Subseries 1.1: Founding and First Biennial Convention, 1967-1968, undated, documents the establishment and incorporation of AFNA as well as its nationally recognized debut—the First Biennial Convention, held September 9-13, 1968, at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Documentation consists primarily of incorporation documents and transcripts of remarks made at the convention workshops facilitated by the various commissions. Of particular note are two publications: "Convention Overview and Summary" and one published in December 1968 that not only summarizes the convention but details and defines AFNA's complex organizational structure and proposed budget.

Audio recordings of the workshops and other events of the First Biennial Convention are included in Series 8: Audiovisual and other materials. See also a set of unidentified printer's plates in the same series which, based on text, likely date to 1967 and were used for a convention prospectus/funding proposal. Arrangement begins with incorporation documents and early press releases and reports followed by convention-related material arranged in alphabetical order.

Subseries 1.2: Second Biennial Convention and other initiatives, 1969-1974, undated, pertains primarily to the three major events organized by AFNA in 1970. Like the first, the Second Biennial Convention, held September 24-26, 1970 in Philadelphia, centered on the presentations and findings of the various commissions. Most of the documentation here pertains to the Commission on Health and Welfare, Subsection on Health, and its health care resolutions and proposed medical careers plan. See Subseries 1.3 for an earlier version of the plan and related funding proposal submitted to NIH. The Commission on Afro-American Heritage, which is documented in the papers of the Second Biennial, sponsored one of the other initiatives included here— "The Afro-Philadelphian" by playwright Loften Mitchell, which was performed May 29, 1970, at Philadelphia's Academy of Music. The subtitle of the play very much reflected the guiding principle of AFNA in documenting the [African American's] History, Accomplishments and Future Direction." Press releases, programs and an annotated script are among its documentation. The third event of 1970 was the Black Unity Football Classic, played between Alcorn A&M College (Lorman, MS) and North Carolina Central University (Durham, NC). Part of American Unity Week, the game was held September 26, 1970, at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. AFNA was one of its sponsors. Its documentation is the most extensive of this subseries, comprised of correspondence, ticket sale and other financial papers, press releases, posters, programs, a scrapbook and other papers.

Most of the newspaper clippings included in the "Various initiatives" scrapbook (now housed in two folders) pertain to the Unity football classic and parade. There are also a few items about Loften Mitchell's play and other AFNA activities making the news in 1970 and 1971.

Several additional clippings documenting the early years of AFNA are in Subseries 8.2: Other materials.

Audio recordings from the Second Biennial Convention and from the First Interdisciplinary Conference (January 1972), which is also documented here, are included in Subseries 8.1: Audiovisual materials. Audio recordings of the National Interdisciplinary Conference held in October 1974, also in Subseries 8.1, are the only documentation of that event. The only documentation for the Interdisciplinary Conference held in March 1973 are photographs, which are part of Subseries 8.2: Other material. Arrangement is by event, with subgroups of files in alphabetical order.

Subseries 1.3: Chronological and name and subject files, 1967-1974, undated, documents early office operations, including that of various committees and AFNA's Board of Education, as well as the work product of the various commissions issued before and after the second convention. Chronological folders consist primarily of incoming and outgoing correspondence with the earliest dating from 1967. Most pertain to requests for information about AFNA in general and its two conventions. Commission and committee reports and proposals, financial records and grant applications comprise the bulk of name and subject files.

Of note are the reports and proposals of the Commission on Health and Commission on Health and Welfare dated February and March 1970, which drew on Evans' community services outside of AFNA. Both documents examine and evaluate the role of Philadelphia General Hospital (PGH)—the only municipal hospital to provide medical treatment for those often refused at other facilities because of race, ethnicity, low income or lack of insurance. Two years earlier Evans was made a Trustee of PGH. Documentation of his involvement with hospital is included in the Samuel L. Evans Papers. Around the same time, Evans was also appointed to the Mayor's Citizens' Committee that was charged with developing plans for the delivery of adequate health services in the city. Because the Committee's report did not include educational components that would allow minorities to pursue medical careers, Evans resigned. The AFNA Plan: New Access Routes to Medical Careers, which evolved from these earlier reports, resolved that shortcoming.

Also of note are the minutes of the various committees overseen by the AFNA Board of Education, which was established to develop a supplemental school system for young Black children. Raymond Pace Alexander, the first African American judge appointed to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, was the Board's chairman.

Additional documentation of this time period is included in Series 8; namely a recording of a radio program on WUHY-FM (now WHYY, Philadelphia) in Subseries 8.1: Audiovisual materials; and the clippings and printing plates and negatives in Subseries 8.2: Other materials. Tax filings for 1969-1974 are included in the working files of Laurence Sutton, which are part of Subseries 5.2. Subseries begins with chronological files, followed by name and subject files, alphabetically arranged.

Subseries 2.1: Grants, 1975-2006, undated, particularly the lengthy proposals of the 1980s, offer detailed descriptions of AFNA's educational programs. Documentation includes course outlines, tests and classroom handouts, identification and qualifications of teaching and operational staff, student and graduate analyses and calculations of operational costs. The "Linear Progress Report" included in some proposals is a detailed chronology of AFNA, beginning in 1968. A few also include a chronology of grant awards. While federal funding comprises most of the documentation, a city and state source of note included here pertains to the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), a federal law enacted in 1973 to train workers and provide them with jobs in public service, which was succeeded in 1982 by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). AFNA received funding that was provided for a summer youth employment and training program. The working files of Laurence Sutton in Subseries 5.2 contain extensive documentation of CETA for both the Philadelphia and New Orleans branches. Additional documentation is also included in the working files of Philip Bright in Subseries 5.2, the working files of Robert Rountree, in Subseries 5.3, and in the related state and city agencies in Series 7: Names and subjects.

Additional correspondence with the United States Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, and the predecessor to both, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare are in Series 7: Name and subject files. So, too, are the files of correspondence and other papers to some of the state and city agencies noted here.

The earliest grants AFNA submitted are in Subseries 1.3. Also see the working files of Laurence Sutton in Subseries 5.4 for documentation of all grants executed between 1972 and 1985. Proposals to establish similar programs in Chicago, Wilmington, DE and Mississippi, as well as a naval program, are included in Subseries 4.2. None developed beyond paper. Arrangement is by funding source, in the order of federal, state, city, and foundations or other private sources.

Subseries 2.2: Programs and procedures, 1973-2007, undated, expands on the educational elements described in Subseries 2.1: Grants, with more detailed documentation of AFNA's programs of the 1990s and 2000s. Two integral elements of the AFNA plan well-documented here are the Frontiers of Knowledge lecture series and the preceptorship program. The lecture series draws on a program Evans introduced to Philadelphia in 1952 offering an integrated concept of science, philosophy and education. Documentation of the earlier lecture series is included in the Samuel L. Evans Papers. The material included here consists primarily of lecture transcripts, handouts and reference. The preceptorship program sought to place students in medical, legal and other professional settings and working with mentors. Documentation consists primarily of correspondence to solicit mentors, place students and track student performance. The working files of Helena G. Powers, which are part of Subseries 2.3, include additional documentation. The subset of "Semester" folders were devised during processing to accommodate loose papers and miscellaneous folders compiled occasionally by teachers or Betty Thompson, the administrative officer, circa 2000-2006. Folder content varies; many include schedules, rosters, flyers, classroom reservations memos, and occasional correspondence, general assembly announcements, daily tally sheets, seating charts and classroom handouts. The "writings" folders at the end of the subseries include what may be drafts of narratives included in grant proposals or intended as stand-alone reports describing AFNA's progress in developing its unique educational program. For another writing, see the set of folders identified as "Katcher, Aaron Honori" in Series 7: Name and subject files. AFNA contracted Katcher to write about the medical program in 1978. Only two chapters are here in draft form.

Recordings of several General Assembly sessions, a Frontiers of Knowledge lecture, student orientation and student testimonials are in Subseries 8.1 Audiovisual material. This subseries is arranged in alphabetical order.

Subseries 2.3: Working files of site and program directors, 1982-2007, undated, pertain to the AFNA staff, who along with teachers and preceptors, were responsible for curriculum development (program directors) or who were responsible for securing classroom space and monitoring the daily flow of class activity (site directors). Such staff whose sets of files could still be identified during processing are: Frances D. Coleman, Program Director, likely of the Professional Careers program, during the late 1980s and early 1990s; Verna W. Edwards, summer program coordinator/Superintendent, AFNA Advanced Academic Program and teacher of computer science/pascal); Maureen O'Connor, Project Officer (earlier title of program director), likely of legal careers plan, mid-late 1970s; Helena G. Powers, Director of Preceptor Program, circa 1978-1988; and P. Earl Vinson, Director of University Facilities and Student Affairs and Site Director at University of Pennsylvania, circa 1999-2006.

Vinson's files are the most extensive and meticulously maintained. His "Lecture" folders consist of announcement flyers and transcripts or handouts of Frontier of Knowledge lectures. "Semester" folders often contain student and teacher rosters, flyers announcing lectures and other events, correspondence and other papers regarding classroom reservations, seating charts showing individual student names, grade level, attendance record and subjects. Of note are the Director's Weekly Linear Progress Reports that consist of the site director's observations and activities at the start and conclusion of the school day, including disciplinary issues. Names of those involved in such actions were redacted during processing. The daily tally sheets attached for each class are submitted by teachers, with the site director completing a more general tally. "Student Council meetings" contain general correspondence and guidelines and sign-in sheets of the various events council members were expected to attend. Various papers pertaining to student violators, whose cases were presented to the Council, were redacted to conceal names of concerned parties. Student rosters note student name, grade level and status as continuing or new AFNA member; "Teachers" files include payroll sheets, which also note subject taught

Missing are the files of Mary Anne Bartley, AFNA's first project director, appointed in 1971, who was appointed Director of Medical Division, circa 1979. Her name appears in most of the grant proposals. Her article about the development of the AFNA plan that was published in 1972 is included in Subseries 1.3. Bartley is also identified in some of the audio recordings in Subseries 8.1. Files arranged in alphabetical order, by staff name, with unidentified site directors at the end.

Subseries 2.4: Student enrollment records, 1983-2006, undated, gives various accountings of students participating in the AFNA programs. Documents generated during the 1980s include a tracking of AFNA graduates through college and professional graduate studies. These analyses are similar to the summaries used in grant proposals. The later printouts are the work product of the Admissions Department. Prepared in table formats, these are more voluminous and detailed than the earlier documents, but limited to actively enrolled 7th through 12th graders. Information includes student name, address, grade level, school and status in AFNA program; namely new or continuing. Parent names are sometimes included. Roll sheets and other lists are generated by classroom site; namely University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Drexel University. Arrangement: Chronological order with restricted folders listed at the end.