Berea Community Collection

The Berea Community Collection is comprised of archival materials collected by college librarians as a part of the Berea City Vertical Files. This collection, with its wealth of local history, was removed from the vertical files in order to further preserve and arrange the materials as a working collection.      Background information and local history have been preserved in the form of business ledgers, organizational minutes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, audio recorded interviews, and photographs. Materials concerning the relations between Berea College and the town in such matters as water works, municipal streets and rail service, date from 1892 to 1964, though the majority of materials, especially the photographs, are centered about the turn of the century.  There is a strong correlation between the records and photographs that lend insight into the emergence of the town of Berea. Also included in the collection is a series of recorded interviews with transcriptions with Berea citizens discussing their interracial experiences and the Civil Rights movement. The interviews were conducted by students in Sociology Department courses taught by Jackie Burnside.  Follow the links in the recordings box lists to listen to interviews and read transcriptions.