The Franklin Research Center seeks to identify, collect, and preserve materials with high research value, generated by and about people of African descent, and make these materials widely available for research and teaching.

• African Americans in Durham
  A guide to resources on African Americans in Durham, North Carolina.
• African American Manuscript Materials
  An introduction to and information about African American holdings from the eighteenth century to the present day, including progressively greater amounts of material generated by African Americans themselves.
• African American Women (Digitized material)
  A digital collection highlighting the voices of African American women during the mid and late 19th century.
• Black Voices Collection
  A collection of first-person accounts about the African American experience from the time of American slavery to the present day.
• Slave Letters
  Letters written by people who were enslaved in the United States.

• Resources on Africa
  A guide to materials related to Africa in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
• Civil War Resources
  An introduction to materials held at the Rubenstein Library relating to the Civil War. A section highlights materials by and about African Americans.