An archive of work by Shawn Walker, a founding member of the Harlem-based African-American photography collective the Kamoinge Workshop, will join the Library of Congress’s collection, the organization announced Wednesday.

The library worked with the Photography Collections Preservation Project to purchase nearly 100,000 of Mr. Walker’s photographs, negatives and transparencies that capture life, primarily in Harlem, between 1963 and the present. The collection also includes photos of political leaders and cultural icons like Jesse Jackson, Toni Morrison and Thelonious Monk.

“I have tried to document the world around me, particularly the African-American community, especially in Harlem, from an honest perspective so that our history is not lost,” Mr. Walker, 80, said in a statement.