Amistad Research Center

The American Missionary Association

This same group of abolitionists later formed an interracial organization called the American Missionary [Page 86]Association (AMA). The AMA founded hundreds of churches and schools for African Americans, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, Appalachian whites, Asian Americans, and Hispanics. Distinguished colleges and universities that emerged from these efforts include Atlanta, Berea, Dillard, Hampton, Houston-Tillotson, LeMoyne-Owen, Piedmont, Talladega, Tougaloo, and Fisk, where the Amistad Research Center was established under the guidance of Clifton H. Johnson.

Johnson, after completing the arrangement of AMA papers, recognized the need for an institution that would document the lives and activities of those ethnic groups with which the AMA had historically worked, specifically African Americans and other ethnic communities. Initially under auspices of the AMA's Race Relations Department at Fisk, the center was later incorporated as an independent institution with a permanent board of directors. The Amistad began with its core collection—the AMA papers, which include over 350,000 documents—and then went on to collect other important records.

During the turbulent years after World War II, the AMA established their Race Relations Department to address racism and pluralism in American society. The Race Relations Department records, incorporated into the Amistad Research Center's holdings, were among the first documents to address the issues of civil and human rights. These records give Amistad the distinction of being one of the first institutions to actively document the modern civil rights movement.