The records of the Contemporary Black Arts Program consist of program files related to its academic administration, publicity materials for various events sponsored by CBAP, files associated with the participation of the program director, Floyd Gaffney, in the Black Faculty and Staff Association, subject files concerning African-American education, administrative files of the Friends of the CBAP, and files documenting the program's involvement with Black History Month celebrations at UCSD.

The Contemporary Black Arts Program developed from the Cultural Traditions Program at Muir College during the late 1970s. Strongly interdisciplinary, the program was established to satisfy the general education requirements of the college, to add richness and diversity to the process of educating students, and to serve as a means of increasing the involvement of African-Americans in university and local community affairs. In 1979, the program moved to Third College (now Thurgood Marshall College) under the guidance of Dr. Floyd Gaffney, Professor of Drama, who continued as Director of the program through the early 1990s. Since 1981, the program has offered a Contemporary Black Arts Minor which provides a broad introduction to African-American performing arts combining lecture, studio, and performance courses. Through the concerted efforts of the faculty and strong support from the university administration, the program expanded its unique combination of instructional, research, and performing arts missions throughout the 1980s. The program's involvement in the planning of Black History Month events and its successful sponsorship of performances by African-American artists attest to its important contributions to the cultural life of the UCSD campus and the surrounding community.