Levi C. Hubert papers

1930-1970

Levi Coppin Hubert (1904-1970) was an African American journalist who worked for both Black and white newspapers in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, among other cities, in the 1930s. During that time, he also worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) writing news stories about Blacks in Harlem for the Federal Writers' Reporting Project. Most notably, with nine other contributors, he wrote a guidebook, The History of the Negro in New York, detailing the history of Blacks in New York City from 1623 until 1936. Additionally, he headed the Publicity Unit of the Federal Music Project. Hubert's primary research interest was the history of Black soldiers in the United States Armed Forces. He wrote manuscripts for two books, "In the Name of Congress: Inspiring Stories of 47 Negroes Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor", which he completed in 1967, and "Their Muskets Flashed the Dawning: Regimental Histories of the United States Colored Troops During the Civil War: 1962-1865"; there does not appear to be evidence that either of the manuscripts were published. Hubert also helped prepare a four-part silent filmstrip called the "History of the American Negro (1619-1865)" for use in schools. Hubert died in 1970. The Levi C. Hubert papers pertain to Hubert's research on Black soldiers in the United States Armed Forces and other topics in African American history, and include manuscript drafts, correspondence, reproductions of photographs, news clippings, notes, and printed material. Most of the material is devoted to his manuscripts, "In the Name of Congress: Inspiring Stories of 47 Negroes Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor" (1966-1967), which discusses awardees from the Civil War era to the War in Vietnam, and "Their Muskets Flashed the Dawning: Regimental Histories of the United States Colored Troops During the Civil War," which is mostly a compilation of official Civil War records of the Union and Confederate Armies. There are drafts for both manuscripts as well as research material. Drafts for short articles that Hubert wrote can be found in this collection, while printed copies of his articles for the Federal Writers' Reporting Project are contained in a scrapbook. Also included are notes, correspondence, and printed material regarding the filmstrip entitled "History of the American Negro (1619-1865)." There is also some genealogical material concerning Hubert's family.