Guide to the Detroit Commission on Community Relations (DCCR) / Human Rights Department Records This finding aid was created using ArchivesSpace on July 24, 2019 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Walter P. Reuther Library 5401 Cass Avenue Detroit, MI 48202 URL: https://reuther.wayne.edu Guide to the Detroit Commission on Community Relations (DCCR) / Human Rights Department Records This finding aid was created using ArchivesSpace on July 24, 2019 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Walter P. Reuther Library 5401 Cass Avenue Detroit, MI 48202 URL: https://reuther.wayne.edu Guide to the Detroit Commission on Community Relations / Human Rights Department Records UR000267 Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 History ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 Scope and Content ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Arrangement ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 6 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Controlled Access Headings .......................................................................................................................... 8 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 8 - Page 2 - Guide to the Detroit Commission on Community Relations / Human Rights Department Records UR000267 Summary Information Repository: Walter P. Reuther Library Creator: Detroit. Commission on Community Relations Title: Detroit Commission on Community Relations (DCCR) / Human Rights Department Records ID: UR000267 Date [inclusive]: 1940-1984 Physical Description: 158 Linear Feet (123 SB, 66 MB, 3 OS folders, 1 Scrapbook) Language of the English Material: Language of the Material entirely in English. Material: Abstract: The Commission on Community Relations evolved from the City of Detroit Mayor's Interracial Committee in 1953 and was renamed in 1974 as the Human Rights Department. All three iterations served a common purpose: to make recommendations to improve governmental services affecting racial relations, and to promote understanding between the races. Minutes, correspondence, and case studies document the Commission's efforts to achieve these goals. Topics covered include affirmative action, the Coordinating Council on Human Relations, discrimination in housing, health care, the 1943 and 1967 race riots, southern migration into Detroit, police-community relations, welfare, and school redistricting. Citation Style "Detroit Commission on Community Relations (DCCR) / Human Rights Department Records, Box [#], Folder [#], Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University" ^ Return to Table of Contents - Page 3- Guide to the Detroit Commission on Community Relations / Human Rights Department Records UR000267 History The City of Detroit Commission on Community Relations evolved from the City of Detroit Mayor's Interracial Committee. The Interracial Committee was instituted by Mayor Edward Jeffries late in 1943 as a response to the Detroit race riot of June, 1943. The Committee was composed of the heads of six city departments and five lay members. The direct successor to the Committee was the Commission on Community Relations, which was established by Detroit Common Council ordinance in 1953. The Commission was composed of seven department heads and eight lay members until 1961, when Common Council modified the Commission so that it became composed entirely of private citizens. The Commission on Community Relations, like the earlier Interracial Committee, was charged with the responsibility to make recommendations designed to improve governmental services which affect racial relationships; to investigate and seek to correct situations of discrimination and racial tension; and to cooperate in informational programs designed to increase mutual understanding within the community. The Coordinating Council on Human Relations was established in 1947 to increase cooperation among civic groups. Its functions are to develop programs of education and research and to help coordinate the human relations activities of member agencies. The Coordinating Council is composed of community agencies which have been invited to become members by the Commission on Community Relations upon recommendation of the Coordinating Council. The Council operates through an executive board of twenty members elected by the official delegates of member agencies. Standing committees deal with programs, membership, community forums, public relations and research. Executive services are provided to the Coordinating Council by the staff of the Commission on Community Relations. With the enactment of a new city charter in 1974, the Commission changed its name to the Human Rights Department, but continued to serve as the city's civil rights agency, investigating complaints of discrimination and initiating programs to relieve racial tensions. ^ Return to Table of Contents Scope and Content The Detroit Commission on Community Relations/Human Rights Department Collection consists of correspondence, reports, minutes, membership information, newspaper clippings, speeches, press releases, publications and case files documenting its efforts to overcome racial discrimination and improve race relations in the Detroit metropolitan area. Important subjects in the collection: Affirmative action African Americans in Detroit Bilingual/ bicultural education Consumer protection Detroit community organizations Detroit Open-Occupancy Ordinance Detroit riot of 1943 Detroit riot of 1967 Detroit social statistics Discrimination in employment Discrimination in housing School decentralization School desegregation Discrimination in Employment Discrimination in Housing Mexican Americans in Detroit Neighborhood improvement associations - Page 4- Guide to the Detroit Commission on Community Relations / Human Rights Department Records UR000267 Police-community relations Police harassment Poverty and welfare in Detroit Race relations education Racial tension in Detroit schools Racism and racist groups Southern migration into Detroit Urban renewal Important correspondents in the collection: Agnes J. Bryant Jerome P. Cavanagh Ray Girardin Roman Gribbs Denise L. Lewis Fred Linsell Richard V. Marks Curtis Rodgers Lonnie Saunders George Schermer Beulah Whitby Coleman A. Young Part 1: 62 MB, 1 scrapbook, 2 OS folders Series 1, City of Detroit Interracial Committee, 1942-1963, Boxes 1-19, scrapbook, 2 oversize folders: Correspondence, reports and minutes of the Community Barometer, a method devised by the Detroit Interracial Committee to measure racial tensions; case reports of the Detroit Interracial Committee; minutes of Interracial Committee meetings; newspaper clippings on the 1943 race riot and racial problems and progress in Detroit and the South; and other material documenting the work of the Committee. Series 2, Coordinating Council on Human Relations, 1947- 1969, Boxes 1-16: General files kept by CCR staff of the Coordinating Council. Structure, by-laws, general correspondence and records of the standing committees, in addition to the files of Secretary-Director Richard Marks. Executive Board minutes, correspondence, memoranda, position statements, program activities and annual reports and other publications. Series 3, General Office Files, 1952-1968, Boxes 1-3 Series 4, Minutes, 1953-1968, Boxes 1-4 Series 5, Clippings, 1950-1968, Boxes 1-4 Serie 6, Case Reports, 1954-1965, Boxes 1-16 Part 2: 4 MB Primarily correspondence and memoranda from the offices of the director and staff of the Interracial Committee. Also included are notes on meetings, agendas, membership lists, reports and program and budget information. Part 3: 99 SB, 1 OS folder Contains material from the Detroit Interracial Committee (IRC), Commission on Community Relations (CCR), and Human Rights Department (HRD). This includes materials created and collected by these organizations on topics of racial tension and the impact of race and racism on equality of housing, education, employment, police-community relations, welfare, and healthcare. Much of this information is related to Detroit or Michigan, though some material was gathered on similar organizations around the country. Series 8, Office files, 1943-1983, Boxes 67-82 Subseries A, Detroit Interracial Committee, 1943-1954 Subseries B, Commission on Community Relations, 1944-1975 Subseries C, Human Rights Department, 1973-1983 Series 9, Subject Files, 1940-1984, 74-82 Series 10, Organizations, 1944-1981, Boxes 82-91 - Page 5- Guide to the Detroit Commission on Community Relations / Human Rights Department Records UR000267 Series 11, Housing, 1940-1983, Boxes 91-111 Series 12, Education, 1945-1983, Boxes 111-132 Series 13, Police-Community Relations, 1945-1983, Boxes 132-140 Series