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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
Portions of this collection have been digitized as part of "Content, Context, and Capacity: A Collaborative Large-Scale Digitization Project on the Long Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina." The project was made possible by funding from the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.
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Collection Overview
| Size | About 27,500 items (26.5 linear feet) |
| Abstract | The North Carolina Council on Human Relations (NCCHR) was one of twelve state organizations affiliated with the Southern Regional Council (SRC). An interracial organization, it sought, from 1954 until 1969, to solve racial problems in North Carolina through research and communication. NCCHR records include correspondence, reports, proposals, financial records, newsletters, speeches, and other materials relating to the NCCHR and to its local affiliates. There are reports and correspondence of executive directors Harry S. Jones, Helen Adams Furman, and Will C. Allred Jr. Also included are small numbers of records of the Southern Regional Council and human relations councils in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Topics include social and economic conditions of African Americans in North Carolina and the South, civil rights, education, employment, integration of public schools and higher education, labor relations, labor unions, private and public housing, and race relations. |
| Creator | North Carolina Council on Human Relations. |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Related Collections
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Historical Information
The North Carolina Council on Human Relations (NCCHR) was one of twelve state organizations affiliated with the Southern Regional Council (SRC), successor to the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, which became active in 1919. The SRC's board membership transcended boundaries of major religious faiths and included both blacks and whites. Other states with organizations similar to NCCHR included Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The stated assumption of the North Carolina Council was that the people of North Carolina had enough good will and commitment to democratic and religious ideals to solve their human relations problems. Toward this end, the NCCHR endeavored to establish communications across racial lines, to study racial problems in local communities, and to work out solutions through peaceful evolution.
The NCCHR carried forward the work of the North Carolina Commission on Interracial Cooperation. Begun in 1921, the North Carolina Commission existed as a private organization chartered by the state, with governors serving as honorary chairs. In 1951, the organization became a state division of the Southern Regional Council, but was relatively inactive in the early 1950s. In 1954, in response to the Browndecision, members revived the organization, changed its name, employed Harry S. Jones as executive secretary, and embarked on a new program. The new charter and by-laws became official on 6 January 1955.
A native of Paris, Mo., Harry S. Jones served as executive secretary for nine years, until his death in 1963. Following Jones's death, Helen Adams, who later married and became Helen Adams Furman, served as the second executive director from 1964 to 1965. Furman was a native of Birmingham, Ala. Will C. Allred Jr., was executive director from 1966 until the Council closed its doors in 1969.
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Scope and Content
Correspondence, reports, proposals, financial records, newsletters, and other records of the North Carolina Council on Human Relations(NCCHR) and its local affiliates, chiefly dealing with race relations in North Carolina. There are reports and correspondence of executive directors Harry S. Jones, Helen Adams Furman, and Will C. Allred Jr.Unlike the correspondence of Jones and Allred, materials pertaining to Furman are too few in quantity to comprise their own subseries. Items documenting her service to the Council are included along with other correspondence in subseries 1.3. The collection also includes small numbers of records of the Southern Regional Counciland human relations councils in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The bulk of the materials in this collection date from 1954 to 1969. There is, however, a small number of items from the 1940s, primarily correspondence of various SRC officials. Post-1969 correspondence letters and related materials sent to Will C. Allred Jr., after the North Carolina Council on Human Relations closed its doors in 1969.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence, 1944-1984 and undated.
Primarily correspondence of Harry S. Jonesand Will C. Allred Jr., executive directors of the North Carolina Council on Human Relations (NCCHR). Also included is a small number of items relating to Helen Adams Furmanand her service as executive director of the Council, 1964-1965. There are letters exchanged between NCCHR officials and bankers, educators, school board officials, members of the clergy, and others. These materials pertain to the organization's operations and finances, as well as to discrimination, fair housing, and the integration of schoolsand other public facilities.
Items in this series provide documentation of the activities of the Southern Regional Council(SRC) and its relationship with the NCCHR. In addition, there are letters from various governmental agencies and other local, state, and national entities, including the North Carolina Council of Churches, the North Carolina Teachers Association, and the Board of Church Extensionin Atlanta, Ga. Also included are letters from human relations councils in Virginia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi, and other states.
This series contains correspondence between Harry Jones and prominent individuals including Benjamin E. Mays, president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. There is a letter, 14 January 1958, from Jones to Martin Luther King Jr., inviting King to visit Charlotte, N.C., the day after a scheduled speaking engagement in Raleigh. There is also a copy of a personal letter from Leslie Dunbarto Coretta Scott King, 21 October 1964, expressing pride in her and Martin Luther King Jr. There are also letters relating to Jones's sudden death in August 1963.
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Subseries 1.1. Jones, Harry S., 1954-1963 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological and alphabetical.
Primarily correspondence of Harry S. Jones, dating from the mid 1950s up to the time of his death in 1963. Included are many carbon copies of Jones's letters to individuals and organizations in North Carolina and elsewhere. There are also carbon copies of letters generated by officials at the Southern Regional Counciland local councils in North Carolina and in other states.
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Subseries 1.2. Allred, Will C., Jr., 1956-1984 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence of Will C. Allred Jr., who served as executive director of the North Carolina Council on Human Relations from 1966 to 1969. Included is correspondence between Allred and individuals and businesses concerned with the Council's affairs. Many of these items are carbon copies of letters generated by Allred and by workers at the Southern Regional Council, other state councils, and regional councils in North Carolina. A small number of Allred's personal letters are included.
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Subseries 1.3. Other Correspondence, 1944-1968 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence of others, including Helen Adams Furman. Included are items pertaining to the operation of the North Carolina Council on Human Relations after Harry Jones's death by various individuals who shared the responsibility until Helen Adams Furman became executive director.
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Series 2. Administrative Materials, 1955-1967.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Materials documenting the business operations of the North Carolina Council on Human Relations. Included are letters and other items pertaining to the history, finances, and other aspects of the organization. Some materials also provide documentation relating to local councils in North Carolina.
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Series 3. Local Councils and Affiliates, 1955-1968.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, reports, and other materials pertaining to the activities of local councils and affiliates of the North Carolina Council on Human Relations. Included are copies of the suggested by-laws for the Asheville Area Council on Human Relations and items concerning the membership of that organization. There is a sermon preached by the Reverend James Douglas Riddle, 3 December 1967, examining the issue of public housing in Chapel Hill, N.C. In addition, there are letters from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Council on Human Relations pertaining to the controversy that surrounded the proposed development of two junior colleges (one for whites and another for blacks) during the early 1960s. There are materials describing the purpose and evolution of the Durham Council on Human Relations. From the Kinston-Lenoir County Interracial Commission, there are bulletins of human relations institutes held in Lenoir County, N.C., 1957-1967.
Also included is a copy of a notice sent to the Kinston Daily Press, 2 April 1963, announcing that Kellis Parker, a Kinston native, was among the first African-American undergraduates enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Series 4. Southern Regional Council, 1944-1984 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Materials pertaining to the Southern Regional Council in Atlanta, Ga. Included are correspondence, financial records, and reports issued by the organization. These materials discuss topics such as the elections of Council officers, fund-raising initiatives, and progress in the areas of housing, employment, and education.
There are letters between SRC officials and individuals and businesses in the United States and elsewhere. Among these is a letter from George S. Mitchell to Charlotte Hawkins Brown, founder of Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, N.C. In this letter, dated 3 December 1953, Mitchell expressed his gratitude to Brown for her financial support of the Southern Regional Council and alluded to her work and accomplishments as an educator and participant in efforts to secure racial equality. There is also correspondence between Mitchell and Quintin Whyte, director of the South African Institute of Race Relations in Johannesburg, South Africa. In a letter dated 5 November 1954, Whyte discussed race-related problems affecting his country and made a request for materials dealing with racial discrimination in crime reports and newspaper headlines.
Also included are materials relating to the activities of affiliated state councils and items concerning human relations progress in North Carolina, Tennessee, and other Southern states.
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Series 5. Other State Councils, 1946-1969 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Materials documenting the history and activities of various state-level divisions of the Southern Regional Council. Included are records of the councils in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Included are correspondence, administrative and financial records, newsletters, speeches, and reports.
Among these materials are a preliminary draft of the Alabama Council on Human Relations' policy manual and copies of the organization's quarterly reports. There are also copies of the Alabama Council on Human Relation's newsletter, 1955-1967. Items pertaining to the Arkansas Council on Human Relations include a copy of "A Handbook for Local Councils on Human Relations" and copies of materials discussing school integration in Little Rock.
Also included are quarterly reports and annual meeting materials from the Georgia Council on Human Relations. Among the Kentucky Council on Human Relations materials are a report from the Kentucky Commission on Negro Affairs and materials tracking the progress of desegregation efforts in educational institutions and training programs for nursing students. Materials from the South Carolina Council on Human Relations consist primarily of correspondence and items discussing ways to organize a human relations council.
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Series 6. Subject Files, 1949-1983.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Materials documenting the North Carolina Council on Human Relations' progress in helping to improve race relations in the state. Topics discussed include civil rights, desegregation, labor movements, education, religious life, housing, urban renewal, and employment opportunities in North Carolina.
There are also items from state and national organizations that shared an interest in the Council's achievements and materials from a number of local groups. In folders 535-537, for example, there are copies of Integration News, the monthly bulletin of the Chapel Hill Fellowship for School Integration, an interracial entity based in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Also included are speeches and writings that document positions taken by the NCCHR and Southern Regional Council and its other state divisions. Also included is a reprint of President Lyndon B. Johnson's commencement speech at Howard University, 4 June 1965, and materials relating to Lillian Smith, author of Killers of the Dream, Strange Fruit, and other works.
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Series 7. Pictures, 1955-1958 and undated.
Arrangement: by subject.
Photographic materials relating to Harry S. Jones, who served as the first executive director of the North Carolina Council on Human Relations. Included are individual photographs of General Lyman L. Lemnitzer of the United States Army, North Carolina Central University professor Helen G. Edmonds, Edward D. Ball, and other friends and associates of Jones. There are also photographs of A Company, Signal Service Battalion, 8111th Army Unit and of General I. D. White's 1955 visit to Okinawa, Japan.
Other photographs include African American schoolchildren posed in front of a high school in the Burnsville, N.C., area or attending class in a church basement. There are also photographs of conference activities in Virginia and North Carolina, including a photo of a placard that reads, "Students and Workers Unite for a Better North Carolina".
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Items Separated
Items separated include photographs (P-4880/folders 1-2).
Back to TopThis collection was processed with support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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