Title: American Civil Liberties Union: Collected Records
Inclusive Dates: 1937-1975

Creator:

• American Civil Liberties Union

Call Number: Mss 477

Quantity: 4.0 c.f. (10 archives boxes)

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:

Collected records issued by the American Civil Liberties Union, a non-partisan organization dedicated to safeguarding the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Founded in 1920 in New York City, the ACLU concentrates on assuring equal protection under law without discrimination, due process of law, and opposing repressive legislation. The collection includes ACLU administrative records, primarily printed items distributed to chapter and affiliate officers, and a subject file of printed policy statements, memos, and reports. There is little original or typewritten material present. The majority of items date from 1953-1959, and from the early 1970's, with major gaps in material from the 1930's, 1940's, and 1960's.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00477

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded in New York in 1920 by a group of individuals concerned about government threats to freedom of speech, association, conscience, and the press during World War I. Among the founders were Jane Addams, Clarence Darrow, Norman Thomas, Eugene V. Debs, John Dewey, Felix Frankfurter, Alexander Meiklejohn, Roger N. Baldwin, Helen Keller, and Arthur Garfield Hays. The ACLU succeeded the National Civil Liberties Bureau, founded in 1917 to ensure decent treatment of conscientious objectors, among them Roger Baldwin, who was imprisoned in 1918, and later served as ACLU executive director and activist for more than thirty years.

The non-profit, non-partisan ACLU acts as “the nation's only organization devoted exclusively to the defense of the Bill of Rights for everyone.” Other areas of concentration include due process of law cases, and assuring equal protection of the law without discrimination. Much of the organization's efforts are directed towards test court cases, in which the ACLU usually acts independently, by filing amicus curiae briefs, or by providing counsel for individuals or organizations.

The ACLU is composed of a national chapter and numerous affiliates, in addition to individual, non-affiliated members in those areas with no chapter nearby. National headquarters of the organization are in New York City. Governing bodies include the national board of directors and national executive committee, while state correspondents carry out ACLU functions in states lacking affiliates. A corps of volunteer attorneys is maintained for legal work.

Noteworthy cases and issues championed by the ACLU throughout its history include:

• Scopes case (1925) - the issue of academic freedom
• Sacco and Vanzetti case (1927) - right to a fair trial
• Numerous strike breaking cases (1920's and 1930's)
• Scottsboro case (1931) - right to a fair trial
• Bonus Army Eviction (1932) - right to freedom of assembly
• Free Speech for the Ford Company (1937)
• Japanese mass evacuation (1942) - due process of law
• McCarthy (Joseph R.), McCarthyism, loyalty, security, blacklisting, House Un-American Activities Committee (1950's) - due process of law
• Civil rights and desegregation cases (1950's and 1960's) - equal treatment under law
• Birth control and abortion cases (1959- ) - freedom of conscience
• Illegal police arrests and detention (continually)- due process of law
• Censorship of books, movies, the mails
• Equal rights and women's rights (1950's- )
• Indochina War (1965-1975)
• Status of labor

These ACLU records are composed of scattered Administrative Records, and a large Subject File. The span dates for the collection are somewhat misleading, as the majority of items date from 1953-1959 or 1960, and from the early 1970's. Little material is present from the 1930's, 1940's, and 1960's, and there are few original or typewritten documents. These records also illustrate the interests and holdings of the donors: The Progressive magazine and Morris Rubin, and the Wisconsin Civil Liberties Union and its attorney, William G. Rice, Jr.

ACLU ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS primarily contain items printed for and distributed to chapter and affiliate officers. The files of printed correspondence and memos to and from the national officers, are revealing of ACLU actions and policy, and are fairly complete for the 1970's, as are minutes of meetings, especially 1953-1960. The arrangement of other, incomplete files, does not accurately depict the actual ACLU committee structure - records of most committees are fragmentary and were arranged by subject or issue instead. Other files include printed biographies of nominees for national ACLU positions, 1974-1975; printed financial and membership records, 1953-1958; a policy guide and statements; speeches and articles by ACLU officials, and a “Survey of National Office Organization and Procedures and its Relations with the Affiliates,” 1955.

The SUBJECT FILE is mainly composed of printed policy statements and proposed statements, working papers, reports, and memos (including some board of directors' memos). Materials have been arranged alphabetically by subject, and reflect the topics and issues of importance to the ACLU. The major subjects of interest in the 1950's pertained to censorship, the question of loyalty oaths and determining an individual's loyalty, national security, and the “threat” posed by Communism. By comparison, the important topics found in the records of the 1970's include questions of civil rights and equality, privacy, and general opposition to bureaucratic and governmental regulation and interference with individuals.

Acquisition Information

This material was separated from the following collections: The Progressive, Inc., presented by Morris H. Rubin, Madison, Wisconsin; Wisconsin Civil Liberties Union, presented by the WCLU, via William G. Rice, Jr. and Eunice Edgar, Madison; and William Gorham Rice, Jr., Additions of 1979, presented by William G. Rice, Jr. and Hazel B. Rice, 1969-1979.

	Series: Administrative Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Affiliate-Chapter-Union Relations and Operations, 1937, 1954-1960, 1968, 1971-1974
Box   1 Folder   2	Attorneys Fees, 1974-1977
Box   1 Folder   3	Biographies of Nominees for Office, 1974-1975
Box   1 Folder   4	Committee Records-Miscellaneous, 1954, 1958, 1965-1966, 1969, 1972-1973
Box   1 Folder   5-6	Conferences, 1953-1956, 1958, 1968-1969, 1974, 1976
Box   1 Folder   7	Constitutional Committee and ACLU Constitution, 1953-1957, 1970-1971
Box   1 Folder   8	Correspondence and Related Material, 1955-1957
Box   1 Folder   9-10	Correspondence - Printed, From National Office, 1934-1939, 1945-1957
Box   1 Folder   11	Correspondence - Printed, To National Board of Directors, 1968-1979
Box   1 Folder   12	Fact Sheets re: ACLU, 1959-1960
Box   2 Folder   1	Financial and Membership Records, 1953-1958
Box   2 Folder   2	Financial Statements, 1971-1972
Box   2 Folder   3	Index of ACLU Mimeographed Materials, 1973
Box   2 Folder   4	Legislative Programs of Affiliates, 1974
Box   2 Folder   5	Membership Campaign Material
	Minutes
Box   2 Folder   6-11	Board of Directors, 1938-1939, 1945, 1953-1960, 1966-1969
Box   3 Folder   1	Board of Directors, 1970
Box   3 Folder   2	Executive Committee, 1968-1970
Box   3 Folder   3	Policy Guide, 1972
Box   3 Folder   4	Policy Statements re: Communism, 1953-1954
Box   3 Folder   5	Speeches and Articles by ACLU Officials
Box   3 Folder   6	“Survey of National Office Organization and Procedures and its Relations with the Affiliates,” 1955
	Series: Subject File	⇧
Box   3 Folder   7	Abortion, 1977-1979
Box   3 Folder   8	Academic Freedom and Academic Freedom Committee, 1952-1960
Box   4 Folder   1	Academic Freedom, 1967-1974
Box   4 Folder   2	Agnew, Spiro T. - Investigation of, 1973
Box   4 Folder   3	Airport Searches, 1972-1973
Box   4 Folder   4	American Forum for Socialist Education, 1957
Box   4 Folder   5	American Nazi Party, 1959-1960
Box   4 Folder   6	Amicus Curiae Briefs of ACLU - Miscellaneous Cases, 1958-1960
Box   4 Folder   7	Amnesty, 1970-1973
Box   4 Folder   8	Attacks on ACLU, 1952-1957, 1972
Box   4 Folder   9	Cable Television, 1974
Box   4 Folder   10	Campaign Financing, 1972-1974
	Censorship
Box   4 Folder   11	Books, 1953-1958
Box   4 Folder   12	General, 1953-1957
Box   4 Folder   13	Government Suppression of News, 1955
Box   4 Folder   14	Movies, 1954-1958
Box   4 Folder   15	Postal and Customs, 1953-1958
Box   5 Folder   1	Civil Disobedience, 1968-1969
Box   10 Folder   10	Civil Liberties Legal Defense Fund, Inc., 1969
Box   5 Folder   2	The Civil Liberties Review, 1972-1973
Box   5 Folder   3-4	Civil Rights, 1955-1959
Box   5 Folder   5	Civil Rights in Government Employment, 1958-1959
Box   5 Folder   6	Communications Media and Communications Media Committee, 1971-1974
Box   5 Folder   7	Contraception, 1967-1973
Box   5 Folder   8	Data Collection, 1970,1974
Box   5 Folder   9	Death Penalty, 1974
Box   5 Folder   10	Drugs, 1973
Box   5 Folder   11	Due Process, 1953-1957
Box   5 Folder   12	Electoral Reform, 1969-1970
Box   5 Folder   13	Emergency Detention Act, 1967-1968
Box   5 Folder   14	Endorsement of Candidates, 1971-1972
Box   5 Folder   15-16	Equal Rights and Women's Rights, 1955, 1967-1968, 1970-1976
Box   5 Folder   17	Expatriation, 1958
Box   5 Folder   18	Federal Criminal Code Revision, 1974
Box   6 Folder   1	The Fifth Amendment, Immunity and Self-Incrimination, 1953-1954, 1957
Box   6 Folder   2	The First Amendment Freedoms, 1953-1958
Box   6 Folder   3	Freedom of Speech, 1968-1974
Box   6 Folder   4	Government Secrecy, 1972-1973
Box   6 Folder   5	Guide to ACLU Litigation Practices, 1966, 1970, 1974
Box   6 Folder   6	Health Care, 1974
Box   6 Folder   7	House Un-American Activities Committee and its Legislative Investigations, 1952-1959
Box   6 Folder   8	HUAC and Attempts to Abolish It, 1960-1961
Box   6 Folder   9	Housing Discrimination, 1959, 1974
Box   6 Folder   10	Illegality of Indochina War, 1965-1970
Box   6 Folder   11	Immigration and Alien Civil Rights, 1952-1955
	Impeachment
Box   6 Folder   12	September 15, 1972 White House Conversation
Box   7 Folder   1-2	June 1973-1974
	Internal Security
Box   7 Folder   3	Federal, 1953-1957, 1959
Box   7 Folder   4	States, 1952-1956
Box   7 Folder   5	International Civil Liberties Matters, 1953-1957, 1972-1974
Box   7 Folder   6	Jencks Case, 1957
Box   7 Folder   7	Jenner Bill, 1958
Box   7 Folder   8	Juvenile Rights, 1959, 1968, 1972, 1974
Box   7 Folder   9	Labor and Unions, 1939, 1953, 1955-1959, 1973
Box   7 Folder   10	Lamont Case and McCarthy Sub-committee Appearance, 1953-1954
Box   7 Folder   11	Lattimore Case, 1953-1954
Box   7 Folder   12	Legislative Lobbying, 1974
	Loyalty Oaths
Box   7 Folder   13	1953-1957
Box   8 Folder   1	1959-1960
Box   8 Folder   2	Marijuana, 1968-1971
Box   8 Folder   3	Medical Experimentation on Humans, 1970,1973
Box   8 Folder   4	Medical Records and Privacy, 1974
Box   8 Folder   5	Mental Hospitals and Mental Illness, 1968-1969, 1972-1974
Box   8 Folder   6	Military Conscription, 1968-1971
Box   8 Folder   7	Military Rights, 1953, 1957, 1968, 1971, 1974
Box   8 Folder   8-10	Miscellaneous Topics, 1945-1947, 1955, 1958-1960, 1967-1974, 1976
Box   8 Folder   11	“The National Guard and the Constitution,” an ACLU Legal Study, 1971
Box   9 Folder   1	Obscenity, 1960, 1970, 1973-1974
Box   9 Folder   2	Pamphlets and Printed Material, 1937-1975
Box   9 Folder   3	Passports and the Right to Travel, 1951-1958
Box   9 Folder   4	Police and Government surveillance, 1954, 1957, 1972, 1974, 1976
Box   9 Folder   5	Police Brutality, 1956, 1961, 1972
Box   9 Folder   6	Police Use of Force, 1971-1972, 1976
Box   9 Folder   7	Population and Reproduction, 1970
Box   9 Folder   8	Poverty and Economics, 1973
Box   9 Folder   9	Presidential Impounding of Funds, 1973
Box   9 Folder   10	Prisoners' Rights, Incarceration, 1965-1966, 1968-1969, 1972-1974
Box   9 Folder   11	Privacy and the First Amendment, 1967, 1971, 1975
Box   9 Folder   12	Puerto Rico, 1970-1973
Box   9 Folder   13	Racial Discrimination, 1970-1973
Box   9 Folder   14	Radio and Television, 1946, 1952-1958, 1960, 1967
Box   9 Folder   15	Rights of the Poor, 1972, 1974
Box   9 Folder   16	ROTC Loyalty Oath Case, University of Wisconsin, 1954-1955
Box   10 Folder   1	School Desegregation, 1957-1958, 1971
Box   10 Folder   2	School Prayers, 1959
Box   10 Folder   3	Separation of Church and State, 1958, 1969-1973
Box   10 Folder   4	Sexual Privacy Project, 1973-1974
Box   10 Folder   5	Smith Act of 1940, 1953-1957
Box   10 Folder   6	Sobell, Morton - Espionage Case, 1952, 1955-1957
Box   10 Folder   7	Victimless Crimes, 1974
Box   10 Folder   8	Watergate, 1973-1974
Box   10 Folder   9	Zoning, 1972