Organizational Records

In reconstructing the lives of African-American women whose history is grounded in the existence of community, organizational records can provide essential information. These materials reflect the significant junctures whereby a concern becomes strong enough to motivate cooperation and action among individuals. Organizational records are often the only existing documentation of individual African-American women.

The informational content of organizational records differs greatly from the personal papers of individuals. Organizational records do not usually document the opinions, beliefs, or actions of individuals but rather, they reflect systems of beliefs and collective actions. While organizational records may contain membership lists which identify individual actors in the group, the heart and soul of these materials is generally reflected in the minutes, administrative correspondence, publications, and project files of the group. These materials document "official" decisions, how those decision came to be made, and the actions resulting from these decisions. For example, the minute book of the Freedman's Bureau reveals the internal workings of the organizations and serves to illustrate what white women thought would help blacks during Reconstruction, what they could do to meet those needs, and to what extent African-American women and men worked with them or participated in their activities.

Organizational publications serve as a group's primary tool of communication. Newsletters, brochures, flyers, and magazines often supply neat encapsulations or factual summaries of specific activities, organizational structure, philosophy, and agenda. Because publications represent how the group want to be seen by others, they can also be interpreted as literary or artistic works. For instance, the Black Panther publications in the Milo Guthrie Papers graphically depict the political sentiments of the organization. Articles, illustrations, and layout reflect group's philosophy of the role of African-American women in the Revolution.

As with a personal papers, organizational records should be utilized with a view towards their agendas, both implicit and explicit. Women-In-Action, Inc. was originally established to the ease racial violence surrounding school desegregation. The group's records can be explored to find out how the black and white membership dealt with racial issues internally, and how the structure of the organization has allowed the group to identify and meet the changing needs of its community.

The list below contains records and publications of both black organizations and white organizations in which African-American women participated or that address issues of concern to African-American women particularly in the 20th century. The collections described below include a variety of educational, vocational, political, and religious concerns with national agendas ranging from social to philanthropic to revolutionary. Additional organizational materials, especially those relating to religion and 19th century movements, are contained in collections described elsewhere in this guide and can be located through the index.

Alliance For Guidance Of Rural Youth Papers, 1887-1963. 15,900 Items. Richmond, Virginia.

The records of A. G. R. Y. reflect the organization's pioneering efforts in the American Vocational Guidance movement particularly in relation to occupations for southern women and rural youth's guidance. The papers include correspondence, publications, writings and speeches, clippings, press releases, and photographs. Included are plans for a "Home service course for general maids" aimed at black domestic workers, printed materials relating to black youth and attempts to include them in the job corps programs of the 1940s, and studies and statistics on black women and youth's occupations.

George Gage Papers, 1864-1903. 2 Items & 4 Volumes. Beaufort, South Carolina.

Letterbooks of George Gage and the journal of his wife Sarah Marshall Ely Gage. A letterbook (1873-1876) concerns his position as collector of customs and superintendent of lights and includes attendance statistics of black and white children at St. Helena's and St. Luke's Parish schools, South Carolina. Sarah Gage's journal contains the minutes of the Freedmen's Home Relief Association of Lambertville, New Jersey for which Sarah was secretary in 1864. The journal also describes her migration south to teach in a Freedman Bureau school in Beaufort, South Carolina (1866-1867).

Milo Guthrie Papers, 1960s-1980s. 2,038 Items & 4 Volumes. Woodbury, Tennessee.

Papers of Milo Guthrie, white printer and commercial artist active in social and political causes. The collection is made up primarily of printed materials from 1972 to 1976 representing activities and publications of new left wing political parties and organizations. Issues include workers and labor unions, black power, civil rights, women's liberation, farmers and farm labor, student activism and radical participation in local, state, and national elections. Collection include a considerable amount of Black Panther publications.

Carl Howie & Mary Eskridge King Papers, 1918-1973. 3,993 Items & 1 Volume. Salisbury, North Carolina.

Papers of Carl Howie King (1898-1967), white Methodist minister and executive secretary of the Board of Education of the Western North Carolina Conference, 1934-1967; and of Mary Eskridge King (1901-1973), active in affairs of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and president of the Women's Society of Christian Service of the Western North Carolina Conference, 1960-1964. Additionally she served on the Board of Christian Social Concerns and on special committees dealing with extremism and church priorities. Her work is given credit for preparing the Conference for its merger with the formerly black North Carolina-Virginia Conference in 1968. Her subject files are a good source for printed materials on racism and Civil Rights work both within the Methodist Church and in the nation as a whole.

J.B. Matthews Papers, 1862-1986. 307,000 Items. New York, New York.

Papers of J.B. Matthews, white Methodist missionary, college professor, and prominent conservative spokesman. The bulk of the collection falls between the 1930s and the 1960s and includes correspondence, memoranda, statements, speeches, reprints, clippings, broadsides, newsletters, petitions and other printed materials. The principal focus of the collection relates to the work and research of Matthews in the area of anti-communism shortly after his tenure as Director of Research for the Special Committee on Un-American Activities. Organizations represented include the Black Panther Party, The National Negro Labor Council, the Klu Klux Klan, the Afro-American Research Institute, the Harlem Community Council for Housing and the NAACP. Individuals represented include Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King, James Baldwin and many others.

Socialist Party Of America Papers, 1900-1976. 215,262 Items & 33 Volumes. Chicago, Ill. & New York, NY.

Correspondence, minutes, speeches, convention proceedings, and organizers' reports of the Socialist Party of America. The papers chronicle the activities of American Socialists both within their party and in their contacts with other individuals, organizations, and movements during the 20th century. Beginning in the 1930s, with the Party's organization of the Southern Tenant Farmer's Union (a bi-racial Union for sharecroppers) there is consistent overlap and interaction between the Socialist Party and the Civil Rights Movement. The collection reflects the fact that the Party was supported by various black activists who were also party members, including Baynard Rustin, A. Phillip Randolf, Norman Hill of the NAACP, and Arthur Parker; and had state chapters involved in various local Civil Rights activities that included and affected both black women and men.

Women-In-Action For The Prevention Of Violence Records, 1968-1981. 3,100 Items. Durham, North Carolina.

Records of Women In Action for The Prevention of Violence and Its Causes, Inc., Durham Chapter, a non-profit inter-racial organization founded in Durham in 1968. Black organizer Elna Spaulding was the groups founder and first president. The records reflect the organization's primary goals of easing racial tensions and smoothing the way for court ordered school desegregation in 1970. Additionally they document the group's involvement in a variety of issues in the Durham community.