The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

William Sloane Coffin, Jr. papers

Repository: Yale University. Library. Manuscripts and Archives

Collection Description (CRHP): Audiovisual material includes Civil disobedience interview at Yale University.

Collection Description (Extant): The papers include correspondence, subject files, writings, clippings, audio and video recordings, and other materials that document the career of William Sloane Coffin, Jr. The collection includes documentation relating to the civil rights movement, Vietnam War protests, amnesty for war resisters, the Peace Corps, Operation Crossroads Africa, and Yale University during the time when Coffin served as chaplain of Yale University.
The nine "Race relations" folders comprise the most substantive materials relating to Coffin's civil rights work and include documentation from a wide variety of groups and individuals. The files predominantly contain correspondence and collected materials that document Coffin's organizing efforts and views on race, as well as those of others. Organizations documented include the Congress On Racial Equality, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund, Northern Student Movement, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Coffin also kept separate folders of materials relating to several of these groups and they are listed under their corporate names. Cross references have been provided. The series includes other materials relating to race and the civil rights movement under the following headings: Civil rights march on Washington, DC; Freedom rides; and United States Commission on Civil Rights, Connecticut Advisory Board.

Date(s): 1916-2006

Digital Status: Partial

Existing IDs: MS 1665

Extent: 80.53 linear feet (248 boxes)

Finding Aid URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.1665

Language: English

Related Archival Items: Special Collections of the University of Massachusetts- Boston has footage of a documentary on the Vietnam War that includes an interview of Coffin.

Interviewees: William Sloane Coffin, Jr.

Rights (CRHP): Contact the repository which holds the collection for information on rights

Subjects:

Civil rights--Religious aspects
Clergy
College chaplains
Freedom Rides, 1961
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements
Yale University

Genres:

Interviews
Lectures
Manuscripts
Photographs
Sound recordings
Speeches
Transcripts
Videorecordings