The University Libraries Digital Repository gathers, describes and promulgates materials from our Special Collections Department and other sources held within the University Libraries collections. While many of the materials are photographic, these collections will include audio and video files and documentary resources as well. The repository itself consists of three domains: 

Digital Repository 

The core of the digital repository consists in our array of named, special collections of original resource materials acquired over many decades. Notable collections include the papers and photographs of the Robert R. Church Family of Memphis, the Sanitation Workers Strike and our historical materials illuminating Memphis’s rich musical heritage from the time of W. C. Handy to the present day.

National African American Photographic Archive (NAAPA)

The visual and documentary record of the social, cultural and political lives of the African American population has been underrepresented in the past. This initiative attempts to redress this oversight by publishing materials on hand and soliciting from the broader population their unique and personal collections of materials. The NAAPA project was conceived by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Rudner of Memphis who quickly understood the broader appeal and potential diversity of this project. Their active participation from the beginning and ongoing enthusiastic support of these efforts is vital to the success of the project.

The Internet Archive

As a member of the Open Content Alliance, the University Libraries at the University of Memphis is contributing digital content to the Internet Archive. Yearbooks, bulletins and schedules of classes, early literary magazines, and other materials related to the life and times of the University of Memphis throughout the 100 years since the doors of the West Tennessee State Normal School were opened in 1912, are featured. All materials are from the holdings of the UM Libraries Special Collections. Interested readers may begin browsing and searching these resources by following this link.