RALPH J. BUNCHE ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION (M-R)
MACK, John (1936- ) RJB 416
Special assistant to the director, National Urban League Field Office,
Washington, D. C. Former director, Urban League, Flint, Michigan. Director-designate,
Urban League, Los Angeles, California. Recalls segregated childhood
in Darlington, South Carolina; college years at North Carolina A&T
College, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Atlanta University in 1958
when he helped to organize the Student Committee on Human Rights; arrests
under Georgia state law; work with Martin Luther King Jr.; split between
"establishment Black " and youth in Atlanta and other facets
of Atlanta Student Movement. Discusses testimony before subcommittee on
civil rights of the Democratic party platform committee in 1960. Comments
on youth-minority-liberal faction of Democratic party in California.
Interviewer: Helen Hall
Date: July 17, 1969
Format: Transcript, 40 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MADDOX, Lester G. (n.d.) RJB
638
Governor of Georgia. States reasons for his vehement resistance to civil
rights legislation and court-ordered desegregation. Defends state's
record of equal opportunity hiring under his governorship. Discusses his
negative national media image. Extols private enterprise initiatives
as alternatives to federal antipoverty and welfare programs.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: October 16, 1970
Format: Transcript, 12 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MAIER, Henry (n.d.) RJB 302
Mayor, Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the time of the Milwaukee race riots.
Discusses his record of achievement, relations with the
Black community and various civil rights groups. Defends tactics used
to end Milwaukee riot.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: February 14, 1968
Format: Cassette tape
Tape length: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Restrictions: No reproduction
MAJOR, Reginald (1926- ) RJB 464
Former chairman, Education Committee, San Francisco Chapter, National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Director,
Educational Opportunity Program, San Francisco State College. Traces
his involvement with school issues and politics in the Bay area. Identifies
dissident factions in the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP), the organizational split between socioeconomic
classes, and the rising militancy of some of its younger members who
wanted the organization to pursue more direct, grassroots activism.
Explains why dissidents eventually left to form a more militant umbrella organization
called the United Freedom Movement. Discusses his later role in academia
working to improve Black student enrollment at San Francisco State
College and make the curriculum more relevant and sensitive to diverse
cultural groups.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: August 10, 1969
Format: Transcript, 78 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MALLORY, MAE (n.d.) RJB 523
Civil rights activist. Recalls major events in her life, beginning with
her childhood in the South, problems as a student in New York public
schools because of prejudice, activities to reform the school system,
Communist Party membership, association with Robert Williams as a
member of his Crusader Family in Monroe, North Carolina.
Interviewer: Malaika Lumumba
Date: February 27. 1970
Format: Transcript, 24 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MANGRUM, Fred (n.d.) RJB 471
Former field secretary, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
in Mississippi. Director, Friends of Children of
Mississippi. Describes the activities of Nonviolent Action Group (NAG)
at Howard University, staging rent strikes and sit-ins and participating
in the Freedom Summer of 1964, the latter of which led him to Tallahatchie
County, Mississippi, and work with Black voter registration and political
education programs. Debates the pros and cons of white students' involvement
in the Freedom Summer project. Discusses SNCC's efforts in the rural
South, citing them as poorly organized and lacking depth of structure.
Gives his impressions of SNCC leaders Stokely Carmichael and Bob Moses.
Explains the factors leading to the demise of the grassroots
Child Development Group of Mississippi and the evolution of its successor,
Friends of the Children of Mississippi. Describes changes in the thrust
of the government's antipoverty efforts since the Nixon administration.
Discusses the Black Studies and cultural nationalism movements, the
relevance of Marxism to the Black struggle, and the need for Black
unity.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: July 8, 1969
Format: Transcript, 54 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MANNS, Adrienne (n.d.) RJB 267
Student activist, Howard University, Washington, D. C. Discusses the
role of Black intellectuals in the civil rights and Black Power movements,
and the philosophical underpinnings of the Black student movement.
Identifies several student activists and activist organizations at
Howard University during the 60s, notably Tony Gittens, Ewart Brown,
and Barbara Penn, and UJAMAA (the United Joint Action Movement of
Afro-Americans). Explains the objectives and evaluates the effectiveness
of the student takeover of the Howard administration building. Discusses
the differences between the white and Black student movements.
Interviewer: Harold O. Lewis
Date: August 9, 1968
Format: Transcript, 49 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MARKS, Richard (n.d.) RJB 455
Director, Community Relations Commission, Detroit, Michigan. Explains
the purpose and activities of the interracial policy and
advisory committee established by Detroit's mayor in 1944 in response
to violent civil unrest in that city, and that of subsequent agencies
that evolved in city government to address issues of race relations.
Identifies the shortcomings of various local government efforts to
address patterns of discrimination in housing and employment and effect
social change over a 20-year period. Discusses Martin Luther King's organizing
activities in Detroit.
Interviewer: Helen Hall
Date: September 5, 1969
Format: Transcript, 41 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MARSHALL, Burke (1922- ) RJB
517
Former Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U. S. Justice
Department. Discusses origin of his division. Recalls
problem of protecting civil rights workers in the South. Discusses his
role in the freedom rides, integration of University of
Mississippi, and strategy involved in the passing of the Civil Rights
Act 1964.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: February 27, 1970
Format: Transcript, 41 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MARSHALL, Joseph (1947- ) RJB
466
Organizer and first chairman, Black Student Union, University of San
Francisco, San Francisco, California. Discusses the racial climate
at predominantly white, Catholic USF and articulates the objectives
and activities its BSU. Describes the group's cultural and social
services outreach programs in the Black community, its efforts to
recruit more Black students and establish a Black Studies program,
and its relationships with BSUs on other campuses in northern California,
with the USF administration, and with mainstream student government
organizations. Shares his personal opinions on the direction of the
Black student movement, Black Power, Third World coalitions, and the
role of Black "Greek" organizations.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: August 11, 1969
Format: Transcript, 78 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MARTIN, Louis (1913- ) RJB 545
Former deputy chairman and head, Minorities Division, Democratic National
Committee. Vice president, Sengstacke Publications. Recalls
his role in the Minorities Division and Kennedy Administration, including
soliciting Black votes in the 1960 campaign, Kennedy's telephone call
on King's jailing; search for Black talent for high level positions;
Kennedy's civil rights programs. Relates origin of Voter Education
Project of Southern Regional Council. Looks at Black political power,
including Charles Evers, Adam Clayton Powell and the challenge by
the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the 1964 Democratic Convention.
Assesses value of Black press.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: March 25, 1970
Format: Transcript, 50 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MASON, Phillip (n.d.) RJB 82
Staff associate, Community Relations Service, Justice Department, Cleveland,
Ohio. Looks at life in the ghetto community of Hough. Recalls
conditions and events which precipitated the Cleveland riot. Discusses
origin and activities of Dialogue in Black, "a movement to build
the Black community."
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: November 13, 1967
Format: Transcript, 40 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MAYFIELD, Julian (1928- ) RJB
552
Author, playwright, journalist, and actor. Recalls early life experiences
that influenced his career in the arts. Takes issue
with Harold Cruse's The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual. Discusses
his activities in the Communist Party that were geared towards "reforming
American society." Recalls civil rights demonstrations in Monroe,
N. C. with Robert Williams. Discusses
journalist experiences in Ghana under Nkrumah.
Interviewer: Malaika Lumumba
Date: May 13, 1970
Format: Transcript, 75 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MAYS, Benjamin E. (1895-1984) RJB
128
President emeritus, Morehouse College, Atlanta. Discusses segregation
and how he learned to be free within its confines.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: January 26, 1968
Format: Transcript, 17 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MEAD, Margaret (1902-1978) RJB
484
Anthropologist. Member, Policy Committee, Civil Rights Documentation
Project. Discusses various theories on race.
Explains how the study of primitive tribes aids in understanding social
problems in this country. Looks at segregation and
discrimination, focusing on the reasons for same, treatment of minorities
in areas where they are few in number, major differences between racial
segregation in North and South in this country. Explains values and
problems of Black studies programs. Discusses student unrest at Hampton
Institute and Morehouse College. Comments on American involvement in Vietnam.
Interviewer: Norma Leonard
Date: October 26, 1969
Format: Transcript, 115 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MEANY, George (1894-1980) RJB
368
President, American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO). Articulates his organization's position on discrimination
in unions and employment. Discusses elimination of segregated local
unions within AFL-CIO structure. Discusses integration of minority
group members into skilled trade jobs and unions and the "built-in"
unemployment problem in the building trades.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: December 20, 1968
Format: Transcript, 33 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MENDOZA, Sophie (n.d.) RJB 322
Discusses the founding of United People Arriba, an independent multi-ethnic
group which works to better community conditions in San Jose, California.
Articulates problems found in some lower-income neighborhoods; e. g., inferior
public educational facilities, poor police-community relations, slums.
Interviewer:
Date:
Format: Transcript, 19 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MEREDITH, James (1933- ) RJB
57
First known Negro to enroll at University of Mississippi. Discusses
his reasons for so doing, and attitudes of fellow students towards
him. Also discusses his "March Against Fear."
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: October 12, 1967
Format: Format, 28 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Researchers must seek written permission from oral author
to use transcript during his lifetime.
MESHER, Shirley (n.d.) RJB 388
Civil rights worker and field representative, Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC), Alabama. One of the organizers, Southwest Alabama
Farmers Cooperative Association (SWAFCA). Generally details
her personal evolution and understandings as a white female civil
rights field worker in the rural South, from her entry as an ad hoc
press relations coordinator for the SCLC march on Selma, Alabama.
Explains why she stayed behind to organize voter registration and
self-help projects among poor Blacks in rural Alabama after the march.
Focuses on the psychological impact of the marches and demonstrations,
but claims such events made few inroads to the economic and political
plight of Blacks there. Details the many sacrifices made and dangers
faced by "hardened" civil rights workers, in contrast to
federal registrars' efforts, in registering Black voters. Discusses
the importance of indigenous community organizations, expressing disillusionment
with
federal civil rights and antipoverty policies and programs and denouncing
most of them as shortsighted, underfunded "pacification schemes"
that countermand and co-opt grassroots efforts. Discusses the factors
that led to the creation of SHAPE (Self-Help Against Poverty Everywhere)
and SWAFCA (Southwest Alabama Farmers Cooperative Association) in
Dallas County, Alabama; and cites the strengths, weaknesses, functions,
and visions of the organizations. Talks at length about the transformative
impact of the cooperative on the self-esteem and confidence of its
Black member-owners, and about agricultural and farm economics issues relevant
to the coop's activities. Recalls the two groups' difficulties with
resistive local whites and middle-class Blacks and with government
antipoverty agency officials, especially SWAFCA's experiences with
insensitive Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) auditors, "expert"
consultants, and USDA county extension agents.
Converses broadly about the socioeconomic implications of poverty,
the special problems and contradictions of the poor in
business, and the relationship between professionals and the poor as
well as related issues of health and social welfare affecting
poor rural Blacks.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: 1968
Format: Transcript, 352 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
METCALF, Ralph (1910-1978) RJB
707
Representative (D.-Illinois), U. S. Congress. Discusses reasons for
entering politics. Concentrates on Congressional Black Caucus, including
its relationship with President Nixon; activities to alleviate problems
of Blacks; view on Congressional reform; role in 1972 National Black
Political Convention; assessment of presidential candidacy of Representative
Shirley Chisholm (D.-New York). Discusses home rule for the District
of Columbia. Comments on politics in Chicago.
Interviewer: Edward Thompson III
Date: February 7, 1973
Format: Transcript, 20 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MICHAUX, Louis (Deceased, n.d.) RJB
628
Proprietor, National Memorial African Bookstore, New York, N. Y., which
has the largest selection of books by and about Blacks in the world.
Brother of the late Elder Solomon Michaux. Discusses the importance
of "Black literature." Gives his philosophy on the relevance
of religion to Blacks.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: July 31, 1970
Format: Transcript, 54 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MILGRAM, Morris (1916- ) RJB 166
Housing developer and builder. President, Planned Communities, Inc.,
a national firm that builds planned integrated housing.
Manager, Mutual Real Estate Investment Trust, which buys apartment houses
in white areas for integrated rental. Discusses activities and obstacles
in developing integrated housing communities. Assesses effects
of fair housing laws on his efforts and
enterprises. Recalls activities with A. Philip Randolph to secure a
Federal bill banning discrimination in employment. Includes
note on Privately Developed Interracial Housing, by George and Eunice
Greer, the story of one of Milgram's housing units.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: March 7, 1968
Format: Transcript, 30 pages; tape not available
Restriction: Standard
MITCHELL, Clarence, Jr. (1911- ) RJB
351
Director, District of Columbia Bureau of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Recalls a youth forum organized
in Baltimore during the 1930's which acted upon socio-economic problems
of Blacks. Relates that his wife became first youth secretary of NAACP
as result of her forum activities. Reminisces about the late Mary
McLeod Bethune. Discusses his goals as the first labor secretary of
the NAACP and strategy used to obtain these goals. Cites some of his
experiences as a civil rights lobbyist, including tactics used to
win the support of Congressmen on civil rights legislation. Appraises
the civil rights records of President Lyndon Johnson. Answers criticisms directed
at the NAACP regarding its basic interests and its relationship to
the masses. As legislative chairman of the Leadership Conference on
Civil Rights, discusses its origin, constituents, and achievements.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: December 6, 1968
Format: Transcript, 123 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MITCHELL, Edwin Harris (n.d.) RJB
109
Chairman, Metropolitan Nashville Human Relations Commission. Discusses
minority employment in Nashville and the fact that only 63 Blacks
work in white collar jobs in "five classifications of business."
Relates purpose of Human Relations Commission. Recalls role in easing
student-police confrontation in Nashville.
Interviewer:
Date: 1967
Format: Transcript, 37 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: CLOSED
MITCHELL, Parren (1922- ) RJB
708
Representative (D.-Maryland), U. S. Congress. Member, Banking and Currency
Committee. Discusses Congressional Black Caucus, including its accomplishments
and relationship to Democratic National Committee. Comments on 1972
National Black Political Convention. Gives purpose and function of
Banking and Currency Committee, and it importance to Blacks. Discusses
usurpation of Congressional power by President Nixon and the economic
policies of his Administration. Recalls his Congressional campaign.
Interviewer: Edward Thompson III
Date: February 22, 1973
Format: Transcript, 20 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MITCHELL, William (deceased n.d.) RJB
23
Executive secretary, Tuskegee Civic Association. Discusses voter registration
activities of his organization and subterfuges devised by whites to
discourage Black registrants. Also discusses the Tuskegee gerrymandering
case.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: March 7, 1968
Format: Transcript, 30 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository.
No quotation or citation during the lifetime of the oral author without
his written permission. Upon his death MSRC may give permission
to quote or cite. No reproduction in
any form, except with permission from the oral author, his heirs,
legal representatives or assigns.
MOON, Henry Lee (1901- ) RJB 71
Public Relations Director, National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP). Editor, The Crisis. Discusses the duties of
his office, including its publications and influence on the Association's
official statements. Looks at changes in The Crisis. Examines the
communications media's coverage and image of the NAACP and civil rights
activities.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: November 1, 1967
Format: Transcript, 26 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MOON, Richard (n.d.) RJB 242
Pastor, Presbyterian University Church, Memphis State University, Memphis,
Tennessee. Recalls the Memphis garbage strike, 1968. Discusses the
ensuing boycott and demonstrations, and Martin Luther Kings's role.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: July 10, 1968
Format: Transcript, 39 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MOORE, Cecil (ca. 1908- ) RJB
47
Attorney. President, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) chapter, National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Relates civil rights
activities of NAACP in Philadelphia. Discusses the socio-economic
conditions of Blacks in the city and the riot that occurred there
in 1964. Also relates efforts to desegregate Girard College, a resident
school for white orphans, located in the Black community.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: September 26, 1967
Format: Transcript, 52 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MOORE, Douglas (n.d.) RJB 343
Minister. Assistant project director of Shaw Urban Renewal area, Washington,
D. C. Participated in the founding of Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC). Discusses his role and that of Martin Luther King
Jr. in the early sit-in movement in North Carolina.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: December 12, 1968
Format: Transcript, 27 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MOORE, Elmer J. (1918- ) RJB
510
Former economist and human relations specialist, Office of Economic Opportunities.
Gives insight into OEO's inner conflicts on goals and methodology.
Recalls the termination of Child Development Group in Mississippi
(CDMG) project. Discusses SWAFCA's funding difficulties. Relates procedures
in OEO funding.
Interviewer: Malaika Lumumba
Date: February 9, 1970
Format: Transcript, 38 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MORRIS, Richard P. (1926- ) RJB
443
Civil rights activist in Teamsters Union in California. Discusses his
activities on the Teamsters Rank and File Committee for Equal Job
Opportunity to secure nondiscriminatory hiring in several industries
in California.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: August 15, 1969
Format: Transcript, 22 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MORRISON, Derrick (1946- ) RJB
625
Staff writer, The Militant. Member, executive committee, Young Socialist
Alliance (YSA). Discusses formation of Michigan Freedom Now Party
and its linkage to Malcolm X. Comments on Malcolm X's philosophy.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: July 27, 1970
Format: Transcript, 3 pages (incomplete); cassette tape made of entire
interview.
Tape length: 90 minutes
Restrictions: Standard
MORRISROE, Richard (n.d.) RJB
156
Assistant pastor, Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois. Discusses
his civil rights activities in Lowndes County, Alabama in
conjunction with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Describes
his jailing in Alabama, his release and the subsequent attempt to
kill him by shooting him in the back. Explores his feelings as a white
survivor of the civil rights movement.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: February 21, 1968
Format: Cassette tape
Tape length: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Restrictions: No reproduction
MORROW, E. Frederic (ca. 1910- ) RJB
664
Author. Vice president, Bank of America. Member of the White House
staff under President Eisenhower. Reflects on his
experiences as the first Black to serve on the executive staff of an
American president, as administrative assistant to Eisenhower from
1955 to 1961. Recalls the resentment and resistance his presence created
among some officials and describes both his non-race-related duties and
his "gatekeeper" role as liaison between Eisenhower and
African American leaders. Explains his reasons for not supporting
a planned march on Washington in the 1950s. Discusses Eisenhower's
civil rights position, views toward civil rights legislation, responses
to the Emmet Till murder and the Little Rock 9, and efforts to desegregate
the armed forces. Cites reasons for his eventual disillusionment with
Eisenhower and later Nixon. Discusses national-level Democratic and
Republican party politics and assesses Black political strengths and
weaknesses.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: November 17, 1970
Format: Transcript, 38 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MORSELL, John (1912- ) RJB 72
Assistant executive director, National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP). Discusses ideology and
goals of the organization as related to the current civil rights movement.
Reviews operational structure of the Association, from
the branch level to the national board. Summarizes some of its local
and national activities.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: November 1, 1967
Format: Transcript, 32 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MORTON, Charles (n.d.) RJB 696
Member, Board of Education, Detroit, Michigan. Describes his personal
relationship with Martin Luther King Jr., dating back to their Morehouse
years. Discusses his later experiences as an activist professor of
theology and social philosophy at Black
colleges in the South, especially that of creating at Dillard University
an interracial, multi-university forum on social and
racial issues in New Orleans. Explains his reasons for leaving the South
and accepting a Baptist pastorship in Detroit. Provides
account of the efforts of a group of Black Methodist ministers from Detroit
to integrate a white Methodist church in Jackson,
Mississippi. Describes his activities and achievements as a member of the
Michigan State Board of Education.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: July 9, 1970
Format: Transcript, 43 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MOYER, William H. (1933- ) RJB 228
Associate director, Poor People's Campaign, Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC). Explains his duties with respect to planning the
Poor People's Campaign and Resurrection City and developing "non-poor"
support groups among suburbanites in the Washington, D.C. area. Describes
the SCLC planning committees' lines of authority, the duties of the
various subcommittees, and the ensuing conflicts and power struggles
that occurred in mounting the campaign both before and after the first
caravan of buses arrived. Comments on the differences in leadership
style between Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: July 7, 1968
Format: Transcript, 76 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MULLOY, Joseph T. (n.d.) RJB
681
Field organizer, Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF) New Orleans,
Louisiana. Details the activities of Office of Economic Opportunity-funded,
Community Action Program (CAP) organizations in the Appalachians in
the mid-1960s, especially the personnel and interpersonal challenges
of workers there. Describes abuses in the antipoverty job training
programs in Appalachia. Recalls the "coup" staged by himself
and other young members of the Appalachian Volunteers CAP who broke
away from that organization, taking the Office of Economic Opportunity
funding with them, to form a new group that engaged the populace in
more meaningful direct action in local political and economic arenas.
Discusses the linking of
their struggle to that of social activist and civil rights groups such
as Miles Horton's Highlander School, SCEF, and the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: May 26, 1970
Format: Transcript, 85 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MURPHY, Alvin (n.d.) RJB 154
Catholic Interracial Council worker with Mexican-Americans, San Jose,
California. Discusses plight of Mexican-Americans, blaming much of
their situation on their patron-peon relationship to religion and
whites. Compares Black movement to Mexican-American "lack of
movement."
Interviewer: Harold O. Lewis
Date: February 2, 1968
Format: Transcript, 18 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MURRAY, Pauli (1910-1985) RJB
290
Lawyer, professor, author. Discusses her book on the Black family, Proud
Shoes. Recalls in depth her activities with other Howard University
students in breaking segregation barriers in Washington, D. C. during
the 1940's. Discusses various civil rights law cases. Gives views
on Black Power, integration, and the civil rights movement.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: August 15 and 17, 1968
Format: Transcript, 142 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MURWAY, Richard (n.d.) RJB 601
Press secretary to Mayor Carl Stokes, Cleveland, Ohio. Discusses civil
rights legislation and programs, including an equal
employment opportunity ordinance, under the Stokes administration; relationship
of city council to mayor's programs; anti-Stokes factions; General
Benjamin Davis as safety director of Cleveland.
Interviewer: Nanette Freeman
Date: August 3, 1970
Format: Transcript, 13 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MUSE, Andrew (n.d.) RJB 546
Director, Division of Conciliation, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
Washington, D. C. Discusses function of his division, "which
receives and investigates charges of discrimination in employment
based on race, sex, religion and national origin." Relates problems
in minority group hiring.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: March 19, 1970
Format: Transcript, 27 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MYERS, Mattie J. (n.d.) RJB 606
Director, Ralph J. Bunche Community Council, Detroit, Michigan. Concentrates
on the major achievement of her organization: building of more than 35,000
housing units, primarily for residents of an urban renewal area in
Detroit. Discusses how the Council developed from a neighborhood club
designed to preserve and protect its environs from urban renewal.
Recalls financing and building of housing units.
Interviewer: Nanette Freeman
Date: August 10, 1970
Format: Transcript, 27 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
MYERS, Sherry (ca. 1943- ) RJB
379
Describes poor whites as the largest oppressed minority group in America,
citing some of their problems as political, economic, and social discrimination.
Discusses a coalition of poor whites based on class consciousness
with the goal of defeating the "oppressive system." Discusses
the activities of the Nashville Committee for Decent Housing, which
investigated slum housing perpetuated by the local city housing authority.
Interviewer:
Date:
Format: Transcript, 64 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McCLAIN, Curtis (n.d.) RJB 460
President, Warehousemen's Union, Local 6. Chairman, Human Rights Commission,
San Francisco, California. Traces his involvement in ILWU labor politics
in the Bay area. Focuses on union's alliances with civil rights groups
in the Cadillac Row, Palace Hotel, and Lucky Grocery Stores demonstrations
and boycotts during the 60s; and its later alliance with Black student
unions, radical white student groups, and Third World coalitions around
evolving social causes. Outlines the union's legislative/political
strategies and activities. Gives details of his role and objectives
as president of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Comments
on the future of the civil rights movement, white backlash, welfare, employment
programs, and the Viet Nam War.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: July 11, 1969
Format: Transcript, 29 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McCOY, Rhody (n.d.) RJB 360
Unit administrator, Ocean Hill-Brownsville School Demonstration Project.
Offers a comprehensive critique of the educational power structure
in New York City. Examines the bureaucratic difficulties and racism
faced by Black teachers and administrators. Exposes the central board's
and the teachers union's duplicity in dealing with Black students,
parents, and communities; and their collaboration to defeat the Ocean
Hill-Brownsville (OHB) community-controlled school district project.
Explains the selection process that resulted in his leadership of
the OHB governing board. Cites examples of the dedication of community
parents to the project and of the sacrifices many poor urban parents
made for their children's education, despite the turmoil that plagued
the district's implementation and eventual termination. Places the
OHB struggle in the context of the larger struggle by Blacks and other minorities
against racial, economic, and political exploitation and domination. Interview
concludes with interviewer reading into the record a local OHB community
newspaper article tracing the history of the OHB struggle. The article
claims that the efforts of the central board and the United Federation
of Teachers to undermine community control of the schools led to the
chaos, not the experiment itself. It overwhelmingly supports the
parents' initiatives and McCoy's contribution to the project.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: December 29, 1968
Format: Transcript, 96 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McCREE, Floyd J. (n.d.) RJB 453
Former mayor, Flint, Michigan. Recalls discrimination against Blacks
at the Chevrolet and Buick plants in early 40's, which
resulted in his active involvement in civil rights. Traces involvement
in politics. Discusses Flint, Michigan, under his administration.
Interviewer: Helen Hall
Date: September 2, 1969
Format: Transcript, 32 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McDANIEL, Vernon (n.d.) RJB
213
Relates his role as education specialist helping Black community leaders
develop techniques and strategies for the implementation of school
desegregation. Also discusses professional educators in the South.
Interviewer: John Egerton
Date: June 10 1968
Format: Transcript, 58 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository,
quoted from and cited. No reproduction in any form including microphoto,
typewriter, photostat etc. Researchers may seek permission from
the oral author, his heirs, legal representatives or assigns.
McDEW, Charles F. (1938- ) RJB 40
Second chairman, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), 1961-63.
Recalls protest demonstrations in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Discusses
SNCC; its founding, projects, and internal problems.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: August 24, 1967
Format: Transcript, 140 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McDONALD, Jimmy (ca. 1935- ) RJB
501
Former national director of fund raising, Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE). Worker, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Currently associated with "Black Journal." Describes his first
encounters with social protest philosophy as a youth in the 50s. Explains
how and why he interrupted his career as an entertainer and became
involved as a volunteer at CORE's New York City office, working with
its then predominantly white leadership (Marvin Rich, Jim Robinson,
and Gordon Curry), and later with James Farmer, George Wiley, and
Floyd McKissick. Compares the strengths and weaknesses of the two
factions and shares his opinions on the reasons for the latter group's
movement away from nonviolence and toward the more militant, Black
Power concept. Details logistical aspects of planning and executing
the Freedom Rides and the purpose behind them. Discusses his own commitment
to nonviolence as well as that of other civil rights workers, as it
was tested and defeated by the several incidents of southern racist
violence that he describes.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: November 5, 1969
Format: Transcript, 43 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McGHEE, Silas (n.d.) RJB 447
Former field secretary, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
in Mississippi. Discusses Mississippi Summer Project; demise of Greenwood
Movement; importance of SNCC in Mississippi; original goal of the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic party (MFDP) and its present lack of
programs. Recalls the burning of his home because of his family's
civil rights activities.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: July 12, 1969
Format: Transcript, 29 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McGILL, Elzie (1903- ) RJB 280
One of the founders of the Lowndes County (Alabama) Co-op, Inc. Leader
of the Lowndes County Freedom Movement. Describes the intimidation
tactics used by whites to keep Blacks from registering to vote in
Loundes County even after the passage of the Voting Rights Bill of
1965. Chronicles organizational tactics which Blacks used to get assistance
from the Justice Department. Discusses role of federal registrars
and interracial Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) workers. Praises
SNCC's involvement in the county, especially its efforts to help start
a Black farmers' coop (the Southwest Alabama Farmers Cooperative Association)
and its role in politically organizing Blacks. Reflects on the impact
of the civil rights movement on race relations in the state; draws
parallels between the Black civil rights and biblical struggles of
oppressed peoples.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: August 4, 1968
Format: Transcript, 46 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McGILL, (Mrs.) Elzie (1927- ) RJB
281
One of the first Blacks since Reconstruction to register to vote in Lowndes
County, Alabama.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: August 4, 1968
Format: Transcript, 5 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McGILL, Lillian S. (n.d.) RJB
199
Field director, Tuskegee Institute Community Education Project (TICEP).
Board member, Southwest Alabama Farmers Cooperative Association (SWAFCA).
Traces origin of Lowndes County Christian Movement for Human Rights
and Cooperative and its voter registration program. Discusses programs
of Christian Movement, including home building, property development,
job training. Recalls activities of TICEP and purpose of SWAFCA.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: May 29, 1968
Format: Transcript, 32 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Researchers must seek written permission from oral author
to use transcript during her lifetime.
McKINNEY, Prentice (n.d.), joint with RJB
146
BENNING, Dwight
Two members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) Youth Council-Commandos discuss civil rights activities
of their group in Milwaukee.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: February 4, 1968
Format: Transcript, 50 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository.
No quotation or citation during the lifetime of the oral authors without
their written permission. Upon the death of both, MSRC may give permission
to quote or cite. No reproduction in any form, except with permission
from the oral authors, their heirs, legal representatives or assigns.
McKISSICK, Floyd (1922- ) RJB 323
Former national director, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Veteran
civil rights lawyer. Discusses his childhood precociousness and early
encounters with racism as a boy and as the first Black student at
the University of North Carolina. Recalls his later exposure in the
1940s to radical politics (the Henry Wallace campaign) and introduction
to CORE. Gives account of some of the first Freedom Rides, mentioning
the roles played by George Houser, Jim Peck, Bayard Rustin, and others;
describes his relationships with CORE leadership. Details and defends
the divergent positions CORE adopted under his directorship. Discusses his
post-CORE activities, notably: building McKissick Enterprises and
a Black corporate network, working on a book, involvement with a presidential
candidate "screening" organization (the National Committee
of Inquiry), and travel to Cambodia. Articulates his ideological
perspectives: his rejection of nonviolence and Black elitism, his
six-point philosophy of Black Power, and his views on Black capitalism
and Black economic independence. Admonishes Blacks to emphasize their
ethnic rather than racial distinctions, and advocates redefining the
social contract between Blacks and whites. Discusses class divisions
in the Black community and analyzes trends in Black leadership from the
1700s through the 1960s.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: October 16, 1968
Format: Transcript, 42, 47 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McKNIGHT, C. A. (n.d.) RJB 408
Editor, the Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina. Member Policy
Committee, Civil Rights Documentation Project. Discusses race relations
in Charlotte and the editorial policy of the Observer.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date:
Format: Transcript, 32 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
McMILLIAN, Ernest (1945- ) RJB
181
Chairman, Dallas chapter, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Recalls voter registration experiences in South in early 1960's. Discusses
his chapter's current programs relating to recruitment on college
campuses, establishing an umbrella organization of all Black civil
rights groups in Dallas, and Black pride - Black nationalist activities.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: May 1, 1968
Format: Transcript, 30 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
NABRIT, James M., Jr. (1900- ) RJB
185
President, Howard University, Washington, D. C. Relates incidents of
racial discrimination which he witnessed as a youth that led him to
choose law as a profession. Recalls his initiation of civil rights
law courses at Howard's Law School. Discusses civil rights cases in
which he was involved. Comments on student demands and unrest at Howard.
Interviewer: Vincent J. Browne
Date: 1968
Format: Transcript, 46 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
NEAL, Gaston (n.d.) RJB 232
Co-founder and director, New School for Afro-American Thought, described
as the first school of its kind in the country. Defines the goal of
the school. Discusses its origin, operation, courses, and future plans.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: July 1, 1968
Format: Transcript, 31 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
NIXON, E. D. (1899-1987) RJB
139
Former treasurer, Montgomery (Alabama) Improvement Association. Reviews
origin of Association, initiation of Montgomery bus boycott, and how
Martin Luther King Jr. became the movement's leader. Assesses accomplishments
of Association. Discusses how with the aid of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt,
he was able to get a U. S. O. club in Montgomery.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: February 1968
Format: Transcript, 43 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository,
quoted from and cited. No reproduction in any form including microphoto,
typewriter, photostat etc. Researchers may seek permission from
the oral author, his heirs, legal representatives or assigns.
NIXON, John (n.d.) RJB 173
Vice-President, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP). Former president, Alabama chapter, NAACP. Relates efforts
of his chapter to obtain employment equality for Blacks in Alabama.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: April 18, 1968
Format: Transcript, 28 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository,
quoted from and cited. No reproduction in any form including microphoto,
typewriter, photostat etc. Researchers may seek permission from
the oral author, his heirs, legal representatives or assigns.
NOLAN, David (n.d.), joint with RJB
378
WELSH, Mike
Members, Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC). Trace the evolution
of SSOC and white student involvement in the civil rights movement
in general. Discuss the group's relationship with the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC), other Black civil rights groups, and
white student groups such as SDS (Students for a Democratic Society).
Explain SSOC's objectives and programs and provide details of its
day-to-day operations, sources of support, membership, personnel,
and publications. Relate incidents of harassment by local authorities
of group members for their activities.
Interviewer:
Date:
Format: Transcript, 68, 69 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
NORFORD, Thomasina J. (n.d.) RJB
291
Lobbyist, Capitol Hill, Washington, D. C. Active in desegregating the
WAVES and the D. C. unit, U. S. Employment Service. Gives account
of her entry into and long-time involvement with the Alpha Kappa Alpha
sorority's lobbying project, advocating the interests of Black people
on Capitol Hill during the 1940s. Talks of her lobbying efforts for
antidiscrimination amendments and against Jim Crow laws banning Black
women from the female branches of the armed forces and Blacks in general
from public health care and educational facilities and jobs. Explains
her operating approaches and action strategies, including her tactic
of getting Black professionals to provide expert testimony on bills
pending before Congress. Discusses her role as head of Black Women
Democrats for FDR during his reelection campaign, and her later position
as chief of the minority groups section in the Department of Labor
(the highest ranking Black woman in federal government at that time).
Gives history of the sit-in/picketing movement among Howard University
students, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) youth groups, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) in
Washington, DC, during the 1940s. Shares her opinions on the contemporary
student movement, on urban conflicts, and on Black Power.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: August 19, 1968
Format: Transcript, 108, 134 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
O'BOYLE, Patrick Cardinal (1896-1987) RJB
66
Archbishop of Washington. Speaks of his efforts through the Catholic
Church to foster a "more integrated understanding" society in
Washington, D. C. community. Also discusses desegregation of church
schools and parishes in the area, some prior to 1954. Briefly comments
on role in the 1963 March on Washington.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: October 30, 1967
Format: Transcript, 35 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
OFFENBURGER, Thomas Edward (n.d.) RJB
227
Director, Department of Information, Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC). Discusses the Poor People's Campaign; its origin, strategic
plans, problems, and its implementation. Reviews Resurrection City,
and his association with Martin Luther King Jr.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: July 2, 1968
Format: Transcript, 68 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Researchers must seek written permission from oral author
to use transcript during his lifetime.
OLIVER, William H. R. (n.d.) RJB
511
Co-director, Fair Practices and Anti-Discrimination Department, United
Auto Workers (UAW). Chronicles his own career (culminating in his
rise to the International Executive Board) and the history of interracial
relations in the United Auto Workers union (UAW). Compares FDR-era
fair employment practices legislation with the UAW's own initiatives.
Details the union's antidiscrimination efforts from the World War
II period to the 1960s, commenting on: the close relationship between
the UAW and civil rights organizations; the UAW's standing with the
Black Detroit community during the 1943 riots there; and UAW president
Walter Reuther's personal commitment to and subsequent involvement
of the union in civil rights causes within the union and society at
large, especially Reuther's role in the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
Highlights his own and other union leaders' 1960s lobbying activities
in support of civil rights legislation, particularly noting Reuther's
role in halting a filibuster staged by Dixiecrat congressmen that
was blocking the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Bill. Discusses
ongoing UAW affirmative action efforts and its training and apprenticeship
programs for Blacks and other minority workers. Claims the modern
civil rights movement's "We Shall Overcome" theme song (popularized
before "Bloody Sunday" in Selma) was adapted from a traditional
union song.
Interviewer: Helen Hall
Date: February 20, 1970
Format: Transcript, 108 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
OLIVEROS, Pete (1934- ) RJB 321
Director, San Hidalgo Institute, San Jose, California. Describes the
activities and programs of the Institute, its objectives and philosophy,
enrollment, and achievements in the area of vocational skills training
with Manpower Development Training Act funding. Comments on his longstanding
personal efforts to help Mexican American immigrants make more successful
transitions to life in the U.S., and articulates problems unique to
the Mexican American community.
Interviewer: Sy Berg
Date: August 1968
Format: Transcript, 6 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
O'NEAL, John (1940- ) RJB 12
President, Free Southern Theater. Discusses origin and development of
this organization, created by him and others involved in civil rights
activities in the South.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: July 26, 1967
Format: Transcript, 45 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository,
quoted from and cited. No reproduction in any form including microphoto,
typewriter, photostat, etc. Researchers may seek permission from
the oral author, his heirs, legal representatives or assigns.
ORANGE, James (n.d.) RJB 262
Coordinator, Eastern contingent, Poor People's Campaign. Sheriff, Resurrection
City. Discusses his role as a Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC) troubleshooter and fundraiser, conducting nonviolence workshops
in preparation for the 1968 March on Washington and organizing bus
caravans of participants from various areas; and later as sheriff
and head of the "Peace Brothers" marshall force maintaining
order at Resurrection City. Describes the conditions at the encampment
and compares SCLC leaders Jesse Jackson's and Hosea Williams's crowd-handling
styles.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: July 17, 1968
Format: Transcript, 45 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
OTEY, Inman (n.d.) RJB 92
Business and civic leader, Nashville, Tennessee. Gives eyewitness account
of 1967 Nashville riot. Tells how his efforts to quell the disturbance
caused him to be beaten and arrested. Examines race relations in Nashville.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: November 30, 1967
Format: Transcript, 34 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PACHT, Newton (n.d.) RJB 210
Law professor, Howard University, Washington, D. C. Discusses student
unrest at Howard, including the demands of students and administrators.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: June 24, 1968
Format: Transcript, 49 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PAGE, Marion (n.d.) RJB 391
Former temporary executive secretary, Albany (Georgia) Movement. Recalls
the origin of the movement and its leaders. Discusses harassment of
participants, absence of Black middle-class support, lack of positive
Federal intervention and roles of SNCC and SCLC. Cites accomplishments
of movement.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: August 1968
Format: Transcript, 23 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PARKER, J. Allen (n.d.) RJB 102
White city councilman, Tuskegee, Alabama. Discusses school desegregation,
the Tuskegee gerrymandering case of Gomillion v. Lightfoot, and race
relations in his city.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: December 1967
Format: Transcript, 20 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PARKS, Rosa (1913- ) RJB 49
Triggered the year-long Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, by her refusal
to relinquish her seat on a bus to a white male, upon request of the
bus driver. Discusses circumstances surrounding her arrest, the protest,
and Martin Luther King Jr.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: September 28, 1967
Format: Transcript, 33 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository,
quoted from and cited. No reproduction in any form including microphoto,
typewriter, photostat, etc. Researchers may seek permission from
the oral author, her heirs, legal representatives or assigns.
PARRIS, Guichard (n.d.) RJB 69
Staff member, national office, National Urban League. Discusses work
of the organization, from its inception as an employment broker for
Negroes, to its present status as a professional social service organization.
Discusses also the contributions to the League of three of its executive
directors.
Interviewer: Vincent J. Browne
Date: November 3, 1967
Format: Transcript, 36 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PASCHALL, Eliza (1917- ) RJB
189
Discusses her association with various civil rights groups in Atlanta,
especially the Metropolitan Atlanta Summit Leadership Congress, and
its role in the Poor People's Campaign.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: May 24, 1968
Format: Transcript, 43 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PATOLL, Dale (n.d.) RJB 591
President, Peace Action Committee, Harvard University. Discusses goals
of the organization. Comments on the student strike at Harvard, especially
the lack of participation by Blacks; sincerity of demonstrators; administration's
reaction to student participants.
Interviewer: Jaye Stewart
Date: 1970
Format: Transcript, 21 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PATTERSON, Eugene (n.d.) RJB
123
Editor of The Atlanta Constitution. Discusses Southern white racial
attitudes and the editorial policy of his paper on civil rights.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: January 26, 1968
Format: Transcript, 39 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PATTERSON, William L. (Deceased, n.d.) RJB
521
Attorney. Former head Civil Rights Congress. Co-chairman, Black Liberation
Commission, American Communist Party (ACP). Recalls conditions of
social injustice and racism in the 1920s and their effect on his decision
to become involved in radical social causes, pursue a law degree,
travel internationally, and join the American Communist Party (ACP).
Discusses the ACP's efforts, achievements, and shortcomings in reaching
Black Americans and its overall commitment to linking the Black American
struggle to that of other oppressed people worldwide. Explains the
Party's link with the Soviet communist party. Recalls Party positions
on World War II international political issues; shares his own opinions
on Hitler, Stalin, FDR, and Truman. Discusses his duties as
Secretary of the Party's International Labor Defense Organization
in the 20s and 30s. Details the ILD's defense of the Scottsboro Nine
(after the National Association for Colored People withdrew from the
case), its role in the Angelo Herndon case, and its efforts (and those
of Paul Robeson) to place before the United Nations General Assembly
a "We Charge Genocide" petition regarding the treatment
of Blacks in America. Describes the origins and objectives of the
ACP-sponsored Civil Rights Congress, noting its relationship to A.
Philip Randolph's National Negro Council. Discusses his McCarthy-era
convictions and jail sentences. Comments on the future of the ACP,
Black nationalism, the Black Panthers, and the contemporary struggles
of the Third World against imperialism.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: February 28, 1970
Format: Transcript, 35, 36 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PATTON, W. C. (n.d.) RJB
406
Founding member, Alabama State Coordinating Association for Registration
and Voting, an organization to give guidance to Negro voters. Associate
director for political action, NAACP. Articulates function of his
department of NAACP--that of developing voter registration campaigns
throughout the country. Discusses strategy of staging these campaigns
in various cities.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: 1968
Format: Transcript, 37 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PAWLEY, James (n.d.) RJB 68
Executive director, Urban League, Essex County, New Jersey. Looks at
the League's program in his area. Discusses the underemployment and
economic conditions of Blacks in Newark. Examines the attitude of
Mayor Addonizio's administration towards nonwhites in Newark. Discusses
aftermath of the city's riot in 1967.
Interviewer: Vincent J. Browne
Date: November 3, 1967
Format: Transcript, 28 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PAYNE, Nathan (n.d.) RJB 479
Founder and president, Orriville, Alabama Co-op, Dallas County, Alabama.
Recalls his determination to assert his voting rights and his first
attempts to do so. Credits the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's
Bernard Lafayette with providing critical voter education support
and guidance to Blacks in the county. Describes the tests used to
discourage and prevent Blacks from registering, explains how the 1965
Voting Rights Act changed these practices, and appraises the effects
of Black enfranchisement on social and political relations in Alabama.
Gives history of Dallas County Independent Voters League and Black
political organizing and campaigning for local office after 1965.
Discusses the Co-op's origins and early ventures; its role in facilitating
voter registration; and its relationship with SNCC and other civil
rights groups and with the 10-county umbrella cooperative organization, the
Southwest Alabama Farmers Cooperative Association (SWAFCA).
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: August 16, 1969
Format: Transcript, 56 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PEABODY, Malcolm E., Jr. (1928- ) RJB
62
Director, Interfaith Housing Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts. Relates
efforts of his organization towards building suitable inner-city and
suburban housing for the poor. Discusses problems encountered in creating
low-income housing. Reviews existing Federal and state housing programs.
Discusses defeat of his brother, former Governor Endicott Peabody.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: October 28, 1967
Format: Transcript, 40 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository.
No quotation or citation during the lifetime of the oral author without
his written permission. Upon his death, MSRC may give permission
to quote or cite. No reproduction in any form, except with permission
from the oral author, his heirs, legal representatives or assigns.
PECK, James (n.d.) RJB 537
Early "Freedom Rider." Former editor, Correlator, magazine
of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Discusses his own commitment to
nonviolence philosophy and pacifism and shares his experiences (especially
the details of his injuries) as one of the original Freedom Riders
and editor of The Correlator, CORE's newsletter, from 1949 to 1965.
Discusses the reasons for CORE's initial embrace of nonviolence theory
and practice in the 1940s until 1965. Describes the Freedom Rides
of 1947 and 1961, and details CORE activities since the Freedom Rides.
Comments on the Poor People's Campaign March on Washington and on
other antidiscrimination protest activities in New York City. Assesses
the effectiveness of nonviolent direct action to end segregation.
Describes the circumstances behind CORE's transition from a white-
to a Black-controlled organization; how whites were universally expelled
and he himself was dismissed from his editorship. Reflects on the
organization's later denunciation of nonviolence and adoption of a
Black nationalist credo. Assesses CORE's leadership over the years--notably
that of Bayard Rustin, George Houser, Lula Farmer, and Jim Robinson--and
contrasts Black, post-1965 CORE president James Farmer's strengths
and weaknesses with those of white pre-1965 president Marvin Rich.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: February 19, 1970
Format: Transcript, 15 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PEMBERTON, John, Jr. (n.d.) RJB
293
Executive director, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), New York.
Discusses the history and scope of the ACLU and some of its landmark
cases. Focuses on ACLU involvement in civil rights issues, particularly
its Operation Southern Justice project, which utilized native southern
lawyers and was aimed at making southern jury selection and courtroom
practices more equitable; and its Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee,
launched in collaboration with civil rights groups, that monitored
police malpractice against Blacks in the urban North and West. Recounts
the ACLU's activities in support of the Poor People's Campaign and
the 1968 March on Washington. Considers the future of the civil rights
movement and American race relations.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: August 1968
Format: Transcript, 37 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PEPPER, Claude (1900-1989) RJB
411
Representative (D.-Florida), U. S. Congress. While repeatedly heralding
his southern ancestry and his allegiance to the South,
Pepper recounts his maverick record of voting nearly 100% in support
for civil rights legislation during his lengthy tenure in Congress.
Also credits himself for getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 out
of the Senate Rules Committee so that it could be voted on. Discusses
the filibustering tactic employed by southern senators to block civil
rights legislation. Focuses also on his record of achievement in passing
health, Medicare/Medicaid, veterans, and education legislation.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: April 17, 1969
Format: Transcript, 31 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PETERS, Joseph (1938- ) RJB 265
Sports benefit coordinator for the Poor People's Campaign. Discusses
his project in which well-known athletes donated their
services in fund raising sports events for SCLC and the Poor People's
Campaign.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: July 9, 1968
Format: Transcript, 22 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PETERSON, James E. (1946- ) RJB
224
Administrative assistant to deputy national coordinator, Poor People's
Campaign. Discusses the establishing of the Washington
headquarters for the campaign including the organization of finances,
committees, volunteers; daily routines; and relations
with the Atlanta office. Gives his impressions of Resurrection City.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: July 3, 1968
Format: Transcript, 46 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PHILLIPS, Channing (1928-1987) RJB
7
Founding member of Coalition of Conscience, a conglomerate of local organizations
working to alleviate social problems of Washington, D. C. Also, director,
Housing Development Corporation, an association that seeks housing
for low-income people.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: July 13, 1967
Format: Transcript, 29 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository,
quoted from and cited. No reproduction in any form including microphoto,
typewriter, photostat, etc. Researchers may seek permission from
the oral author, his heirs, legal representatives or assigns.
PHILLIPS, P. B. (n.d.) RJB
198
Dean of Student Affairs, Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama. Comments
on student demands and campus dissent, suggesting some solutions to the
problems. Recalls origin, development, services, and accomplishments
of Tuskegee Institute Alabama Self-Help Association (TICEP). Traces
origin of Southeast Alabama Self-Help Association (SEASHA) from TICEP.
Recalls his years with Urban League in New York. Discusses some of
its activities in areas of education, medical/social needs, and fair
labor practices.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: May 28, 1968
Format: Transcript, 25 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Researchers must seek written permission from oral author
to use transcript during his lifetime.
PHILLIPS, Vel (Mrs.) (1924- ) RJB
147
Attorney. Alderman, Milwaukee Common Council. Reviews her campaign
and election to the city council. Discusses some of her activities
as a Democratic national committeewoman. Recalls her friendship with
John F. Kennedy. Discusses her efforts to get a fair housing ordinance
in Milwaukee. Her association with Father James Groppi, and his marches
and demonstrations in support of fair housing.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: February 12, 1968
Format: Transcript, 169 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PIGEE, Vera (n.d.) RJB 488
Secretary, Clarkesdale (Mississippi) Chapter, National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Describes personal encounters
with racist violence, discrimination, and injustice that led her to
commit herself to the NAACP's civil rights activities in Mississippi.
Discusses her work in voter registration and as an advisor/organizer
of NAACP youth councils. Assesses the characters and achievements
of Mississippi activists Medgar Evers, Bob Moses, and Aaron Henry.
Recalls the creation of COFO (the Conference of Federated Organizations),
its objectives, her role, and that of others in organizing the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party. Evaluates the Kennedy administration's
civil rights record and
comments on the future of the civil rights movement.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: July 5, 1968
Format: Transcript, 17 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PINCKNEY, Arnold (n.d.) RJB
594
Administrative assistant to Mayor Carl Stokes, Cleveland, Ohio. Discusses
the administration's programs for minority groups,
including the equal employment opportunity ordinance, Mayor's Youth Council,
and housing proposals. Comments on discord between Mayor Stokes and
General Davis on the right to dissent.
Interviewer: Nanette Freeman
Date: 1970
Format: Transcript, 12 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PITTMAN, John (1906- ) RJB
663
Co-editor, Daily World, New York. Veteran civil rights activist. Discusses
his 1930s activities in the newspaper business, his
disillusionment with both the "Hoover Democrats" and Republican party
politics, and eventual commitment to the socialist/communist/labor
movement, crusading against de facto segregation and social injustice.
Recalls his work with novelist Upton Sinclair's presidential campaign,
the Angelo Herndon case, the American Communist Party's Council on
African Affairs, and W. E. B. DuBois. Cites reasons for the dissolution
of the American Communist Party in the South after World War II, and
discusses international communist politics as well as the Party's
position on Black nationalism and struggle in America. Comments on
the Black Panthers' activities in the San Francisco Bay Area and the possibilities
of armed revolution in the U.S.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: November 18, 1970
Format: Transcript, 27 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PITTMAN, Tarea Hall (n.d.) RJB
526
Retired secretary, Western region, National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP). Gives her views on Black separatism and
a segregated Black culture. Recalls aid given by NAACP to Japanese-Americans
in California who were placed in relocation centers during World War
II.
Interviewer: Nanette Freeman
Date: March 14, 1970
Format: Transcript, 28 pages (incomplete); tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PIXLEY, John (n.d.) RJB 648
Regional director, Welfare Planning Council, Los Angeles. Traces his
involvement in "community organization," including the
establishing of U. S. O.'s in Europe. Gives origin of Welfare Planning
Council, funding, functions, organizational structure, and
its relationship to other welfare agencies.
Interviewer: Nanette Freeman
Date: October 29, 1970
Format: Transcript, 26 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
POHLHAUS, J. Francis (ca. 1919- ) RJB
358
Attorney. Counsel, Washington Bureau, National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP), Washington, D. C. Recalls how his early
involvement with labor law issues led him to civil rights law and
a position with the civil rights section of the Justice Department
in the 1950s. Describes the types of cases his unit investigated and
litigated. Describes also his later work as an NAACP lawyer focusing
on government and legislative issues. Points out the contributions
of the NAACP's Clarence Mitchell and Leadership Conference on Civil
Rights head Joseph Rauh in drafting and lobbying for civil rights
legislation and monitoring enforcement of civil rights laws. Assesses
the NAACP's evolving public image, its tactical approaches, and future
directions.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: December 13, 1968
Format: Transcript, 55, 62 pages (incomplete); tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
POPE, James (n.d.) RJB 693
Leader, Black Student Association, Memphis State University, Memphis,
Tennessee.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: June 4, 1970
Format: Transcript, 37 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
POPHAM, John N. (n.d.) RJB 259
Managing editor, Chattanooga Times, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Recalls
issues of race relations and notable Black and white
religious, political, and business leaders with whom he came into contact
during his newspaper career, especially during the Truman era, as
a reporter covering developments in the South. Reflects on southern
whites' dualistic relationships with Blacks and on southern politicians'
peculiar uses of language to stymie Black progress. Traces Black political
progress, comparing the civil rights struggle to that of the Irish
insurgents in Europe and commenting on old and new Black leadership
and approaches, the role of the Black church in civil rights efforts,
and the white- controlled media's disparate coverage of news involving
Blacks generally and civil rights activities in particular.
Interviewer: Robert Campbell
Date: 1968
Format: Transcript, 102 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PRYOR, Downing (1918- ) RJB 252
Chairman, Memphis (Tennessee) City Council. Looks at the Memphis garbage
strike; why it occurred when it did; its prolongation which he attributes
to Black leadership conflict; marches and boycotts. Discusses Martin
Luther King Jr. Also discusses local police and the volunteer police
reserve force.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: July 11, 1968
Format: Transcript, 45 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PURYEAR, Mahlon (n.d.) RJB
67
Deputy executive director, National Urban League. Traces his career
with the League. Discusses the financial source of the
parent body and its chapters. Looks at the relationship of the affiliates
to the national office. Discusses changes in the League's philosophy.
Interviewer: Vincent J. Browne
Date: November 2, 1967
Format: Transcript, 34 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
PURYEAR, Paul (n.d.) RJB 172
Chair, department of political science, Fisk University. Discusses Non-Partisan
Voters League, a small political movement to achieve better social
and economic conditions for Blacks in Tuskegee, Alabama. Recalls victories
of Negro Community in the Interstate 40 controversy in Nashville,
Tennessee. Discusses role of Fisk and its students in the Black community
and civil rights groups in the area.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: March 21, 1968
Format: Transcript, 35 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
QUARLES, Benjamin (1904- ) RJB
715
Historian. Member, Policy Committee, Civil Rights Documentation Project.
Traces interest in Black history from undergraduate years at Shaw
University. Discusses interest in Frederick Douglass which culminated
in a biography. Comments on Black history and Black studies as intellectual
disciplines. Suggests further areas of exploration in the field. Discusses
future direction of civil rights. Looks at role of Black colleges
and universities. Discusses role with Civil Rights Documentation
Project.
Interviewer: Vincent J. Browne
Date: 1973
Format: Transcript, 40 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RABINOWITZ, Victor (n.d.) RJB
515
Attorney. President, National Lawyers Guild. Gives history of Guild.
Discusses civil rights activities in the South during 1960's, especially
establishing of a legal service to aid residents and activists. Comments
on legislation as means of insuring civil rights.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: February 26, 1970
Format: Transcript, 38 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RAGLAND, Martha (n.d.), joint with RJB
108
TODD, Mollie
Chairman, Tennessee State Advisory Committee, U. S. Civil Rights Commission.
Discuss the family and social pressures experienced by southern white
women who support or get involved in civil rights activities. Identify
the objectives and activities of white-predominated organizations, especially
women's groups, with civil rights foci. Describe local (Nashville,
TN) conditions of school inequality, Black poverty, tense police-Black
community relations, and white backlash and "flight" to
the suburbs. Critique local white politicians' responses and stands
on these and other civil rights issues.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: December 23, 1967
Format: Transcript, 65 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RANDOLPH, A. Philip (1889-1979) RJB
384
President, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Recalls his childhood
and early education in Florida. Discusses his interest
in Marxism and his work as an active Socialist. Makes reference to how
he became leader of the Sleeping Car Porters and the union's negotiations
with the Pullman Company. Discusses his celebrated idea to March on
Washington, which led to the issuance of Executive Order 8802.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: January 14, 1969
Format: Transcript, 69 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RATTLEY, Jessie (n.d.) RJB 613
Member, City Council, Newport News, Virginia. Relates her campaign strategy
and principal legislative interests. Describes what she considers
the major fault of Black politicians, that of non-allegiance to their constituency.
Gives a socio-economic picture of Black life in her city.
Interviewer: Jaye Stewart
Date: August 23, 1970
Format: Transcript, 20 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RAUH, Joseph L., Jr. (1911-1992) RJB
32
Civil rights - civil liberties lawyer. General counsel, Leadership Conference
on Civil Rights. Traces his civil rights career from
protest demonstrations in Washington, D. C. to his present activities
with the Leadership Conference. Remembers the role of
A. Philip Randolph in the execution of Executive Order 8802. Discusses
role of Leadership Conference in influencing civil rights legislation
during 1950's and 1960's. Reviews civil rights activities of Presidents
John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Discusses the challenge by the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party at the Democratic National Convention - 1964.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: August 28, 1967
Format: Transcript, 104 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RAWLINGS, Charles W. (n.d.) RJB
81
Director, Urban Affairs Council of Churches of Greater Cleveland. Discusses
the education, racial, and socio-economic problems of Cleveland, Ohio.
Interviewer: Vincent J. Browne
Date: November 17, 1967
Format: Transcript, 17 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RAYMOND, George (1943- ) RJB
333
Leader, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Former director,
Mississippi chapter, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Cites his
reasons for joining the Freedom Rides in 1961 and describes his work
with various civil rights organizations in Mississippi. Recalls the
origins and assesses the leadership of the Conference of Federated
Organizations, the Freedom Vote project, and the Mississippi Freedom
Democratic Party, and comments on the attitudes and impact of the
northern white students who participated in these efforts. Discusses
his role on Child Development Group of Mississippi's board and notes
the scope, influence, and impact of antipoverty programs locally and generally.
Speculates on the reasons the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) and CORE withdrew from Mississippi. Offers comments on the
Poor People's Campaign and on self-defense-oriented Black organizations
in Mississippi such as the Black Hawks.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: September 28, 1968
Format: Transcript, 39 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RAYNER, A. A., Jr. (n.d.) RJB
544
Alderman, 6th ward, Chicago, Illinois. Elected 1967. Discusses his
defeat in 1963, plight of independent candidates who oppose the democratic
political organization of Mayor Daley, solutions to some of the city's
problems, Operation Breadbasket, Black capitalism. Comments on the
effectiveness of Congressman Ralph Metcalf and the late William Dawson.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: March 27, 1970
Format: Transcript, 26 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
REED, Eugene T. (n.d.) RJB 303
Former president, National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People, Amityville, New York chapter. Leader, NAACP "Young Turks."
Recounts NAACP activities of his local chapter. Discusses formation
of Young Turks and their proposals to institute structural changes
within the NAACP at the 59th annual convention.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: August 28, 1968
Format: Transcript, 94 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
REED, Joe L. (n.d.) RJB 51
Executive secretary, Alabama State Teachers Association. Discusses history
and role of organization in "advancing the dignity of Negroes
and the...teaching profession" in Alabama.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: February 15, 1968
Format: Transcript, 51 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository,
quoted from and cited. No reproduction in any form including microphoto,
typewriter, photostat etc. Researchers may seek permission from
the oral author, his heirs, legal
representatives or assigns.
REED, Thomas (n.d.) RJB 396
Candidate for mayor, Tuskegee, Alabama. Candidate, Alabama House of
Representatives. Describes his upbringing in the segregated South.
Chronicles the formation and purpose of the interracial Macon County
(Alabama) Interaction Group and his duties as president of SEASHA
(Southeast Alabama Self-Help Association). Appraises the impact of
federal antipoverty programs in Macon County. Discusses his political
ambitions and campaign platforms.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: 1968
Format: Transcript, 45 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
REESE, Frederick (n.d.) RJB 406
Member, Dallas County (Alabama) Voting League. Instrumental in organizing
the Selma-to-Montgomery March. Discusses some of his voter registration
efforts, the political philosophy of the League, and results of its
efforts. Describes the Selma-to-Montgomery March, its organization,
violence, and positive effects. Compares tactics of Southern Christian
Leadership Conference and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
in their approach to the problems of Selma's Blacks.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: August 1968
Format: Transcript, 40 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
REEVES, Frank D. (1916-1973) RJB
489
Attorney. Professor of law, Howard University, Washington, D. C. Reflects
on his legal and political involvements in the civil
rights movement, from the 1940s and 50s on the faculty of Howard University's
law school, as a lawyer with the national office of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and as a member of
the Fair Employment Practices Commission during FDR's presidency.
Follows with discussion of his activities in the late 50s and 60s
as an advisor to presidential candidates Averell Harriman, Adlai Stevenson,
Hubert Humphrey, and John F. Kennedy and member of the Democratic
Party national committee. Recalls his efforts to extract personal
commitments from each of these candidates to support civil rights
issues, especially that of getting JFK to contact Coretta Scott King
when her husband was jailed in Birmingham. (Ascribes Kennedy's overwhelming
Black political support and victory to that action.) Discusses factors
contributing to the NAACP's decision to focus on educational equity
and school desegregation in the 50s. Recalls
the legal arguments employed and roles played by NAACP attorneys Thurgood
Marshall, Charles Houston, and Robert Carter in the Brown v. Board
of Education case. Explains the establishment, purpose, and separate
status of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: November 28, 1969
Format: Transcript, 35 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
REID, Herbert (n.d.) RJB 16
Professor of law, Howard University, Washington, D. C. Examines value
of law in changing race relations. Discusses role of the NAACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund and the Howard Law School in the civil
rights movement. Recalls some of Howard's outstanding law professors.
Looks at some civil rights legislation.
Interviewer: Harold O. Lewis
Date: August 9, 1967
Format: Transcript, 23 pages; tape not available
Restrictions The record of this tape may be read in the repository,
quoted from and cited. No reproduction in any form including microphoto,
typewriter, photostat etc. Researchers may seek permission from
the oral author, his heirs, legal
representatives or assigns.
REID, McCann (ca. 1928- ) RJB
241
Editor, Tri-State Defender, Memphis Tennessee. Recalls conditions leading
to Memphis garbage strike and some effects of the strike. Comments
on volunteer police reserve force. Discusses editorial policy of his
paper.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: July 13, 1968
Format: Transcript, 21 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
REYNOLDS, Isaac (n.d.) RJB
683
Former field secretary, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), New Orleans,
Louisiana. Focuses on incidents of racist violence that led him and
others to eventually abandon their belief in nonviolence and adopt
a stronger self-defense, Black Power stance. Recounts how, as a Freedom
Rider in 1963, he and his cohorts en route to Birmingham were ambushed
by KKK and plainclothes policemen who viciously beat them and burned
their bus. Describes the severe physical injuries, long-term emotional
damage, and continued harassment suffered by both Black and white
Freedom Riders. Details the torturous conditions he and other civil
rights workers experienced in a Jackson, Mississippi jail (he was
on death row). Recalls the Birmingham church bombing in which four
Black youngsters were killed; the later bombing of the hotel in which
he and other civil rights workers including Martin Luther King, Jr., were
staying; and the murders of Swerner, Chaney, and Goodwin.
Describes the naiveté of northern whites and Blacks to the dangers of
civil rights work in the South, and speculates on the
possibility of open race warfare in the United States. Describes the
purposes and activities of the Deacons for Defense.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: May 27, 1970
Format: Transcript, 38 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
REYNOLDS, Raymond J. (n.d.) RJB
437
Judge, Municipal Court, San Francisco, California. Former president
of the Topeka, Kansas National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1929 to 1936. Describes the
racial climate, civil rights activism, and legal agitation in Topeka,
Kansas prior to Brown v. Board of Education. Discusses his later civil
rights and NAACP involvement as an attorney in San Francisco, highlighting
memorable legal challenges he and others in that area mounted to segregation
and discrimination during 1930s and 40s. Describes his duties and
achievements as San Francisco's Deputy City Attorney and later as
a judge in that city's municipal court. Denouncing separatism while
supporting direct action, the Black Studies drive, Black students'
activism, and the concept of Black Power, Reynolds shares his views
on the future course of the civil rights movement and the roles of
the Black and white bourgeoisie in that struggle.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: July 8, 1969
Format: Transcript, 36 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RICH, Marvin (n.d.) RJB 506
Former director of Community Relations, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
Currently, president, Scholarship, Education and Defense Fund for
Racial Equality (SEDFRE). Recalls how he became affiliated with CORE,
activities of St. Louis chapter, freedom rides, change in CORE to
predominantly Black leadership, appeal of the organization to whites,
differences in chapters in the North and South, recruitment of James
Farmer as national director. Comments on CORE today and SEDFRE.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: November 6, 1969
Format: Transcript, 28 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RICHMOND, Issac (n.d.) RJB
207
Staff member, Penn Center, Frogmore, South Carolina, an organization
that trains community leaders for work in the South.
Discusses community control and decentralization of public school education.
Articulates activities of Grass Roots Rehabilitation Involvement Program,
a "human rights" organization concerned with the health,
education and welfare of its community. Discusses training programs
at Penn Center.
Interviewer: Jim Leeson
Date: May 17, 1968
Format: Transcript, 47 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RIPPLEY, Robert ( 1917- ) RJB
6
Staff associate, United Planning Organization, Washington, D. C. Discusses
his assignment at UPO. Also discusses CHANGE (Cardozo Heights Association
for Neighborhood Growth and Enrichment) that attempts to elevate the
social and economic conditions of that neighborhood.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: July 13, 1967
Format: Transcript, 38 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROBERSON, Peggy (n.d.) RJB
174
Reporter, The Birmingham News. Discusses race relations in Birmingham,
Alabama, and the changes she has witnessed in this area over a five-year
span.
Interviewer: Stanley H. Smith
Date: April 18, 1968
Format: Transcript, 16 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: The record of this tape may be read in the repository,
quoted from and cited. No reproduction in any form including microphoto,
typewriter, photostat etc. Researchers may seek permission from
the oral author, her heirs, legal representatives or assigns.
ROBERTS, Geraldine (n.d.) RJB
593
Founder, director and president, Domestic Workers of America (DWA),
Cleveland, Ohio. Describes her upbringing and limited education in rural
Arkansas. Explains how and why she organized the DWA. Discusses the
union's scope, sources of funding, its goals and programs for the
economic empowerment of its membership, and its accomplishments and
challenges.
Interviewer: Malaika Lumumba
Date: August 1, 1970
Format: Transcript, 20 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROBINS, Earline (n.d.) RJB 646
Investigations supervisor, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Los
Angeles, California. Describes her work with and the structure and
functions of the NLRB. Discusses labor law practices.
Interviewer: Nanette Freeman
Date: October 20, 1970
Format: Transcript, 15 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROBINSON, Cleveland (n.d.) RJB
168
National president, Negro American Labor Council, a labor union to promote
better employment conditions of Blacks and other "oppressed workers."
Discusses primary focus, goals, and achievements of his union. Examines
barriers faced by Black workers and tactics used by the Council to
break discriminatory employment by local and Federal government.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: March 7, 1968
Format: Transcript, 20 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROBINSON, Ira (n.d.) RJB 623
City councilman, Alexandria, Virginia. Recalls reasons for becoming
a lawyer and how he was "pushed" into politics in
Alexandria. Cites credibility with Blacks as his major political problem.
Explains how he relates to "extremists" and his goals
while in office. Discusses the shortcomings of Black elected officials.
Relates his role as councilman in the council-manager
form of government. Describes Black life in Alexandria, particularly
with respect to employment and education.
Interviewer: Jaye Stewart
Date: August 10, 1970
Format: Transcript, 32 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROBINSON, James H. (1907-deceased. n.d.) RJB
328
Executive director, Operation Crossroads Africa, Inc., New York. Recalls
his impoverished upbringing in Tennessee and Ohio and his struggle
to get an education and enter the (Presbyterian) ministry. Talks
of his early interests in international affairs and identification
with Africa, and chronicles his travels to India and Africa in the
1950s. Describes the Operation Crossroads Africa program, detailing
its scope, funding sources, relationship with the State Department,
challenges, successes, alumni involvement, and future directions.
Advocates improved diplomatic and economic relations between Africa
and America and the need for greater interpersonal contact between
Africans and Black Americans. Discusses his domestic civil rights
and desegregation efforts, and relates Operation Crossroad Africa's
work in Africa to the Black American struggle, primarily noting the
impact of the program experience on the attitudes and outlooks of
young whites who predominantly participate in it.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: November 1, 1968
Format: Transcript, 76 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROBINSON, Lewis G. (n.d.) RJB
87
ROBINSON, Beth (n.d.), joint interview
Formerly director, Jomo Freedom Kenyatta (JFK) House, a center for Black
culture, education, and self-help in Cleveland, Ohio. Discusses activities
of the center. Recall aspects of Cleveland riot, 1967. Discuss several
local Black civil rights and self-help organizations including Management
Recruiter, a job placement and counseling agency; Freedom Fighters,
volunteers who fight discrimination in Cleveland; United Negro Development,
which raises funds for loans to small businesses.
Interviewer: John Britton
Date: November 15, 1967
Format: Transcript, 66 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROBINSON, Marvin (n.d.) RJB
503
Formerly, Southern regional director, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
Active participant in sit-in movement while a student at Southern
University. Concentrates on demonstrations, especially student strategy,
course of sit-ins, role of faculty and administration, dismissal of
student participants from Southern. Discusses activities as CORE
staff member.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: October 10, 1969
Format: Transcript, 29 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROGERS, Will Henry, Jr. (n.d.) RJB
446
Former worker, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi.
Presently associated with Grassrooters Interested in Poverty Elimination
(Gripe). Recalls SNCC's organizing efforts in the South, its successes
and failures. Discusses procedures on voter registration. Gives origin
and purpose of Mississippi Summer Project and Mississippi Freedom
Democratic Party. Discusses the expulsion of whites from SNCC leadership.
Assesses value of Selma to Montgomery March. Describes plans for GRIPE.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: June 29, 1969
Format: Transcript, 52 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROMERO, Richard (n.d.) RJB 193
Coordinator, Southwest leg, Poor People's Campaign. Charter member,
Crusade for Justice, an organization for Mexican-Americans in poverty
and need. States purpose of his organization and reasons for associating
it with the Poor People's Campaign. Articulates Mexican-Americans'
differences with Southern Christian Leadership Conference during Campaign.
Presents Mexican-American demands for educational reform and land
reclamation.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: June 11, 1968
Format: Transcript, 19 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROOKE, Elaine L. (n.d.) RJB 362
Parent representative on the governing board, Ocean Hill-Brownsville
Demonstration Project. Describes her work as president of the PTA
at the embattled Colman Junior High School (P.S. 201) in the Ocean
Hill-Brownsville area of New York City. Explains how the group's and
community's efforts to remove a prejudiced principal led to confrontation
with the local school board and fostered the movement to develop an
independent, community-controlled school district, on whose governing
board she later served. Details the planning and implementation processes
engaged in by the parents and
their advisors (notably Ford Foundation consultants and Rhody McCoy,
the decentralized district's appointed unit administrator), and the
processes by which parent, community, teacher, administrative, and
professional representatives were elected to the district's governing
board. Re-enacts a parent-to-parent encounter to describe how activists
mobilized the community around the issue of local control.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: December 29, 1968
Format: Transcript, 77 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROUGHEAU, Weldon (n.d.) RJB
555
Student, Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Former field secretary,
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Former field director, Voter Education
Project, Southern Regional Council. Discusses his early CORE work
in VEP (Voter Education Project)-funded Miami voter registration programs
in 1962, in which he recruited Black teenagers to help with significant
results. Describes the types of voter education and orientation programs
in CORE's repertoire, and the challenges organizers faced in keeping their
activities nonpartisan.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: April 17, 1970
Format: Transcript, 26 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROWAN, Carl T. (1925- ) RJB 364
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Former U. S.
Ambassador to Finland. Former director, U. S. Information Agency.
Defends his firm integrationist stance in response to questions about
the 1960s separatist movement among Black college students. Details
his own efforts to bring more Blacks into the communications field
and to educate the public to the realities and effects of segregation
through his media columns. Advocates improved communications and cohesiveness
(self-help) between Blacks in concurrence with white efforts to stamp
out blatant racism. Assesses Black and white (Lyndon B. Johnson and
Nixon, notably) national leadership stands on civil rights issues
and enforcement. Debates pros and cons of the Black Power movement
and examines its semantics, particularly the use of the term "militant."
Offers brief comments on the white student movement.
Interviewer: James M. Mosby Jr.
Date: January 29, 1969
Format: Transcript, 38 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
ROWE, Brenda (n.d.) RJB 644
As an eighth-grade student, integrated a formerly white public school
in West Virginia during the late 1950's. Discusses these
experiences. Presently a social worker with the Parent Advisory Board
of Head Start program in Los Angeles, California. Discusses the board's
function and appraises the effectiveness of Head Start's program.
Interviewer: Malaika Lumumba
Date: October 27, 1970
Format: Transcript 21, 24 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RUDOLPH, Wilma (n.d.), joint with
RJB 439
TYUS, Wyomie
Olympic champion and triple gold medal winner. Administrative analyst,
Black Studies Program, University of California, Los
Angeles. Both reflect on their pre- and post-Olympic experiences. They
further discuss the lack of financial support for Black
athletes and poor training outreach to Black communities. Rudolph critiques
the bureaucratic structure of the U.S. Olympic Committee. She also
comments on the mounting threat of boycotts that preceded the 1968
Mexico City games over the participation of South African athletes
and the Black condition in America, and notes the roles played in
that regard by Black American athlete-activists John Carlos, Tommy
Smith, and Harry Edwards. Tyus discusses her work as a UCLA Black
Studies program staffer.
Interviewer: Robert E. Martin
Date: August 15, 1969
Format: Transcript, 54 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RUMFORD, Byron (n.d.) RJB 525
Member, California State Legislature. Describes the extent of segregation
and race relations in San Francisco in the 1920s and
30s. Details his early National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) involvement and entry into politics in 1948: how he
gained his seat in the California state legislature and his efforts
to enact fair housing and employment practices legislation. Recalls
the activities and influence of Bay Area civic, civil rights, and
direct action groups of various ethnic constituencies over the decades.
Discusses the ideological differences between groups such as the NAACP
and the Black Panthers, and comments on Black political power. Assesses
the effectiveness of local Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and
urban renewal programs.
Interviewer: Nanette Freeman
Date: March 13, 1970
Format: Transcript, 48 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RUSSELL, Carlos (1934- ) RJB 662
Assistant professor and head, Educational Services, Brooklyn College.
Former associate editor, The Liberator magazine. Recalls his student
activism in his native Panama and his later work counseling Black
street gangs in Chicago. Details his work and that of his associates
with The Liberator, describing the collective way in which articles
were developed. Notes the extent
of literary critic and historian Harold Cruse's involvement with the
paper.
Interviewer: Robert Wright
Date: November 19, 1970
Format: Transcript, 15 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
RUSTIN, Bayard (1910-1984) RJB
534
An organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Executive Director, A.
Philip Randolph Institute, New York City. Discusses his Quaker/pacifist
beliefs, his efforts to protest World War II, and his subsequent imprisonment
for those convictions. Describes work with Fellowship of Reconciliation
(FOR), and chronicles the early history of the Congress of Racial
of Equality (CORE) which was initially developed as a department of
FOR. Recounts work as first Field Secretary of FOR for CORE and details
the 1946/1947 "Journey of Reconciliation," the first freedom
rides, which tested southern state compliance with the 1946 Supreme
Court decision in the case of Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia. [This
landmark case found invalid the Virginia statute segregating passengers
according to color on public interstate motor carriers because it
imposed a "burden upon interstate commerce."] Discusses
his years at the War Resistance League which supported his work for
Martin Luther King Jr. and his participation in the formation of the
Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC).
Interviewer:
Date: 1970
Format: Cassette tape
Tape length: 90 minutes
Restrictions: Standard
RUTHERFORD, John C. (n.d.) RJB
226
Administrative coordinator, Resurrection City. Concentrates on the problems
in Resurrection City in the areas of construction, security, transportation,
organization and food services.
Interviewer: Katherine Shannon
Date: July 4, 1968
Format: Transcript, 61 pages; tape not available
Restrictions: Standard
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