Narrative
The FAU Libraries are requesting $37,249 to purchase the American Indian Histories and Cultures collection from Adam Matthew Digital.
Adam Matthew publishes unique award-winning primary source collections in the social sciences and humanities from archives around the world. Spanning four centuries and covering North and Central America, American Indian Histories and Cultures presents unique materials from one of the finest archival collections on American Indian history and culture available. The collection begins with early contacts between European settlers and American Indians and the subsequent political, social and cultural effects of those encounters on American Indian life. These materials tell both the historical and the personal stories of the colonization of the Americas. Continuing through to the modern era, and told against the backdrop of the 19th century expansion into the ‘Western Frontier’ right through to the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century, American Indian Histories and Cultures highlights both the myths and realities of the ‘Wild West’ and American Indian cultural identity. These primary and secondary documents are sourced from the Edward E. Ayer Collection at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL) and include manuscripts (treaties, speeches, petitions, diaries, travel journals, ledger books), artwork (illustrations, sketches, watercolors, oil paintings, American Indian art), rare printed books, photographs, and American Indian Newspapers covering the 1960s to the 1990s. All materials have been digitized in full color.
The archive covers a variety of subjects including American Indians and the European powers, American Indians and the U.S. Government, indigenous peoples of Mexico, military encounters, missionaries and education, and trade.
The FAU Libraries have identified Diversity as a fundamental value and have articulated in their new Strategic Plan a goal to “Develop a culture that serves as a model of diversity and inclusion for staff and for the Libraries’ patrons.” Strengthening the Libraries’ collections of resources in support of minority or underrepresented populations is a key objective for meeting this strategic goal and serving all of FAU’s diverse community.
Target Student Population
American Indian Histories and Cultures benefits the entire FAU community, including undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty, and supports student success, discovery, research, inquiry, and instruction in a wide range of diverse themes including, but not limited to: American Indians and the European Powers, American Indians and the US Government, Indigenous Peoples of Mexico, and Observation, Representation and Cultural Encounters.
