Segregation

AFT: Human Rights and Community Relations Records

dgolodner — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:04:52 -0400

The Human Rights and Community Relations Department of the American Federation of
Teachers was created by Vice President Richard Parrish October 2, 1966. Before the
official department was created it was a standing committee and then a permanent
committee with in the executive council. The department was created as an office in the
AFT that would be responsible for collecting and distributing information about the
government, education and community policies and programs dealing with civil and
human rights. The most important duty of the department is to guide the AFT in any
“involvement with or commitment to labor and other organizations concerned with civil
and human rights.”

Part One of the collection deals with the Racism in Education conference that the AFT sponsored throughout the late 1960s to the early 1970s. Other materials are general subject files and correspondence to and from the Civil Rights Department. Part Two of the collection pertains to black history, race relations and women’s rights on both national and local levels. The collection consists of AFT files as well as meeting and conference information. The department maintained a large section of subject files relating to civil and human rights in education.

Ernest Goodman Papers

drice — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:49:05 -0400

A founding member of the Detroit Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Ernest Goodman served as NLG President, and formed the nation’s first (known) interracial law firm: Goodman, Crockett, Eden and Robb. He was deeply involved with the labor movement and some of its most bitter union organizing struggles and remained committed throughout his career to serving the common man, with clients ranging from Communists, Black Panthers, prison inmates, and African-Americans during the civil rights movement.

Part I of Mr. Goodman’s papers reflect his involvement in civil rights, constitutional law and labor issues, focusing on the Michigan Smith Act trial, the Sherrill School desegregation case, and the Black Panther trial for the murder of a Detroit Police officer.

Part II reflects his activities as counsel in controversial cases, particularly first amendment and civil rights cases, courts martial, deportation and denaturalization, and the 1971 Attica prison uprising. These papers further focus on the events, places, and people who influenced both his personal life and a career spent in service to social justice for the common man.

Part III (Two storage boxes) focuses on various cases, mainly from the 1980s-1990s, Goodman's writings, his work with Wayne State University Law School, and Estonian family correspondence.

Wade H. McCree, Jr. Papers

drice — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 13:55:18 -0500

Wade Hampton McCree, Jr. began his career as a lawyer in the Detroit law firm of Harold E. Bledsoe and Hobart Taylor. He later served on the state’s Workmen’s Compensation Commission and as a judge in the county and U.S. court system. During his tenure on the bench, McCree took part in a number of school desegregation cases iand as the government’s lawyer, he argued a number of significant cases before the Supreme Court. He resigned in 1977 to accept appointment as U.S. Solicitor General in the Carter administration. In the last few years of his life, McCree taught law at the University of Michigan, and consulted on various cases and served as Special Master for the U.S. Supreme Court in cases in which it exercised original jurisdiction. Judge McCree’s professional, educational, civic and charitable activities were many and he was the recipient of numerous honors and awards.

His papers contain his personal and professional correspondence, speeches and writings, voluminous case files, including his notes and opinions, meeting minutes, publications and other material relating to his service on the bench and as the federal government’s chief lawyer as well as his work on professional committees and his involvement with a wide range of civic, fraternal and charitable organizations.

Richard McGhee Papers

drice — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:36:31 -0500

Richard McGhee worked for various Detroit, Michigan, and national cultural, civil rights and political organizations. His papers largely reflect his active participation in groups fostering integration of Detroit's schools and neighborhoods through cultural programs and policy-community relations.

Collection Spotlight: Wade McCree's contribution to Detroit and the nation

ljones — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:37:16 -0500

The Walter P. Reuther Library continues to celebrate Black History Month by highlighting the life of Wade McCree and his papers.

In his work as a judge, appointed official, and educator coupled with his sense of civic responsibility, Wade Hampton McCree, Jr. made a unique contribution to the Detroit metropolitan area and beyond. His success in these areas are noteworthy by themselves, but even more so given the barriers to success experienced by African Americans read more »

Guest Post: Ciera Casteel on the Wayne State University Oral History Course Oral Histories

aorchard — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 11:05:31 -0400

Please note: The oral history course collections mentioned in this post have been consolidated into one collection: Wayne State University Oral History Methodology Course Oral Histories. Please refer to the finding aid here: https://archives.wayne.edu/repositories/2/resources/3381.

Over the course of the last few months I had the opportunity to work at the Reuther Library processing oral history collections. This was an incredible experience through which I was able to create tools to increase researchers' access to four relatively new collections: the Wayne State University Oral History Course Oral Histories. These four collections are a treasure for researchers studying a number of topics. read more »

Records of Jewish Community Council Reveal Mid-Century Concerns and Actions on Social and Racial Justice

aergas — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 09:30:45 -0500

A lesser-known, and maybe surprising, source for historians and researchers looking at 20th-century race relations in Detroit are the Jewish Community Council Records, part of the Jewish Community Archives at the Reuther Library.

This large collection documents grassroots discussions and actions in Detroit’s Jewish community and the wider urban community particularly from the 1940s to the 1970s. read more »

Subject Focus: African American History at the Reuther Library

wlefevre — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:19:12 -0500

The Reuther Library celebrates African American History Month with a look at some of the significant collections housed in the library that deal with African American history.

A gem from Rosa Parks’s collection is a set of her hand written notes from her time at the Highlander Folk School in 1955, shortly before the Montgomery Bus Boycott. These notes showcase her read more »

(30568) Segregations, Housing Discrimination, Undated

eclemens — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 09:13:52 -0400

Exterior view of a boarding house in the Queen Anne style. Painted on it’s exterior are two signs: “Rooms for rent” and “Rooms for Colored.”

(2819) Demonstrations, Segregation, Busing, Pontiac, Michigan, 1971

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 08:52:04 -0400

A woman carrying an American flag marches in front of a school bus, refusing to let it pass during an anti-busing protest, Pontiac, Michigan.

Photographer’s Note: This woman carried the American Flag as she ran in front of the bus. The bus driver zigged and zagged to get around her, but finally had to stop to avoid running into her.”

(2820) Demonstrations, Segregation, Busing, Pontiac, Michigan, 1971

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 08:49:04 -0400

A mother, holding a small child, attempts to stop a bus from leaving the school parking lot by standing in front of it during a anti-busing demonstration, Pontiac, Michigan. Written across her and her child’s clothing are anti-busing slogans such as “Born them free. Keep them free. No Busing” and “Not our kids.”

(2821) Demonstrations, Segregation, Busing, Pontiac, Michigan, 1971

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 08:44:13 -0400

Women and children stand in front of a bus, refusing to let it pass out of the schoolyard, as reporters look on during an anti-busing protest, Pontiac, Michigan. Many carry placards and appear to be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Photographers Note: “In Pontiac, busing of students was a major issue. The courts ordered schools to transport students from one school to another in order to integrate them.”

(9801) Demonstrations, Segregation, Busing, Pontiac, Michigan, 1971

eclemens — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 08:41:16 -0400

A police officer holds back demonstrators as a school bus passes during an anti-busing demonstration, Pontiac, Michigan. The protesters attempt to intimidate bus drivers and students by invoking the name of the Ku Klux Klan.

Note: Ku Klux Klan is spelled incorrectly on their sign.

(26684) Henry Sweet Trial, Defense Team, 1926

eclemens — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 10:12:06 -0400

Henry Sweet, brother of Dr. Ossian Sweet, stands with his defense team while on trial for murder.

Left to right: Henry Sweet, Julian Perry, Thomas Chawke, Clarence Darrow.

Podcast: Assembly Line Housing: Walter P. Reuther, George Romney, and Operation Breakthrough – Part 1

teller — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 09:45:14 -0400

In the first of a two-part series, Dr. Kristin Szylvian explains the role of the American labor movement, and UAW president Walter Reuther in particular, in lobbying for and shaping fair housing programs and legislation in Detroit and nationally after the Second World War. That influence paved the way for an unlikely alliance in the 1960s between Reuther and George Romney, the former Republican governor of Michigan, when they joined together in the late 1960s to launch Operation Breakthrough, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program to use union-made manufactured housing to alleviate the housing crisis in minority communities while also creating job opportunities and encouraging racial and income integration in the larger community. read more »

Podcast: Assembly Line Housing: Walter P. Reuther, George Romney, and Operation Breakthrough – Part 2

teller — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 09:04:23 -0400

In the second of a two-part series, Dr. Kristin M. Szylvian explains how racial segregation and the fear of declining property values ultimately scuttled Operation Breakthrough, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Program early in the Nixon administration to use union-made manufactured housing to create racially- and economically-integrated housing communities throughout the country. read more »