Julia and William Alfred Fountain, Sr., collection

Collection — Box: 1-2, OS 1

Identifier: 0000-0000-0000-0232

Staff Only

Scope and contents

The Julia and William Alfred Fountain, Sr. Collection includes a variety of materials used by William Fountain Sr., his son William Alfred Fountain, Jr., and his second wife Julia A. Fountain between 1920 and 1966. The collection’s content is related to their leadership and organizational duties in service to the Atlanta community. Both William Alfred Fountain, Sr. and his son were former presidents of Morris Brown College. William Alfred Fountain was also a highly praised bishop of the A.M.E Church. Julia was a loyal member and organizer for the Sunday School Union and Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the A.M.E Church. This content includes, but is not limited to council meeting minutes, Morris Brown Administrative documents, reports, yearbooks, a photograph of William Alfred Fountain, Jr., funeral programs, biographical data, correspondences, certificates, journals and notes, war ration books, and a NAACP membership card. These records are contained in the collection within four separate series: William Fountain, Sr., William Alfred Fountain, Jr., Julia A. Fountain, and Memorabilia.

Dates

Creation: 1926-1966

Rights statement

All materials in this collection are either protected by copyright and/or are the property of the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center, Inc., and/or the copyright holder as appropriate. For more information, please contact archives@auctr.edu.

Biographical note

William Alfred Fountain, Sr. was born in 1887 in Elberton, Georgia. His parents were Virginia and Reverend Richard Fountain, former minister of the A.M.E Church. William followed in his father’s footsteps to become a notable bishop for the same church and over the course of his lifetime raised the membership to over 100,000. He received several degrees from institutions such as Allen University, Columbia, South Carolina, Clark College, Atlanta Georgia, and Northwestern University, Chicago Illinois. After his eight-year tenure as president of Morris Brown College, his son William Alfred Fountain, Jr. took the helm for another twenty-two years. William Alfred Fountain, Jr. was born in 1895, in Athens, Georgia. Like his father, he led the A.M.E church as a minister of the Gospel. In addition to this, his stepmother Julia A. Fountain was a major support for the family and was heavily involved in multiple church organizations like the Sunday School Union and the Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society.

Extent

1.75 Linear feet (2 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is divided into four series: 1. Julia A. Fountain; 2. William Alfred Fountain, Jr.; 3. William Alfred Fountain, Sr.; and 4. Memorabilia. All of the series are further divided into sub-series. The contents of the series are arranged alphabetically. See series notes for each series for more details.