Title: Poor People's Corporation Records
Inclusive Dates: 1960-1967 (bulk 1964-1967)

Creator:

• Poor People's Corporation

Call Number: Mss 172; Audio 549A

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes) and 3 tape recordings

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records, chiefly 1964-1967, of the Poor People's Corporation (PPC), a non-profit organization founded in 1965 as a result of activities of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) to give financial and technical aid to low income groups in Mississippi to start cooperatives and other self-help programs. The papers relate to PPC, SNCC, and COFO activities and include correspondence, clippings, newsletters, press releases, organizational data, reports, and fragmentary files on individual cooperatives. The meetings of several of these co-ops are on tape. Of particular note is a letter and an article on PPC by Abbie Hoffman.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00172

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The Poor People's Corporation (PPC) was established as a non-profit corporation to give financial and technical aid to low income groups who want to start cooperatives or other self-help programs. The corporation grew out of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) activities in Mississippi. On July 20, 1965, it was incorporated in New Jersey with former SNCC worker, Jesse Morris, as its coordinator.

The central organization was charged with securing funds, technical assistance, and sites, informing low income citizens of the corporation's activities, and overseeing the progress of individual co-ops. At first Jesse Morris was the sole paid staff member, whose salary was provided by SNCC. Other funding was raised by solicitation and by application for federal and local grants.

Cooperatives devoted largely to sewing and leather work were organized in Mississippi. Liberty House, with branches in Jackson, Mississippi and New York, was established as a wholesale co-op to resell the finished products of the other Mississippi co-ops.

The records of the Poor People's Corporation of Mississippi consist of photocopies of correspondence, clippings, newsletters, press releases, organizational data, reports, and files on individual co-operatives, largely from 1964-1967.

The correspondence is organized in two chronological files of both incoming and outgoing letters, COFO (1964) and PPC (1964-1966). The COFO correspondence is largely to and from Jane Adams, then coordinator of COFO Federal programs. Much of the PPC correspondence is to and from Jesse Morris. Both files concern the activities of COFO or PPC and related organizations, policies, personnel, and business operations. Of particular note is an undated letter in the PPC file from Abbott (Abbie) Hoffman to Ellen Maslow, head of the New York branch of Liberty House, describing plans for expanding PPC merchandising into New England.

Clippings, newsletters, and press releases (1964-1966, undated) include COFO, SNCC, and PPC data. The PPC newsletters and clippings contain a great deal of information on the history of the organization. Included is an article in the October-November 1966 Catholic Worker by Abbie Hoffman. The SNCC and COFO press releases describe race-related incidents in Mississippi.

Organizational data (1960-1967) contain a wide variety of materials. Among these are the certificate of PPC incorporation, minutes of PPC meetings, applications for financial assistance, reports by SNCC, and reports received by PPC including reprints of articles and government publications on cooperatives. The operational data file contains discussion of various types of cooperatives, suggestions for chartering and establishing a co-op, suggested co-op structure, and reports on various PPC co-ops.

The files on individual co-ops (1964-1967) are fragmentary and contain mainly reports on activities and progress. Fuller files exist for Liberty House, Shelby Sewing Group, and Delta Leather Workshop. The Liberty House file includes articles of incorporation and a catalog of merchandise.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has one of the richest collections of Civil Rights movement records in the nation, which includes more than 100 manuscript collections documenting the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964. More than 25,000 pages from the Freedom Summer manuscripts are available online as the Freedom Summer Digital Collection.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Poor People's Corporation via Jesse Morris, Jackson, Mississippi, July 24, 1967. Accession Number: M67-467

Processing Information

Processed by Susan Sharlin, September 15, 1975.

Mss 172	Series: Correspondence
	Council of Federated Organizations
Box   1 Folder   1	1964 January 30-1964 October 14 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   2	1964 October 15-1964 December 27, undated Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
	Poor People's Corporation
Box   1 Folder   3	1964 March 10-1965 December Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   4	1966 January 5-1967 July 19
Box   1 Folder   5	undated
Box   1 Folder   6	Series: Clippings, Newsletters, Press Releases, 1964-1966, undated Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.	⇧
	Series: Organizational Data	⇧
Box   1 Folder   7	Certificate of incorporation, minutes, 1966 state tax return, 1965-1966
Box   1 Folder   8	Organizational file and operational data, 1964-1967
Box   2 Folder   1	Application for Community Action Program, Office of Economic Opportunity, 1966
Box   2 Folder   2	Application for Technical Assistance, Economic Development Administration, 1966?
Box   2 Folder   3	Affidavits and statements of need for federal assistance, social security, pensions, FHA loans, 1964, undated Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
	Series: Reports	⇧
Box   2 Folder   4	SNCC reports and data, 1964-1965, undated
	Publications received
Box   2 Folder   5	1960-1966
Box   2 Folder   6	undated
	Series: Cooperatives	⇧
Box   2 Folder   7	Aberdeen Sewing Group, 1966
Box   2 Folder   8	Athens Cooperative Sewing Center, 1967, undated
Box   2 Folder   9	Baertown Sewing Cooperative, 1966, undated
Box   2 Folder   10	Canton Cooperative, undated
Box   2 Folder   11	Delta Leather Workshop, undated
Box   2 Folder   12	Liberty House Cooperative, 1967, undated
Box   2 Folder   13	McComb Leather Cooperative, 1966
Box   2 Folder   14	Madison County Sewing Firm, 1965-1966, undated
Box   2 Folder   15	Mileston Cooperative, 1964, 1966
Box   2 Folder   16	Mt. Nebo Sewing Cooperative, 1966, undated
Box   2 Folder   17	Mt. Olive Quilt Cooperative, undated
Box   2 Folder   18	Pike County Cooperative, undated
Box   2 Folder   19	Pleasant Grove Cooperative, undated
Box   2 Folder   20	Prairie Sewing Cooperative, 1966-1967, undated
Box   2 Folder   21	Shelby Sewing Group, 1966, undated
Box   2 Folder   22	Sunflower and Bolivar Counties - Rural Cooperatives, 1964, undated
Box   2 Folder   23	White Station Cooperative, undated
Audio 549A	Tape Recordings
549A/1 Side   1	First meeting of all co-op management committee, 1967 July 15 Scope and Content Note: All groups except Delta Leather were present, and problems of quality and quantity, such as the difficulties in placing orders to New York were discussed.
549A/2 Side   1	Meeting of sales representative with co-op workers Scope and Content Note: Discussion of working conditions, complaints, training, and methods of increasing production. Ideas such as inventory control, designing imaginative new products, and increasing co-op membership were suggested.
Side   2	Continuation of meeting Scope and Content Note: Deals mostly with financial problems encountered by group members, including opening savings accounts and cashing checks. Quality control and the need for inspection were also discussed.
549A/3 Side   1	Freedom Now Brick Corporation meeting in New York Scope and Content Note: Discussion with Paul Goodwin, brother of architect Percy Goodwin about designing and building houses for “the people.” Other phone calls and contacts re finding investors and potential customers in new buildings and businesses in Mississippi were mentioned.
Side   2	Continuation of meeting Scope and Content Note: Discussion of the necessity of developing perspectives and contacting others involved in similar operations. Financial issues such as the procedures for the selling of stocks and bonds and the possibility of buying government land were also brought up.