Robert James Sullivan Jr. was City Planner for Harrisonburg from 1965 until 1991 during a time of much growth and development for the city. He also taught as an adjunct professor of Political Science for James Madison University from 1970 until 2006 and served as the "unofficial historian" of the city of Harrisonburg during his lifetime. The collection contains materials related to all of these roles with particularly rich materials related to the growth of Harrisonburg from the 1950s to the early 1990s. There are many photos and slides that feature neighborhoods in Harrisonburg that are no longer in existence after the Urban Renewal projects of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as many maps of Harrisonburg showing projected growth. The links below represent groupings of images as organized and described by Robert J. Sullivan. Descriptive text and titles were taken directly from what was written on the slides themselves.
- 1978, 1979, and Spring 1980 (showing part of the Bicentennial Parade- Harrisonburg's 200th birthday)
- Court Square (after landscaping) 1976-1977
- Downtown Photos, Various Items 1960s, 70s, 80s
- Durham, NC Street Plantings and Downtown Beautification, 1976
- Fall '79, Dry River Dam, '83, Mixed views etc., 1988
- Historical structures and churches, schools and parks, JMU and EMC
- Housing— various types and situations
- Industries, Railroad Pollution Scenes, City Facilities- parking lots, fire stations, police station, HEC; "Miscellaneous"
