W.E. Manis Collection

The collection consists of two scrapbook albums, dating from November 1939 to November 1941. Materials included begin chronologically with business correspondence by telegram and regular mail relating to his job offer and contract with Firestone Plantations Co., as well as a handful of personal letters prior to his travel, letters offering travel advice for living in the tropics, company manuals and policies, and personal photographs. A 22-page transcribed letter that he wrote to his mother, Mrs. Elsa Magni [his mother's name after remarriage], and his sister, Beth, soon after arriving in Monrovia is also included.

Several examples of informal typescript pamphlets from the company's Overseas Club recreational organization are included (excerpts from several newsletters, a play script, entertainment programs, etc.). Ephemera, mementos and scrapbook items include a small number of manuscript notes or letters from Liberian laborers under his supervision, offering a glimpse of the personal relationships established in the context of this global horticultural and industrial enterprise. Another example, rare in library collections, is a small pamphlet on Kroo (Kru) ethnic history published in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Other examples include two Bank of Monrovia checks with revenue stamps, luggage tags with a customs stamp and the S.S. Acadia ship's menu for Thanksgiving dinner. An official letter on company letterhead confirms to Mrs. Magni the departure of her son on Nov. 7, 1941. A Playbill and program for Olsen and Johnson's New Hellzapoppin revue represent the collector's arrival in New York during November 1941.

The photographs are a rich source of visual information, but captions were not included. Descriptive information has been interpreted from the photographs themselves, from a letter written by Manis to his family in Montana (1940), from interviews with Manis and other knowledgeable persons, and from various reference sources. Subjects include scenes encountered and people met on the trans-Atlantic freighter S.S. Cathlamet (December 2-24, 1939), upon Manis's arrival in Monrovia on Christmas Eve Day, during his establishment as a staff member on the Firestone plantation, through his work and recreational activities while working there, and finally at his departure back to New York on November 7, 1941.

Approximately 48 prints are of Americans (ship passengers, plantation staff). About 112 prints depict Africans (primarily Liberians, either as plantation laborers or depicted in a variety of village-based activities such as cooking, construction, childrearing, but also as marketers, craftspeople, and celebrants in several kinds of ceremonial activities). Approximately 64 prints depict plantation or urban landscapes (Monrovia, [Harbel?], [Kakata?]) and a few residential interiors (the latter are presumably of Manis's bungalow, including the masks that served as its decor).

The majority of the photographs are of Liberian men, women and children at work or posing for the camera. Manis himself appears in a few of the photos. He identifies the primary Liberian ethnic groups with which he worked as Gio (who call themselves Dan), Mono (Mano, Ma) and Bassa. The Bassa people are Kruan speakers, like the Kru, while the Dan and Ma people are Mande speakers, as are the Mendingo (Manding), who Manis points out are mostly traders in this area.