Manuscripts Collection
Material created or collected by Connee Chivers while conducting research on the African American women involved with the Phyllis Wheatley Settlement House, later referred to as the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The research was intended to be included in a book entitled Women at Phyllis Wheatley 1924-1970, however the book was never completed.
Chivers proposal for the book contains a narrative description of its content, a listing of primary and secondary sources, and an outline of significant objectives she intended the book to achieve. The proposal is followed by a folder of research notes, two letters sent to Chivers concerning individuals who worked at the House, and a draft of an article she based on the research.
The next several folders contain source material primarily related to the administration of the Center including annual reports, rosters of the board of directors, annual meeting reports, photocopied newspaper clippings, and a group of photographs, mostly copies, of individuals connected with the Center. Photocopied correspondence, reports, studies and newsletters found at the University of Minnesota Social Welfare Archives and the Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis are also included.
The last group of material consists of audio recordings, notes, and photographs documenting oral interviews Chivers conducted with seven women who were program participants or staff workers at the Center. The women were asked why they went to the Center, what activities they participated in, and what contributions they made as adults at the Center and elsewhere in the community.
The Phyllis Wheatley Community House Records are in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.
The restricted oral histories in this collection have no signed release forms and are not available online, but can be accessed upon request for use in the Gale Family Library reading room. Please consult reference staff for more information.
Accession Number: 15,240
Digital masters of the audiocassettes are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.
The original audiocassettes were disposed after the material was digitally reformatted into wav files.
Processed by: Frank P. Hennessy, May 1998
Digitization and encoding by April Rodriguez, June 1, 2022.
Digital audio of oral history interviews conducted by Connee L. Chivers was transferred from master audiocassettes by the Minnesota Historical Society for preservation purposes (June 2022).
Digitization was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Catalog ID number: 990017345680104294
Papers present for both Kathryn Grissam and Margaret Moore Lewis, but the interview is only of Kathryn Grissam.
Interview from tape 1 ends abruptly after two minutes. Tape 2 also starts and ends abruptly.