Summary Information
James A. Dombrowski Papers 1918-1983
- Dombrowski, James A. (James Anderson), 1897-1983
Mss 566
6.8 c.f. (17 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers, 1918-1983, of James Dombrowski, a leader of the Southern Conference for Human Welfare (SCHW), 1941-1948, and executive director of the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), 1948-1966. The papers consist largely of post-l966 letters and notes about his interest in social causes and in art, as well as some material from the 1920s and the 1930s. Included are letters from colleagues at Emory University and Union Theological Seminary, exchanges with Reinhold Niebuhr, and drafts of Dombrowski's dissertation and other written works. Prominent correspondents include Albert Einstein, Lyndon Baines Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Aubrey Williams. Also included are materials collected by Frank Adams for an unpublished biography of Dombrowski, including additional correspondence, clippings, scrapbooks, notes, and diaries.
The collection has been microfilmed by Primary Source Media (an imprint of Gale and a part of the Cengage Learning) as a part of its Civil Rights and Social Activism in the South series. The 17 reels of positive microfilm are available in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library (P09-683 to P09-699).
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00566
Biography/History
James Dombrowski was born in Tampa, Florida in 1897. After serving in France in World War I, he attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he graduated in 1923. At Emory Dombrowski organized the Alumni Association, served as its executive secretary, and edited the Emory Alumnus. He graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York with a bachelor of divinity degree and received a Ph.D. in philosophy at Columbia University. Dombrowski's doctoral dissertation, The Early Days of Christian Socialism in America, was published by Columbia University Press in 1940. He did graduate work at the University of California and Harvard, was a Rosenwald Fellow and Kent Fellow of the National Council on Religion in Higher Education, and taught Christian ethics at Union.
During his education, Dombrowski became active in social causes. He went to Elizabethton, Tennessee, and Gastonia, North Carolina, during textile strikes and was jailed as a suspect and later released in the killing of the Gastonia chief of police. From 1934 to 1941, Dombrowski served as staff director of the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, and then joined the staff of the Southern Conference for Human Welfare as executive secretary. When this organization went out of existence after World War II, Dombrowski and others continued its educational wing, the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF). During his tenure as executive director, he was active in the struggle against segregation and helped hold the organization together through the McCarthy era. Troubled by painful arthritis, Dombrowski hoped to retire in 1963, but in that year the New Orleans offices of SCEF were raided by state and local police and the organization's records were confiscated. Dombrowski and other SCEF officials were charged with violating Louisiana's anti-subversive law. Dombrowski and SCEF filed suit on the grounds that their first amendment rights had been violated. After several years of litigation, the organization's files were released by court order in April 1965. Dombrowski and SCEF won a legal victory in 1968 when the Supreme Court struck down large sections of the Louisiana law.
Dombrowski retired as SCEF executive director early in 1966 and was replaced by Carl and Anne Braden. He remained active in SCEF, however, in the post of special consultant. After his retirement, Dombrowski pursued his love of art. He attended the John McCrady Art School and produced paintings, drawings, and posters. His work, which reflected his interests in social causes, was exhibited at the University of New Orleans in 1976. From 1974 to 1978, Dombrowski held annual distributions of his artwork at which friends were invited to choose a Dombrowski piece to display in their homes for one year. Dombrowski died in April 1983.
Scope and Content Note
Most of the collection came directly to the Historical Society from Dombrowski in 1979 and was processed in 1981. Additional materials were received from Frank Adams in 1986, and a small amount of Dombrowski's personal files came to Wisconsin from the University of New Orleans in 1990. These additions were integrated into the collection in 1990.
The collection was microfilmed by Primary Source Media (an imprint of Gale and a part of Cengage Learning) in 2008 as part of the series Civil Rights and Social Activism in the South. For the microfilm the company assigned new folder numbers from 1 to 206, and it did not use a frame counter. It also prepared a name and subject index that is keyed to the new microfilm folder numbers. A copy of this guide can be found in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library (Pam 09-1349). To facilitate access, the container list which follows incorporates both the box and folder numbers for the paper collection and the new folder numbers assigned by the microfilm publisher. The new folder numbers are designated with the initials MF (for microfilm folder) at the end of each line in the container list. The following chart converts the new folder numbers to the appropriate reel numbers.
Reel
|
Microfilm Folder (MF) Range
|
1 |
1-6 |
2 |
7-11 |
3 |
12-17 |
4 |
18-23 |
5 |
24-29 |
6 |
30-33 |
7 |
34-40 |
8 |
41-64 |
9 |
65-99 |
10 |
100-131 |
11 |
132-151 |
12 |
152-158 |
13 |
159-165 |
14 |
166-176 |
15 |
177-187 |
16 |
188-196 |
17 |
197-206 |
Virtually all of the Dombrowski collection either predates or follows his activity in SCEF. For the SCHW/SCEF years researchers should consult the papers of Carl and Anne Braden. In addition, a large collection of SCHW and SCEF records with documentation on Dombrowski is at Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Alabama. Additional related records held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin include the Highlander Research Center Records and the Frank Adams Papers.
The collection consists of four series: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, CORRESPONDENCE, SUBJECT FILES, and FRANK ADAMS FILES.
The BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION series contains a small number of clippings concerning high points in Dombrowski's life and career with SCEF. Also included are clippings and a program from a memorial service.
CORRESPONDENCE consists of personal letters to friends and associates such as Virginia Durr and Aubrey Williams following Dombrowski's retirement in 1966. Included are letters from Carl and Anne Braden about SCEF activites and arrangements for his retirement pay. Dombrowski continued to assist SCEF with fundraising, and this activity is also documented here. Also included are letters from the 1920s and early 1930s and exchanges with Reinhold Niebuhr, Albert Einstein, Lyndon Johnson, and John F. Kennedy. (The originals of these are stored in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin autograph file.)
The SUBJECT FILES primarily reflect Dombrowski's private life and interests. They include records of his art distributions, papers pertaining to Emory University, medical records and articles, as well as some documentation of his years with SCEF and SCHW. Also here are memorials to friends and speeches and writings by Dombrowski. The Frank Adams file contains correspondence from Adams regarding his attempts to find a publisher for the Dombrowski biography.
The FRANK ADAMS FILES contain materials collected by Adams while writing his biography of Dombrowski in the late 1970s. The files are divided under two headings: Correspondence and Subject Files. In the Correspondence are letters written by Dombrowski to Ethyl Clyde, a major financial supporter of SCHW and SCEF, describing his activities with these organizations from 1937 to 1976. Also included is Adams' correspondence with Dombrowski and his associates seeking material for his biography; these letters are a rich source of biographical information. Adams' Subject Files include Dombrowski's notes and diaries, 1937-1977, and assorted articles and speeches. Although the notes are fragmentary, the development of his writings and speeches can be seen. Also included is some documentation of Dombrowski's SCHW and SCEF years, especially the dissolution of SCHW in 1948 and the 1963 raid. The court files contain records of the cases Dombrowski was involved in following the raid. For further documentation on this topic, the Braden Papers should be consulted. Also included in the Subject Files are some materials on the Highlander Folk School, including lecture notes for Dombrowski's course in labor economics.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by James Dombrowski, New Orleans, Louisiana; Frank Adams, Somerville, Massachusetts; and the University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana; 1979-1990. Accession Number: M79-568, M81-388, M86-222, M90-158
Processed by Robert Burk, 1981, and Debra Shapiro, 1991. Prepared for microfilming, 2008.
Contents List
Mss 566
|
Series: Biographical Information
|
|
Box
1
Folder
1
|
, 1963-1983 (Microfilm Folder (MF) 1) : See Scope and Content Note for reel number.
|
|
|
Series: Correspondence
|
|
Box
1
Folder
2-6
|
, 1918-1966 March (MF 2-6)
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1-6
|
, 1966 April-1968 June (MF 7-12)
|
|
Box
3
Folder
1-7
|
, 1968 July-1973 June (MF 13-19)
|
|
Box
4
Folder
1-6
|
, 1973 July-1974 (MF 20-25)
|
|
Box
5
Folder
1-6
|
, 1975-1976 (MF 26-31)
|
|
Box
6
Folder
1-5
|
, 1977-1978 (MF 32-36)
|
|
Box
7
Folder
1-3
|
, 1979-1980 (MF 37-39)
|
|
Box
7
Folder
4-6
|
, Undated (MF 40-42)
|
|
|
Series: Subject Files
|
|
Box
8
Folder
1
|
Adams, Frank, 1976-1980 (MF 43)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
2
|
Aero Pilots Club, 1944-1945 (MF 44)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
3
|
American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, 1969-1976 (MF 45)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
4
|
Appalachia, 1967-1968 (MF 46)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
5
|
Appalachian South Folklife Center, 1968-1975 (MF 47)
|
|
|
Art
|
|
Box
8
Folder
6
|
General, undated (MF 48)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
7
|
Auction to benefit SCEF, 1969 (MF 49)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
8
|
Calligraphy, undated (MF 50)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
9
|
Distribution, 1974-1978 (MF 51)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
10
|
Instituto de Allende, 1976-1978 (MF 52)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
11
|
“Memorial Day Massacre,” 1977 (MF 53)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
12
|
University of New Orleans exhibit, 1976 (MF 54)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
13
|
Ball, Lee, 1974 (MF 55)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
14
|
Beecher, John, 1977-1979 (MF 56)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
15
|
Blossum, Frederick, 1974 (MF 57)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
16
|
Bobrick, Robert L., 1978-1979 (MF 58)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
17
|
Braden, Anne, 1975-1977 (MF 59)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
18
|
Braden, Beth, 1973-1975 (MF 60)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
19
|
Braden, Carl, 1974-1975 (MF 61)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
20
|
Buckner, Floyd, undated (MF 62)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
21
|
Campbell, Clarice, 1975-1979 (MF 63)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
22
|
Charlotte Three Trial, undated (MF 64)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
23
|
Christian, Marcus, 1955-1957 (MF 65)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
24
|
C.I.A. and F.B.I. files, 1976-1978 (MF 66)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
25
|
Clyde, Ethyl, 1939-1978 (MF 67)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
26
|
Collins, Walter and Virginia, 1966-1974 (MF 68)
|
|
Box
8
Folder
27
|
Contributions, 1967-1974 (MF 69)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
1
|
Crosby, Alex and Nancy, 1972 (MF 70)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
2
|
Crown, John, 1972 (MF 71)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
3
|
Daniel, Franz, 1973-1978 (MF 72)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
4
|
Dombrowski, Ellen, 1942-1977 (MF 73)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
5
|
Durr, Clifford, 1951-1975 (MF 74)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
6
|
Einstein, Albert, 1955-1962 (MF 75)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
7
|
Emory University, 1928-1976 (MF 76)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
8
|
Esperanto, 1965-1979 (MF 77)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
9
|
Farris, Carl, 1979 (MF 78)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
10
|
Feild, Robin, 1965 (MF 79)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
11
|
Ferry, W.H., 1967-1974 (MF 80)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
12
|
Financial Papers, 1926-1975 (MF 81)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
13
|
Foreman, Clark, 1977 (MF 82)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
14
|
Freedom Information Service, 1974 (MF 83)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
15
|
Free Southern Theater, 1980 (MF 84)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
16
|
Gelders, undated (MF 85)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
17
|
Gordon, J. King, 1978 (MF 86)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
18
|
Grant, Jim, 1974 (MF 87)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
19
|
Green, Archie, 1976 (MF 88)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
20
|
Hackney, Sheldon, 1975 (MF 89)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
21
|
Highlander Center, 1959-1975 (MF 90)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
22
|
Hodes, Robert, 1974-1979 (MF 91)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
23
|
House, 1956-1979 (MF 92)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
24
|
Johnson, Kathleen, 1966-1976 (MF 93)
|
|
Box
9
Folder
25
|
Kennedy, John and Robert, 1957-1964 (MF 94)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
1
|
Kinoy, Arthur, 1965-1966 (MF 95)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
2
|
Koppel, Anci, 1974 (MF 96)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
2a
|
LaFollette Shirtworkers, 1934-1935 (MF 97)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
3
|
Lamont, Corliss, 1971-1978 (MF 98)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
4
|
Logsdon, Joseph-Wilmington Ten, 1972-1978 (MF 99)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
5
|
McSurely, Al and Margaret, 1975-1979 (MF 100)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
6
|
Martin Luther King, Jr. Workers' Conference, 1975-1976 (MF 101)
|
|
|
Medical Papers
|
|
Box
10
Folder
7
|
Aslan, Dr. Anna, 1955-1965 (MF 102)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
8
|
Mayo Clinic, 1973-1974 (MF 103)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
9
|
Medicare, 1967-1979 (MF 104)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
10
|
Rosenfeld, Cecilia, 1958-1965 (MF 105)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
11
|
Shangri-La Resort, 1973-1977 (MF 106)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
12
|
Warm Mineral Springs, 1973-1977 (MF 107)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
13
|
Miscellaneous receipts, 1966-1977 (MF 108)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
14
|
Melish, William Howard, 1966-1978 (MF 109)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
15
|
Mitford, Jessica, undated (MF 110)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
16
|
Mogulescu, Miles, 1974-1976 (MF 111)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
17
|
National Steelworkers' Rank and File Committee, 1976 (MF 112)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
18
|
Notes, 1963-1976 (MF 113)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
18a
|
Other travel documents (MF 114)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
19
|
Passport, 1965-1978 (MF 115)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
20
|
Peck, Jim, 1976-1977 (MF 116)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
21
|
People's Economic Conference, 1976 (MF 117)
|
|
Box
10
Folder
22-23
|
Postcards, 1918-1980 (MF 118-119)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
1
|
Reference materials, undated (MF 120)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
2
|
Rigg, Margaret, 1969-1980 (MF 121)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
3
|
Rogers, Walter and Elizabeth, 1966-1979 (MF 122)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
4
|
Salter, John, 1966-1979 (MF 123)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
5
|
Segal, Edith, 1973-1979 (MF 124)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
6
|
Smith, Benjamin E., 1967 (MF 125)
|
|
|
Southern Conference Educational Fund
|
|
Box
11
Folder
7
|
Board meetings, 1965, 1974 (MF 126)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
8
|
Financial records, 1965-1966 (MF 127)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
9
|
GROW Project, undated (MF 128)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
10
|
Hotel Roosevelt reception, 1966 (MF 129)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
11
|
IRS, 1974 (MF 130)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
12
|
Junta of Militant Organizations, 1971 (MF 131)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
13
|
Mailing lists, 1967-1972 (MF 132)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
14
|
North Carolina Project, circa 1973 (MF 133)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
15
|
Raid, 1963-1977 (MF 134)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
16
|
Southern Mountain Project, 1966-1967 (MF 135)
|
|
|
Southern Organization for Economic and Social Justice
|
|
Box
11
Folder
17
|
Carl Braden Memorial Fund, 1976-1978 (MF 136)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
18
|
Expanded Executive Committee meeting, 1980 (MF 137)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
19
|
Southern Rural Action Project, 1967-1968 (MF 138)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
20
|
Southern University killings, 1972 (MF 139)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
21
|
Speeches, 1965-1972 (MF 140)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
22
|
Sponsorships, 1963-1969 (MF 141)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
23
|
Gary Tyler Defense Fund, 1976-1977 (MF 142)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
24
|
Uphaus, Willard, 1975-1977 (MF 143)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
25
|
Vietnam, 1965 (MF 144)
|
|
Box
11
Folder
26
|
Ward, Lynd, 1935-1980 (MF 145)
|
|
Box
12
Folder
1
|
Ward, Harry F., 1974 (MF 146)
|
|
Box
12
Folder
2
|
Weber v. Kaiser Aluminium, 1978 (MF 147)
|
|
Box
12
Folder
3
|
Williams, Aubrey, 1953-1965 (MF 148)
|
|
Box
12
Folder
4
|
Aubrey Williams Foundation, 1966-1979 (MF 149)
|
|
Box
12
Folder
5
|
Williams, Claude, 1976-1979 (MF 150)
|
|
|
Writings
|
|
Box
12
Folder
6
|
The Early Days of Christian Socialism in America, 1940 (MF 151)
|
|
Box
12
Folder
7
|
“Elizabethton,” 1929, undated (MF 152)
|
|
Box
12
Folder
8
|
“A Civil Liberties Tour of the Tennessee Valley,” 1939 (MF 153)
|
|
Box
12
Folder
9-10
|
Fire in the Hole, circa 1940 (MF 154-155)
|
|
Box
12
Folder
11
|
Micellaneous articles, 1949-1952 (MF 156)
|
|
|
Series: Frank Adams Files
|
|
|
Correspondence
|
|
Box
13
Folder
1-2
|
Adams incoming mail, 1975-1979 (MF 157-158)
|
|
Box
13
Folder
3-7
|
Clyde, Ethyl, 1937-1976 (MF 159-163)
|
|
Box
14
Folder
1
|
Daniels family (Franz, Zilla, and Berthe), 1935-1940 (MF 164)
|
|
Box
14
Folder
2
|
Dewey, Maybelle and Malcolm, undated (MF 165)
|
|
Box
14
Folder
3
|
Dombrowski, Ellen Krida, 1932-1968 (MF 166)
|
|
Box
14
Folder
4
|
Dombrowski search letters, 1975-1978 (MF 167)
|
|
Box
14
Folder
5
|
Freeborn, W.E., 1974-1976 (MF 168)
|
|
Box
14
Folder
6
|
Miscellaneous, 1931-1979 (MF 169)
|
|
|
Subject Files
|
|
Box
14
Folder
7
|
Christian Socialism, undated (MF 170)
|
|
Box
14
Folder
8
|
Continental Walk for Peace, 1975 (MF 171)
|
|
|
Court Cases
|
|
Box
14
Folder
9
|
Dombrowski v. Eastland, 1963-1967 (MF 172)
|
|
Box
14
Folder
10
|
Dombrowski v. Pfister, 1963-1976 (MF 173)
|
|
Box
15
Folder
1
|
Church Research and Information Project, 1978 (MF 174)
|
|
Box
15
Folder
2-4
|
Diary and notes, 1937-1977 (MF 175-177)
|
|
Box
15
Folder
5
|
Dombrowski, Ellen Krida, 1942-1979 (MF 178)
|
|
Box
15
Folder
6
|
Dombrowski student notes, circa 1932 (MF 179)
|
|
Box
15
Folder
7
|
Eastland hearings transcript, 1954, Volume 1 (MF 180)
|
|
Box
15
Folder
8
|
Emory University, 1942-1963 (MF 181)
|
|
|
FBI file
|
|
Box
15
Folder
9
|
, 1942-1963 (MF 182)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
1-2
|
, 1942-1963 (MF 182 (continued)-184)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
3
|
Frantz School desegregation, 1960 (MF 185)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
4
|
Green, Archie, 1968-1976 (MF 186)
|
|
|
Highlander Folk School
|
|
Box
16
Folder
5
|
, 1932-1940 (MF 187)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
6
|
Lecture notes, labor economics course, 1937 (MF 188)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
7
|
Miscellaneous articles, 1945 (MF 189)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
8
|
Phillips, Jan, 1971 (MF 190)
|
|
|
Southern Conference Educational Fund
|
|
Box
16
Folder
9
|
General, 1950-1967 (MF 191)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
10
|
New Orleans Item, 1957 (MF 192)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
11
|
Raid, 1963 (MF 193)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
12
|
Louisiana Committee on Un-American Activities, Reports 8 and 9, 1967 (MF 194)
|
|
|
Southern Conference for Human Welfare
|
|
Box
17
Folder
1-3
|
General, 1938-1948 (MF 195-197)
|
|
Box
17
Folder
4
|
Charles H. Martin paper, 1979 (MF 198)
|
|
Box
17
Folder
5
|
, November 1946 meeting-photocopied photographs (MF 199)
|
|
Box
17
Folder
6
|
Scrapbook, 1958-1959 (MF 200)
|
|
Box
17
Folder
7
|
Shuttlesworth, Fred, 1978 (MF 201)
|
|
Box
17
Folder
8
|
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, clippings, 1961-1962 (MF 202)
|
|
Box
17
Folder
9
|
Speeches, 1942-1957 (MF 203)
|
|
|
Union Theological Seminary
|
|
Box
17
Folder
10
|
General papers, 1929-1939 (MF 204)
|
|
Box
17
Folder
11
|
Dissertation, Religion and Vested Interests in the South, 1931 (MF 205)
|
|
Box
17
Folder
12
|
Williams, Aubrey, 1956-1979 (MF 206)
|
|
|