Most of the Lee Bankhead Papers are Xerox copies documenting the particular organizations and aspects of the civil rights movement in which Ms. Bankhead was involved. (At her request, the originals of these documents have been returned to her.) The collection has been divided into four small series: Background; Organizations and Activities; Newspapers and Newsletters; and Miscellaneous.
The Background material is contained in four folders. In folder 1 are personnel forms, job applications, and other material that provide information about Lee Bankhead's life. Folder 2 contains Bankhead's general correspondence. In folder 3 are maps and other material that describe the physical and social environment of Bolivar County. Folder 4 has material documenting Black political activity in Bolivar County from 1962 to 1971.
Folders 5-17 of box 1 and folders 1 and 2 of box 2 contain materials relating to the organizations and civil rights activities in which Bankhead held membership or was interested. The material in this part of the collection has been arranged according to the chronological order of Bankhead's involvement with the various organizations and activities. The documentation is most complete for the 1968-1969 period when she was working at the Tufts-Delta Health Center. In 1968 the Health Center encouraged the organization of the North Bolivar County Farm Cooperative, an attempt to help the poor and unemployed of Bolivar County to grow vegetables for the market and for their own use. Although Bankhead does not appear to have been directly involved with the Co-op, there is much information about it in the collection.
The Newspapers and Newsletters filed in folder 3 of box 2 relate to the Mississippi civil rights movement. Folder 4 of box 2 contains miscellaneous documents, brochures, bulletins, articles and memos of civil rights concern.
