In the course of my research into the social history of nineteenth century immigrants to Liberia from America, I had the occasion to consult the Liberian Archives in Monrovia. Although the focus of my own research was limited in scope, I was exposed to the full range of materials available in this repository. In 1966, Svend Holsoe was instrumental in helping to organize the archival documents, and he prepared a catalog listing of the same. The present effort should be considered a “second edition” of Holsoe's original work, which only circulated privately. Wherever possible I have additionally tried to include some idea of the extent of each volume or bundle by noting page content where known or estimating the number of pieces included in each bundle. The need for this new listing has arisen from the impact of the course of time on the collection. Over the period of almost a decade since Professor Holsoe's catalog was prepared, factors such as climate conditions and reorganization efforts necessitated by space limitations have altered the content of the collection considerably.

The government archival material comes under the administrative authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It has been organized and housed in a separate facility directly across from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Ashmun Street in Monrovia. Mr. Augustine D. Jallah is the Director of Archives and the person immediately responsible for the care of the documents. Permission to use the material must be received directly from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.