The collection consists of Rubin's collected files of leaflets, reports of activities, notes, affidavits, correspondence, and articles, with a major part relating to his civil rights work. Most of the papers date from the 1960s. All materials were loaned for copying. In particular, Rubin's work as a field organizer for SNCC in southwest Georgia, 1962-1963, and as a Council of Federated Organizations worker in Mississippi, 1964, is illustrated through files of affidavits from residents regarding voter registration and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service elections in Mississippi in 1964. These topics are also discussed in handwritten and typewritten reports of activities prepared by Rubin and others. There is also a folder on civil rights activities in Yellow Springs, Ohio from the period when Rubin was a student at Antioch College; included are reports, flyers, Rubin's notes, and committee papers concerning the desegregation of Gegner's Barbershop in Yellow Springs. There is a similar folder of materials from Rubin's work as a community organizer at Southeast Neighborhood House, Washington, D.C., 1964. Also in these files are correspondence, clippings, and Rubin's journal from his trip to Cuba in December 1960; a folder concerning the American Jewish Congress; and notes for speeches and writings; and a scrapbook of articles, 1962-1966.
A second major portion of the collection concerns Rubin's involvement with the National Student Association, his position as educational affairs director, and his resignation from the post in 1967 when it was disclosed that the CIA had secretly funded NSA operations abroad. There are an NSA membership list; notes of staff meetings from January and February 1967; articles from several magazines, including the February 14, 1967 Ramparts article initially disclosing CIA activities; and copies of NSA press releases. Also included are Rubin's letter of resignation, March 8, 1967; a memo by Lee Webb to the NSA National Supervisory Board; newsclippings; and papers of the NSA National Congress with a copy of the NSA president's report to the Congress. The remaining materials in the collection consist of a final report from a seminar entitled “Revolution in Black and White,” by Lois Dean Sparks and Larry Rubin, 1967, and a 1977 term paper written by a student who interviewed Rubin as one of his sources.
Tape recordings in the collection include a taped ACRE race relations meeting, probably held at Willett Hall, Antioch College, summer 1963, in which Rubin participated. At the meeting participants discussed differing race perceptions and how these affected their approaches to white and black persons, and the validity of regarding all individuals in a similar manner regardless of race. Two reels record the CBS television coverage of the March on Washington, August 28, 1963, while a fourth reel records the “Report on the Yellow Springs Barbershop Controversy,” giving the history and status of the situation as of September 16, 1963. The fifth reel contains affidavits of persons assisted by the Southeast Neighborhood House, discussing poverty, working with the welfare department and other agencies, and other experiences.
