The Prints Collection contains images which include engravings, drawings, and a few photographic prints which appeared in magazines. The collection contains both original prints and reprints. If an item is a reprint, this information is noted in the finding aid.

Some of the prints within the collection are part of a set or are grouped together because they appeared in the same publication. One major set is a series of nineteen engravings by Jennifer Moxon. These engravings, which are accompanied by anecdotes, satirize African-Americans. Another series consists of twelve prints, both original and reprint, from various issuesFrank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper(1857-1887). The collection also contains a series of prints, both original and reprint, from various issues ofHarper's Weekly(1863-1895). Both sets of prints from these serial publications provide images of the African-American experience during the Civil War and Reconstruction. In addition to these three sets, the collection contains other smaller sets and various individual prints.