Gates Donates Manuscript to Yale

DuBois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr. announced Thursday that he would donate a valuable historical manuscript to Yale University. Harvard libraries had also been seeking the manuscript, the first extant narrative written by a female slave in America.

Gates found the work, entitled “The Bondwoman’s Narrative,” in an auction catalogue in the summer of 2001 and purchased it for $9,775. Appraised recently, the document was found to be worth $350,000. The mid-nineteenth century account is believed to have been written by an escaped slave, Hannah Crafts.

Gates published a version, which he also edited, in April 2002. Gates said he was approached by many universities seeking the original manuscript for their library collections, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of North Carolina, and Howard University.

“I decided in the end that I wanted to donate to Yale.” Gates said. “I felt that I owed Yale so much. Yale brought me into this world, the world of the scholar and the intellectual.”

Gates graduated from Yale in 1973, and wrote both his first research paper and his doctoral dissertation at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University, the institution to which he gave the manuscript.

Glenda Gilmore, a professor of African-American studies and history at Yale, said Gates’ philanthropy would enrich an already-stunning collection documenting the lives of African-Americans.

“A lot of people don’t realize how great the Beinecke collection is,” Gilmore said, noting that the collection includes material from Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.

“This is a good time to call attention to the strengths we have.”

Jonathan Holloway, director of undergraduate studies at Yale’s African American studies department, said “The Bondwoman’s Narrative” will strengthen the library’s 19th century collection.

“It is a magnificent contribution if it really is, as Gates has argued, the first narrative by an African-American woman,” Holloway said.

Gates said he consulted with Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers before deciding where to donate the narrative.

“I spoke to President Summers several months ago, while I was making my decision, and he agreed that it was a fitting tribute to my alma mater.” Gates told The Crimson.

Gates said his gift to Yale should not be interpreted as slight to Harvard.

“As a professor, there’s no place I love more than Harvard,” he said.

—Staff writer Veronique E. Hyland can be reached at hyland@fas.harvard.edu.