Massive personal collection of Black history memorabilia to hit the auction block

“This collection was designed as a patriotic healing and teaching instrument, and it’s vitally critically needed because as a further insult to a people, our history was actually left out of the history books of America,” said Meaders, who says she traces her ancestry back to one of the first Black families to live on Staten Island.

Elizabeth Meaders, 90, holds a rare portrait of aviator Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to hold a pilot’s license, amid her collection of thousands of historical and cultural artifacts. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

“So, this collection is a gap filler,” she said.

Guernsey’s Auction based in New York is selling what they say is over 20,000 items of Black history memorabilia and artifacts.

“There are several detailed appraisals of this collection produced over the years by highly qualified individuals… and they ranked this collection in the sort of $7 to 10 million range,” said Guernsey’s President Arlan Ettinger.

“People far more knowledgeable than I have been amazed at the extent of this collection made all the more remarkable, given the fact that Ms. Meaders put it together as a teacher, on a teacher’s salary,” Ettinger said.

Items are pictured amid the collection of Elizabeth Meaders, 90. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Other objects include items relating to the horrors of slavery, such as branding tools and shackles, newspapers and memorabilia celebrating civil rights demonstrations, letters from segregationists, and sporting, military and other awards won by Black Americans.

The online auction for the collection, which is being sold as a single lot, is set for Feb. 28.

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