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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
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.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 178.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 87700 items) |
| Abstract | Southerners for Economic Justice (SEJ) was founded in 1976 during a successful campaign to help J. P. Stevens textile workers unionize. Since then, SEJ has focused on empowering the unemployed and working poor to develop community-based strategies to solve social problems associated with economic crisis. Records, 1977-2001, of Southerners for Economic Justice document the organization under the leadership of its first three directors: James Sessions, Leah Wise, and Cynthia D. Brown. Administrative records document the everyday operations and strategic planning of SEJ, as well as the organizational culture of a non-profit organization. Project and subject files document programmatic work, grassroots organizing, and related interests of the organization, especially unemployment due to plant closings, racist violence, environmental racism, shrinking union membership, contingent work, workplace health and safety reform, leadership training for minority women and youth, and literacy. Subject files also show collaboration with churches and like-minded organizations and grassroots activists at local, state, regional, national, and international levels to build and participate in support networks and coalition groups, including the Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network, among many others. Highlights of SEJ's documented activist work include the J. P. Stevens campaign; the Schlage Lock campaign; the workers' bill of rights for city employees of Durham, N.C.; Betrayal of Trust: Stories of Working North Carolinians, a report published in 1989 that documents workplace discrimination and wrongful firing of workers; the Hamlet, N.C., coalition for workplace safety reform; the Working Women's Organizing Project; Youth for Social Change; and Voices of Experience, a collaborative group that advised and advocated for people experiencing welfare reform. Other materials include an extensive collection of economic and social justice newsletters and photographs, chiefly documenting SEJ meetings and events, but also showing Durham, N.C., scenes. |
| Creator | Southerners for Economic Justice. |
| 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.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
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Historical Information
Southerners for Economic Justice (SEJ) was founded in 1976 during a successful campaign to help J. P. Stevens textile workers unionize. The organization formed to support the empowerment of workers by developing community and institutional allies at the local and national levels. SEJ especially engaged churches, locally to build community support for organizing workers and nationally at the denominational level for expressions of solidarity with their cause.
During the 1980s, SEJ focused its efforts on building community responses to the effects of economic crisis--unemployment due to plant closings, escalating racist violence, shrinking union membership, oppressive working conditions, environmental damage, and abuse of workers' health. Projects and networks such as the workers rights project, Betrayal of Trust: Stories of Working North Carolinians , North Carolinians Against Religious and Racial Violence (NCARRV), the Schlage Workers for Justice, and the womens/legal organizing project, grew out of their empowerment agenda. Their chief constituency during this period was dislocated and marginalized workers, often low income or unemployed and injured women of color. Development of leadership and organizational skills in African American youth became a second focus later in the decade.
In addition to organizing local grassroots projects, SEJ worked to articulate the conditions and concerns of southern workers and communities in a regional, national, and international context. In 1989, the organization helped to launch the Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network (REJN), with the goal of building a broad-based economic justice movement in the South. REJN sought to develop grassroots working-class leadership, to strengthen activist organizations, and to infuse local organizing work with a global political/economic analysis. Its working groups focused on transient industry, contingent workforces, health and safety, poultry/catfish workers, religious partnerships, and economic research. SEJ also allied with a number of other existing organizations, including the Center for Democratic Renewal, the Interreligious Economic Crisis Organizing Network (I/Econ), and the Federation for Industrial Retention and Renewal (FIRR) among many others.
During the 1990s, SEJ concentrated on responding to economic restructuring and global economic integration. SEJ continued to study contingent work, environmental racism, destabilized African American communities, and cuts in welfare and other health and social programs for the poor. Their programmatic efforts included building and participating in coalitions at the local, regional, national, and international levels, advocating for policy changes and analyzing economic trends. Some of their many networking and coalition partners during this period included the North Carolina Welfare Reform Collaborative; the North Carolina Multi Issue Alliance; and Voices of Experience, a collaboration of organizations to advise and advocate for people experiencing Work First welfare reform. SEJ's community organizing work, including the Working Women's Organizing Project and Youth for Social Change, aimed to help their chief constituencies--African American women and youth in Durham, N.C.--to achieve changes in their lives, neighborhoods, workplaces, as well as in community institutions and public policies.
As of 2009, Southerners for Economic Justice continues to work for the cause of economic and social justice.
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Scope and Content
The collection is records, 1977-2001, of Southerners for Economic Justice, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the unemployed and working poor to develop community-based strategies to solve social problems associated with economic crisis. Administrative records, including correspondence (chiefly outgoing), board of directors, press, fundraising, financial, and personnel materials, document the everyday operations and strategic planning of SEJ, as well as the organizational culture of a non-profit organization. Project and subject files document programmatic work, grassroots organizing, and related interests of the organization, especially unemployment due to plant closings, racist violence, environmental racism, shrinking union membership, contingent work, workplace health and safety reform, leadership training for minority women and youth, and literacy. Subject files also show collaboration with churches, like-minded organizations, and grassroots activists at local, state, regional, national, and international levels to build and participate in support networks and coalition groups, including the Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network, North Carolinians Against Racial and Religious Violence, the North Carolina Welfare Reform Collaborative, and the North Carolina Multi Issue Alliance, among many others. Highlights of SEJ's documented activist work include the J. P. Stevens campaign; the Schlage Lock campaign; the workers' bill of rights for city employees of Durham, N.C.; Betrayal of Trust: Stories of Working North Carolinians , a 1989 publication documenting individual accounts of worker abuse; the Hamlet, N.C., coalition for workplace safety reform; the Working Women's Organizing Project; Youth for Social Change; and Voices of Experience, a collaborative group that advised and advocated for people experiencing welfare reform. Other materials include an extensive collection of economic and social justice newsletters and photographs, chiefly documenting SEJ meetings and events, but also showing Durham, N.C., scenes.
Researchers should note that there is considerable overlap of subjects in Series 2 through 5 because of the programmatic continuity from one director to the next. File titles for similar materials, however, may vary from one series to the next.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. J. P. Stevens & Co., 1977-1980.
Arrangement: alphabetical by subject.
Materials relating to the court cases, boycott, and public relations campaign against J. P. Stevens & Co., which was accused of unfair labor practices. Included are legal materials, correspondence, reports, financial materials, clippings, and other printed material documenting grassroots organizing of workers and public sentiment against J. P. Stevens & Co.
| Box 1-3 |
J. P. Stevens & Co. #05320, Series: "1. J. P. Stevens & Co., 1977-1980." Box 1-3Box 1Box 2Box 3 |
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Series 2. Records, circa 1977-1983.
Administrative records and subject files that document the first programmatic period of the organization, chiefly under the leadership of James Sessions. Some materials related to this time period were filed by the organization with like materials in Series 3.
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Subseries 2.1. Administrative records, circa 1977-1983.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
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Subseries 2.2. Subject files, circa 1977-1983.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
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Series 3. Records, circa 1977-1993
(bulk 1983-1991).
Administrative records, project files, subject files, and organization files that document the second programmatic period of the organization, chiefly under the leadership of Leah Wise.
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Subseries 3.1. Administrative files, 1977-1993 (bulk
1983-1991).
Arrangement: alphabetical.
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Subseries 3.2. Project files, 1977-1993 (bulk1983-1991).
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Project files include materials relating to programmatic activities of the organization, board of director materials for various grassroots organizations that Leah Wise served on, and other subject files. Also included are research, interview, and other files related to Betrayal of Trust: Stories of Working North Carolinians , a 1989 Southerners for Economic Justice publication documenting cases of dislocated workers.
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Subseries 3.3. Subject Files, 1977-1993 (bulk 1983-1991).
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Subject files provide background information for social and economic justice issues of interest to the Southerners for Economic Justice.
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Subseries 3.4. Organization Files, 1977-1993 (bulk
1983-1991).
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Organization files document the work of other grassroots social justice organizations at local, national, and international levels. Similar organization files may also be found in series 2.2, 3.2, 4.2, and 5.2.
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Series 4. Records, circa 1991-1997.
Administrative records and subject files that document the first segment of the third programmatic period of the organization, chiefly under the leadership of Cynthia D. Brown.
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Subseries 4.1. Administrative files, 1991-1997.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
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Subseries 4.2. Subject files, 1991-1997.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
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Series 5. Records, circa 1997-2001.
Administrative records and subject files that document the second segment of the third programmatic period of the organization, chiefly under the leadership of Cynthia D. Brown.
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Subseries 5.1. Administrative Files, circa 1997-2001.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
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Subseries 5.2. Subject Files, 1997-2001.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
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Series 6. Foundations and Donors, 1981-2001.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, grant applications, printed material for foundations and donors of interest to Southerners for Economic Justice. Similar material also may be found in administrative files in series 3, 4, and 5.
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Series 7. Printed Material, 1980s-2001.
Newsletters, subject files, and other printed material, including reports, conference materials, pamphlets, handbooks, foundation annual reports, and other publications, relating to welfare and poverty, labor relations, social change, race relations, non-profit organizations, grassroots organizing, and other subjects of interest to Southerners for Economic Justice.
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Subseries 7.1. Newsletters, 1980s-2001.
Arrangement: alphabetical by newsletter or publishing organization name.
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Subseries 7.2. Subject Files, 1980s-2001.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Newsletter articles organized by topic.
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Subseries 7.3. Other Printed Materials, 1980s-2001.
| Box 114-119 |
Other printed materials #05320, Subseries: "7.3. Other Printed Materials, 1980s-2001." Box 114-119Box 114Box 115Box 116Box 117Box 118Box 119 |
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Series 8. Photographs, circa 1980-2000.
Photographs chiefly of events sponsored and/or supported by Southerners for Economic Justice. Some photographs document Durham, N.C., scenes.
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Items Separated
Processed by: Nancy Kaiser, December 2008
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, December 2008
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