Photographs taken by Mark A. Hukill of the Palais de Congres in Niamey, Niger.

The collection consists of twenty matted black and white photographs taken in February 2011 that were used in Doggett's series, Omo: Expressions of a People (2012). These artistic photographs were taken in Omo Valley, Ethiopia, and depict Suri, Hamar, Dhassanac and Karo peoples.

The Robbins Center Collection includes posters advertizing the Museum of African Art (now the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution) and its exhibits, exhibit brochures, a watercolor painting and photographs by Eliot Elisofon, and museum signage.

Photographs taken by Melville J. Herskovits during his trips with his wife, Frances Shapiro Herskovits, to Surinam (1928-29); Dahomey, now Republic of Benin (1931); Haiti (1934); and Brazil (1941-42). From 1928 to 1943 Melville Herskovits and his wife, Frances Herskovits (nee Shapiro) traveled together throughout West Africa and the Americas to collect evidence of the legacy of African culture. The contributions of Frances Herskovits to her husband's research were fully recognized in an exhibition held by the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, from April 2-August 9, 1998. Entitled, "Living Tradition in Africa & the America: The Legacy of Melville J. and Frances S. Herskovits," the brochure noted, "On each trip, Frances was a full partner in the research...Until Melville's death in 1963, they worked together on the analysis of their data and the writing of books and articles; and after he died, she edited a collection of his papers."

The Pères Blancs (White Fathers) Society Photographic Album documents the group's missions and the Africans living near them in the East African kingdoms of Rwanda and Burundi (now the state of Rwanda-Burundi). Subjects include individual and group portraits of Africans, including members of the Tutsi royal family and the Tutsi elite, Christian families of Hutu origin, missionaries and Western visitors, and Twa people on an elephant hunt. There are also photos of landscapes, African villages and mission buildings, activities, including dancing and farming.

Photographs by Wyatt MacGaffey, a prominent anthropologist with a lifelong scholarly interest in the Congo, taken during a survey on Belgian colonial architecture for a research project in Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville) in 1980. His images of the often dilapidated buildings range from colonial mansions to views of African housing. Other photographs show small private homes and businesses as well as a mosque under construction by the Saudis and several churches. There are also many street scenes, images of the university and the Congo River. A series of five slides shows popular paintings (such as La Colonie Belge). The value of his images is enhanced by his notes, which record subjects and locations.

The collection dates from circa 1981 to 2018 and consists of photographic prints, negatives, posters, art prints, DVDs and printed and manuscript materials. Photographs depict architecture, agricultural work, beadwork, weaving, village scenes, artists, artists at work, artworks, markets, celebrations, scenic views, animals, churches and mosques. Most depict Kunama or Saho peoples, particularly women and children. LaDuke also regularly photographed war zones during the Border War, especially those in Nakfa and Gelebe, portraying Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Locations include villages in Ethiopia and Eritrea, particularly Senafe, Nakfa and Massawa, as well as Border War zones various battlefields and camps for internally displaced persons.

The collection consists of 38 color transparencies, 648 color slides and 10 black-and-white photographic prints taken by Lynn McLaren Demarest while on assignment for various news outlets in the 1950s and 1960s. A majority of the slides and transparencies were taken in East Africa and document indigenous peoples, agriculture (cotton in particular), health and nutrition education, UNICEF activities, architecture, natural landscapes, animals, fishers, coffee plantations and the sisal industry. Locations include Mobassa, Lamu Island, Zanzibar, Dar es Saalam, Lake Victoria, Mount Kilimajaro, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Mikumi National Park (Tanzania). The black-and-white photographs depict East African leaders, such as Julius Nyerere, and prominent international visitors to the region, including Robert Kennedy. A small number of slides and transparencies were taken in India.

Series 1 is comprised of photos taken by Dr. Henry Drewal while traveling in Morocco from May 29, 1997 to June 21, 1997. The series includes images taken in Casablanca, Rabat, Salé, Fès al Bali, Meknès, Sijilmassa, Rissani, Marrakech, and Essaouira. Subjects include architecture, market scenes, craftsmen and artisans at work, musicians, landscapes ...