Journalist Wil Haygood announced a collection of items and documents from his career will be donated to Miami University, his alma mater.
Haygood said this collection is a compilation of stories and articles about worldwide headlines, such as the 20th-anniversary celebration of the March on Washington; the Berlin Wall; the 1990 release of anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned 27 years and later became the first president of South Africa, and the 1992 riots in Los Angeles.
“It’s probably one of the more robust collections of this type of material amassed by any single writer anywhere on this subject matter,” Haygood said. “It is my goal that students, scholars from Europe or Africa or anywhere are able to come to Miami and look at this collection.”
Overall, the collection also contains early drafts of some of his books (including comments and notes from editors), behind-the-scenes production notes from the 2013 movie “The Butler,” authored but unproduced film scripts, photographs from world travel and letters from world leaders and public figures. It will also include interviews from veterans of the Vietnam War, which is the topic of his next book.
Haygood’s career as a journalist spanned time spent at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Boston Globe and the Washington Post. Haygood received the Ella Baker Social Justice Award in 2013, the Miami University President’s Medal in 2018 and the Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award in 2022.
