Notice

Library Reopening Plan

Closed to the public and staff since March 13, the JCB is now in the process of gradually returning to operations. Click on the heading above to learn more about the Library's reopening plan and our extended services to researchers and the general public.

black and grey pattern with repeating flourishes

Injustice in our midst: A Message to our Community

Since protests erupted in the days and weeks following the horrific murder of George Floyd, and amidst other ongoing episodes of systemic race-based violence against members of minority communities, the Library’s staff and extended community have been thinking about how institutions of historical memory like the JCB can and should respond.

As a steward of historical materials that are deeply illustrative of – and deeply imbedded within – the histories of race-based oppression in the Americas, the JCB has a special responsibility to take part in these conversations....

Kings and Slaves: Diplomacy, Sovereignty, and Black Subjectivity in the Early Modern World

How did early encounters between Europeans and Africans affect subsequent migration of Africans to the Americas?

Dr. Herman Bennett, a specialist on the African diaspora in Latin America during the colonial period, draws on his recent work, African Kings and Black Slaves, in a lecture delivered at the JCB in honor of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the John Carter Brown Library's Associates.

View the lecture here