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Spring 4-1-1990

Black Music Research Bulletin, Spring 1990

Samuel Floyd Columbia College Chicago

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BULLETIN (, B ,\I ll COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO Vol. 12, No. 1 ISSN 0898-8536 Spring 1990

"Freedom in the Air'': An Overview of Contents the Songs of the Civil Rights Movement "Freedom in the Air": An 1 by Guy and Candie Carawan, New Market, Tennessee Overview of the Songs of the Civil Rights Movement The Civil Rights Movement has music that we could call "movement Guy and Candie Carawan often been described as the greatest music." We had church music, but remember that it was largely a The Lined Hymn as a Song 4 singing movement this country has young movement; it was a move­ of Freedom experienced. The freedom songs came from the historical experience ment of change. It needed something Bernice Johnson Reagon that fit it. We also didn't realize how and the creativity of southern black Paul Robeson, Civil Rights 7 important a dynamic music would communities. They are of many be to the movement. That was the Activist: An Opinion kinds and range through many Hale Smith beginning of a movement, and we moods. The import.ant ones are the didn't know what was necessary Twentieth Century Civil 9 old, slow-paced spirituals and hymns and what wasn't. We weren't think­ Rights Collections in the that sing of hope and determination ing about it in terms of "what is Manuscript Division of the and the rhythmic jubilee spirituals going to inspire us?" Library of Congress: and bright gospel songs that protest When we did start seeking for A Selected Checklist boldly and celebrate eventual victory. songs to use at mass meetings, the Debra Newman Ham Many of these songs have new or re­ only thing we had among us that vised words to old familiar tunes. had any sense of life to it was church music. And some of the Having witnessed the civil rights church music didn't fit at all. For in­ era, most of us take for granted the stance, I was giving a movement notion of adapting well-known songs The Center for Black Music speech once and the choir followed to situations ol protest, and we do Research was established in with '1'IJ Fly Away." Now that not stop to question the emergence of 1983 to discover, dissemi- didn't fit at all. In fact, it was a di­ a powerful singing movement. But rect contradiction with what I was nate, preserve, and promote from our personal experience in the saying. How much different it could aspects of black music in all South in the early 1960s, we know have been if they had followed with its forms-from blues, jazz, that some very specific work went a movement song that was also reli­ gospel, and ragtime to opera into stimulating and nurturing the gious. and concert works. growth of the freedom repertoire. I don't think we had ever thought of spirituals as movement material. C. The publications of the Cen- Rev. T. Vivian, who pastored a When the movement came up, we ter for Black Music Research church in Nashville in the early 1960s couldn't apply them. The concept include: and is currently the director of the has to be there. It wasn't just to have Center for Democratic Renewal, re­ the music, but to take the music out Black Music Research Journal cently spoke to us about the early at­ of your past and apply it to the new CBMR Monographs tempts at group singing in the move­ situation, to change it so it really fit. Black Music Research Bulletin ment: CBMR Digest So how did this begin to happen? At the beginning of the move­ One place it happened was at the ment, we really didn't have any Highlander Folk School in Montea- 2 gle, Tennessee. In the early days, Highlander was one of the gathering ... places of the movement. Weekend I after weekend in the early 1960s, community leaders and activists from across the South came to the school to share information, to strntegize and to plan, and to bolster each others' spirits as they returned home to confront segregation.

As the campaigns moved into the deepest parts of the South, the singitig reflected the rich­ ness of the traditions alive in the southernmost communities.

At Highlander a basic lesson had been learned during the Labor Move­ ment-that group singing could be a strong unifying force in struggle and that commonly known songs were most effective, particularly southern gospel and religious songs with re­ petitive stanzas adapted with new words to fit the situation. For many years Zilphia Horton, the cultural co­ ordinator at Highlander, had worked with grassroots community people Frttdom singing in the 1960s. Photo by Ktn Thompson coming to Highlander. She drew from them their favorite songs and with Highlander. His repertoire as he meetings and at civil rights confer­ helped to shape them slightly differ­ sang with progressive movements in ences. ently to fit situations such as union the North included many songs from It did not take long for the practice campaigns. She also taught songs the South. He came to Highlander to of adapting songs to catch on and to that she knew from different parts of share his music and, in 1945, carried hit its stride. As Rev. C. T. Vivian the South, from other parts of the away from the school a labor version told me, country, and from abroad. In the of "We Shall Overcome" which had The first time I remember any 1940s and 1950s she and others car­ been developed by striking Food and change in our songs was when Guy Tobacco Union workers in Charles­ ried songs from Highlander to picket [Carawan] came down from High­ lines across the South and brought ton, South Carolina. lander. Here he was with this guitar back new songs from the various I [Guy] had been greatly influ­ and that tall frame, leaning forward union struggles. Others helped with enced by Pete, struck by his exciting and patting that foot. I remember this process. Zilphia, her husband way of playing the banjo and his col­ James Bevel and I looked across at Myles, and Lee Hays (who spent a lection of songs from grassroots each other and smiled. Guy had period working with her) knew, for Americans. In 1959, on his sugges­ taken the song "Follow the Drinking example, of John Handcox in the tion, we came to Highlander and Gourd," and I didn't know tho song, Southern Te nant Farmers Union who tried to carry on Zilphia's way of but he gave some background on it contributed effective union songs working with people. (Zilphia had and boom, that began to make based on familiar melodies. His "Roll died in 1956.) We met with groups sense. And little by little, spiritual after spiritual after spiritual began to the Union On," "There's Mean gathered there and learned their appear-with new sets of words, Things Happening in This Land," songs, helping to adapt them to the new changes. "Keep Your Eyes on and "Raggedy, Raggedy Are We" all movement activity in their communi­ the Prize, Hold On" or '1'm Gonna became widely known in the South ties. We were also invited to visit Sit at the Welcome Table." Once we and are still sung today. Pete Seeger people in their homes and churches had seen it done, we could begin to had been in contact with Zilphia and and asked to lead singing in mass do it. 3

As the movement spread, so did workers. (CORE, the Congress on Ra­ also fed into this cross-fertilization. the songs. The Nashville campaign cial Equality, had started the freedom The first had been held at Highlander was one of the first city-wide efforts rides and had been joined by riders in the summer of 1960 and had against segregation, and a variety of from other organizations when they brought together song-leaders from songs emerged from it to suit the sit­ were violently attacked and the rides some of the very early civil rights ins. There in the American Baptist were in danger of being canceled.) campaigns-including Montgomery Theological Seminary was a talented Many songs were created or and Nashville-with northern protest quartet of ministerial students who adapted in jail, and the freedom rid­ singers and songwriters. introduced humorous and satirical ers carried them back to their home rhythm & blues and rock & roll communities. We think of Cordell Called a "Sing for Freedom," songs to the movement's growing Reagon, for example, who began the event was jointly spon­ repertoire of spirituals and gospel singing freedom songs as a teenager sored by Highlander, SCLC, songs. Bernard Lafayette and James in Nashville during the sit-ins, came and SNCC and was organized Bevel (later to become leaders in to Mississippi as a freedom rider, and SNCC and SCLC) in particular then moved on to Albany where he by Bernice and Cordell Reagon, would carry the Nashville songs to taught songs and helped form the Dorothy Cotton, Andrew many new situations in the coming SNCC freedom singers. Young, and ourselves. years. Of course, jail time was also spent In the spring of 1960 at a confer­ strategizing and planning future In 1964 a much richer exchange ence in Raleigh, North Carolina, stu­ campaigns. Parchman Penitentiary took place in Atlanta. Called a "Sing dents from across the South met and became a training ground for civil for Freedom," the event was jointly organized the Student Non-violent rights workers who would then go sponsored by Highlander, SCLC, and Coordinating Committee (SNCC). It forward to new communities in SNCC and was o.rganized by Bernice was a chance for students from doz­ southwest Georgia, in Mississippi, and Cordell Reagon, Dorothy Cotton, ens of southern cities to compare ex­ and in the Black Belt of Alabama. As Andrew Young, and ourselves. By periences, to plan a coordinated cam­ the campaigns moved into the deep­ this time there were powerful singing paign for the coming months, and in est parts of the South, the singing re­ campaigns in Albany, Selma, Bir­ the midst of discussing and strategiz­ flected the richness of the traditions mingham, several parts of Missis­ ing, to sing together. When they went alive in the southe.mmost communi­ sippi, and many smaller communi­ home, they took with them many ties. ties. Each campaign was invited to newly adapted freedom songs. At the As the movement and the music send song-leaders to the Atlanta same time, SCLC (the older, adult or­ spread throughout the South, it si­ event to teach and to learn freedom ganization) was pulling its member­ multaneously moved north, making songs. A small group of northern ship together at South-wide confer­ an impact on the country as a whole. singer-songwriters were invited, and ences. Since many movement preach­ The SNCC freedom singers-Cordell those who came included Tom ers could claim song-leading as one Reagon, Bernice Johnson, Rutha Har­ Paxton, Len Chandler, Phil Ochs, and of their skills, the practice of adapt­ ris, and Chuck Neblett-began to actor Theo Bike!. Also invited to ing songs was making its way into travel outside the South, raising share life experiences and songs were their churches-particularly at the money and telling .about the move­ some older traditional southern art­ mass meetings that were now a regu­ ment. In 1963 and 1964 the Newport ists-Bessie Jones and the Georgia lar part of community life. Folk Festival, an important gathering Sea Island Singers and Doc Reese, a In 1961 the freedom rides swept place in the early 1960s for the folk Texas minister who had served time through the South. When more than music revival, included groups of in the Texas prison system and was a 350 freedom riders from many parts freedom singers from Albany, Selma, masterful singer of prison work of the nation were arrested and de­ Birmingham, and locations in Missis­ songs. cided to stay in jail in Mississippi for sippi. Northern singers also traveled In 1965 two more workshops fol­ the summer, the freedom song reper­ in the South in those years: Pete See­ lowed this first "Sing for Freedom"- toire got a big boost. This was proba­ ger, Joan Baez, Barbara Dane, Bob one in Edwards, Mississippi, and one bly one of the most important events Dylan, and others brought news and at Highlander. These gatherings, in in the development of movement songs of the movement to their addition to focusing on the current singing. Most of the freedom riders southern audiences. And when I freedom culture, encouraged the re­ spent forty days in jail and had lots (Guy) traveled north in those days to claiming of a rich Afro-American of time to learn and sing together all give concerts or to sing at national past. Folklorists such as Alan Lomax, the best songs that had come from conferences, I often took with me Willis James, and Ralph Rinzler met many areas. All the Nashville songs someone from the movement. freedom fighters at these conferences, were taken over and the repertoire A series of music workshops, and intense discussions took place was enriched by songs from CORE planned and organized in the South, about the value of older cultural tra- 4 ditions to contemporary struggles. learned until finally the music moved We shall overcome: Songs of the Freedom Riders & the sit-ins. Collected and produced by Guy Several communities in the Sea Is­ a nation. Carawan. Folkways FH 5591. lands, in Mississippi, and in Louisi­ DISCOGRAPHY ana began to sponsor local folk festi­ vals.' FILMS ANO VIDEOTAPES Recently, there is renewed interest Birmingham, Alabama, 1963. Collected and pro­ in the Civil Rights Movement and in duced by Guy Carawan. Folkways FD 5487. Collier, Jimmy, and Rev. Frederick Douglas Eyes on the Prize. 1986. Boston: Blackside Pro­ the powerful singing that became Kirkpatrick. Everybody's got a right lo liw. ductions. (A six-part PBS series on the his­ such an integral part of the struggle. Broadside BR 308. tory of the Qvil Rights Movement.) CORE. Sit-in songs: Songs of the FreedDm Riders. Wt shall overcome. 1988. Jim Brown, producer. As we honor that history and try to New York: Ginger Productions. build on it in our continuing quest Dauntless Records OM 4301. Freedom in the air, Albany, Cecrgia. Collected for justice and equality in this coun­ and produced by Guy Carawan. SNCC Re­ try, it is worthwhile to remember cords. BIBLIOGRAPHY that neither the movement nor the Freedom songs: Selma, Alabama. Folkways FH music arrived full-blown in the 5595. M,,tt Jones then and now. Relevant Records MJ Carawan, Guy, and Candie Carawan. 1989. South. Each evolved step by step cre­ 101. Sing for freedom. Bethlehem, PeM.: Sing Out atively as ordinary people in commu­ Movement soul: Solillds of the FreedDm Movement Publications. (A compilation of Wt shall nities recognized problems and came in the South, 1963-64. Recorded by Moses overcome and Fretdom is a constant struggle, Moon. Folkways FD 5486. published in 1963 and 1968, respectively, by together to learn from one another The Nashuille sit-in story. Collected and pro­ Oak Publications.) and to pass along what they had duced by Guy Carawan. Folkways FH 5590. Reagon, Bernice Johnson. 1975. Songs of the Sing for freedom, 1964. Collected and produced Ovil Rights Movement 1955-1964: A study 1. Bernice Johnson Reagon, former Director of by Guy Carawan, Folkways FD 5488. in culture history. Ph.D. diss., Howard Uni­ the Program in Black American Culture at the The sit-in story: The story of the lunchroom sit-ins. versity. National Museum of American History at the Folkways FH 5502. --. 1983. Songs that moved the move­ Smithsonian Institution, wrote to us recently Th• story of Greenwood, Mississippi, 1965. Col­ ment. Persptclive, Cit>il Rights Quarterly that being with Bessie Jones, the Sea Island (Summer):26-35. Singers, and Doc Reese in those early gather­ lected and produced by Guy Carawan. ings changed her We. Indeed, she and others Folkways FD 5593. --. 1987. Let the church sing "freedom." from the movement (we think particularly of Voices of the Ciuil Rights Movement: 81"ck Ameri­ Black Music I«st,,rch Journal 7:lOS--118. Worth Long, Julius Lester, and Jerome Smith) can freedom songs, 1955-1965. Smithsonian --. 1989. Contemporary black Ameriam con­ have gone deeper and deeper into Afro-Ameri­ Institution, R 023, 1980. (A three-volume set gregatibnal song and worship traditions. Wash­ can culture since those days and have shared with excellent not,es by Bernice Johnson ington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. what they have learned with the nation Reagon.) (Booklet from a conference held in February through albums, publications, and, in Bernice's WNEWs story of Selma. Folkways FH 5595. 1989 at the Smithsonian Institution.) case, conferences and workshops at the We shall cniercome: Documentary of tht March on Seeger, Pete, and Robert Reiser. 1989. Every­ Smithsonian Institution. Washington. Folkways FH 5592. body says freedom . New York: W.W. Norton.

The Lined Hymn as a Song of Freedom

by Bernice Johnson Reagon, Washington, D.C.

During February 1980, the Smith­ Those assembled stirred, for Sherrod and slipped into leadership of the sonian Institution's Program in Black was beginning his testimony with old hymn by lining the second sec­ American Culture sponsored a na­ this old hymn, and he was singing it tion of the first verse: tional conference ti tied "Voices of the in the style of the lined hymn. As he Who gave his son my soul to save slowly moved through the first Civil Rights Movement" which gath­ And fitted for the sky. ered as participants veteran organiz­ phrase, he called to me and to Rutha ers of the 1960s movement. The testi­ Mae Harris, both natives of Albany, And those of us who knew, and a monies of the participants related Georgia, to join him, and we all few who still remembered, breathed what they, as young students, com­ raised our voices: the song into a vibrant life in the munity leaders, farmers, and busi­ halls of the national museum of the ... to keep I have ness owners, had done as activists. country. A God to glorify They spoke of why they had risked In April 1988, at a conference of their lives to be involved in this On this last line, Carlton Reese, a the Student Non-vio1ent Coordinat­ struggle against racism in America. powerful freedom-song composer in ing Committee (SNCC) held at Trin­ When Charles Sherrod walked to the gospel style and a great gospel ity College, Hartford, Connecticut, the front, he began to sing: pianist and singer from Birmingham, Sherrod was on one of the panels. When his tum came to speak, he A charge ... Alabama, joined Sherrod at the front 5 again began the same hymn, penned in 1707 by Charles Wesley:

A charge to looep I have A God to glorify Who gave his son my soul to save And fitted for the sky. Again, he urged everyone who would to join the singing. During the discussion that followed the panel, Rev. Prathia Hall from Philadelphia discussed the text of the song, con­ tending that it actually articulates the sense of mission that people who were organizers in the movement and people who rose to resistance in their home communities had about the fight they were waging. To illus­ trate her point, she lined the second stanza: To serve the present age My calling to fulfill 0 may it all my powers engage To do my Master's will. Prathia Hall was a student work­ Voices of the Civil Righrs Motlffllmt Cmiference, 1980. Left to right: James Bevel, Chi,rlts Shtm>d, Chuck Neblett, Cito Kennedy, Amanda Ptrdur, Carlton Reese at the pwno. Photo by O,ndit 0,rawan ing in southwest Georgia in 1963, when she received a bullet wound he began with a hymn sung in an old say, you don't know me! You don't while organizing in Terrell County. eighteenth- and nineteenth-century know this movement we built, you Rev. Charles Sherrod was director of style. Sherrod responded: don't know what it was and where the Southwest Georgia Project, organ­ it is still going! 1 put up a wall, not ized by SNCC to mount voter regis­ I didn't know "A Charge to Keep to be away from them, not to be tration drives in what were called I Have" the way we sing it in South bragging my voice, not to be lauding Black Belt counties because the num­ Georgia. We sang the lined hymn in but quickly and deeply wanting ber of African-Americans out­ Virginia where I come from, but them to know if they really want to numbered whites by three to one. they didn't have that swooning feel­ dialogue with me, where they have to come to be open (Sherrod 1989). The political structure remained in ing-you know what I mean. the hands of the minority whites I grew to like it. You know how a While Rev. Hall spoke only of the through a rein of terror, for it was dog will look at you with his head text as a way of giving voice to the turned diagonally to the side? Well, dangerous mission of the civil rights activists, for African-Americans that was me the first time I heard Sherrod clearly utilized the blend of who were born, raised, and working those hymns. I felt it, but I also was in that county and others in South asking, '1s this me? OK, where is text and the sound created by the Georgia to register and vote. that enumerated in my computer?" power of the song genre to establish Sherrod was now a member of the It was strange, like the red clay, the an identity and territory for himself Board of Commissioners of Albany, moss, the beauty and the death; the as he moved in circles outside his Georgia-the same Board that had hellish crackers, the racism, and the adopted home in South Georgia. refused to negotiate with the leaders beauty. It was strange, but it was Carlton Reese's moving to the front of the Albany Movement that like South Georgia ... beautiful. and moving into leadership of the Sherrod had helped to start. A native When I [went] before people at raising of the hymn at the Smithson­ of Petersburg, Virginia, and a young those conferences, 1 sang that song ian conference indicate how wide is because of its meaning. It's saying to the geographic region of some of the Baptist minister, Sherrod, by 1961 these people-most of them Chris­ when he arrived in Albany, Georgia, tians--how close to me do you want hymn tunes. to begin his work as a field orga­ to be in this dialogue? Are you The ages of Hall, Sherrod, and nizer, was already a veteran of the ready to be open? Do you really Reese also give credence to the fact sit-in movement and the freedom want to dialogue? I put up a wall that these old hymns still have mean­ rides. When asked why, when relat­ there. You know you never have ing for many in younger generations ing his experience in the movement, enough time to speak .... 1 need to who have the full range of twentieth- 6 century songs from which to choose side by side. They were offered and tunes, so that any song text that is in their worship practices. It is true exchanged because they were the compatible with a pa.rticular meter that the dominant sacred music of songs of the participants who would can be sung to any of that meter's the twentieth-century African-Ameri­ not go into life-threatening situations tunes. The tunes are learned and dis­ can church is gospel. ln fact, Carlton without the tools and weapons of seminated orally and through prac­ Reese is a premiere gospel musician, identity and survival: their prayers tice, rather than through organized a trainer of gospel choirs, and still a and their songs. rehearsal. Most of the songs that practitioner par excellence of the older In Montgomery, Alabama, during were heard in mass meetings were of style of lining hymns. It seems prob­ the bus boycott, the dominant song the short- or common-meter types able that the Civil Rights Movement, repertoire was the hymns and spiri­ because more people know tunes in with its elevation of song as the artic­ tuals. Hymns like "Onward Christian those meters than in the long meter. ulate voice of its masses, became a Soldiers," or "Lift Him Up" were sta­ The metered hymns are slow part of an oral transmission process ples in the Montgomery mass meet­ songs. They create a different force in that moved the older repertoire of ings. Almost nightly in the meetings, a congregation because of the way songs further along in time than they one heard "Leaning on the Everlast­ their numerous melodic Jines bend to would have gone had not the move­ ing Arms," a hymn that expressed create harmonies. Sherrod referred to ment existed. the joy and peace that came from them as creating a swooning feeling those joined in battle in that commu­ and "reaching deep." Words seem in­ The singers actually share a nity: adequate to describe their power and communal moan that encircles the ambiance they create within the What a fellowship, what a joy divine singing group. The singers actually the depth of struggle and pain Leaning on the everlasting arms. share a communal moan that encir­ Whal a blessedness, what a peace is and rises in peaks of celebra­ cles the depth of struggle and pain tion-joy-and, sometimes, mine Leaning on the everlasting arms and rises in peaks of celebration­ shouting. (Abernathy 1987). joy-and, sometimes, shouting. The practice of the lined hymn When people think of the freedom This hymn, sung in mass meetings began among congregations in Eu­ songs of the 1960s, they begin appro­ across the South, was performed in rope. This practice moved to the new priately with "We Shall Overcome,'' congregational style, gospel style, settlements in the New World and the most important song of that gen­ and "by the book." No matter what was a popular practice during the eration. Others well known would be the performance style, songs like eighteenth century as missionaries Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" "Leaning" were always sung with moved south, mining the African­ and Pete Seeger and Lee Hays's the melody line found in the stan­ American slave community for "Hammer Song." People who follow dard Baptist and Methodist hym­ Christian converts. It is within the the labor movement would also nals-what older singers call the African-American Christian church, know of the reworking of Florence round-note tunes. primarily the Baptists, that the prac­ Reese's "Which Side Are You On." The lined hymns, however, have tice of lining hymns has evolved to a "This Little Light of Mine" and "We their own system of tunes that differ powerful and superb sacred choral Shall Not Be Moved" are probably from the standard hymnal tunes me­ music tradition. also thought of as songs that came lodically, harmonically, metrically, The performance of 1ined hymns from the African-American experi­ and emotionally. Most of the lined has continued whereve:r the people ence. The Civil Rights Movement hymns are sung from memory or who loved them were powerful provided the sixties with its most from the "worded" edition of the enough to set the worship style in powerful sound culture (see Car­ Baptist Hymn Book."1 the churches they helped to form and awan and Carawan 1963 and 1968). It Hymns performed in the metered maintain. Thus, one could hear them was the sound of African-Americans or lining-out song form and singing in mass meetings throughout south­ singing (sharing with contemporaries style are the most unfamiliar to those west Georgia, in the urban commu­ the age-old African tradition of outside the traditional African-Amer­ nity of Albany, as well as in the rural songs) as a way of expressing com­ ican church. These !hymns are some­ surrounding counties like Terrell, munity and making a movement vis­ times called "meter" hymns because Worth, Mitchell, and Baker. ible and clear across language and they are sung in what are known as In the 1960s, when student activ­ culture. short, common, and long meter. Each ists moved south, they assumed ac­ At the base of the singing move­ meter carries with it a number of tive leadership in the communities ment was a rich African-American into which they moved.. This meant 1. 'Worded edition" meaning that only the that the movement culture in a par­ oral tradition. The songs that worked text, meter, tune indications, and sometimes in the jails, mass meetings, marches, the composer's name ar,d dates are printed, ticular community was in part and conferences were old and new, but not the music staff or notes. shaped by the repertoire of that com- 7 munity. Song styles and repertoire And then go home my crown to testimonies, determined not to give (except for the lined hymns) that wear, in to fear. could be easily taught were spread For there's a crown for me The "Amazing Grace" hymn is one by the activists as they moved from (Moses Moon Collection). of the most prominent hymns world­ one campaign to another. Hamer saw participation in the wide, known within and without the The singing and transmission of a movement as a cross. She also saw Christian community. There is a folk lined or metered hymn were another her activism as compatible with her story about the composer, John New­ matter. Leaming the form requires practices as a Christian-for strength ton, who was captain of a ship that apprenticeship to and within a con­ and inspiration she always went to took on a load of captured Africans gregation. The case of Charles the Bible and to the text of the lined and headed across the Middle Pas­ Sherrod is rare-that of an activist hymns that formed the foundation of sage toward the United States. As the who learned the form well enough to her music culture. story goes, Newton was unable to raise the hymn in company in which In 1963, the night before a festival handle the contradictions of his reli­ many present did not know the form in Greenwood, Mississippi, we gath­ gious beliefs and his role as the cap­ and would not learn it in one sing­ ered in a church for a mass meeting. tain of a slaver; so he turned the ship ing. Usually these hymns were heard The meeting opened with the tradi­ around, took the cargo back to Af­ in gatherings where the songs were a tional devotional service which be-­ rica, and later penned the text of this regular part of the worship tradition gan with an upbeat song followed by hymn. of that community. "A Charge to a lined hymn; this time it was Joining this legend is the story of Keep I Have" was heard more than "Amazing Grace," composed by John the descendants of these and other any other, but there were also other Newton in 1779:2 African peoples engaged in a strug­ favorites. gle for freedom and justice more than In 1963, in a meeting in Missis­ Amazing grace, how sweet the two hundred years later, bathing sippi, Fannie Lou Hamer lined the sound their courage and determination in common-meter hymn "Must Jesus That saved a wretch like me. songs that ring truest when used for Bear the Cross Alone," composed in I once was lost, but now I'm found major and radical change. 1852 by George Nelson Allen, as her Was blind, but now I see. text. Hamer, a SNCC field secretary Through many dangers, toils, and and one of the most effective orga­ snares, REFERENCES nizers of the community struggles in I have already come; Mississippi, became a national voice 'Tis grace has brought me safe thus Abernathy, Ralph David. 1987. F.yts on tht and model for the movement because far, priu. Boston: Blackside Productions. (A six­ of her uncompromising clarity about And grace will lead me home. part PBS series on the history of the Civil Rights Movement.) the purpose of the fight for freedom As on many other occasions during Carawan, Guy, and Candie Carawan. 1963. Wt and because of her brilliance as an the freedom struggles that raged slulll 0t1trcomt. New York: Oak Publications. --. 1968. Prudom is <> constant struggle. orator and songleader. On this night, throughout the country, as the meet­ she lined two verses: New York: Oak Publications. ing evolved, in walked the sheriff Moses Moon Collection. Archives of the Pro­ Must Jesus l>ear the cross alone and some of his deputies. Those gram in African-American Culture, Mu­ gathered responded by giving more sewn of American Histo,y, Smithsonian In­ And all the world go free? stitution, Washington, D.C. No: there's a. cross for everyone fervor to the songs and prayers and Reagon, Bernice Johnson. 1987. Let the church And there's a cross for me. sing "freedom." Black Music Res,,arch Journal 7:105-118. The consecrated cross I'll bear 2. For a more detailed account of the Green­ Sherrod, Charles. 1989. Telephone interview Till death shall set me free wood mass meeting, see Reagon (1987). with the author, July 8.

Paul Robeson, Civil Rights Activist: An Opinion by Hale Smith, Freeport, New York

During his lifetime, Paul Robeson perceptions of his contemporaries drawn even today. He was, without achieved both legendary and mythi­ that few seemed able to see him in question, a very famous man, and cal status. So intertwined were the terms of his true dimensions. In fact, fame is often equated with impor­ it may be unrealistic to expect that a tance, or even greatness. But fame © 1990 Hale Smith true measure of the man can be and celebrity can be easily acquired 8 by selfish, shallow, and innocuous tire lives in obscurity or (in the case loss of "public honor," with a few in­ people-qualities that seem to char­ of Churchill) on the sidelines of his­ nocuous statements or a donation to acterize many celebrities of the past tory were it not for the forces that re­ some safe "charity" organization. and present. The superficial glitter of leased their latent abilities. Others (That is still a safe and honored way fame often obscures those substan­ have seemed destirtM for greatness of being recognized as humanitar­ tive qualities that are more character­ from childhood, but most of those ian.) In this way, Robeson might istic of true greatness. never fulfilled their potential. Da never have suffered the criticism that The greatness of Robeson has been Vinci, Mozart, and Einstein are continues to obscure his reputation. a subject of controversy from his among the few who demonstrated Several of Robeson's acquaintances youth until now and will probably extraordinary potential while young have privately expressed their opin­ remain so for many more years. Such and who continued to develop ion that he was in error-not because controversy suggests by its persis­ throughout their lives. Paul Robeson of his opposition to racial discrimina­ tence that there was more substance exhibited a continually maturing bril­ tion but because of his way of ex­ to the man than !his detractors have liance most of his life, but there are pressing those beliefs. They (many of been willing to admit. After all, his reasons for believing that he might whom inwardly agreed with his po­ was no "media-created" fame but the have achieved even more had the ra­ sition) felt that he would have been a real articl~enerated by his own cial and political opposition directed more formidable foe of racial oppres­ accomplishments, which were a­ toward him been less intense. sion had he not been perceived as an chieved in nearly every case over advocate of communism and the So­ viet Union. Such reservations regard­ great odds and opposition. That he That he might have excelled in might have excelled in even one dis­ ing Robeson must be taken seriously, cipline would have been remarkable, even one discipline would have especially because any pro-civil given the social conditions of his been remarkable, given the so­ rights position is regarded in the time. That he was able to excel in cial conditions of his time. United States as being to the left and, several disciplines and become a That he was able to excel in probably, un-American. The inclina­ world figure as well indicates that he several disciplines and become tion of many white Americans to re­ must have possessed both towering a world figure as well indi­ gard pro-black civil rights activity as intelligence and strength of character. cates that he must have pos­ being synonymous with pro-commu­ His stature, when compared with sessed both towering intelli­ nism or, at the very least, as liberal­ that of most celebrities, whose lives gence and strength of character. ism as a negative value has enabled are a voyeur's paradise, should re­ unscrupulous politicians, law-en­ quire that the basic facts of his life be forcement officials, and religious known to every literate American. His political activities and beliefs leaders to outrageously contravene He was a high school sports star, an were the sources of great controversy the rights of black Americans and All-American football star from and became the focus of cynicaUy vi­ other minorities while professing the Rutgers University, a Phi Beta Kappa cious attacks which eventually de­ highest motives of honor and Ameri­ scholar, an actor on the American stroyed his performing career. His canism. In the 1930s and 1940s every and European stages and in film, a outspoken rejection of racial preju­ important black spokesman was sub­ singer, a civil rights activist; and he dice was portrayed as being un­ ject to being labeled communist or had sympathy towards the Soviet American. He was accused of being a fellow-traveler; and Robeson, Du Union and the causes of oppressed traitorous charlatan because of his Bois, and Langston Hughes were people everywhere---especially those support of the Soviet Union and of only the most prominent among of his own people, black Americans. civil rights activity in the United those who were harassed by power­ But most Americans-including States. Today, he is probably better ful government and religious agen­ blacks, who today seem to have in­ known as a great political martyr cies. terest in little beyond pop-culture­ than as the great artist he also was, The fact that Hughes and Robeson are aware of Robeson only through but he was already a famous man might have had something of value grossly distorted information that when he became publicly committed to say to this country, both having continues to deny him recognition as to social and political issues. lived in the Soviet Union, made them one of the greatest figures of the Robeson's fame, and potential for natural targets of the House Commit­ twentieth century. even greater fame and wealth, would tee on Un-American Activities and Most persons who have achieved have been sufficient for those pos­ Senator Joseph McCarthy. Their pub­ greatness appear to have done so in sessing less inner strength and sub­ lic statements were called anti-Amer­ response to external forces. Harriet stance. He (and his equaUy maligned ican and anti-Christian, and Hughes Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Martin older contemporary, W.E.B. Du Bois) survived professionally only by repu­ Luther King, Jr., and even Winston might well have saved himself and diating his leftist activities. Churchill might have lived their en- his friends much trouble, without The case of Du Bois is different 9 from that of Robeson and Hughes. the Ballad for Americans might seem DISCOGRAPHY Du Bois was one of the greatest naive today. But such expressions of thinkers of the twentieth century and, belief in the greatness of the Ameri­ Robeson, Paul. Scandali.u m)( name. The Oas­ for the first eighty years of his life, can dream were common during the sics Record Library 30-5647. worked clearly within the American years of the Great Depression and --. Songs of frtt mm/Spiritw,Js. Columbia political framework. His failure to be World War II. Many of the most pa­ Odyssey. CBS Stereo 32 160268. --. Ballad for Americans/Carnegie Hall con­ taken seriously in the United States triotic novels, paintings, and films ctrl, wl. 2. Vanguard VSD 79193. led him late in life to embrace social­ from that period seem dated and ism and communism as being the naive precisely because they proclaim BIBLIOGRAPHY only hopes for the ultimate freedom an undisguised hope and belief in the of black Americans. future of this country. It seems clear that Robeson had It is ironic that the most articulate Copland, Aaron, and Vivian Pcrlis. 1984. Cop­ /Jmd, 1900 through 1942. New York: St. also lost faith in the possibility of the advocates of that future "kinder and Marlin's/Marek- United States facing its hypocricy gentler" nation were-perhaps with­ Du Bois, W.E.8. 1918. Paul Le Roy Robeson. with sincerity. His speeches were out exception-persons who were The Crisis, 15 (March):229-231. strong indictments of this country's and are still regarded as being ene­ Dubcrrnan, Martin. 1988. Pa.ul Robeson. New York: Knopf. racial practices and public posturing. mies of American-style democracy. Gilliam, Dorothy Butler. 1976. Paul Rabtscn: But, submerged under all of the bit­ The list of persons persecuted by the All-American. Washington, O.C.: The New terness of his public affairs, Paul Congress, FBI, other political agen­ Republic Book Company. Robeson remained a man who loved cies, and religious organizations-all Goodman, Walter. 1964. The amimitttt: The a­ traordinary career of the Ho-use Committee on his people. And because his people in the causes of patriotism and reli­ Un-American Acti11ities. New York: Farrer, were inseparaDly a part of the United gious purity-include the greatest Sa-aus and Giroux. States, he loved his country too-per­ American thinkers and artists. One Hatcher, Richard Gordon. 1972. Which is the haps more deeply than his attackers must acknowledge that such persecu­ path of change? (Speech, May 1968). In The wiu of black Amuia, edited by Philip S. ever could because their patriotism tion is not unique to the United Foner, 111~1120. New York: Simon and was based on slogans and lies that States; it is common throughout the Schuster. still besmirch the ideals upon which world. However, the United States McGowan, Rev. Edward D. 1972. Stop the foes this country was founded. must be held to a higher standard: of Negro freedom (Speech, April 30, 1953). In The wa of black America, edited by Philip The silencing of Robeson and his the ideals articulated by the Declara­ S. Foner, 8(,().866. New York: Simon and contemporaries has been treated as tion of Independence, the Bill of Schuster. an "American" victory by the radical Rights, and 'The American Dream." Rampersad, Arnold. 1986. Th, lift of umgsloot Hughes. Vol. 1: I, too, sing America. New reactionaries who masquerade as pa­ ll the citizens of this country ever York: Oxford University Press. triotic conservatives. The cost to soci­ choose to honor and to live by the --. 1988. ~ lift of l.Angston Hughes. Vol 2: ety, however, of highly gifted people true meaning of its ideals, many vic­ I dn!am a world. New York: Oxford Univer­ having to contend with unrelenting tims of its persecution would be sity Press. class and racial prejudices is immea­ given places of honor in its history. Robeson, Paul. 19?2a. Anti-empcrialists must defend Africa (Speech, June 6, 1946). In The surable. Of those, Paul Robeson-despite his wit% of b1'ack Amtriai, edited by Philip S. Because ours is an immature and alleged errors of judgment-must Foner, 833-836. New York: Simon and wasteful country which has never ac­ then be accepted as one of the great­ Schuster. --. 19?2b. The Negro artist looks ahead knowledged the truth of its own his­ est artists and patriots the United (Speech, December 1951). In The -voice of tory and character, the example of States has produced. black America, edited by Philip S. Foner, 849- Paul Robeson singing folk songs and 857. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Twentieth Century Civil Rights Collections in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress: A Selected Checklist

by Debra Newman Ham, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

The Manuscript Division of the Li­ the slave trade as well as various as­ papers of black and white abolition­ brary of Congress has one of the pects of plantation life. Papers of ists such as Frederick Douglass and most valuable collections for the slave masters and mistresses give the Salmon Portland Chase chronicle the study of Afro-American history and perspective of the owners while slave efforts of those who attempted to al­ culture in the nation. Its holdings in­ narratives tell the history from the leviate the plight of blacks in bond­ clude information about slavery and Afro-American vantage point. The age. The vast collection of American 10

Colonization Society records mi­ speeches, resolutions, and peti­ Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters nutely details the saga of those tions. The records relate to lynch­ Records, 1920-1968. 41 ,000 items. blacks who left the United States ings committed and prevented and The records document the during the nineteenth century to es­ the role played in the suppression growth and functions of the union tablish the nation of Liberia in West of lynchings by organizations affil­ and reflect its various activities in Africa. Diaries of black Americans iated with ASWPL, particularly the areas of civil rights and equal give first person accounts of their churches. A finding aid is avail­ employment opportunity. Some of lives in slavery and in freedom. able. the correspondence is with labor Papers relating to blacks as partici­ unions representing dining car em­ pants in and victims of the Civil War Bethune, Mary McLeod (1875-1955) ployees, locomotive firemen, and abound in the collections. Black his­ Papers, 1923-1942. 1 microfilm reel railway clerks, and with officials of tory during the Reconstruction pe­ reproducing originals in the the American Federation of Labor­ riod is reflected. in papers relating to Amistad Research Center, Tulane Congress of Industrial Organiza­ black congressmen and public offi­ University, New Orleans, La., ca. tions (AR.-CIO). Records relating cials such as John Mercer Langston, 505 items. to women's auxiliaries of the union Blanche K. Bruce, Hiram Revels, and Mrs. Bethune's papers include and to the work of railroad maids Francis Cardozo. Efforts of blacks to correspondence, travel diaries, are included in this collection. Cor­ educate themselves and find mean­ speeches, writings, invitations, pro­ respondents include Paul Robeson. ingful employment can be recon­ grams, clippings, and photographs. A finding aid is available. structed through the papers of The materials relate to Mrs. Booker T. Washington and George Bethune's work as founder and Burroughs, Nannie Helen (1879- Washington Carver. president of Bethunt!-Cookman 1961 )• The Manuscript Division's civil College, Daytona Beach, Florida; Papers, 1900-1963. 110,000 items. rights collections provide rich her leadership in the work of the Nannie Burroughs was an edu­ sources for the study of the struggle National Association of Colored cator, a religious leader, and a civil by blacks and whites to obtain equal Womens Oubs; and her receipt of rights and women's rights advo­ rights and opportunities for all peo­ the NAACP's Spingam Medal in cate. Most of her papers consist of ple regardless of race, creed, sex, or 1935. The papers document her materials relating to her establish­ religion during the twentieth cen­ busy speaking schedule, especially ment of a trade school for young tury. The collections described briefly as a guest of black churches, black girls in Washington, D.C., in below continue to be in constant de­ Young Women's and Men's Chris­ 1909. Other materials relate to her mand by students of social history tian Associations, segregated high leadership in the Women's Auxil­ and are regularly opening up new schools, and historically black col­ iary to the National Baptist Con­ vistas for the study of black history leges and universities. vention and its publication, The and race relations in the United Worker. The collection also includes States and the third world. Other col­ Brooke, Edward William (1919- )• materials relating to the National lections in the Division, not included Papers, 1962-1978. ca. 610,000 League of Republican Colored in this select list, relate to the strug­ items. Women; the National Association gle to achieve equal rights for all Brooke, a lawyer and public offi­ of Wage Earners; the 1931 Americans. Papers of some twentieth cial, served as the Attorney Gen­ President's Conference on Home century jurists, government officials, eral of Massachusett (1962-1966) Building and Home Ownership; print and broadcast journalists, social and as U.S. Senator from that state missionary activities in Africa; Co­ and political activists, sports figures, (1967-1979). His papers include his operative Industries, a community and women's rights advocates pro­ Massachusetts Attorney General self-help program in northeast vide useful sources for the study of files and materials generated dur­ Washington, D.C.; and the Freder­ civil rights. ing his service in the U.S. Senate. ick Douglass Memorial and Histor­ Some of the subjects covered in his ical Association. A finding aid is Association of Southern Women for papers are civil rights issues, affir­ available. the Prevention of Lynching mative action measures, and the Records, 1930-1942. 8 microfilm Watergate cover-up. Center for National Policy Review• reels reproducing original records Records, 1971-1986. ca. 60,000 at Atlanta University. • There are some restrictions relating to the use items. In its efforts to prevent lynching, of these records. Please address inquiries to The Center for National Policy the ASWPL generated correspon­ the Chief, Manu9aipt Division, Library of Review (CNPR) was a non-parti­ dence, meeting minutes, clippings, Congress, Washington, DC 20504 or consult san civil rights advocacy group es­ Manuscript Reading Room staff for furtha in· pamphlets, legislation, reports, formation (202) 707-5387. For copies of the tablished in 1970 at Catholic Uni­ newsletters, press releases, chccl

records of the Center provide anal­ against blacks, the Ku Klux Klan, black colleges and universities, and yses of the civil rights records of peonage, sharecropping, employ­ editors of national newspapers as federal and state government agen­ ment of blacks, voting rights, polit­ well as black weeklies on a vast cies during the Nixon, Ford, Car­ ical campaigns, and lynching. A array of subjects including educa­ ter, and Reagan Presidential ad­ finding aid is available. tion, elections, back-to-Africa ministrations. The collection in­ movements, lynching, blacks in the cludes reports, publications, stud­ Congress of Racial Equality military, racial violence, discrimi­ ies, clippings, articles, and corre­ Records, 1941-1968. 74 microfilm nation, and segregation. A finding spondence relating to various as­ reels (49 reels of microfilm repro­ aid is available. pects of the civil rights issues stud­ ducing originals in the State His­ ied by the staff, such as employ­ torical Society of Wisconsin in Harner, Fannie Lou (1917-1977) ment, voting rights, capital punish­ Madison, and 25 reels reproducing Papers, 1966-1978. 17 microfilm ment, judicial and political nomi­ originals in the Martin Luther reels reproducing originals in the nations, legislation, and litigation. King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent So­ Amistad Research Center. A finding aid is available. cial Change in Atlanta, Georgia). Mrs. Hamer, who worked for Originally called the Committee many years as a sharecropper, be­ Clark, Kenneth Bancroft (1914- )• on Racial Equality, CORE was es­ came an outspoken leader in the Papers, 1936-1976. ca. 226,000 tablished in 1942. Most of the ma­ southern civil rights movement. items. terials in this collection are dated Her papers document her work These papers, chiefly 1960-1976, 1959-1964. CORE initially directed with organizations such as the Mis­ document Clark's activities in New its protests against discrimination sissippi Freedom Democratic Party, York as a university professor, in public accommodations, but its the Freedom Farm Corporation, the president of the Metropolitan Ap­ emphasis later changed to discrim­ Delta Ministry, Mississippians plied Research Corporation, re­ ination in employment and hous­ United to Elect Negro Candidates, search director of the Northside ing. Its activities were primarily the National Council of Negro Center for Child Development, au­ freedom rides, voter registration Women, and Delta Opportunities thor, and independent researcher projects, sit-ins, and sponsorship of Corporation. The papers relate to whose findings were cited in the grass-roots political action groups voter registration drives, political 1954 Supreme Court decision, like the Mississippi Freedom Dem­ campaigns, the Poor People's Cam­ Brown v. Board of Education. His ocratic Party. The records include paign, and civil rights initiatives correspondence, speeches, reports, correspondence of the throughout the South and consist research notes, book chapters, organization's officers, operational of correspondence, press releases, manuscripts, book reviews, clip­ records of the national pamphlets, reports, publications, minutes, and pings, articles, photographs, publications and copies of the agendas. A finding aid is available. printed matter, and tape record­ organization's newsletters, the ings relate largely to his work in CORE-la/or, 1947-1967. A finding Harris, Patricia Roberts (1924-1985)" the field of race relations, segrega­ aid is available. Papers, 1960-1980. 196,150 items. tion, discrimination, urban ghettos, Mrs. Harris was a lawyer, civil black youth programs such as Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt rights advocate, public official, and HARYOU (Harlem Youth Oppor­ (1868-1963) ambassador. These papers relate tunities Unlimited), and related so­ Papers, 1803-1965. 79 reels repro­ principally to her cabinet service in cial issues. Unprocessed. ducing originals at the University the Carter Administration (1977- of Massachusetts at Amherst. 1981) as Secretary of Housing and Commission on Interracial Coopera­ Du Bois, who received his doc­ Urban Development, Secretary of tion torate degree from Harvard Uni­ Health, Education, and Welfare, Records, 1919-1944. 55 reels of mi­ versity, was an educator, a writer, and Secretary of Health and crofilm reproducing originals at civil rights leader, and sociologist. Human Services. Some of her re­ Atlanta University. These papers cover most aspects of cords relate to community devel­ The collection consists of admin­ his life and work. His papers in­ opment, neighborhood organiza­ istrative and organizational files, clude correspondence, speeches, tion and development, fair hous­ church correspondence, annual re­ clippings, articles, newspaper col­ ing, and equal opportunity. The ports, financial records, publica­ umns, research materials, novels, materials include correspondence, tions, research notes, legal reports, pageants, plays, photographs, and speeches, statements, staff reports, clippings, and meeting minutes re­ memorabilia. He corresponded news conference transcripts, logs, lating to a wide range of subjects with many civil rights leaders, na­ news releases, reading files, legisla­ such as accomplishments of black tional and local NAACP officers, tion, subject files, clippings, publi­ Americans, criminal proceedings government agencies, officials of cations, photographs, Presidential 12

commission files, hearings, jour­ rian, pioneered in the study of Rights, correspondence, legal nals, reports, studies, and memora­ black history and served as chair­ briefs, congressional and legislative bilia. man of the history department at files, trial transcripts, speeches, Howard University. A civil rights NAACP publications such as the Houston, William LePre (1870-1953) activist, Logan was a participant in Crisis and the Bulletin, reports, arti­ Family papers, ca. 1901-1935. ca. the Pan-African Congresses and an cles, clippings, photographs, re­ 4,000 items. outspoken critic of segregation pol­ cordings, scrapbooks, pamphlets, William LePre Houston was a icies in the military. His papers in­ records documenting the growth lawyer and educator who in 1891 clude diaries, 1940-1982; travel and development of the associa­ married Mary Ethel Hamilton, a journals; correspondence; tele­ tion and its branches, financial pa­ teacher trained at Wilberforce Uni­ grams; and notebooks. pers, and fund-raising records. The versity. The papers document records treat subjects such as dis­ Houston's establishment of his NAACP Legal Defense and Educa­ crimination in business and gov­ own law firm in 1921 and its ex­ tional Fund Records• ernment; segregation in schools pansion into a partnership with his Records, ca. 1945-1970. ca. 65,000 and public and private establish­ son in 1924. The papers show the items. ments; lynching and mob violence; firm's work in behalf of black labor Originally foundled in 1939 as the Ku Klux Klan; race riots; anti­ and civic organizations and the the litigating arm of the NAACP, lynching bills in Congress; sup­ Houstons' active role in politics. the Legal Defense Fund later be­ pression of black voting rights in Many of the papers reveal the ev­ came an independent organization the South; labor disputes and labor eryday life of an urban black mid­ working toward equal rights for all union discrimination; and political dle-dass famiily. The collection people regardless of race, sex, or contests involving race issues. A consists of correspondence, legal creed. The records consist of corre­ finding aid is available. briefs, pamphlets, printed matter, spondence, printed matter, legal financial papers, scrapbooks, clip­ files, and subject files concerning National Urban League" pings, records of the Odd Fellows issues such as desegregation, dis­ Records, 1910-1960. ca. 800,()()() Lodge, financial accounts, diaries, crimination, riots, crime, educa­ items. photographs, and memorabilia. A tion, fair employment practices, The aim of the National Urban finding aid is available. housing, the Ku I

provement of employment oppor­ ington movement during World Spingarn, Arthur Barnett (1878-1971) tunities, urban renewal, housing, War TI, the March on Washington Papers, 1911- 1964. 37,000 items. medical care, fund-raising, and for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, the Spingam, a lawyer, served as the other League efforts in the field of 1936 National Negro Congress, the NAACP's third presidct1t from social welfare. A finding aid for establishment of the Committee on 1945 to 1965 and in numerous these records is available. Fair Employment Practices, the other capacities in the organization White House Conference to Fulfill during his lifetime. His papers con­ National Urban League, Southern Re­ These Rights, Pan-Africanism, and sist of correspondence; legal files; gional Office• various civil rights demonstrations minutes of the NAACP board of Records, 1912-1979. 110,000 items. and protests. The collection con­ directors; reports; a file of Crisis Southern Regional Office records sists of family papers, general cor­ materials; printed matter; and consist of correspondence, memo­ respondence, subject files, legal pa­ legal, estate, and financial papers randa, notes, reports, surveys, min­ pers, speeches and writings, bio­ of the NAACP. The collection in­ utes of meetings, speeches, and ar­ graphical material, and other pa­ dudes the outline of a study of ticles, chiefly for the period 1940- pers, chiefly 1941-1968. A finding blacks in the military during World 1961. Topics include the office's aid is available. War II, reports on hospitals for founding (1919) and organization, blacks in Harlem, materials relat­ relations with its thirteen regional Rauh, Joseph L. (1911- )• ing to the Circle for Negro War Re­ affiUates and the national office, Papers, 1934-1985. ca. 72,000 items. lief and the New York Vigilance and its role in a broad range of so­ Rauh, a lawyer, civil libertarian, Committee, and an autograph col­ cial and economic issues relating to and civil rights activist, was a co­ lection. Among others, the records blacks in the South, including em­ founder of the Americans for Dem­ include infonnation about James ployment, education, housing, and ocratic Action in 1947. Most of his Weldon Johnson. A finding aid is community and economic develop­ legal cases pertain to civil rights, available. ment. A finding aid is available. government security measures, and labor disputes. His papers, which Storey, Moorfield (1845-1929) National Urban League, Washington consist of correspondence, subject Papers, 1847- 1930. ca. 5,000 items. Bureau• and legal files, printed materials, Storey, a lawyer, author, and re­ Records, 1961-1967. 25,000 items. appointment books, interviews, former, was a founder of the The Washington Bureau, organ­ clippings, and speeches document NAACP and its first president ized in 1961, provides the NUL his activities as chief lobbyist for (1910-1929). Storeys papers consist with information on legislation the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the of correspondence, scrapbooks, lec­ pending in Congress and lobbies Voting Rights Acts of 1965, 1970, ture notes, manuscripts, petitions, for League interests and programs and 1975, and the Fair Housing Act press releases, clippings, photo­ before many government agencies. of 1968. graphs, speeches, articles, and The records consist of correspon­ printed matter relating to the oper­ dence, reports, pubUcity files, per­ Southern Regional Council ations of the NAACP, American sonnel data forms, lists, charts, bul­ Records, 1944-1968. 225 microfilm occupation of Haiti and the Philip­ letins, news releases, articles, statis­ reels reproducing originals at At­ pines, the integration of Harvard tical information, newspaper clip­ lanta University. dormitories, and the Anti-Imperial­ pings, printed matter, and photo­ From its origin as the Commis­ ist League. James Weldon Johnson graphs relating to job develop­ sion on Interracial Cooperation, the is among those with whom Storey ment, day care services, voter reg­ Southern Regional Council has, corresponded. A finding aid is istration, industrial relations, pov­ since 1944, gathered data and pro­ available. erty, and equal employment op­ vided financial support to help portunity. A finding aid is avail­ confront social and economic prob­ Terrell, Mary Church (1863-1954) able. lems in the South since World War Papers, 1851- 1962. 13,000 items. II. The records include correspon­ Mrs. Terrell, a feminist, was an Randolph, Asa Philip (1889-1979) dence, administrative and reading author, lecturer, educator, and civil Papers, 1909-1979. 13,000 items. files, reports, publications, articles, rights advocate. Her papers consist Randolph was a labor union or­ and clippings relating to subjects of correspondence, diaries and ganizer and official and a civil such as human relations, labor, travel journals, printed materials, rights leader. His papers relate to voter registration and education, dippings, speeches, and manu­ the organization and operation of women's work, urban planning, scripts, chiefly 1~1954, focusing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car crime and corrections, public edu­ primarily on her career as an advo­ Porters of which he was president cation, and community organiza­ cate of both women's rights and (1925-1968), the March on Wash- tion. A finding aid is available. equal treatment for blacks. Manu- 14

scripts of Mrs. Terrell's autobiogra­ crofilm of originals in the FBI of­ ployment Practices, desegregation phy, A Colored Woman in a White fices, Washington, D.C. in the armed forces, and black World, and information about her This collection includes FBI re­ newspapers. A finding aid is avail­ terms as a member of the District cords released under the Freedom able. of Columbia Board of Education of Information Act relating to the are among these papers. Her corre­ congressional investigation of the Woodson, Carter Godwin (1875- spondents include W. C. Handy assassination of non-violent civil 1950) and William Monroe Trotter. A rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Lu­ Woodson's collection of papers re­ finding aid is available. ther King, Jr. lating to black history and civil rights, 1803-1936. 5,000 items. Terrell, Robert Heberton (1857- 1925) Wilkins, Roy (1901-1981)• Woodson, who received his doc­ Papers, 187~1925. 2,750 items. Papers, 1938-1977. ca. 20,000 items. torate from Harvard, was a collec­ Terrell, Mary Church's husband, Wilkins, a civil rights leader and tor of black history materials, an was a Harvard graduate, teacher, journalist, worked with the author, editor, and historia.n. He lawyer, and judge. His records NAACP in various capacities from founded the Association for the consist of correspondence, writings 1931 until he retired as executive Study of Afro-American (originally and speeches, newspaper clip­ director in 1977. His papers consist Negro) Life and History and the pings, printed material, and other of correspondence, engagement Journal of Negro History. His collec­ papers, chiefly 1884-1925, relating calendars, awards, telegrams, tion consists of correspondence, di­ to his interest in education for memoranda, manuscripts, copies aries, speeches, legal documents, black youths, the welfare of the of his newspaper columns, re­ newspaper clippings, and bio­ black race, the condition of District prints, clippings, printed material, graphical materials very few of of Columbia courts and schools, bound copies of the Crisis, NAACP which pertain to Woodson's life. Republican politics, and the Wash­ files, biographical materials, family They relate to subjects such as the ington, D.C., Board of Trade, of papers, reports, and articles. National Urban League, black his­ which he was a member. A finding Among the many subjects ad­ tory, the Journal of Negro History, aid is available. dressed are African education, race relations, slavery, discrimina­ NAACP conventions and annual tion, employment opportunities for United States Federal Bureau of In­ reports, school desegregation cri­ blacks, the African Methodist Epis­ vestigation, Martin L. King Assassi­ ses, black history, campus unrest, copal Church, politics, and busi­ nation Investigation FBI activities, minority employ­ ness endeavors of black entrepre­ Records, 1967-1978. 25 reels of mi- ment, the Committee on Fair Em- neurs. A finding aid is available.

BMR Bulletin is devoted to the encourage­ BMR Bulletin is published by the Colum­ Inquiries regarding subscription, as well as ment and promotion of scholarship and cul­ bia College Center for Black Music Research. subscription payments of $3.00 for U.S. sub­ tural activity in black American music and is Information submitted for inclusion should be scribers or $5.00 (U.S.} for those abroad, intended to serve as: a medium for the sharing mailed to: Samuel A. Aoyd, Jr., Editor, Center should be sent to: Publications, Center for of ideas and information regarding current for Black Music Research, Columbia College, Black Music Research, Columbia College, 600 and future research and activities in universi­ 600 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois South Michigan Avenue, Cllicago, Illinois ties and research centers. 60605-1996. 60605-1996. Telephone: (312) 663-1600, ext. 259.

Editor: Samuel A. Floyd, Jr. Associate Editor: Orin Moe Production Assistant: Trenace V. Ford Managing Associate Editor: Marsha J. Reisser A55odate Editor; Rae Linda Brown e 1990 Columbia College Chitago