Alvin McCurdy was a tireless collector of documentation about the lives and activities of the black people of south-western Ontario. His interests were both narrow and wide, extending from his own family history and genealogy, to the broader story of all the black families in and around Essex County. His collection includes physical evidence of all aspects of social, cultural and economic life, and his thorough research notes add a layer of valuable interpretation and insight.

His Resource Files (F 2076-3) and Genealogical Files (F 2076-4) include the results of decades of laborious research. These files consist of newspaper clippings, transcriptions of various documents (that might otherwise have been lost), analyses of assessment rolls, detailed biographical sketches, index cards sketching various people and subjects, genealogical research, and alphabetical death notice clippings.

As mentioned, Alvin McCurdy was particularly interested in amassing all of the available documentation relating to his own ancestry. He was fortunate to be able to locate images of his family, dating back to both his maternal and fraternal great-grandfathers. His collection includes many hundreds of photographs of his own family, and a few examples have been selected for viewing here

In addition to his own family, McCurdy was interested in telling the stories of his friends and neighbours. Generations of local black dynasties are represented in photographs in his collection, including members of the Adams, Banks, Stokes and Thomas families, as well as many others.