This month, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Swann’s annual Printed & Manuscript African Americana auctions—the first and only regularly scheduled auction in the world to focus on Black history.

The annual event was launched on March 28, 1996, by Wyatt Houston Day, who was the specialist for the first 22 sales. On March 19, Swann will hold the ninth Printed & Manuscript African Americana sale handled by Swann’s Americana specialist Rick Stattler.

All of Swann’s auctions are open to the public and feature bidding from private collectors, dealers, and institutions. The Printed & Manuscript African Americana sales are distinguished, however, by the high level of institutional bidding. When the auction was launched, many libraries, archives, and museums across the country were just starting to recognize the need to increase their representation of Black history. For 30 years now, Swann has been a leading conduit for bringing this source material from private hands into public hands.

The Only Surviving Novel Written by an Enslaved Woman.

Hannah Crafts, The Bondswoman’s Narrative by Hannah Crafts, a Fugitive Slave, Recently Escaped from North Carolina, 1888-1930. Sold at Swann in 2001.

In 2001, we offered a manuscript titled The Bondswoman’s Narrative by Hannah Crafts, a Fugitive Slave, Recently Escaped from North Carolina, 1888 to 1930. Its importance was recognized by Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. of “Finding Your Roots” fame, who had it published the following year. It is now recognized as the only surviving novel written by an enslaved woman.

E. Simms Campbell’s Original Illustration for the Night-Club Map of Harlem

E. Simms Campbell, A Night-Club Map of Harlem,  pen and brush, 1932. Sold in 2016 for $100,000.

In 2016, we handled Black artist E. Simms Campbell’s original 1932 illustration art for his famous Night-Club Map of Harlem, which measured nearly 3 feet across.

A Previously Unknown Portrait of Harriet Tubman

A previously unrecorded carte-de-visite of Harriet Tubman, circa 1860s. Sold in 2017 for $161,000.

The 2017 sale included a Civil War-era album of carte-de-visite photographs, including a previously unknown early portrait of Harriet Tubman.

An Archive of Letters to the Washington Family Discussing Ensalved People at Mount Vernon

From an archive of letters to John Augustine Washington III at Mount Vernon discussing the enslaved people, 1837-61. Sold in 2019 for $32,500.

An archive of letters to the Washington family discussing the enslaved people of Mount Vernon in the 1840s appeared in our 2019 sale.

Papers of Modern Dance Legend Katherine Dunham

Two separate archives of papers, photographs, and ephemera related to Modern Dance pioneer Katherine Dunham. Sold in 2019 for $52,500 and $35,000

In 2021, we offered two major groups of papers of the modern dance legend Katherine Dunham (from two different consignors), including her diary and extensive personal correspondence.

All five of these are among the many hundreds of important lots acquired by prominent institutions at our African Americana auctions, and which are now available to the public for exhibition and research.