This collection contains letters written to Hamilton, a young Army paratrooper stationed in the United States, including one letter from Normandy written shortly after the D-Day invasion.

The letters in this collection were written by two servicemen named Frank Hamilton, one the uncle of the other. Both served in the Army during World War II, and the younger Hamilton was shot down and killed over occupied France in 1944.

Virginia Van der Veer Hamilton worked as a reporter for the Birmingham News in the 1940s and later taught history at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the author of several books, including Hugo Black: The Alabama Years, Lister Hill: Statesman from the South and Seeing Historic Alabama. This collection contains correspondence, photographs, interview notes and other material relating to Hamilton’s research on Black, Hill, Selma and Alabama history.

William Hamilton served as Administrative Assistant to Birmingham mayor Albert Boutwell. The collection includes correspondence, reports, memoranda and other material on the operation of the city government. The collection includes extensive documentation on civil rights activities in Birmingham.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Arthur J. Hanes was a graduate of Woodlawn High School and Birmingham-Southern College. After graduating law school in 1948 Hanes became an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serving at offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C. He resigned from the FBI after three years and returned to Birmingham to work for Hayes Aircraft Corporation, eventually assuming the post of plant security manager. Hanes was appointed to the Birmingham Board of Education in 1958 and elected mayor of Birmingham in 1962. His brief tenure as mayor included the period of Birmingham’s 1963 civil rights demonstrations. Hanes left office in May of 1963 after a referendum to change Birmingham’s form of government eliminated his office. After leaving office Hanes worked as an attorney in Birmingham and briefly represented James Earl Ray, the man convicted of murdering Martin Luther King, Jr. The papers contain correspondence, memoranda, reports, and other material relating to Hanes’ term as mayor.

Newspaper clippings relating to city government during Hanes’ term as mayor.

Ruth Hannas served as Professor of Music and Head of the Department of Music Theory at the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina. The papers include correspondence with musicians, composer and teachers; published and unpublished articles written by Hannas; recital and lecture programs; and other documents.

The interviews in this collection were conducted by Bette Hanson. The interview subjects are Vera Foster, whose husband Dr. Luther Foster served as President of Tuskegee Institute beginning in 1941; Ida Kohlmeyer, a prominent New Orleans painter; and Dorah Sterne,a Birmingham resident and social activist.

This collection includes material relating to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, radio and film, and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

This book contains handwritten recipes and recipes clipped from newspapers.

Papers of Robert Withers Harper and his wife, Laura Worthington Harper, residents of Arkansas. Robert Harper served in the Confederate Army and was commissioned a major. In 1862, he was made a colonel of the Churchill Brigade, First Mounted Rifles, Arkansas. During the War he participated in at least six battles: Oak Hill, Missouri; Elk Horn, Arkansas; Farmington, Mississippi; Richmond, Kentucky; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and Chicamauga, Tennessee. Robert hoped he would be transferred to Stonewall Jackson's unit, but on September 20, 1863, he was killed during the battle of Chicamauga. This collection contains letters written by Robert and Laura Harper to Dr. Levin and Anna (Harper) Wailes of Natchez, Mississippi. The letters date from 1856-1863 and tell of family matters, business affairs, and survival during the Civil War.

James Albert Harper worked as a teacher at Brighton School (now a part of Bessemer, Alabama) and later served as principal of Sandusky School. He was also active in the Jefferson County Teachers Association. This collection contains one scrapbook of photographs (primarily photos of students), clippings, and other material relating to Brighton School for the period 1926 to 1937 and two similar scrapbooks relating to Sandusky school for the period 1937 to 1947. The collection also includes loose photographs, a typed history of Brighton School and a handwritten (apparently a student’s project) history of the Brighton community.

In this 311 page personal memoir, Hart recalls growing up in Birmingham in the 1910s and 1920s and discusses the development of race relations in Birmingham after World War II.

This scrapbook includes newspaper clippings describing labor unrest at Hayes, a Birmingham aircraft modification facility.