The Shiverys, Smiths and Blazes were three branches of a southern African-American family. Papers consist of biographical material, correspondence, legal and financial documents, educational and professional papers, minutes of religious and civic organizations in Savannah, Ga., and scrapbooks. Correspondence includes letters from W. E. B. Du Bois to members of the Shivery family, and love letters of Melinda Smith. Letters between family members, particularly the women in the Smith and Shivery families, chronicle African-American middle class life.
