Our Collections

The Southern Labor Archives, established in 1971, preserves the history of work and workers in the South, with an emphasis on union records, the personal papers of labor leaders and activists, the records of labor organizations and oral history recordings. Several industries and employment sectors are prominently represented in the collection:

• Aviation and other transportation industries
• Textile and clothing workers
• Nurses and nursing
• Food, retail and service workers

For more information, visit our SLA research guides.

Established in 1981, the Music and Popular Culture Collections contain unique historical materials documenting 20th century and 21st century American Music and Popular Culture. The collections began with the Johnny Mercer Collection and grew to include related materials:

• Other musicians’ and artists’ papers
• Early country, bluegrass, and Southern gospel music
• Southern Hip Hop Archives
• Atlanta Hip Hop Archives
• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra archives
• Alex Cooley collection
• Records of WSB Radio and other Georgia stations
• Collections of comic books, comic art and pulp fiction publications
• 7 Stages Theatre records

The collections contain more than 20,000 pieces of published sheet music, Tune-Dex cards and arrangements by American songwriters, as well as 50,000 recordings from a variety of genres.

For more information, visit our Music and Popular Culture Collections research guides.

The Women’s Collections chronicle women’s activism and advocacy in Georgia and the Southeast. Within this curatorial area are several notable collections:

• Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women’s Movement Archives
• Lucy Hargrett Draper Collections on Women’s Rights, Advocacy and the Law
• Archives for Research on Women

For more information, read our Women’s Collections research guides.

The Gender and Sexuality Collections were established in 2011 to document the LGBT+ communities in Georgia and the Southeast. A rapidly growing and heavily used periodical collection includes extensive runs of local newspapers and magazines such as David Atlanta, Etcetera, Southern Voice and Georgia Voice.

For more information, read our Gender & Sexuality Collections research guides.

The collections in Atlanta Civic & Neighborhood History concentrate primarily on the Atlanta metro area and surrounding Georgia communities, focusing on:

• Atlanta’s economic, social, and political development from the mid-20th century to the present
• Community-building efforts and civic engagement in Atlanta neighborhoods and communities
• Activism related to the environment, education, housing and the death penalty

For more information, read our Atlanta Civic & Neighborhood History research guides.

Containing more than 8 million photographs, the Photographic Collections were established in 1985 with the acquisition of the Lane Brothers Commercial Photographers Collection, which contains more than 250,000 photographs documenting 20th-century Atlanta.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s photo archive, our largest photographic collection, contains millions of images of Georgia and the Atlanta area. Individual Atlanta-area photographers are also represented in the collections:

• Tom Coffin
• Steve Eberhardt
• David Lennox
• Tracy O’Neal
• Ernest G. Welch

To search our photographic collections, please see our Digital Collections where you can request photos for reference or licensing. To learn more about licensing or duplication of photos visit our Services page.

For more information, visit our Photographic Collections’ digital exhibit or email [email protected].

The Archives documents the history of the institution and includes the following:

• Permanent records of administrative offices, deliberative bodies and organizations
• Memorabilia
• Oral histories
• Photographs
• Publications and Web archives

Since the consolidation of Georgia State University and Georgia Perimeter College (GPC), the Archives also holds the historic records of the former GPC.

For more information, read our University Archives research guides.

The Rare Book Collection contains more than 1,500 titles, with several key strengths:

• Works of Georgia literature and history
• Books about the urban South
• Examples of fine binding and early Georgia imprints

Highlights include several incunabula, a significant collection of Eudora Welty and Joel Chandler Harris titles and a modest collection of British literature.

For more information, email [email protected].