The records of SEDFRE document three major program areas: administration, including records of the scholarship fund; the leadership development program; and the legal department. The relationship between CORE and SEDF, and the growing differences, subsequent split, and formation of SEDFRE, are illustrated in the correspondence of Marvin Rich and of Carl Rachlin. The files are arranged in three paper series, which overlap to some degree, plus a final series of tape recordings.
SEDFRE's ADMINISTRATIVE FILES consist of the papers of executive director Marvin Rich, with a few items from the tenure of Ronnie Moore. Although almost every aspect of SEDFRE's programs is illustrated in the Administrative Files, much of the documentation yields little of real value to the historical researcher. For the most part, the Administrative Files are arranged so as to retain their original order and folder titles, with minor changes made where necessary for clarity.
Organizational records of SEDFRE consist of complete files of minutes of board meetings from November 1962 to May 1964, with scattered numbers through 1969; an annual report, 1973; by-laws, 1965, with undated policy statements; and files of administrative records of CORE and of its National Action Council. There is a substantial quantity of general correspondence of Marvin Rich, and a much smaller file of letters of Ronnie Moore, with related organizations, CORE administrative officers, and SEDFRE staff and contributors. Marvin Rich handled much of the correspondence regarding solicitation of contributions; these letters are present in his files, together with those pertaining to SEDFRE's various projects and programs, and routine and administrative correspondence. After 1968 Rich's correspondence is primarily administrative in nature. Much of the correspondence between the executive director, members of his staff, and contributors and staff of the legal defense department, has been filed under the name of the writer or department. Therefore, within the legal department files are located copies of incoming and outgoing correspondence between Rich and Carl Rachlin, and between Rich and the many attorneys retained by SEDFRE to work in the South. Most of the letters primarily deal with financial arrangements between the organization and the attorney and with the costs of legal work.
SEDFRE's scholarship program is documented by files of applications, rejected applications, financial statements, inquiries, and counseling records, as well as records of the scholarship committee and its administrator, Nanette Sachs. Unfortunately, these files tell little about the selection process employed by the committee.
As SEDFRE's underlying purpose was to seek funds for CORE and SEDFRE projects, there is a considerable amount of fund-raising material within the Administrative Files. There are an abundance of contribution acknowledgements, both to the foundations and to individuals, which reveal where SEDFRE's funds originated. There are also budget and financial reports, 1965-1966; loan records, 1965; records of SEDFRE disbursements, bank deposits, and bills of the legal department; and records of SEDFRE's accountant. For the most part, these files are rather routine in nature, and somewhat disappointing in their content. An example of an organized SEDFRE fund-raising campaign is found in the files of the proposed periodical, Free and Equal. Other fund-raising efforts included the annual Artists for CORE (later, Artists for SEDF) exhibition and sale of works of leading American artists, and the Economy Thrift Shop in New York, which sold donated items and produced profits for over two years.
SEDFRE also participated in a number of civil-rights projects, particularly in the South, which are documented in the Administrative Files. Following the 1964 murder of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner in Mississippi, SEDFRE took an active role in planning a memorial community center in Meridian, Mississippi. The files include proposals for the Center, fund-raising and financial papers, correspondence, and architectural plans for the structure. Within the collection are correspondence, news releases, and clippings relating to their deaths; a copy of Schwerner's original application to work for CORE; a memorial anniversary program and other commemorative material. Also present are drafts, notes and correspondence for the book, They Shall Overcome, sponsored by SEDF, including letters between Marvin Rich and author Saul Bellow, who wrote the introduction to the book.
Other SEDFRE projects illustrated in the Administrative Files include the Citizenship Education Project and Workshops conducted in Louisiana, northern Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia, which were designed to encourage blacks to register to vote. The Community Development Fellow-ship Program is represented by correspondence, reports, and applications of the students who were actively sought by SEDFRE to conduct local voter registration drives in the South. The Newark, New Jersey Welfare Rights Project was a one-year demonstration program, 1967-1968, designed to produce and make available a comprehensive body of information for welfare recipients and those who worked with them. These files include general reference material, the Newark Welfare Rights Handbook, and correspondence and papers of Shirley Lacy, project director.
The files of the LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM of SEDFRE largely consist of the records of Ronnie Moore, head of the program and his staff. The development of the program can be seen in the files of the Program's prospectus and papers, the records of the Advisory Committee, reports, and general and specific files of Moore's correspondence. A major portion of this series includes applications, training designs and plans, evaluations, and correspondence regarding the leadership development work-shops sponsored by SEDFRE. The Neighborhood Action Institute in Gary, Indiana, is a particularly well-documented example of a city-wide organization established by SEDFRE to conduct workshops for a variety of professionals, government officials, businesspeople, and the general public. The files also illustrate the initiation of the program in Gary, the development of the training programs, and the financial aspects of conducting the workshops. Similar, although more fragmentary, material may be found in the files of workshops held by local CORE organizations, and by other organizations which cooperated with SEDFRE in conducting workshops. The Citizenship Education Workshops noted above in the description of the Administrative Files are also represented in the files of the Leadership Development Program, by applications, evaluations of the workshops, reports, and training programs.
The subject files of the Leadership Development staff include materials used in the development and preparation of their programs. There are folders on career training, narcotics education, community organizing, welfare rights, police-community relations, the Poor People's Campaign, the Puerto Rican Community Development Project, employment programs, and others. Documentation includes correspondence with staff from other projects, internal memoranda and notes, questionnaires, reports, and printed and near-print materials.
The records of SEDFRE's LEGAL DEPARTMENT are the most numerous in the collection, consisting of the private and professional correspondence of Carl Rachlin; general correspondence of the department, most of which was written by Rachlin; general administrative records; files of correspondence with and papers of other civil rights, civil liberties, and legal organizations and projects; extensive case files concerning legal cases litigated by SEDFRE; case files from numerous civil rights cases not conducted by SEDFRE, which were kept for reference and research purposes; complaints and requests to SEDFRE for legal assistance; housing and rent strike cases; papers from undeveloped legal cases; files of documents from New York City fair hearings: personal, professional, and reference papers of Rachlin: and legal department reference files.
Carl Rachlin's personal and professional correspondence, arranged in chronological order, consists of letters written as CORE general counsel; personal letters written as CORE general counsel; personal letters to friends and acquaintances, many of whom were also involved in civil rights work or who were attorneys; and correspondence regarding his speaking engagements, articles, and book reviews. There is a folder of correspondence from February - March 1967, between Rachlin and Floyd McKissick, national director of CORE, in which are discussed Rachlin's resignation as CORE general counsel (November 30, 1966), the history of the CORE-SEDF relationship, financial responsibilities and problems, and other items which contributed to the break between CORE and SEDF and led to the organization of SEDFRE. Like the general correspondence of the legal department which follows it, Rachlin's correspondence has been retained as a separate entity, as arranged by the legal department staff. As a result, there is some overlap between the two correspondence subseries, and the researcher should check both portions.
General correspondence consists of letters written by the legal department, primarily by Rachlin, but also by Steven Nagler, Richard Klein, Steven Schlakman, and other staff assistants. The correspondence has been arranged by individual, organization, activity, or topic, and is in chronological order within each category. Much of the correspondence concerns cases in litigation or legal action contemplated by SEDFRE, or discusses situations out of SEDFRE's jurisdiction but of general interest to civil rights groups. There are also files of correspondence and related material pertaining to the general operation of the department, such as files on the employment of law students, fund-raising, postal permits and rules, and requests for information.
The general administrative records of the department include annual reports, 1964-1968; program reports and prospectuses; an audit, 1963, and other financial records; information concerning bequests to CORE; CORE constitutions and minutes of CORE's National Action Committee and national conventions; contact lists; law students reports and research memoranda; and personnel files. Papers of both CORE and SEDF legal projects are found in these files; no attempt was made to alter their original integrated state. The involvement of law students and summer legal interns in the work of the department is clearly seen in many files of this subseries. Also present are correspondence, papers presented, and other documentation from the annual legal conferences sponsored by CORE from 1964-1966, as well as notes, correspondence, and memoranda from a meeting of CORE attorneys regarding civil rights in Louisiana, about 1964; records of a December 1964 Southwest Regional Conference; and reports of trips made by Carl Rachlin to various places in the South to assist with legal work or the presentation of a case.
The legal department's records of its cooperation with other organizations and activities include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, newsletters, reports, and other papers from various civil rights and civil liberties groups interested in legal services for civil rights workers and minority citizens. There are also folders concerning groups in which Carl Rachlin maintained a personal interest, such as the American Jewish Congress. In addition, there are files on projects or groups which SEDFRE assisted or supported, and conferences sponsored by the legal department. Folders with general or topical headings contain correspondence, reports, notes, and printed material pertaining to the topic, apparently created by Carl Rachlin or the SEDFRE attorneys in the South in response to discriminatory situations or requests by local groups. Among these topics are the desegregation of Cambridge, Maryland swimming pools; Cordele, Georgia public housing; employment discrimination at the East Orange, New Jersey Veterans Hospital; Florida school suspensions; racial discrimination at the University of Massachusetts; school desegregation in Gadsden County, Florida; and voter registration in South Carolina.
The major portion of this series is comprised of the legal case files, which are divided into several sections. The largest, consisting of case files of litigation undertaken by SEDFRE through its staff attorneys, or in conjunction with other civil rights groups, has been placed first, and fills boxes 34-44. Within the files, alphabetically-arranged by case, are legal papers, correspondence pertaining to the case, notes taken by the attorneys and student researchers, clippings, and legal citations and other reference material, all in chronological order in each category. Most of the cases involve CORE civil rights workers in the South, cases brought against CORE itself, and various civil rights “test” cases (i.e. testing the availability of public accommodations; federal school desegregation, equal opportunities, and voting rights legislation). Other cases pertain to welfare rights, housing and employment discrimination, and public accommodations in northern urban areas, and the many arrests and legal action stemming from the civil rights demonstrations at the 1964 New York World's Fair. There are several folders pertaining to desegregation of public schools in Louisiana; many of which are listed by the title of the individual case, while material regarding undeveloped cases or cases which could not be identified is filed with section entitled “Other Legal Cases.” Additional significant cases include the State of Louisiana vs. B. Elton Cox (and Cox vs. Louisiana), Robert L. Pierson vs. J. L. Ray (Freedom Riders arrested in Mississippi), and the suit brought by New York City police officer Thomas R. Gilligan against James Farmer and CORE (Gilligan's shooting of James Power triggered the 1964 Harlem riots; Farmer's comments regarding Gilligan caused him to sue for libel).
Other Legal Cases (Boxes 44-45) include similar material, but in these instances much of the material appeared to be collected by SEDFRE for reference use, or illustrate cases where SEDFRE or CORE filed an “amicus curiae” brief in the matter. These cases are arranged in a fashion similar to those described above. Other portions of the legal department files include complaints to SEDFRE and requests for help, particularly from the New York City area. Following the 1964 race riots in Harlem, SEDFRE received numerous complaints of police brutality, in the form of letters, notes, signed complaints, and telephone messages; these form a substantial portion of this sub-series. Other subjects of complaints were housing, welfare, unions and labor, Armed Forces discrimination, and the conditions at Attica State Prison.
Similar types of documentation may be found in the subseries entitled “Housing and Rent Strikes” and “Undeveloped Cases;” in each are located legal papers, correspondence, handwritten notes, and items presented in support of a legal claim. Most of the files are of a fragmentary nature.
The papers concerning fair hearing includes the legal documents from the hearings, together with correspondence and notes, all arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the individual involved. “Fair hearings” were employed in the disposition of New York City welfare cases, and the subseries also includes copies of fair hearings rules, regulations, and analyses of these rules. Also present are case notes, hearing requests, correspondence and other documents.
Personal papers of Carl Rachlin, excluding correspondence for the most part, follow the administrative records of the legal department. There is one folder containing a few personal documents and legal papers, and several folders of published articles, drafts, and notes; and speeches written by Rachlin, and printed copies of his testimony before Congressional committees. Most of the writings and speeches deal with civil rights law, law in general, community action, and labor law. In 1968 Rachlin taught a seminar on the legal dimensions of current civil rights problems at the University of Wisconsin Summer Institute of Behavioral Science and Law. Also in the subseries are a few folders of legal papers and correspondence from Rachlin's personal law practice, which he apparently conducted, albeit at a reduced level, during his tenure with SEDFRE. Other activities of Rachlin during this period are documented in the following section, together with a small personal reference file. From 1967 to 1969, Rachlin served on the American Bar Association's Subcommittee on the Continuing Gap (between the promise and reality of civil rights laws). With the papers of the Subcommittee are the final report and draft, membership lists, correspondence, minutes, reports, and reference material. Apparently the Subcommittee requested back-ground information regarding civil rights laws and compliance from several states throughout the country; this material is also present in the collection. Rachlin's general reference files include copies and analyses of the several civil rights laws, confidentiality of records, federal bail practices, and foodstamp programs. Also present is a small folder of Rachlin's personal financial records.
The final portion of this series consists of the legal department's general reference files, collected by the staff for research use. A variety of topics and subjects may be found in the files, which include printed and near-print material; newsclippings and articles; writings, notes, and drafts of position papers and statements; and similar items.
TAPE RECORDINGS in the collection are miscellaneous in nature. They include four stereonetts/labeled “Gilligan” (Gilligan, Thomas R. vs. James Farmer, CORE, et al., legal case, 1964-1968). On tape are the second draft of an article for the Minnesota Bar Journal, a discussion of an article about lawyers and civil rights; dictated correspondence, including a letter about a client who was denied welfare; a discussion about the use of law student help and the needs of such students; and a discussion of Israel's union ownership of the means of production. It is unclear how much, if any, of the tape recordings pertain directly to the Gilligan case. Rather, the tapes may have been made in Carl Rachlin's office and as such, reflect usual professional, office, and personal concerns. One tape records an unidentified speaker discussing non-violence, civil rights, and nuclear disarmament, while two other tapes record a two-hour radio show, “Are the Civil Rights Groups Communist Influenced?” The radio show, hosted by Haywood Vincent and broadcast over WNAZ, Albany, New York, May 25, 1964, presented an interview with Mrs. Julia Brown, a volunteer FBI informant. Mrs. Brown expressed her viewpoints and experiences in the civil rights movement, based on her nine years as an informant, and her belief that Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders were “Communist dupes” and inciters of riots. The second reel includes reactions of call-in listeners.
