Arrangement and Description Note

Blackside production materials have been primarily organized by the two distinct periods of the company's production activities, 1968-1978 and 1978-2002. The later period, beginning with their work on the Eyes on the Prize series, represents the bulk of the collection and contains the widest variety of formats and documentation. There are several gaps in the materials that document Blackside's earlier programs, prior to working with the PBS system. Within each of the two periods, the materials are further subdivided by the titles of the various documentaries that were produced during that period.

When trying to navigate the Henry Hampton Collection, users should keep in mind two important facts: 1) The collection is large and complex, and it contains a multitude of formats, including boxes of paper records, canisters of film, video and audio cassettes, and books. Each of these formats requires processing that is unique, and the formats are traditionally catalogued and arranged in different ways, all of which makes it difficult to organize the collection into broad series and categories that will be useful to our patrons; 2) The collection is still being processed by the staff.

For some portions of the collection, we are able to provide fairly detailed information to users. In other areas, we can only offer a basic and broad description. In some cases, you will be able to obtain a very specific idea of the holdings simply by looking at our on-line catalog MavisWeb.  In other instances, the catalog can point you in a general direction, but you or an archive staff member will need to explore the physical items in order to gain a more nuanced understanding of the materials.   This guide contains some other tips to help you use the archive most efficiently. 

Audiotapes from our vault

Manuscript materials from our vault