]
]
This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This collection has use restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the James E. Shepard Memorial Library at North Carolina Central University. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web.
Portions of this collection have been digitized as part of "Content, Context, and Capacity: A Collaborative Large-Scale Digitization Project on the Long Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina." The project was made possible by funding from the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.
Expand/collapse
Collection Overview
| Size | 3.0 feet of linear shelf space |
| Abstract | The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference that was founded in 1912 as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association. It is the oldest African American athletic conference in the nation. North Carolina Central University (NCCU), then North Carolina College for Negroes, joined the CIAA in 1928. The collection consists chiefly of materials created and collected by North Carolina Central University's Athletic Department pertaining to intercollegiate sports and the University's involvement in the CIAA over the years (first as North Carolina College for Negroes (1925-1946), then as North Carolina College at Durham (1947-1968), and later as North Carolina Central University (1969- )). While basketball and football are the predominant sports represented in the collection, there are also records relating to baseball, boxing, track and field, tennis, softball, swimming and diving, cheerleading, and wrestling. Included are team performance records, newspaper clippings, correspondence, athletics memorabilia, and team and individual photographs. There are also files related to the book "Amistad Pictorial History of the African American Athlete" by Francis and Charles Harris and texts of speeches, writings about civil rights issues, and other materials of and about civil rights photojournalist Alexander M. Rivera, who founded the news bureau at the North Carolina College for Negroes and served as public relations director at NCCU, 1974-1993. The collection also contains CIAA presidents' meeting minutes; constitutions and by-laws; correspondence; special committee and subcommittee records; memoranda; materials of and about NCCU team coaches, including the African American basketball pioneer, CIAA founder, and NCCU basketball coach John B. McLendon; and materials related to NCCU's 1989 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship and 1963 CIAA Tennis Championship. |
| Curatorial Unit | North Carolina Central University. James E. Shepard Memorial Library. |
| Language | English |
Expand/collapse
Information For Users
Expand/collapse
Processing Information
Processed by: Andre D. Vann and Shanee Yvette Murrain.
Finding aid authored by: Shanee Yvette Murrain.
Finding aid encoded by: Joyce Chapman, 2012.
Updated: February 2020
Back to Top
Expand/collapse
Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Expand/collapse
Historical Information
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference founded in 1912 as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association. It is the oldest African American athletic conference in the nation. Although membership has changed since 1912, the CIAA membership is comprised of both private and public Historically Black Colleges and Universities spanning the eastern coast of the United States. Conference teams participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division II.
The North Carolina College For Negroes (later North Carolina College at Durham, and then North Carolina Central University) joined the CIAA in 1928. In 1970, the University left the CIAA to join the newly founded Mid Atlantic East Conference (MEAC). The University was with MEAC until 1980, when it returned to the CIAA. Since the University first became a member of the CIAA, its teams have won 41 conference championships, made 21 NCAA regional appearances, won three NCAA regional titles, and earned two team national championships (the 1989 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball and the 1972 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Men's Outdoor Track and Field (NAIA)). More than 55 student athletes have captured individual NCAA and NAIA national championships.
Back to Top
Expand/collapse
Scope and Content
The collection consists chiefly of materials created and collected by North Carolina Central University's Athletic Department pertaining to intercollegiate sports and the University's involvement in the CIAA over the years (first as North Carolina College for Negroes (1925-1946), then as North Carolina College at Durham (1947-1968), and later as North Carolina Central University (1969- )). While basketball and football are the predominant sports represented in the collection, there are also records relating to baseball, boxing, track and field, tennis, softball, swimming and diving, cheerleading, and wrestling. Included are team performance records, newspaper clippings, correspondence, athletics memorabilia, and team and individual photographs. There are also files related to the book "Amistad Pictorial History of the African American Athlete" by Francis and Charles Harris and texts of speeches, writings about civil rights issues, and other materials of and about civil rights photojournalist Alexander M. Rivera, who founded the news bureau at the North Carolina College for Negroes and served as public relations director at NCCU, 1974-1993. The collection also contains CIAA presidents' meeting minutes; constitutions and by-laws; correspondence; special committee and subcommittee records; memoranda; materials of and about NCCU team coaches, including the African American basketball pioneer, CIAA founder, and NCCU basketball coach John B. McLendon; and materials related to NCCU's 1989 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship and 1963 CIAA Tennis Championship.
Back to Top
Expand/collapse
Series Quick Links
Expand/collapse
Series 1. Sports, 1915-2009.
Arrangement: alphabetical
Records consist chiefly of individual and team performance records and files related to games, matches, and tournaments and to student athletes and teams at NCCU. Also included are newspaper clippings, correspondence related to the naming of campus buildings, NCCU athletics memorabilia, and team and individual photographs.
Expand/collapse
Series 2. Francis C. Harris, Amistad Pictorial History, 1994-1997.
Arrangement: chronological
This series consists of files related to the "Amistad Pictorial History of the African American Athlete," a book in the Hard Road to Glory series by Francis and Charles Harris, published in the 1990s. The book focuses on the accomplishments of athletes in the Negro Baseball Leagues, the National American Leagues of organized baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the International Boxing Hall of Fame, the American Tennis Association, and other major sports.
Project programs and correspondence included in this series were compiled by and addressed to former NCCU registrar, university archivist, and historian, Brooklyn T. McMillon.
| Folder 33 |
Bulletins and Programs c/o Brooklyn McMillon, 1994 |
| Folder 34 |
"Amistad Pictorial History of the African American Athlete," 1997 |
Expand/collapse
Series 3. Alex M. Rivera, 1946-2008.
Arrangement: alphabetical
These materials pertain to the tenure of renowned civil rights photojournalist Alexander M. Rivera. Rivera founded the first news bureau at NCCU and worked their from 1939 to 1941. He was NCCU public relations director, 1974-1993. Materials include texts of speeches, writings about civil rights issues and events, photographs and programs for occasions at which Rivera was honored, and correspondence related to the naming of the Alex M. Rivera Athletic Hall of Fame. The materials provide documentation of Rivera's contributions to NCCU and demonstrate his dedication to documenting African American history.
| Folder 35 |
Correspondence, 1946-1975 |
| Folder 36 |
Correspondence, 1984-1992 |
| Folder 37 |
Photographs and Head Shots, undated |
| Folder 38 |
Miscellaneous, undated |
| Folder 39 |
Newspaper Clippings, 1951-1983 |
| Folder 40 |
Newspaper Clippings, 2007-2008 |
| Folder 41 |
Programs and Materials, 1946-2005 |
| Folder 42 |
Writings and Speeches, 1949-1952 |
| Folder 43 |
Writings and Speeches, 1953-1991 |
| Folder 44 |
Writings and Speeches, miscellaneous, undated |
Expand/collapse
Series 4. CIAA Presidents, 1953-1960.
Arrangement: chronological
Documents include meeting minutes, constitutions and by-laws, special committee and subcommittee records, memoranda, and correspondence. Correspondence of note includes that between CIAA President Dr. Thomas H. Henderson; Secretary Stephen J. Wright, Council of Presidents of CIAA Institutions; and presidents of CIAA member institutions.
Expand/collapse
Series 5. North Carolina Central University Coaches, 1949-1992.
Arrangement: chronological
This series features biographies, photographs, newspaper clippings, and curriculum vita from NCCU's athletic coaches, many of whom were themselves student athletes at NCCU and later in national leagues. Also included are documents related to the career of the African American basketball pioneer, CIAA founder, and NCCU basketball coach John B. McLendon. Other coaches of note include Harry J. Edmonds, Sam Jones, Harold Hunter, Elmer McDougald, and Reginald Ennis.
| Folder 64 |
Athletic Agreements, 1991-1992 |
| Folder 65 |
Coaches: Miscellaneous, undated |
| Folder 66 |
Coaches: Pictures, undated |
| Folder 67 |
Floyd Brown, Contributor, 1984 |
| Folder 68 |
Reginald Ennis, basketball, 1984 |
| Folder 69 |
Robert Herring, 1984 |
| Folder 70 |
Harold Hunter, basketball, undated |
| Folder 71 |
Sam Jones, basketball, 1984 |
| Folder 72 |
Elmer McDougald, 1945-1984 |
| Folder 73 |
John A. McLendon, 1975-1983 |
| Folder 74 |
Rudolph Roberson, undated |
| Folder 75 |
Frank Silva, 1979 |
| Folder 76 |
Billy Williams, undated |
| Folder 77 |
Thornton Williams, Hall of Fame, 1983-1984 |
Expand/collapse
Series 6. North Carolina Central University Championships, 1963, 1989.
Arrangement: chronological
These materials document the victories of NCCU athletic teams in NCAA and CIAA competitions. The series contains photographs, programs, newspaper clippings, and media guides from the 1989 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship and 1963 CIAA Tennis Championship.