Research Symposium

BIO

Fiona Adair is a second-year student majoring in Editing, Writing, and Media and minoring in World Literature/World Film and Linguistics. After graduation, she hopes to go into the field of publishing or otherwise work with the creation and management of written works. At FSU, she is involved with The Kudzu Review (FSU's undergraduate literary magazine), Honors Student Association executive board (newsletter chair), Asian American Student Union, and Japanese Student Association. In research, she is interested in various human cultures and their interactions with each other, most specifically through language and storytelling.

Creating Access to the Perra Bell Library

Abstract

The Jack Hadley Black History Museum (JHBHM) is Thomasville’s first black history museum. Now consisting of thousands of artifacts, the museum is also home to a research library, where the Perra Bell collection is stored and being cataloged. The Perra Bell collection, while of course generally helpful in examining African American history as a whole, is especially fascinating in that the extensive amount of her notes truly highlights Mrs. Bell’s personal perspectives on the topic both in and outside of academia. Mrs. Perra Bell was a scholar of African American history and culture and taught in those subjects at Towson State University for over twenty years. Before passing away, she bequeathed her collection of over 4,550 books, manuscripts, notes, and ephemera to the JHBHM. Our goal at the museum is to ensure that the collection is made available to the public for research and enjoyment in many future years. The process includes organizing and cataloging Mrs. Bell’s books; analyzing her notes, manuscripts, and ephemera for historical significance; and digitizing and storing the collection in museum-quality containers.

Keywords: museum, library, Thomasville, African American, History