The records of the Racine Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People date primarily from the late 1960s and 1970s, during the presidency of Julian Thomas. The collection documents quite well branch activities during this period, when major changes were being made in open housing laws, segregated school systems, and affirmative action and equal opportunity programs. The records have been arranged in five series: Correspondence and Related Material, Organizational Records, Racine Branch Activities, Records of Other Activities, and National, Regional, and State NAACP Records.
CORRESPONDENCE AND RELATED MATERIAL includes major files of incoming and outgoing general correspondence, 1954-1984, mainly written by or to the branch president. Among the topics discussed are regular branch and NAACP business, membership matters, affirmative action, school desegregation, community activities, and other items. Included here are near-print form letters created by the national and state NAACP offices for distribution to branches. Separate files of personal correspondence and notes of Julian Thomas are also included in this series, due to the difficulty of separating letters written to him as Racine NAACP president from those written to him as a Racine black activist generally. There are folders of his personal correspondence; and a few letters written to him as president of the Wisconsin State Conference of Branches, 1970-1972 Chairman of Region III, NAACP, 1972-1973; Director of Equal Opportunity/Minority Relations at J.I. Case Company, 1971-1980; Director, (Racine) Mayor's Commission on Human Rights, 1971; and Vice-President, Racine Environment Committee Inc., 1970. Also included is a file concerning Dominican College's “Alternative Program,” and miscellaneous biographical data and awards. Thomas's notes, 1962-1983, appear to have been made during meetings and telephone conversations; some may pertain to complaints and requests for investigations of discrimination.
The ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS include Racine branch annual reports, originally collected yearly in notebooks, together with reports of the activities of each committee and the Youth Council, minutes, newsletters, news clippings, and programs from annual branch events. The contents of these notebooks have been arranged by type of record. There is also a file of notes and material gathered as a history file.
The collection lacks many financial records of the Racine branch. There is some indication of cash received within the membership records, and an overall picture of finances in the treasurer's reports. Other membership records include membership lists, reports, and correspondence, much of which is routine in nature, and a small file from a membership campaign committee. There are lengthy runs of minutes of meetings, a few of which date from 1959, with the exception of minutes of committee meetings, which are fragmentary. Included are minutes of executive board, executive committee, and executive, mass, and membership meetings. (The precise function of each of these groups and how they differ, is difficult to determine.) The files of news clippings, 1965-1983, were weeded to remove clippings not pertaining to the NAACP or to Racine area civil rights activities. There is also a lengthy run of Racine branch newsletters, 1961-1983. Files from the earliest years are either incomplete or reflect a sporadic publications history. In 1977, the Racine branch began publishing The Freedom Ledger on a regular basis.
This series also includes organizational charts illustrating the hierarchy of officers and committees, and lists of officers. In the reference files are letters, notes, and other material pertaining indirectly to Racine and NAACP business. These appear to have been collected by Julian Thomas, and reflect his personal activities and interests. The Women's Auxiliary and the Youth Council are represented in the collection by small files of minutes, correspondence, and records of activities.
Records of RACINE BRANCH ACTIVITIES include programs; correspondence, generally about arrangements and plans; news clippings; and other materials concerning the planned annual or periodic fund raising and publicity events of the branch. Among these are the Annual Ministers' Breakfast, First Annual Life Membership Breakfast, Freedom Baby Contest, Freedom Fund Dinner, Spring Musical Festival, and Talent Show. There are a few radio and television scripts for NAACP programs, and a tape recording of a speech by Nancy L. Henry, Racine branch board member and secretary, at the Freedom Fund Dinner, Janesville, October 4, 1980. The files entitled “Investigations” contain notes, legal papers, correspondence, and other items collected by the Legal Redress Committee in response to complaints of discrimination suffered by Racine residents.
RECORDS OF RELATED ACTIVITIES illustrate the interrelationships of the Racine NAACP with other local civil rights groups and community agencies. These materials were collected by Julian Thomas; many show his membership in other community agencies.
Regarding the formulation and implementation of affirmative action and equal opportunity plans and programs in Racine, there are correspondence, minutes, reports, recommendations, and statements of the Racine Affirmative Action/Human Rights Commission; a copy of the Racine County Affirmative Action Program annual report, 1976-1977; and reports and other records of the Racine Police Department. Another important issue to the Racine branch was the desegregation of Racine schools. The branch's interest is reflected in files of correspondence with and general records about the Racine Unified School District; copies of the “Desegregation Plan for Unified School District No. 1 of Racine County,” December 1973, “The Elimination of Racial Imbalance, a Presentation and Discussion of Four Plans,” July 8, 1974, and “The Plan to Eliminate Racial Imbalance in the Elementary Schools,” January 13, 1975; a progress report on Racine high school minorities, 1982; a proposal to fund a Head Start project; and papers from a project to improve depiction of Negroes in textbooks. There are also records of the Wisconsin Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Professionals Inc., consisting of by-laws, and correspondence, membership lists, and minutes of annual conferences.
The Racine NAACP also worked with the Racine County Community Action Program Committee Inc. (CAP). The collection contains files on CAP's Affirmative
Action Plan, a funding proposal, minutes of board of directors and executive committee meetings, by -laws, correspondence, newsletters, and program summaries and reports.
Records of the Racine Environment Committee Inc. (REC) were collected during Julian Thomas's tenure on its board of directors and executive committee.
They include general correspondence, correspondence and papers of the National Urban Coalition (with which REC was affiliated), treasurer's reports, budgets,
membership lists, minutes of annual and executive committee meetings, and newsletters. (Minutes of the REC board of directors and executive committee are also available in the records of the Racine Environment Committee Inc. Unannotated duplicates found in this collection were discarded.) Also included here are a few records of REC's Business Opportunities Corporation, Educational Assistance Program, and Educational Fund.
Other files contain material on a study of the jury selection process in Racine; the Racine branch's proposed human rights ordinance; the Racine Commission on Human Rights; the Racine Police Department and police-community relations; the Racine Rental Living Unit Advisory Committee; Racine United Community Services (Racine United Fund); and a copy of the “Racine Community Study,” conducted by the Iowa Urban Community Research Center, University of Iowa, circa 1971.
The NATIONAL, REGIONAL, AND STATE NAACP RECORDS are incomplete, and most are near-print materials. National records primarily consist of records of national conventions, collected by Racine branch members who attended those meetings. Regional records include small files pertaining to annual elections, reports of the field trainer (including reports about the Racine branch), membership reports, and a newsletter. There are also records of regional Leadership Training Conferences attended by Racine branch members. State records include a correspondence file, minutes of meetings of the Conference of Wisconsin NAACP Branches, State Executive Board Meetings, and Wisconsin Conference of Branches Board, and newsletters.
