The Archive consists of personal, professional and legal documents, including ledgers, bills of sale, estate records, advertisements for fugitive slaves and other miscellaneous documents. These records provide detailed glimpses into the daily lives and experiences of the enslaved, slaveholders, and abolitionists in the United States from the Colonial Period through Reconstruction. Most of the records in the collection document property transactions in Southern states including bills of sale, wills and estate inventories.

The Archive also features manumission papers (documents freeing the enslaved) and newspaper advertisements for fugitive slaves. Additionally, diaries, letters and periodicals published by both abolitionist and pro-slavery groups showcase various perspectives on slavery. The Archive has gathered documents primarily from the Southern U.S. including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. To a smaller degree, the Archive also includes some material from New England, the Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern regions.

Fostering Opportunities for Healing

The USSA Archive offers unique opportunities for healing personal, community and national narratives. We commit ourselves to the work of repair by 1.) safeguarding these irreplaceable records and acknowledging our shared past, 2.) recognizing enslaved people by name and giving voice to those who endured injustice and oppression and 3.) making these stories accessible to storytellers who can contextualize and humanize the historical record. The USSA Archive opens the door for dialogue, understanding and reconciliation for all who seek a more comprehensive understanding of United States history. 

As descendants of enslavers and of those who have benefited from slavery, many Americans are faced with the unpleasant details and relational traumas we have inherited. To wrestle with injustice in our national history and our family histories is not to diminish our reality to a life of shame, but rather a great opportunity to commit oneself in a path toward healing and wholeness.

These documents illuminate the stories we have all inherited. The traumas of injustice on a society-wide level affect individuals and communities over generations. This is true whether we descend from enslavers, the enslaved, freedmen who lived beneath a thundercloud of injustice, or non-enslaving White people who enjoyed resources afforded us by the oppression of enslaved Black people.

Many will rightly say, “None of us living today had anything to do with that. So why do we have to keep digging it up?” It’s a good question, and I think the answer is, “so that we can find a path to healing.” None of us living today had anything to do with it. This is true – and many of us are in the fourth generation following the enslaving sins of our ancestors, which puts us in a unique position with enough distance from the trauma to do something about it that our predecessors were unable to do. 

Because we had nothing to do with the sins of the past, we are not afforded a reason to ignore it, but rather our distance presents a unique opportunity to do something about the old wound that has never fully healed. Instead of asking, “Why do we need to keep digging it up?” I ask, “What can we do about it, and how can we make it better?”

My grandfather lived in Richmond, Virginia – the capital of the Confederacy. He loved serving others as a physician from the early 1940s during WWII and into the 1980s. In 1950s segregated Virginia, he refused to segregate his waiting room. As Mayor of Richmond and Virginia State Senator, Dr. Haddock firmly believed that he served all citizens, both Black and White. 

When Senator Harry Byrd and Virginia’s segregationist Senate began passing “Massive Resistance” legislation, Dr. Haddock was quoted in the paper as an advocate for equal rights, saying that segregationist laws were like “pouring salt into old wounds that someday must heal.” 

Each generation since has grappled with the lust for power vs. the love for neighbor. And now, because we are further distant, our generation is perhaps better situated to address those same old wounds than any generation before. The Archive represents our collective history – the part of our story that we have been unable to effectively access because it has been hidden away. 

So, as an opportunity to move toward healing, we offer the Archive for those who are ready to embrace a journey with fellow Americans ready to repair what was broken. We move toward the beloved community with wholeness with humility, acknowledgement, a readiness to act and hopefulness for a future to which we all belong.

Ted Haddock

We acknowledge the profound sensitivity of this material, which represents the children, women and men once held in bondage and subjected to exploitation, injustice and generational trauma. Our work is guided by principles of respect, dignity and care for others as ourselves.

We believe in the possibility of repair and in the goodness of human flourishing. In a world full of fractured relationship and pain, we want to establish healthy relationships and to live into an overarching story of making all things well.

We believe that all people are created with inherent dignity as image bearers of God, each stewarding unique gifts for the good of others. At the same time, history and personal experience reflect patterns of an unrelenting assault on human dignity, ranging from subtle to horrific. Therefore, we choose to stand with the oppressed. 

We believe that there is a place for everyone at the table and that we all benefit from the wisdom and experience of others. Because of this, we respect one another and share a common interest in the wellbeing of others. 

Historical archives (or the lack thereof) have a profound impact on shaping collective memory. We recognize our responsibility to foreground historically marginalized voices and present historical documents in an accurate historical context. To the best of our ability, we avoid reductive or harmful interpretations that obscure systemic injustices or perpetuate oppressive narratives.

We affirm our commitment to anti-racist practices. Historical documents are not merely objects but evidence of human lives. Each artifact holds intrinsic value requiring intentional stewardship and careful interpretation. As such, we dedicate ourselves and our work to an anti-racist, human-centered approaches that emphasize honoring the descendants of communities whose heritage is represented in these archives.

As present-day stewards of the historical artifacts contained in the Archive, we recognize our responsibility to 1.) safeguard the documents for future generations and to 2.) make them widely accessible to the public.

The historical documents preserved in the Archive reflect the realities of their time, including language, descriptions, and ideas that are offensive, dehumanizing, and harmful. Some words and phrases may perpetuate racist, sexist or otherwise discriminatory views that were once widely accepted but are now recognized as unjust and wrong. We have chosen to present these materials in their original form because altering or censoring them would erase evidence of the systems and historical realities they represent.

We recognize that encountering harmful language can be painful, especially for descendants of those who endured slavery and racial oppression. The Foundation does not encourage the use of harmful language. Instead, we believe that it forms part of an honest, historical record that must be examined to understand the depth and impact of injustice in America’s past – and how this historic reality relates to our present circumstances and the future to which we aspire.

Whenever possible, we offer context and interpretation to help readers critically engage with these materials. This includes identifying harmful terms, explaining their historical usage and respecting the humanity of those described by harmful terms. By addressing this language, we aim to foster dialogue and promote reflection to co-create a more truthful and compassionate future.