Civil Rights and Post-Civil Rights (MARBL): Post-Civil Rights Movements Manuscripts

This section contains a list of MARBL manuscript collections that relate to Post-Civil Rights Movements, covering the years after 1970. Just as there is no answer to the question, "When did the civil rights movement begin?" there is also no consensus about when the black freedom struggle broadened to confront larger economic, political, and cultural issues that now fall under the umbrella of the term “post-civil rights.” The particular strengths of the post-civil rights collections are also in activism, journalism, and education.

Abram, Morris B. (MSS 514). Papers, 1954-1986; 96 linear ft. (96 boxes, 3 oversized items).

Abram (1918-2000), a Georgia native, served as an educator, lawyer, statesman, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Offices in Geneva, Switzerland. This collection documents his career, particularly his work on human and civil rights. U.S. President Ronald Reagan nominated Abram to the United States Committee on Civil Rights (USCCR) in 1983. The papers include newspaper clippings, writings, correspondence, and other materials related to Abram's time on the USCCR, including material on issues such as Affirmative Action, racial gerrymandering, and Title IX. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection. 

Restriction: Portions of the collection are restricted and cannot be used without permission of the donor.

African American Cinema. (MSS 814). Collection, 1907-2001; 8 linear ft.

This collection consists primarily of promotional materials, including lobby cards, press books, posters, and ephemera, related to African Americans in cinema. The strength of the collection resides in the 1970s when the Hollywood studios attempted to reach out to African American audiences with the controversial "Blaxploitation" genre. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Arrington, Marvin S. (MSS 714). Papers, ca. 1980- ; 6 linear ft. (15 boxes, 1 oversized item).

Marvin S. Arrington (b. 1941) was the president of the Atlanta City Council and is a 1969 alumnus of the Emory law school. The collection includes correspondence relating to the Atlanta City Council (1986‑1997); speeches and writings on civil rights, racial issues, and civic affairs (including the Sabrina Collins controversy, revitalization of the Auburn Avenue area, the Minority Counsel Program, and other issues); printed materials, including Arrington's Plain Talk (1992), articles about Arrington; photographs; and other materials. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Bergmark, Jean B. (MSS 1047). Papers 1982-2005; 2.25 linear ft. (5 boxes).

Jean B. Bergmark, journalist and freelance writer, co-authored Grace Towns Hamilton and the Politics of Social Schange with Lorraine Nelson Spitzer. Grace Towns Hamilton (1907-1992) was the first African American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly. The papers include material related to the research, writing, and publication of Grace Towns Hamilton and the Politics of Social Change, such as correspondence, publicity material, reviews, and photographs. The correspondence is primarily between Bergmark and her co-author, Lorraine Nelson Spitzer, but also includes other correspondence related to the research and publication of the book. The biography was published by the University of Georgia Press in 1997 and commended in a resolution of the Georgia General Assembly in 1998. The photographs depict the authors at several book tour and signing events during these years. The collection also includes material from the "Women and the Constitution: A Bicentennial Perspective" symposium, which Bergmark helped to plan, including correspondence, program material, printed material and the transcript of a speech by United States Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Billops, Camille and James V. Hatch. (MSS 927). Archives at Emory University, 1879-2002; 19.5 linear ft. (39 boxes).

The Billops/Hatch Collection in New York began in 1968 while Camille Billops (b. 1933), filmmaker and artist, and James V. Hatch (b. 1928), theatre historian, were teaching art and literature at the City College of New York. Realizing that very little had been published about black American art, drama, and literature, they began collecting primary materials for their students. The Camille Billops and James V. Hatch Archives at Emory includes play scripts by Amiri Baraka, Lorraine Hansberry, August Wilson, and hundreds of others. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Black Print Culture. (MSS 921). Collection, 1854-1997; 15 linear ft. (15 boxes, 37 oversized items).

The Black Print Culture Collection includes printed matter pertaining to religion and music; items published by the black press; publications relating to fraternities and sororities; to organizations, education, business and professional matters; to arts and entertainment; and, broadsides, posters, and ephemera. This collection includes periodicals like SCLC [The Southern Christian Leadership Conference magazine], Black Liberation Journal, and Black-World-View as well as some Black Panther Party press releases and newsletters. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Brown, Elaine. (MSS 912). Papers; 8 linear ft. (8 boxes).

This collection contains the literary, artistic, and personal correspondence; videos; newspaper clippings; and drafts of published and unpublished writings of this activist and former Black Panther leader. Correspondents include Jerry Brown, Joan Browning, Barbara Chase-Ribaud, David Hilliard, Tom Jones (Jomandi), Huey P. Newton, Jean Seberg, and Anna Devere Smith. The collection focuses on the period following her active involvement in the Black Panther Party. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Churchwell, Robert. (MSS 826). Papers, 1943-2002; 2.25 linear ft. (5 boxes, 7 oversized items).

Robert Churchwell (1917- ) joined the previously all-white Nashville Banner in 1950. He accepted the job at the Banner because there were no positions available at Nashville's African American newspapers.  For the first decade he was at the paper, Churchwell typed his stories at home and dropped them off to his editor each day. He did not have a desk in the newsroom because the Banner was segregated just like the rest of Nashville and the South. Churchwell's pioneering status earned him the nickname, "the Jackie Robinson of Journalism." Although Churchwell covered the civil rights movement during the 1960s, his editors rarely printed the stories. Churchwell won awards for his education reporting in the 1970s and ended his career at the Banner as a columnist. The papers include writings by Churchwell including newspaper columns and articles, speeches, and an incomplete copy of his autobiography, What's That Nigger's Name? See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Community Council of Atlanta Area, Inc. (MSS 570). Records, 1960-1974; 28 linear ft. (28 boxes).

The Community Council of the Atlanta Area, Inc. was a social planning agency that provided technical assistance and information to various independent agencies and governmental bodies for the formulation and implementation of services and programs. The collection includes minutes, reports, correspondence, administrative, and subject files. These materials relate to the Council's work on social concerns such as poverty, drug abuse, daycare, recreation, employment, housing, and aging in the Atlanta area. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Craig, Calvin Fred. (MSS 612). Papers, 1957-1975; 3 linear ft. (3 boxes, 1 oversized item).

Calvin F. Craig, a dry cleaner by trade, was named Grand Dragon of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for the state of Georgia in 1960. He resigned his post in 1968 to pursue a career in politics. When his political career failed to take off, Craig returned to the Klan in the 1970s. The collection contains Klan broadsides, brochures, certificates, press releases, membership cards, meeting minutes, and correspondence. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Curry, Constance W. (MSS 818). Papers, 1951-1997; 7 linear ft. (14 boxes, 1 oversized item).

Constance W. Curry (1933- ) is an author, attorney, community organizer, and political activist. From 1960-1964 she was Director of the Southern Student Human Relations Project of the National Student Association and became the first white female on the executive committee of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). From 1964-1975, she was Southern Field Representative of the American Friends Service Committee. In 1975, she became Director of the Office of Human Services for the City of Atlanta. Her book, Silver Rights, won the 1996 Lillian Smith Award for non-fiction and recounts the story of one rural Mississippi family's struggle for education and for civil rights during the 1960's. Curry's papers include materials relating to her civil rights activities, personal papers, and printed material. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Davis, Angela Y. (MSS 1133). Collection, 1970-1984; .5 ft. (1 box, 5 oversized papers).

This artificially created collection includes printed material, oversized papers, and unpublished writings related to Angela Yvonne Davis. The bulk of the collection consists of fliers, newsletters, and other printed material created by committees such as the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis organized to advocate for Davis following her arrest in 1970. The printed material also includes newspaper and magazine articles about Davis and campaign material related to her run for Vice President in 1980 and 1984. The unpublished writings in this collection include speeches by Davis to the National Alliance against Racist and Political Oppression. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Davis, Thulani. (MSS 914). Papers; 3.25 linear ft. (8 boxes).

This collection is comprised primarily of African American periodicals from the 1960s and 1970s collected by Davis, journalist, novelist, librettist, and poet. The collection also includes interviews Davis conducted whilecovering Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign for The Atlanta Journal, as well as other print ephemera. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Derby, Doris Adelaide. (MSS 935). Papers; 26 linear ft. (26 boxes).

This collection consists of the personal papers of Doris Derby, civil rights activist, educator, and photographer. Derby worked principally in Mississippi and she was a co-founder of the Free Southern Theater. The collection includes correspondence, printed material, and photographs. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Dove, Pearlie Craft. (MSS 846). Papers, 1958-1996; 1.50 linear ft. (3 boxes).

This collection consists of the personal papers of Pearlie Craft Dove, educator and Cluster Coordinator for The Atlanta Project. The papers include correspondence relating to her career as a teacher, photographs, newspaper clippings, her curriculum vita, speeches, oral history interviews, black history calendars, and records relating to The Atlanta Project, a community-based project to improve neighborhood schools. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Frady, Marshall. (MSS 1099). Papers, 1950-2004; 66 linear ft. (123 boxes).

Marshall Frady, Civil Rights reporter, author, and broadcast journalist, was born in Augusta, Georgia on January 11, 1940. Frady began his writing career in 1966 as a journalist, working in the Atlanta and Los Angeles bureaus of Newsweek, He later wrote for the Saturday Evening Post, Harper's, and Life magazines. In 1969 Frady published Wallace, a biography of the Alabama governor and presidential candidate. In the late 1970s, Frady moved to television journalism, and was chief writer and host of Closeup from 1979-1986. Frady wrote several more biographies, including Billy Graham: A Parable of American Righteousness (1979), Jesse: The Life and Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson (1996), and Martin Luther King, Jr. (2002). He was working on a biography of Fidel Castro which he died on March 9, 2004 in Greenville, South Carolina. The collection consists of the papers of Marshall Frady from 1950-2004, including correspondence, writings, research files, audiovisual materials, and printed material. Writings include notes and drafts of nearly all of his published works, in addition to drafts of several unpublished articles, books, and screenplays. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection

Griffin, John A. (MSS 767). Papers, 1964- ; 58 linear ft. (58 boxes).

John A. Griffin was an educator, activist, and labor arbitrator. He was a founding member of the Southern Regional Council. In 1964, Griffin worked as deputy director of the U.S. Department of Justice, Community Relations Service. As deputy director, he helped mediate conflicts in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Between 1965 and 1978, Griffin served as the director of the Southern Education Foundation, a foundation dedicated to equal educational opportunities for African Americans in the American South. This collection consists of the personal papers of John A. Griffin. It includes correspondence, reports, audiovisual items, and other material documenting Griffin's work with the Southern Regional Council and the Southern Education Foundation as well as his career as an arbitrator. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection. 

Hames, Margie Pitts. (MSS 825). Papers, 1969-1993; 98 linear ft. (98 boxes).

Margie Pitts Hames practiced law in Atlanta from 1962 until her death in 1993. Hames attended Vanderbilt Univeristy School of Law where she received her J.D. in 1961. After graduating, she worked with Fisher and Phillips in Atlanta on labor-management relations. She left the firm in 1968 ans the following year began volunteer work for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a Ford Foundation project that worked to provent confrontations between Civil Rights demonstrators and police. She openedher own firm in 1971. Hames actively engaged cases involving abortion rights, women's rights, school desegregation, employment discrimination, worker's compensation, personal injury, social security, domestic relations, criminal defense, medical malpractice, defense, educational rights for gifted and disabled children, and general civil litigation.

The papers consist of subject files and legal case files. The subject files contain extensive research on legal issues linked to Margie Pitts Hames's major cases, information on her professional life, personal information, and material from her unsuccessful campaign for Georgia Supreme Court Justice in 1982. The series also contains material from Cynthia McKinney's campaign for the House of Representatives in 1992-1993, miscellaneous correspondence, and many materials dealing with the American Civil Liberties Union. The case files include primarily legal documents, depositions, transcripts, correspondence, notes, and evidence. The files provide much information on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cases, abortion clinics, civil rights in Atlanta, and family law. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection. 

Herbers, John. (MSS 806). Papers, 1950-1996; 7.50 linear ft. (13 boxes, 1 oversized item).

John Herbers (1923-), journalist, began his career on the Greenwood, Mississippi Morning Star where he worked for eighteen months. A short time later, Herbers moved to the Jackson, Mississippi Daily News and then to the United Press International in Mississippi. Herbers joined The New York Times in 1964 and worked there until his retirement in 1987. The collection consists of materials from Herbers' years at The New York Times Washington Bureau.  It includes material about the civil rights movement and the Nixon presidency. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection. 

Paschall, Eliza K. (MSS 532). Papers, 1932-1988; 51 linear ft. (76 boxes, 2 oversized items).

Paschall (1917-1990) was an Atlanta civic activist who was involved in a variety of civil rights organizations and women's groups, including the Greater Atlanta Council on Human Relations (GACHR). The collection includes files from Paschall's tenure as executive director of the GACHR (1961-1967), and from the Community Relations Commission (1967-1968). Paschall was also a compliance officer on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1966-1984). The collection includes correspondence, minutes, inter-office memoranda, reports, press releases, and clippings as well as materials relating to the League of Women Voters, National Organization for Women and other organizations. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection. 

Patterson, Louise Thompson. (MSS 869). Papers, 1909-1996; 17.50 linear ft. (33 boxes, 3 oversized items, 1 bound volume).

Louise Thompson Thurman Patterson (1901-1999) was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance and an active campaigner for civil rights, racial and sexual equality, economic justice, and international human rights.  She headed the Angela Davis Defense Fund in the 1970s. The collection includes the records of the Sojourners for Truth and Justice, a national black women's organization co-founded with Beah Richards.  Emory also holds the personal library of Louise Thompson Patterson. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection.

Pauley, Frances Freeborn. (MSS 659). Papers, 1919-1992; 52.50 linear ft. (100 boxes, 11 oversized items, 3 oversized bound volumes).

Pauley (1905-2003) was an activist for civil rights and social causes. From 1968 to 1973, Frances Pauley worked for the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She began working in the welfare compliance section, but was soon moved to the education division where she coordinated school desegregation compliance in Mississippi. After her retirement in 1973, Pauley continued to be active in social causes, founding the Georgia Poverty Rights Organization in 1974. The organization lobbied for the rights of poor people, concentrating specifically in the areas of welfare and energy assistance. She was also involved in other human rights and civil rights organizations, including AID Atlanta, and People for Urban Justice (PUJ), an organization for the homeless sponsored by the Open Door Community. The collection includes correspondence, reports, clippings, printed material and collected data which document Pauley's work in the areas of school desegregation, civil rights and poverty. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection.

Pendergrast, Nan. (MSS 730). Papers 1935-1993; .50 linear ft. (1 box).

Pendergrast (1920- ) is a native Atlantan who worked as a freelance journalist and civic activist. She's published articles in the Atlanta Constitution, the Atlanta Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, and other publications. In addition to her journalistic endevors, Pendergrast worked for Planned Parenthood Atlanta, Georgia Council on Human Relations, and Atlantans for Peace. The collection consists of correspondence, mainly with prominent political and media figures, and photocopies of Mrs. Pendergrast's scrapbooks. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection.

Pitts v. Freeman. (MSS 1036). School desegregation case files; 10 linear ft.

This suit, Willie Gene Pitts, et al., v. Robert Freeman, et al., was filed in 1983. It was one lawsuit in a series of litigation stretching back to 1969 in an effort to dismantle DeKalb County's segregated public school system. Pitts v. Freeman revolved around the school system's efforts to expand Redan High School to relieve overcrowding at the school. The plaintiffs filed a motion to block the expansion, arguing that the county's efforts to expanding Redan's capacity was a thinly-veiled effort to avoid reassigning white students to nearby "undercapacity" high schools that were predominately African American. The proposed construction at the high school, the plaintiffs contended, violated a 1969 injunction that required DeKalb County to construct and expand school facilities "with the objective of eradicating segregation and perpetuating desegregation." The case files consist of materials from plaintiffs' legal team, including legal memos, newspaper clippings, transcripts, expert reports, and other materials related to the case. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection.

Pomerantz, Gary M. (MSS 890). Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn research files and interviews, 1991-1996; 13 linear ft. (26 boxes).

Gary M. Pomerantz is an award-winning journalist and author. His first book, Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn: A Saga of Race and Family (1996), tells the story of race relations in 20th century Atlanta through the history of two families: the Allens and the Dobbs. Both of these families produced future mayors of Atlanta: Ivan Allen, Jr., who was the only southern politician to go to Washington, D.C. to speak in favor of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and Maynard H. Jackson, the first African American mayor of a southern city. This collection consists of materials relating to Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn: A Saga of Race and Family. It includes interviews, interview transcripts, research materials, notebooks and audio materials relating to the history of the Allen and Dobbs families as well as the history of modern Atlanta. Of particular interest are the interviews and interview transcripts, which recount the racial, political, economic and social life of 20th century Atlanta. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection.

Record, Wilson. (MSS 846). Papers; 41 linear ft. (41 boxes).

Wilson Record (1916-1997), a sociologist, kept up an extensive correspondence with scholars and political leaders on issues of race including Ralph Bunche, Horace Cayton, and A. Phillip Randolph. The collection also includes Record's research files, drafts of professional papers, and documentation about the emergence of the field of Black Studies.  See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection.

Southern Regional Council. (MSS 933). "Southways" audio recordings; 8 linear ft. (8 boxes).

"Southways" was a weekly documentary radio show. It was produced and syndicated by the Regional Radio Network (RRN), a radio network established by the Southern Regional Council (SRC). The "Southways" audio recordings consist of reel-to-reel and cassette tapes of "Southways" programs. The recordings cover a diverse range of topics from "Illiteracy in Savannah," "Growing Up in the [Mississippi] Delta," "High School Brass Band of New Orleans," and "Louisiana and David Duke." Besides these topical shows, "Southways" also featured profiles of intriguing southerners such as Stetson Kennedy, folklorist, historian and infiltrator of the Ku Klux Klan, as well as musicians Etta Baker, the "Queen" of the Piedmont blues, and "Queen Ida" Guillory, a Louisiana-born Zydeco musician who rose to prominence far from the bayou out on the West Coast. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection. 

Tuttle, Elbert P. (MSS 792). Judicial papers, 1952-1995; 87 linear ft. (92 boxes).

Judge Tuttle (1897-1996) was a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit from 1954-1967. He served as Chief Judge of that court from 1960 until 1967.  Until its division in 1981, the "old" 5th Circuit had jurisdiction over the six states in the South. The 5th Circuit served as the federal appellate court one level below the Supreme Court, and it comprised the country's largest and busiest Constitutional court during the civil rights movements. The Tuttle judicial papers include correspondence, docket books, records relating to court administration, case files and opinions, and a small number of personal papers. The majority of the case files begin in 1965-1966. However, there are some case files from earlier civil rights cases such as Meredith v. Fair and Armstrong et al. v. Board of Education of the City of Birmingham. See EmoryFindingAids for a detailed description of the collection. 

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