Hidden Collections

By Cheryl Oestreicher, Project Archivist, Jean Childs Young Papers

A surprise while processing the Andrew J. Young Papers was the extent of the material from his wife of 40 years, Jean Childs Young. Though her role as Andrew’s wife raised her to prominence locally, nationally, and internationally, she also forged her own identity and career, now reflected in the Jean Childs Young Papers. Her activism extended to the Civil Rights Movement, education, children, women, African-Americans, and many other political and social interests.

By Courtney Chartier, Project Archivist, Voter Education Project Collection

On March 29-30 the Council on Library and Information Resources held a Hidden Collections Program Symposium in Washington, DC. Representatives from all of the institutions involved in the “Working for Freedom” project attended.

By Cheryl Oestreicher, Project Archivist, Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History

In 1970, Mayor Sam Massell appointed Andrew Young to chair the Atlanta Community Relations Commission (CRC), replacing Reverend Samuel Williams. Formed in 1966, the CRC served as a liaison between African-American residents and City Hall, primarily to address incidents of discrimination. As a seasoned leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Civil Rights Movement, Young was a natural fit for this position.

By Amber L. Moore, Project Archivist, Amistad Research Center

Amistad staff are pleased to announce that the guide for the Ronnie Moore Papers is available online.  Ronnie M. Moore is a civil rights activist, community development consultant and photographer from New Orleans.  He was a field secretary in the South for the Congress of Racial Equality (1961-1965) and the executive director of the Scholarship, Education and Defense Fund for Racial Equality, Inc. (1965-1973).

By Sarah Quigley, Project Archivist, Southern Christian Leadership Conference records

Born in Alabama in 1921, Joseph Echols Lowery bore witness to the indignities of the Jim Crow south and grew up to become an influential leader of the Civil Rights Movement.  He was a young Methodist minister in Mobile, Alabama during the bus boycotts of the 1950s, and a founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1957.  He was active in the movement throughout the 1960s, marching alongside King from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.  He also was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SCLC through much of the 1960s and 1970s.  In 1977, following the resignation of Ralph David Abernathy, Lowery assumed the presidency of SCLC, which he held until 1997.

By Allison Hughes, Archival Assistant, Voter Education Project Collection

The 1980s were a time of expansion for the Voter Education Project (VEP). In 1984 VEP began a campaign to increase the number of women registered to vote as well as increase the number of women in elected and appointed offices, and began to conduct research that would help to meet those goals. This project was titled the Women’s Vote Project (WVP) and was under the direction of Eleatha O’Neal. While VEP primarily had provided grants to other groups or institutions and continued to do so, the WVP was strictly a campaign run by the VEP.

By Cheryl Oestreicher, Project Archivist, Andrew J. Young Papers

The Andrew Young Papers, located at Auburn Avenue Research Library, contain documents spanning Young’s entire career – from his days at Hartford Theological Seminary in the early 1950s through his current activities at GoodWorks International, and includes material from his participation in the Civil Rights Movement.