CLIR Hidden Collections Grant Project

By Amber L. Moore, Project Archivist, 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 Amistad Research Center files of the Warren Q. Marr, II papers document Marr's ongoing involvement with the Center. Marr, in conjunction with the Center's first director, Clifton Johnson launched the Amistad Research Foundation Fund campaign (1968) to obtain a new building and endowment.  Correspondence, publicity information and minutes regarding the Amistad Research Foundation Development Fund are contained in this collection.  Of particular note is a 1970 memo written by Marr titled, “Amistad Research Center Publicity and Promotion Campaign,” which details a plan of action for promotion.

Here is an excerpt from the memo:

To prevent the comparative massiveness and singularity of Amistad Research Center from diminution and perhaps even eclipse, it is necessary to take immediate and broad action to promote and publicize the Center. 

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

It isn’t uncommon to have material in archival collections that is difficult for archivists to identify.  Removed as we are from the creation of the records, even our knowledge of the creators and their historical context can’t always help us name individuals in photographs, pinpoint events or recognize the voices on audio tapes.  When we’re lucky, the records creators are available to help us.

By Courtney Chartier, Assistant Head, Archives Research Center, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library

The Voter Education Project Organizational Records span the years 1962-1992 and document the activities of the Atlanta based Voter Education Project (VEP).

The records of VEP are arranged into seven series,

By Cheryl Oestreicher, Project Archivist, Auburn Avenue Research Library

"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 Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History is pleased to announce that the Andrew J. Young Papers are now open for research.

By Amber L. Moore, Project Archivist, 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 Family History papers of the Marr-McGee Family papers contain both original and secondary materials documenting the genealogy of the African American and Caucasian branches of the Marr family of Virginia and New England, as well as, the McGee family. Warren Marr II, the unofficial family historian, thoroughly researched his paternal and maternal familial lines in attempts to shed light on his diverse background.  Marr's great-great grandparents were John Quincy Marr, the first Confederate casualty of the Civil War and Eliza Nickens, his Cherokee mistress. 

By Courtney Chartier, Assistant Head, Archives Research Center, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library

"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.

Become involved in the movement when he organized the first student sit-in in Nashville, where he was a student at the Baptist Theological Seminary and then Fisk University. He was involved in the first CORE sponsored Freedom Ride in 1961.

Lewis was elected Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1963. While Chairman he orchestrated SNCC’s Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964) and spoke for the organization at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1965).

By Beryl Hunter, Graduate Student Intern, 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.

My name is Beryl and I’m a graduate student in Museum Studies at Southern University at New Orleans.  For the past few months, I have been interning in the processing department at the Amistad Research Center.  The initial reaction when entering the reading room is one of respect as historical facts surround you. Every person in the Center from the director to the permanent employees, interns and volunteers, plays a vital part in the Center. I have found working in an environment focused on cultural preservation and learning the archival method to be of value.  I am currently processing the Jason Berry papers (1966-1987), which are an important contribution to researchers of the civil rights movement. The Berry papers document the development of a writing career during a period when the landscape of American society was rapidly changing.