A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of BLACK STUDIES RESEARCH SOURCES Microfilms from Major Archival and Manuscript Collections General Editors: John H. Bracey, Jr. and August Meier PAPERS OF THE NAACP Supplement to Part 1, 1961-1965 UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of BLACK STUDIES RESEARCH SOURCES Microfilms from Major Archival and Manuscript Collections General Editors: John H. Bracey, Jr. and August Meier PAPERS OF THE NAACP Supplement to Part 1, 1961-1965 Edited by John H. Bracey, Jr. and August Meier Project Coordinator and Guide Compiled by Randolph Boehm A microfilm project of UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA An Imprint of CIS 4520 East-West Highway * Bethesda, MD 20814-3389 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Papers of the NAACP. Supplement to Part 1, 1961-1965 [microform] Accompanied by printed reel guides. Contents: Supplement to Part 1,1951-1955. Supplement to Part 1,1956-1960. Supplement to Part 1,1961-1965. 1. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People--Archives. 2. Afro-Americans--Civil Rights--History--20th century--Sources. 3. Afro- Americans--History--1877-1964--Sources. 4. United States--Race relations--Sources. I. Meier, August, 1923- . II. Boehm, Randolph. III. Title. E185.61 [Microfilm] 973'.0496073 87-10644 ISBN 1-55655-542-3 (microfilm) Copyright © 1995 by University Publications of America. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-55655-542-3. TABLE OF CONTENTS Scope and Content Note v Note on Sources ix Editorial Note ix Abbreviations xi Reel Index Reel 1 Group III, Series A, Administrative File Group III, Boxes A-26, A-31-A-32 Board of Directors 1 Reel 2 Group III, Series A, Administrative File cont. Group III, Box A-36 Annual Meeting 10 Group III, Boxes A-12-A-13 Annual Convention 10 Reels 3-9 Group III, Series A, Administrative File cont. Group III, Boxes A-13 cont.-A-20 Annual Convention cont 13 Subject Index 21 SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE The records in this edition provide a comprehensive summary of NAACP activities from 1961 through 1965. Major issues confronting the association and the larger civil rights movement are recurrent. The association's programs and policies are reported and assessed. Records of the annual business meetings and conventions provide essential information on the organization's growth and development as well as on the background of its leaders. Minutes of the Board of Directors The Board of Directors was the highest policy-making body in the NAACP, and its minutes constitute the central record of activities of the organization. The board considered many aspects of NAACP policy, ranging from the mundane to the broadest strategic decisions that determined the course of NAACP action. Each month, the national secretary submitted a report detailing the activities of NAACP officers, departments, and special programs. The board took this opportunity to question and assess the ongoing association policies. The board also handled a number of important administrative duties, including the oversight of fund-raising and major expenses, the certification of new branches, and the adjudication of disputes within branches or between branches and national officers. In addition, the board was responsible for appointing national executive officers, such as the secretary and heads of NAACP departments. Finally, the board shared with the annual convention the responsibility of appointing members to the Nominating Committee that nominated candidates for the Board of Directors itself. (The selection of new directors was made at the annual business meeting, the records of which are described below.) The best published analysis of the role of the Board of Directors in the overall structure of the NAACP is Joel E. Spingarn and the Rise of the NAACP, 1909-1939, by B. Joyce Ross (New York, 1972). Secretary's Reports The monthly reports of the NAACP executive secretary were submitted to the Board of Directors for consideration at the board meetings. The secretary reported on major events affecting the NAACP and the larger civil rights movement. He also reported on his own activities and those of other NAACP officials during the preceding month. In addition, the secretary's reports included the reports of the various other NAACP departments, such as the Church, Labor, and Branches departments; the Public Relations, Youth, Life Membership, and Housing departments; and the General Counsel and Washington Bureau. These reports provide a comprehensive record of NAACP activities on both the national and local levels. Of special interest are the reports of the Youth Department that reflect the youth-driven nature of many 1960s civil rights activities, including sit-ins, demonstrations, and freedom rides. It should be noted that the reports of the Legal Defense and Educational Fund are not included among the secretary's reports. Efforts will be made to locate these reports and include them in a subsequent edition. Records of Annual Business Meetings The main function of the annual business meeting was to elect the Board of Directors from the list of candidates offered by the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee was composed of seven members, three appointed by the Board of Director, three by the annual convention, and the chairman of the board. The annual meeting was open to the entire NAACP membership, but in practice only a few hundred typically attended. The records of the annual meetings include press releases, background correspondence, and a few speeches. Records of Annual Conventions The NAACP annual conventions served a number of important functions. Foremost among these was the effort to attract publicity for the association. To this end, prominent individuals were invited to address the convention or to submit a written greeting. The convention passed resolutions on a wide range of political issues that were calculated to attract the attention of the press. Special events, such as testimonial banquets and pilgrimages, were scheduled. All of these publicity-gathering aspects of the convention were carefully planned by the public relations department, which maintained contact with the local, national, and African American press, as well as with television and radio news. Another important function of the convention was to provide the opportunity for personal communication between the national officers and the NAACP branches. Several sessions of every convention were given over to "workshops" in which national officers instructed delegates in fund-raising, local branch administration, filing civil rights suits, and direct-action protest tactics. Sometimes complaints with local branches were aired at the convention, including questions of delinquent dues payments or maladministration of the branch. For the branch of the host city, the convention provided the opportunity to interest local churches and civic groups in the work of the NAACP and to use the favorable convention publicity to seek new members and new sources of funding. The convention also afforded NAACP branch delegates a degree of input on the national program. The convention had a minority voice in selecting the membership of the important Nominating Committee, which chose a list of candidates for election to the Board of Directors. The convention voted on the composition of the Board of Directors from among the candidates presented by the Nominating Committee. Convention delegates also selected members for a number of standing committees governing the operation of the convention itself, including the Committee on Conference Procedure, the Resolutions Committee, and the Credentials Committee. Finally, the resolutions approved by the convention delegates served as guideposts for NAACP board members in their making of national policy. NOTE ON SOURCES All documents reproduced for this edition are from Group III (1956-1965) of the NAACP collection held by the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. EDITORIAL NOTE This microform edition is a continuation of Papers of the NAACP, Part 1, 1909-1950, and of the first and second Supplement to Part 1, 1951-1955 and 1956-1960. It brings through 1965 the following subseries of files that were begun in the original edition: Minutes of the Board of Directors Monthly Reports of the Secretary (including Department Reports) Records of Annual Business Meetings of the NAACP Records of Annual NAACP Conventions. All files reproduced on this microfilm have been filmed in their entirety; only carbons and duplicated copies have been deleted. File series that have been drawn upon for this supplement include Group III, Series A (Administrative File), Box 26, Board of Directors File, Minutes Group III, Series A (Administrative File), Boxes 31-32, Board of Directors File, Secretary's Reports Group III, Series A (Administrative File), Box 36, General Office File, Annual Meetings Group III, Series A (Administrative File), Boxes 12-20, Annual Convention File. ABBREVIATIONS The following abbreviations are used frequently throughout this guide and are spelled out here for the convenience of the researcher. COFO Council of Federated Organizations SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee REEL INDEX The following is an alphabetical listing of the folders compiled by the NAACP comprising Supplement to Part 1, 1961-1965. The four-digit number on the far.left is the frame number at which a particular file folder begins. This is followed by the file title, the date(s) of the file, and the total number of pages. Reel 1 File Folder Frame No. Group III, Series A, Administrative File Group III, Box A-26 Board of Directors 0001 Board of Directors Minutes, 1961. 89 frames. 0002 Minutes of January 3, 1961. 5 frames. 0007 Budget Committee Report on 1961 Budget. 3 frames. 0010 Minutes of February 14, 1961. 12 frames. 0022 Minutes of March 13, 1961. 5 frames. 0027 Minutes of April 10, 1961. 9 frames. 0036 Minutes of May 8, 1961. 5 frames. 0041 Minutes of June 12, 1961.