PORTLAND – A trove of artifacts at the University of Southern Maine vividly documents African-American culture and history.

The African American Collection of Maine includes manuscripts, books, audiovisual material and other artifacts, such as the Androscoggin County Ku Klux Klan’s original charter from 1927.

One of the wonderful things about the collection is that it’s tied so closely to the state’s African-American community, said Susie Bock, director of USM’s Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine.

“Here is a collection that’s been built by the African-American community here and will be a resource for people to learn about the African-American community here,” she said.

Much of the collection was donated by Gerald Talbot, who in 1972 became the state’s first black lawmaker and whose roots in Maine stretch back to the mid-18th century.

His collection includes a letter written by Booker T. Washington, a first edition of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and shackles and chains from slave ships. There also are artifacts more specific to Maine, including Talbot’s papers from the Legislature and his days as president of the Portland chapter of the NAACP.

The collection has been supplemented by donations that include political buttons, cookie jars, statues and research done for the award-winning 1994 documentary “Anchor for the Soul,” which documents the history of the Portland Abyssinian Church.

“It’s vitally important to expose people to these things because, as we go through school, we don’t get the other side,” Talbot said. “We’re robbed of the other side of history. We only know the white side of history, not the black side.”