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Register of the Papers of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, North Carolina Advisory Committee, 1949-1962

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Descriptive Summary

Title
United 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
Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library Durham, North Carolina 27708-0185
Language
English.
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Administrative Information

Access Restrictions
Collection 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

1957Created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957
1959, Jan.First meeting
1959-1962Conducted a series of studies in the areas of administration of justice, education, employment, housing, medical care, and voting
1959-1963Results 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.

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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.
List of Series in Collection
General Series, 1957-1962 and undated
Administration of Justice Series, 1960-1962 and undated
Education Series, 1949-1962 and undated (bulk, 1957-1962).
Employment Series, 1956-1962 and undated
Housing Series, 1957-1962 and undated
Medical Care Series, 1959-1961 and undated
Voting Series, 1952-1962 and undated
Oversize Materials
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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.
Box 4
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.
Box 4
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.
Box 6
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.
Box 8
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.
Box 11
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

Ovsz. Box 70
Education Series, 1960
Housing Series, 1961
Oversize Cabinet  OC:IV:13:  Housing Series, undated
Ovsz. Box 70
Voting Series, 1956-1959