CLIR Hidden Collections Grant Project

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 financial records, grant documents, correspondence, and records related to a variety of social projects, the papers of the Southern Christian Leadership Foundation provide a comprehensive view of the activities of the charitable organ of SCLC between 1962 and 2001. The documents primarily cover the period from 1966 to the mid-1990s, when the Foundation was most active, administering grants to individuals, organizations, and SCLC, as well as overseeing and operating textile business ventures, like Crawfordville Enterprises, under the leadership of Chauncey Eskridge, the Foundation’s Director. The papers in this series primarily document the actions of Eskridge as Director (though he also served as SCLC’s legal counsel), a position he held from the inception of SCLF in 1966 (originally called the Martin Luther King, Jr. Foundation) until the mid-1980s, when operational responsibilities were taken over by Betty Brooks, the Foundation’s long-time administrative assistant and aid to Eskridge. Included in the series is correspondence, the records of Crawfordville Enterprises, financial records, documents detailing grants to SCLC to cover operating expenses, other grants to fund projects undertaken by individuals and organizations, and other ventures SCLF involved itself in, including the MLK International Freedom Games.

By Ryan Taylor, Project Archivist, MARBL and Michael R. Hall, Graduate Processing Assistant, 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 the Southern Christian Leadership Conference are a rich and comprehensive look into the history of the civil rights struggle in America and a view into one of the movement’s most influential organizations. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the photographs documenting the SCLC’s National Conventions, which span over forty years and capture the spirit of those working within SCLC and the organization’s allies. Below are some selected images which highlight the sweeping breadth of the SCLC National Convention photographs.

Above left: Television producer Fred Sullivan receives award for his work in producing the TV movie "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" at the 17th National Convention, 1974. Above right: Joseph Lowery, Fred Taylor, Rosa Parks, and Walter E. Fauntroy unveil the Rosa Parks Award at the 23rd National Convention, 1980. Click to view full size images.

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.

Throughout its nearly 30 year existence, a major part of the mission of the Center for Democratic Renewal (CDR) was to act as a clearinghouse of information about hate crime activity. To do this, they had offices in Kansas City and Seattle as well as their headquarters in Atlanta collect newspaper and magazine articles, news stories, and first-hand accounts of incidents from across the country. They also subscribed and obtained numerous newsletters, newspapers, magazines, and other publications.

Above left: Table of Contents from 1st edition, 1986. Above right: Fact Sheet for 2nd edition, 1992. 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.

The archival staff at the Amistad Research Center is diligently working to increase access to the more than 700 archives and manuscripts collection by entering legacy finding aids, accession records, and biographical and historical sketches into the Center’s collection management database . Many of the Center’s collections came in the 1970s and have been under used or even unknown due to researcher difficulty of accessing paper finding aids or indexes. As we continue to work with these legacy collections, we are re-discovering some of the Center’s most significant collections documenting the life experiences and history of ethnic and racial communities in the United States. The Robert E. Jones Papers are just such a treasure; donated to the Center in 1976 and initially processed at the most basic inventory level early on, the collection has been a little known resource until now. The online finding aid provides expanded full-text searchable descriptions anywhere in the United States and beyond for this and other significant materials about African American and ethnic history and culture.

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.

Though it is best known for working towards equality and the fight for civil rights, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference has also thrown its weight behind a number of other social and human rights causes. Most of this work has been conducted through SCLC’s Department of Direct Action. Direct action is the strategic use of immediately effective acts such as strikes, demonstrations (marches and rallies), and boycotts to achieve a political or social objective, and no one understood it better than Reverend Fred Taylor, a long-time employee of SCLC and Director of Direct Action from 1984 to at least 2005.

Fred Taylor began working for SCLC in 1969 as a staff member in the Department of Chapters and Affiliates.  In 1971 he became Office Manager for the organization, a position he held for two years.  In 1973 he was promoted to Director of Chapters and Affiliates, where he served until becoming Director of Direct Action in 1984. Though his primary focus was always furthering SCLC’s mission, he took an interest in working towards the abolition of the death penalty, serving as a volunteer for Amnesty International and a board member for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Under his leadership, SCLC became an outspoken and passionate voice in the fight against the death penalty.

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.

Because I finished the Andrew Young Papers and NAACP Atlanta Branch Records (finding aid forthcoming) with time to spare, CLIR approved adding another collection to our project. The collection chosen was the Center for Democratic Renewal Records (CDR).

"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, in which his works appeared 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.