Willis M. Carter Project

Project Leads: Deborah Harding, Linden Havemeyer Wise, Robert Heinrich

The Willis M. Carter Journal and Research Collection was shared with the Hutchins Center by Deborah Harding, who had spent a decade researching and compiling information on this former slave turned editor, educator, and statesman. The collection, which is now housed at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, contains Carter’s original handwritten memoir, the one surviving copy of Carter’s newspaper, The Staunton Tribune, and a rich trove of research materials related to his life. It served as the basis for the book From Slave to Statesman: The Life of Educator, Editor, and Statesman Willis M. Carter of Virginia, by Robert Heinrich and Deborah Harding, which was published by Louisiana State University Press in spring 2016.