Robert L. Hess was a noted scholar of Ethiopian History who served as president of Brooklyn College from 1979 to 1992. In 1993, the Robert L. Hess Collection in African and Ethiopian history was deeded to the Brooklyn College Library by the late-President Hess's widow, Frances A. Hess.

The Robert L. Hess Collection

The Hess Collection on Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa and the Robert L. Hess Collection on the Continent of Africa are largely devoted to colonial issues and the colonial period. The materials date from the late 18th to the mid-twentieth centuries. The collection of some 5,000 volumes has been inventoried and appraised by leading bookmen and Africana specialists William French and Philip McBain. The appraisers characterized the collection this way: The great bulk of the collection is specifically focused on the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Somalia, and their neighbors. Within this area the coverage is both broad and deep; all aspects of history, exploration, politics, linguistics, religion, art, economics, and geography are extensively covered.

For more information on the Hess collection please visit the Hess Collection webpage.