Civil rights--America

J. Edward Bailey III Photographs

eclemens — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 15:05:28 -0400

Photography by the renowned Black photojournalist, J. Edward Bailey III. The collection contains standard and oversized (OS) black and white photo prints, OS proof sheets, b/w photo negatives, and color transparencies. Examples of both his personal and commercial work are present, including select imagery used in Bailey's exhibits "The City Within" (Detroit Institute of Arts, 1969), and "Patient Care" (Detroit Bank and Trust Co., 1972). Subjects represented include civil rights, industry, organized labor, poverty, and Detroit's 1967 Rebellion.

Charles Cheng Papers

dgolodner — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 11:36:18 -0500

Charles Cheng was an activist for education and the civil rights movement whose life was cut short when he died on May 25, 1979 when American Airlines flight 191 crashed after takeoff from O’Hare Airport. He was 42 years old.

He was born on February 23, 1937 raised on the east side of Detroit. After graduating from Eastern Michigan University, Cheng became a teacher in Pontiac, Michigan. He left teaching to become an organizer for the Michigan Federation of Teachers and soon became the assistant to the president of the Washington Teachers Union Local 6 in Washington DC.

Charles attended Antioch Graduate School of Education earning his masters degree in Education, then he attended Harvard Graduate School for Education to receive his Ed.D in 1975. While in Boston, Mr. Cheng was a research associate at the Center for Urban Studies at Harvard as well as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University Joint Center for Urban Studies. Mr. Cheng ended up at the University of California, Los Angeles as an assistant professor in the Department of Education where he became a leading authority on community participation in collective bargaining in public education.

Cheng wrote and spoke constantly about the idea that the community should be involved with the collective bargaining in public education. Cheng was very active as well with desegregation, starting in the 1960s when he attempted to desegregate the Pontiac, MI public schools, he was on a task force in Boston, consulted in Pasadena and was a citizen member for the Los Angeles Unified School District Desegregation Plan. Cheng’s interests also included racial justice, the teaching of the history of Asian-American and Native-Americans.

Mildred Jeffrey Papers

drice — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:19:31 -0500

Mildred "Millie" Jeffrey worked as an organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, as Educational Director of the Pennsylvania Joint Board of Shirt Workers, as a consultant to the War Labor Board, as Director of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Women’s Bureau, and as Director for UAW Community Relations and Consumer Affairs Departments. Ms. Jeffrey was also active in the Democratic Party and was a founding member and chair of the National Organization of Women’s (NOW) political arm, the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Part 1 of Ms. Jeffrey’s papers document her extensive work for women’s rights and the labor movement and reflect her commitment to social justice. Part 2 primarily documents the last 30 years of her life during which Jeffrey became an activist in the many social and political movements of the time, including women’s rights, civil rights, reproductive rights and peace.

David Scribner Papers

srafferty — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 14:20:08 -0400

David Scribner held a long career in the field of law beginning in the 1930s. He specialized in civil liberties and labor law and often took on cases with political implications.

This collection consists of personal documents, professional legal documents, notes, correspondence, publications, and newspaper clippings.

UAW Public Relations Department Photographs and Sound and Video Recordings

mwallace — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 14:01:25 -0400

Since the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW) was established as an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in August 1935, the union has maintained an office to deal with public relations. At that time, a "Committee on Publication" was formed, which became the "Publication Committee" in April 1936. The Committee subsequently became the "Publicity Department" in August 1936, when the UAW became an independent union affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). This became the UAW's Public Relations Department some years later. The primary purpose of the original Committees and Department was the production of the union's national newspaper, the United Automobile Worker, which became Solidarity in 1957. Over the years, as the UAW grew into a large, powerful union, the P.R. department played an increasingly important role in writing speeches and producing various publications. It also generated large numbers of photographic images, created television advertisements, and issued press releases, delivering the union’s official stance on nearly all issues. In recent years, the P.R. Department has also been responsible for maintaining the union’s social media presence. The collection consists of Audio-Visual material, including photographic prints and contact sheets, videotapes, and audio recordings.

Walter P. Reuther - Walter P. Reuther (1963 Speech)

pneirink — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 15:30:12 -0400

In this famous 1963 speech in Washington D.C., Walter Reuther promotes civil rights and equal opportunity for all Americans.

More info about the album can be found here: http://reuther.wayne.edu/node/10783

50 Years Later: the Kerner Commission and the Poor People's Campaign

mcourtney — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 13:36:49 -0500

On February 29, 1968, The Kerner Commission issued its report on the root causes of urban rebellion in the United States. Though the report was a top-down response to inequality, it was not the only response to growing unrest in American cities. That same year, Ralph Abernathy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. planned the Poor People’s Campaign to address a lack of economic opportunity through grassroots organizing and demonstration. read more »

African Americans and the UAW

mosmith — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:53:30 -0500

The Reuther Library celebrates African American History Month with a brief review of the important role that African Americans have played in the formation and growth of the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW), one of the most powerful unions in American history, and the influence of black UAW members within the polity of Detroit. read more »

Collection Spotlight: Ramon S. Scruggs, Sr. Papers

gstrassel — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 10:37:14 -0500

Best known as the first African American member of management at both the Michigan Bell Telephone Company and AT&T, Ramon S. Scruggs, Sr. served as an influential civil rights figure in the American business community from the 1940s until his passing in 1984. What separated Scruggs from many other civil rights figures was his focus on improving racial equality through integrating African Americans into positions of management within large corporations. The Ramon S. Scruggs Sr. Papers, recently opened to the public at the Walter P. Reuther Library, chronicle the subject’s numerous accomplishments. read more »

Eleanor Josaitis — Hands Across the Racial Divide

wlefevre — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:32:36 -0400

As a symbol, it is exquisite in its simplicity. Two hands inside a circle, one black and one white, almost but never quite touching across the racial divide. This has been the logo of Focus: HOPE, an organization fighting for basic human rights in Detroit and Southeast Michigan for over forty years. And until her death last week, one of the leaders of the fight was Eleanor Josaitis. read more »

Hidden Gem: A.G. and Marie Mezerik Papers

aergas — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 14:09:24 -0400

It’s hard to explain to people just how extensive (over 2,500 collections) and varied the archival holdings of the Reuther Library are. When someone asks, we first respond with the “Big Ones, ” such as the UAW, the American Federation of Teachers, the Wayne State University Archives. There are important medium-sized collections too, among them Focus Hope, the United Farm Workers and the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW). Then there are the very small collections that are sometimes overlooked, hidden like small pebbles in a jar filled with big stones. These often contain fascinating materials that complement the Reuther’s more prominent collections.

One of these is the A.G. and Marie Mezerik Papers. read more »

Viola Liuzzo Sculpture Dedicated In Detroit

aergas — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 13:17:07 -0400

Civil rights activist Viola Gregg Liuzzo was remembered and honored on July 23, 2019, when a new sculpture, by local artist Austen Brantley, was dedicated at the Detroit park named after her.

Liuzzo, born in 1925 and a mother of five living in the Detroit area, attended classes at Wayne State University for several years in the early 1960s. In 1965, she drove to Selma, Alabama, to join activists at voter-registration drives and marches led by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. read more »

Wayne Alumna Viola Gregg Liuzzo Honored for Her Work as a Civil Rights Activist

ljones — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 16:59:26 -0400

This spring 2015, Wayne State University will be honoring one of its own whose contribution to humanity exemplifies the best in humanity. In March 1965 Viola Gregg Liuzzo traveled to Selma, Alabama in response to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s request of support for a voter registration drive in that state. On March 25, after the last of three marches that month, Liuzzo was shot and murdered on Highway 80 outside of Selma, Alabama while assisting with the transportation of marchers on the way home from the protest. read more »

(30577) Civil Rights, Segregation, Demonstrations, Police Violence, 1963

eclemens — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 09:09:38 -0400

Police dogs set upon a man during an anti-segregation demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama. Note: The shirt and pant leg of the victim are torn from the attack.

(30584) Coretta Scott King, Reverend Lowry, Ben Hooks, Martin Luther King March 25th Anniversary, Justice for Janitors, 1988

aorchard — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 14:07:39 -0400

Coretta Scott King, Reverend Lowry, and Ben Hooks at the Martin Luther King 25th Anniversary March and Justice for Janitors event.

(30609) Album Artwork, March on Washington, Civil Rights Demonstrations, 1963

eclemens — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 15:04:18 -0400

Artwork from "March on Washington: The Official Album."

The LP, produced by WRVR (a non-profit FM Station of the Riverside Church in New York), features speeches given by: Matthew Ahmann, National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice; Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; James Farmer, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); John Lewis, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); Baynard Rustin, Deputy Director of the March on Washington; Cleveland Robinson, Secretary-Treasurer of District 65, Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union of the United States and Canada; Rabbi Joachim Prinz, American Jewish Congress (AJC); A. Philip Randolph, Negro American Labor Council; Walter P. Reuther, Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO; Roy Wilkins, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Whitney M. Young, Jr., National Urban League.

(31299) SEIU Civil Rights Committee,1961

aorchard — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:10:38 -0400

A meeting of the SEIU Civil Rights Committee in June, 1961.

(32000) Governor George Romney, Anthony Liuzzo, Detroit, 1965

eclemens — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 10:28:25 -0400

Michigan Governor George Romney visits with Anthony Liuzzo, husband of slain civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo. In his hand appears to be a stack of telegrams.

(32013) Labor and Civil Rights Illustration, The Public Employee, 1968.

mcourtney — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 15:30:11 -0400

This cartoon celebrating the partnership between organized labor and civil rights groups in Local 1733’s sanitation worker strike was originally published in Public Employee in April, 1968.

(32693) AFSCME Local 420 members board bus for Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, 1957

mcourtney — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 11:56:49 -0500

AFSCME New York Local 420 members board a bus headed for the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in Washington D. C. The Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s first speech before a national audience, entitled “Give Us The Ballot.” The event marked the third anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, and aimed to promote both school integration and increased protections of voting rights for African-Americans.

(32830) Civil Rights March on Edmund Pettus Bridge, Alabama

cwesterman — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 17:04:35 -0400

Civil rights protestors march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 8, 2015.

(37290) Association of Black Students, Jackson State College Fundraiser, 1970

eclemens — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 12:49:37 -0500

Students pose with a donation box that raised funds for the funeral expenses for two students killed by police at Jackson State College. The funds were gathered during two rallies sponsored by the Association of Black Students.

Dr. Noah Brown, director of Student Support Services Program (Project 350), is center. At his right is Pat Lewis, a student from Jackson State who spoke at the rallies.

(46777) The Great March To Freedom, LP cover

eclemens — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:33:36 -0400

Front album cover from "The Great March to Freedom: Rev. Martin Luther King Speaks," Motown Record's first spoken-word pressing. The recording captured the first iteration of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered at Detroit's Cobo Hall at the conclusion of the Walk to Freedom civil rights march on June 23, 1963.

[Podcast] Race and Rebellion: Reexamining the Unlearned Lessons of the Kerner Report a Half Century Later

teller — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 20:18:12 -0400

Reuther Library outreach archivist Meghan Courtney discusses the conclusions of the 1968 Kerner Commission report in the context of today’s protests over race relations and police brutality. read more »

[Podcast] The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America

teller — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 15:31:22 -0500

John Fabian Witt recounts how in the 1920s and 1930s Charles Garland donated his million-dollar inheritance to the American Fund for Public Service, or Garland Fund, to support progressive causes and organizations he believed could challenge inequality and reshape capitalism and democracy in America. read more »