CLIR Hidden Collections Grant Project

It is with great pleasure that the Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library announces the opening of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference records as of May 1, 2012. Made possible by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources to uncover hidden archival and special collections, the SCLC records will shed new light on a hugely important, and largely undocumented, civil rights organization.
 
The collection consists of the records of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1957-2007, with the bulk of the material from 1968-2003, including records from various offices and departments; files of various programs; financial and legal records; printed material; photographs; audiovisual materials; and artifacts and memorabilia.

by Ryan Taylor, Project Archivist, MARBL

"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.

The photographs of SCLC provide a unique window into the wide array of leaders, entertainers, politicians, and personalities that have aided or interacted with SCLC and its members throughout the lifetime of the organization. Featured below are some candid moments captured on film by members of SCLC staff. 

Above left: Muhammad Ali with two of his daughters, undated. Above right: Harry Belafonte, undated.

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

"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.

As a nonprofit organization, the Center for Democratic Renewal relied on donations and grants to fund its staff, programs, publications, and initiatives. Though the CDR accepted individual donations, it did not function as a membership organization. Instead, they placed much time and effort into fundraising and development.

by Ryan Taylor, Project Archivist, MARBL

"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.

Through correspondence, case files, and office files, the Legal Records of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference provide a look into the operations of the organization’s legal counsel between 1960 and 2002. The documents primarily cover the time from 1968 to 2002, when SCLC and its employees and affiliates were most engaged in litigation and other projects, like the SCLC Gun Buyback Project, dealing with copyright infringement and use of the “Martin Luther King, Jr.” name, and offering legal assistance and advice, even when not directly involved in a particular suit. The papers in this series are mostly comprised of the records of Chauncey Eskridge, who acted as King’s attorney, Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Foundation, and SCLC’s general counsel from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. There are few records documenting legal activity during the 1980s, but the series provides a more comprehensive view of SCLC’s involvement in legal affairs throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, under the legal direction of Roxanne Gregory. In addition to aiding SCLC in legal affairs, Ms. Gregory also championed many social causes, both for SCLC and other organizations, like the Center for Children and Education, as a representative of SCLC and its mission.

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

"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.

Though in existence from 1979-2008, the CDR collected a few items from the 1960s. One notable discovery is the first six issues of the Vicksburg Citizens’ Appeal, started in 1964 by Vicksburg African-Americans and white civil rights workers. As stated in the first issue, “The paper will print full news of events in the Vicksburg area Negro community – social and club activities, sporting events, and political and civic news. The Citizens’ Appeal will also keep its readers informed of important events in the struggle for Negro rights, here in Vicksburg and elsewhere in Mississippi.”

Above left: First issue of Vicksburg Citizens' Appeal, 1964. Above right: Article by Jackie Robinson, first issue, 1964. Click to view full size images.

by Christopher Harter, Director of Library and Reference Services, Amistad Research Center

"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.

Journalist and photographer Arnold De Mille (1908-1996) spent his career capturing the African American experience for publications such as the Negro World (1927-1932), Newspic (1940-1942), and both the Chicago Defender and the New York Age Defender (1950-1955). He served under the Federal Writers Project, WPA (1937-1939) and joined Milady Publishing Corporation in 1944 as a photographer-writer, with his works appearing in early cosmetology textbooks. As a United Nations news photographer (1948-1961) and correspondent (1978-1987), De Mille traveled the world to interview world leaders and to document their countries.  He also worked for the City of New York as the assistant personnel director and served as the press relations director for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund under Thurgood Marshall. 

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

"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.

Chartered in 1917, the NAACP Atlanta Branch started under the leadership of James Weldon Johnson, Harry Pace, Dr. Charles Johnson, Dr. Louis Wright, and Walter White. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Branch fought segregation by filing lawsuits and petitions against golf courses, restaurants, transportation, and other businesses. They were instrumental in the desegregation of Atlanta Public Schools in the early 1960s.

The Branch facilitated initiatives in voter registration, housing and urban development, employment discrimination, education, job placement and training, women and minority employment, police brutality, affirmative action, and legislative monitoring. They helped with lawsuits against the Atlanta and National Post Offices, reapportionment, MARTA, Fort McPherson, and elections. They were instrumental in breaking up the Cox Communication conglomerate that then allowed minorities achieve on-air and high level positions with media outlets.

Above left: Freedom Fund Committee, 1977. Above right: Membership brochure, undated. Click to view full size images.