The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People records

Repository: Library of Congress. Manuscript Division

Collection Description (CRHP): The recordings transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division consist of hundreds of tape reels of meetings and speeches. Activists who appear on the tapes include Ralph Abernathy, Daisy Bates, Julian Bond, Medgar Evers, W. E. B. DuBois, James Farmer, Walter Fauntroy, William Hastie, Dorothy I. Height, Herbert Hill, Benjamin Hooks, Jesse Jackson, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, James Meredith, W. Robert Ming, Clarence Mitchell, Constance Baker Motley, Bayard Rustin, Arthur B. Springarn, Stephen Gill Spottswood, Percy E. Sutton, Samuel Tucker, Roy Wilkins and Malcolm X.

Collection Description (Extant): Civil rights organization. Records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People consisting of correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, itineraries, biographical material, speeches, testimony, writings, annual convention files, legal case files, legislation, publications, resolutions, policy statements, constitutions, bylaws, charters, contracts, proposals, scripts, financial records, publicity files, manuals, handbooks, music, awards, certificates, directories, subject files, daily mail sheets, notes, lists, questionnaires and surveys, certificates, awards, flags, photographs, maps, and printed matter.

The collection is arranged in nine parts, six of which have a chronological focus. The bulk of Part I covers 1919-1939; Part II dates primarily from 1940 to 1955; Part III is concentrated in the period 1956-1965; Parts IV and VI document the years 1966-1978; and the bulk of Part VIII dates from 1978 to 1991. The collection's remaining three parts contain the records of a particular department or contractor. Part V encompasses the records of the NAACP Legal Department, principally from 1966 to 1995. Part VII consists of the records of the Gilbert Jonas Company, a public relations firm engaged by the NAACP to raise funds. Part IX contains the files of the association's Washington Bureau that served as a liaison between the NAACP and Congress and monitored government agencies administering federal regulations and programs.

Access Copy Note: Restrictions apply governing the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division for information concerning these restrictions.

Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some photographs, broadsides, and posters have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Audio and video recordings have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Some maps have been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Date(s): 1842-1999

Digital Status: No

Existing IDs: MSS34140

Extent: 3,000,000 items ; 8,602 containers plus 46 oversize and 2 classified ; 3,965 linear feet ; 39 microfilm reels

Finding Aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms008007

Language: English

Interviewees: Ralph Abernathy, Daisy Bates, Julian Bond, Medgar Evers, W. E. B. DuBois, James Farmer, Walter Fauntroy, William Hastie, Dorothy I. Height, Herbert Hill, Benjamin Hooks, Jesse Jackson, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, James Meredith, W. Robert Ming, Clarence Mitchell, Constance Baker Motley, Bayard Rustin, Arthur B. Springarn, Stephen Gill Spottswood, Percy E. Sutton, Samuel Tucker, Roy Wilkins, Malcolm X

Rights (Extant): The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Subjects:

African American civil rights workers
Civil rights--Cases
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Genres:

Interviews
Manuscripts
Photographs
Sound recordings
Speeches