photographs and a penknife all relating to Black history. Buttons make up the largest part of this collection with topics from Black activism to arts and entertainment being represented. Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

Documents within the collection capture historical accounts of travel and expedition, as well as artistic expression through mediums such as music, poetry and literature. This sheet music is for the opening number from 1901 J. Rosamond Johnson and Bob Cole musical "The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast," which opened on Broadway and ran for 7 months before decamping to start its London tour. The light love song, “Nobody’s Looking But De Owl and De Moon,” was later removed from the show, but the song went on to have many different recordings and editions.   Credit: Penn State University Libraries. All Rights Reserved.

The collection was created and gifted by Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Charles L. Blockson, who graduated from the University in 1956. Blockson was a historian, author, bibliophile and collector who worked throughout his life to preserve the history and culture of those of African descent, and was the subject of the WPSU Public Media short documentary, “Holding History: The collections of Charles L. Blockson.” 

Though the collection itself is only available for visits by appointment, materials can be viewed through the Eberly Family Special Collections Library and searched in the University Libraries Catalog. Selections from the collection also are on display periodically through exhibitions. Currently, some items are showcased in the exhibit "'Where Beauty's At': Expressions of Black Visual Culture," on display through Sept. 9.

For more information, visit the Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora website.

Last Updated February 19, 2024

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