Register of the Papers of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, North Carolina Advisory Committee, 1949-1962
[top]Descriptive Summary
TitleUnited States Commission on Civil Rights, North Carolina Advisory Committee Papers,
1949-1962
Creator
United States Commission on Civil Rights. North Carolina Advisory Committee
Extent
5.2 Linear Feet
approximately 3,900 Items
Repository
approximately 3,900 Items
Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Durham, North Carolina 27708-0185
Language
English.
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Administrative Information
Access RestrictionsCollection is open for research.
However, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this
collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Use Restrictions
The copyright interests in the papers of the North Carolina Advisory
Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights have not
been transferred to Duke University. For further information, see the
section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the Special
Collections Department.
The collection includes signed affidavits collected during the course of
the Advisory Committee's investigations. These forms, and some
correspondence, contain the names of complainants in civil rights and
discrimination matters in North Carolina. Researchers should not
release name-identifiable information about living persons without
their prior permission. For further information, consult Special
Collections Public Services staff.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Papers of the United States Commission on Civil Rights,
North Carolina Advisory Committee,
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The papers of the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the United
States Commission on Civil Rights (1949-1962), a fact-finding body, were
donated to the Duke University Law School by Professor Francis Paschal
in 1969. They were transferred to the University Archives in 1980, and
then to the Manuscript Department in 1983.
Processing Information
Processed by Denise Dolan
Completed October 1991
Encoded by Alvin Pollock, Electronic Text Unit, UC Berkeley Library
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
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Historical Note
| 1957 | Created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 |
| 1959, Jan. | First meeting |
| 1959-1962 | Conducted a series of studies in the areas of administration of justice, education, employment, housing, medical care, and voting |
| 1959-1963 | Results of Committee's work were published both by the North Carolina Committee and the federal commission |
The Chairman of the committee was McNeill Smith. The other members were: Asa T. Spaulding, Paul R. Ervin, Hector McLean, Conrad O. Pearson, William Thorpe, Curtiss Todd, Marion A. Wright, Millard Barbee, R.A. Wilkins, and secretary Margaret R. Vogt.
[top]Collection Overview
The United States Commission on Civil Rights North Carolina
Advisory Committee Papers span the years 1949 to 1962, but fall chiefly
in the period 1957 to 1962. They consist largely of correspondence, but
also include reports, drafts of reports, minutes of meetings, and
completed survey forms. Statistical charts and maps, transcripts of
telephone interviews, signed affidavits, printed material which includes
reports of other organizations, articles, brochures, and press releases,
mailing lists, notes, and clippings are also included. The collection
documents methods of data collection for social research that is directed
to governmental policy change. The research particularly focuses on
racial discrimination against and the civil rights of African Americans,
and to a lesser extent Native Americans, in North Carolina. Most of the
correspondence was generated from the office of Chairman McNeill
Smith, and the collection therefore does not represent the work of other
Committee members, except for their communications with Smith.
The Committee requested statistical information on African
Americans and Native Americans from public libraries, high schools,
lending agencies, health care facilities, employers and county boards of
election. Completed questionnaire forms exist for the Public Libraries,
Administration of Justice, Education, Employment, and Voting studies.
Formal complaints in areas of potential study were heard and recorded
at open hearings held throughout the state. More qualitative information
was obtained through correspondence, meetings and telephone
interviews. Transcripts of Smith's phone conversations can be found in
the Education, Employment, Medical Care and Voting Series.
Correspondence in each series, including alphabetical files,
pertains to the studies, background information, survey forms, data, and
final reports. In many cases, completed survey forms, which exist for the
Public Libraries, Administration of Justice, Education and Voting
studies, are attached to correspondence. Form letters in the
correspondence of the Housing and Voting Series request specific
information from lending agencies and county boards of election. There
are responses to questions in letter form which, in the case of the
Housing Series, comprise a large portion of the correspondence.
Scattered letters from North Carolinians express segregationist views and
hostility to research efforts.
In every series, the major correspondence is that of McNeill Smith
with researchers and Commission and Committee members.
Occasionally, communications from federal commission officers appear,
most notably Cornelius Cotter (Assistant Staff Director), Henry Shine,
Gordon Tiffany (Staff Director), and Peter Sussman (Deputy Assistant
Staff Director). These usually pertain to the development and approval of
questionnaire forms and the editing and publication of reports, or
provide supplementary data.
The General Series documents committee work on both national
and state levels. Correspondence files contain information on the
creation and organization of the committee and its work, as well as
information on every study. There are letters from the federal
commission concerning new projects, surveys, data, reports, and
national and regional conferences. Other files contain information on the
proceedings of open meetings held by the committee between 1959 and
1961.
The voting study was mandated by the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
The Voting Series contains correspondence pertaining to the collection
of registration statistics with regard to race in North Carolina, as well as
completed survey forms from almost all of the 100 counties in North
Carolina. Repeated communications from McNeill Smith to registration
officials and lawyers in every county are included. The series also
contains seventeen signed affidavit forms attesting to discriminatory
voting practices.
Discriminatory practices in the following areas were investigated:
employment of blacks in law enforcement agencies (Administration of
Justice Series); employment and facilities in public libraries (General
Series); enrollment in accredited high schools, illiteracy, and admission
to industrial education centers (Education Series); and employment of
blacks in state organizations and companies with government contracts
(Employment Series). The ability of blacks to obtain federally-
sponsored loans for housing and their role in urban-renewal (Housing
Series); admission of blacks to health care facilities (Medical Care
Series); and voter registration procedures and participation of blacks in
political elections (Voting Series) were other areas of investigation.
Local experts in the fields of medicine, political science and law
researched and wrote reports, and compiled statistical charts. General
legal research was carried out by Dan Pollitt of the Universitiy of North
Carolina Law School, some of whose work is found in the General
Series. Others included: Donald Matthews of the UNC Political Science
Department (Voting), John Hope II of Fisk University in Tennessee
(Education), Dickson Phillips of the UNC Law School (Administration of
Justice), Howard Miller of Raleigh (Industrial Education), and Dr. M. B.
Bethel of Chapel Hill (Medical Care). Correspondence between committee
members, primarily McNeill Smith, and these individuals is found in the
General, Administration of Justice, Education, Medical Care and
Voting series. Organizations involved in the committee's research
included: The American Friends Service Committee, the Southern
Regional Council, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction,
the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute of Government, the North Carolina
Employment Security Commission, the Southern Association of Colleges
and Secondary Schools, the North Carolina AFL-CIO, and the North
Carolina State Board of Health.
Published reports of the committee's work are in the Public
Documents and Maps Department, in the Pamphlet Collection and in the
stacks of Perkins Library. Related collections in the Special Collections
Department include the Asa T. Spaulding Papers and the Robert S.
Rankin Papers.
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Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
- Civil rights--North Carolina
- Discrimination in education--North Carolina.
- Afro-Americans--Civil rights--North Carolina.
- Discrimination in housing--North Carolina.
- Equality before the law--North Carolina.
- Discrimination in medical care--North Carolina.
- Public libraries--North Carolina.
- Indians of North America--North Carolina--Civil rights.
- Action research--North Carolina.
- Voter registration--North Carolina.
- Race discrimination--Law and legislation--North Carolina.
- Discrimination in employment--North Carolina.
- North Carolina--Social policy.
- Social surveys--North Carolina.
- Government questionnaires--North Carolina.
- United States--Civil Rights Act of 1957.
- Questionnaires
- Smith, McNeill (John McNeill), 1918-
Detailed Description of Collection
*
THE BOXES IN THIS COLLECTION MAY CONTAIN SENSITIVE MATERIALS
General Series, 1957-1962 and undated
Correspondence, mostly to or from McNeill Smith, and alphabetical files. Other correspondents include Commission and Committee members, lawyers, professors, members of other organizations, and other individuals interested in Committee work. Also includes minutes, affidavit forms, reports, printed material and press releases concerning open meetings. Arranged chronologically within files.
Box 1
Correspondence,
1957-1961
(6 folders)
Box 2
Correspondence,
1962, Jan.-Oct., undated
Bills, statements, and travel vouchers,
1959-1962, undated
Committee members,
1959-1960, undated
County Board of Elections,
1959, undated
Fraternal Orders (Segregation),
1950, 1961
Indians,
1962
"Legal Provisions for Segregation,"
Daniel H. Pollitt, UNC,
undated
Meetings,
1959-1960
(8 folders)
Box 3
Meetings,
1960-1961
(6 folders)
Names, addresses and phone numbers (N.C. Advisory Committee),
undated
1960 Census,
1960-1961
Notes,
1958-1959, undated
Public Libraries (survey):
A-Z,
1960
(2 folders)
1960-1962, undated
Recreation Facilities--Segregation,
1960-1961
Related Organizations,
1959-1961, undated
Rural Electrification Administration Seating (segregation),
1961
Box 4
Segregation (City Ordinances),
1961-1962, undated
Miscellaneous,
1957-1962, undated
(2 folders)
Administration of Justice Series, 1960-1962 and undated
Chiefly correspondence, mostly between McNeill Smith and Committee members. Also includes drafts of reports, transcripts of telephone conversations, clippings, notes and data.
Correspondence,
1960-1962, undated
Questionnaires,
1961, undated
Report,
1961-1962, undated
Education Series, 1949-1962 and undated (bulk, 1957-1962).
Chiefly correspondence, mostly to or from McNeill Smith. Also includes reports, drafts of reports, questionnaires and other data, printed material, transcripts of telephone conversations, clippings and notes. Printed material includes reports of other organizations including the Southern Regional Council, and government publications. To a lesser extent, newsletters, press releases, and serials. Arranged chronologically in correspondence and alphabetical files. Completed survey forms given to the committee by a North Carolina television station, WFMY-TV, were used as data for the literacy report.
Correspondence,
1959-1960
(2 folders)
Box 5
Correspondence:
1961-1962, July, undated
Requests for research data from N.C. colleges,
1959, undated
Education Report: Mailings to public school superintendents,
1960-1961, undated
"The One, Two and Three Teacher Schools"
(Report),
1961-1962, undated
"Operation of Industrial Education Centers of North Carolina"
(Reports):
1956-1962, Sept., undated
(2 folders)
Questionnaires,
1960-1961, undated
Other Reports,
1958-1960
Box 6
"Public High School Enrollment in Accredited Schools"
(Report),
1959-1961, undated
Public School Desegregation,
1958-1962, undated
"The Uneducated"
(Report),
1950-1961, May, undated
(2 folders)
Miscellaneous,
1949-1961, undated
Employment Series, 1956-1962 and undated
Chiefly correspondence, mostly to or from McNeill Smith and Marion Wright. Also includes drafts of reports, data including questionnaires and other statistics, transcripts of telephone conversations, memoranda, printed material including reports of other organizations and statements of corporate policy, reprints, and notes. Arranged chronologically within correspondence and alphabetical files.
Correspondence,
1959-1960
Box 7
Correspondence,
1961-1962, undated
(2 folders)
State Agencies: Employment Practices:
1959
Reports,
1960-1962
(2 folders)
Subcommittee work,
1960, undated
Surveys,
1959, undated
Box 8
Miscellaneous,
1956-1962, undated
(2 folders)
Housing Series, 1957-1962 and undated
Chiefly correspondence, mostly from McNeill Smith to Cornelius Cotter and other staff members. Includes a series of correspondence in 1961 from a number of lending agencies in North Carolina. Also includes reports, drafts of reports, printed material, questionnaires, reports of other organizations including the U.S. Census Bureau and the Housing and Home Finance Agency of the Urban Renewal Administration, and to a lesser extent statistical charts, clippings, notes, mailing lists and brochures. Arranged chronologically within correspondence and alphabetical files.
Correspondence:
1959-1962, undated
(3 folders)
Lending agencies,
1961
Box 9
"Equal Protection of the Laws in Housing"
(Report),
1961-1962, undated
(2 folders)
Urban Renewal:
Printed material,
1957-1960, undated
Questionnaires,
1960-1961, undated
Miscellaneous,
1958-1962, undated
(2 folders)
Medical Care Series, 1959-1961 and undated
Correspondence, mostly between McNeill Smith, Dr. M. B. Bethel and other Committee and subcommittee members. Also includes multiple drafts of reports, reports, and to a lesser extent, transcripts of telephone conversations, minutes of meetings, a bibliography for research, subcommittee membership lists, notes, clippings and printed material. Arranged chronologically within correspondence and alphabetical files.
Box 10
Correspondence:
1959-1961
(3 folders)
Form letter,
1961
"Equal Protection of the Laws Concerning Medical Care in North Carolina"
(Drafts),
1961, undated
(2 folders)
Box 11
Grants,
1960-1961, undated
Meeting:
(April 23, 1961), 1961
Preliminary Bibliography for research,
1961, undated
Proposal for research project,
1960-1961
Special committee members (lists),
1960-1961, undated
Miscellaneous,
1959-1961, undated
Voting Series, 1952-1962 and undated
Chiefly correspondence, mostly to and from McNeill Smith. Many letters are addressed to chairmen of North Carolina County Boards of Election. A smaller amount of correspondence is from Cornelius Cotter, Henry Shine and Donald Matthews. Also includes reports, drafts of reports, questionnaires and other data in the form of maps, charts and tables. To a lesser extent, transcripts of telephone conversations, minutes of meetings, reports of other organizations including the U.S. Census Bureau, research notes, summaries of law cases, legal briefs, and clippings.
Correspondence,
1959-Feb.-Dec.
(3 folders)
Box 12
Correspondence:
1960-1961, Oct.
(3 folders)
Form letters,
1959-1960
Complaints:
1959-1960, undated
Bertie Co.,
1960, undated
Franklin Co.,
1960-1961
Greene Co.,
1960, undated
1960 Conference for chairmen of County Boards of Election (Chapel Hill),
1959-1961, undated
"Racial Restriction in North Carolina Voting History"
(Report not used),
1959-1962, undated
Box 13
Registration and voting statistics for
1960, 1960-1961
"Report to North Carolina Advisory Committee on Civil Rights,"
Donald R. Matthews, UNC,
1952-1959, undated
Reports by chairmen of the County Boards of Elections (Registration statistics),
1956-1961, undated
(3 folders)
Supplementary report,
1956-1961, undated
"Voting and Voter Registration in North Carolina, 1960"
(Report),
1956-1961
"Voting Participation in North Carolina"
(Report),
1959-1960
Miscellaneous,
1957-1961
Oversize Materials
Education Series,
1960
Housing Series,
1961
Oversize Cabinet
OC:IV:13:
Housing Series,
undated
Ovsz. Box 70
Voting Series,
1956-1959
