Civil Rights Greensboro
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- In this April 12, 1973, editorial from The Carolinian, the student newspaper of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), students are urged to stay informed about the ongoing Neo Black Society controversy, and not to assume that the chancellor's decision to restore funding to the group meant that the issue was settled. The Student Government Association had voted on March 26, 1973 to reclassify (remove funding and recognition from) the Neo Black Society, based on allegations that the organization was discriminatory and possibly was in violation of an SGA prohibition against affiliations with political or religious organizations. The SGA decision was overturned by university administration on the basis of faulty evidence and improper procedure by SGA, resulting in an eventual legal filing by SGA members. At the beginning of the 1973-74 school year, the Neo Black Society was reinstated by SGA as a recognized and funded student organization after revising its constitution to reflect that membership was open to all students without regard to race.
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- This March 28, 1973, editorial from The Carolinian, the student newspaper of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), comments on recent activity suurounding the Student Government Association's (SGA) recognition of the Neo Black Society, a student organization founded in 1968. The editorial criticizes noth disruptive student behavior at the student senate meeting and the reluctance of SGA to disclose information that led to its decision to remove recognition from the organization. Several senators had argued that the organization was discriminatory and possibly was in violation of an SGA prohibition against affiliations with political or religious organizations. While the committee cleared the Neo Black Society, on March 26, 1973, SGA voted to reclassify (remove funding and recognition from) the Neo Black Society. The SGA decision was overturned by university administration on the basis of faulty evidence and improper procedure by SGA, resulting in an eventual legal filing by SGA members. At the beginning of the 1973-74 school year, the Neo Black Society was reinstated by SGA as a recognized and funded student organization after revising its constitution to reflect that membership was open to all students without regard to race.
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- This February 15, 1973, editorial from The Carolinian, the student newspaper of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) discusses events surrounding the UNCG Student Government Association's (SGA) investigation of the Neo Black Society, a student organization founded in 1968. The preceding week, a challenge was made in the Student Government Association (SGA) Committee on Classification of Organizations that the Neo Black Society, a student organization founded in 1968, was in violation of the SGA constitution. Several senators argued that the organization was discriminatory and possibly was in violation of an SGA prohibition against affiliations with political or religious organizations. Since then, the committee had been unable to come to a decision dues to "procedural" issues, and its chair, Kevin Moore, had disassociated himself from the investigation. On March 26, 1973, SGA had voted to reclassify (remove funding and recognition from) the Neo Black Society. The SGA decision was overturned by university administration on the basis of faulty evidence and improper procedure by SGA, resulting in an eventual legal filing by SGA members. At the beginning of the 1973-74 school year, the Neo Black Society was reinstated by SGA as a recognized and funded student organization after revising its constitution to reflect that membership was open to all students without regard to race.
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- This March 1, 1973, editorial from The Carolinian, the student newspaper of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), discusses the findings of the Student Government Association (SGA) Committee on Classification of Organizations that the Neo Black Society, a student organization founded in 1968, was not in violation of the SGA constitution. Several senators had argued that the organization was discriminatory and possibly was in violation of an SGA prohibition against affiliations with political or religious organizations. On March 26, 1973, SGA voted to ignore the committee's recommendation and to reclassify (remove funding and recognition from) the Neo Black Society. The SGA decision was overturned by university administration on the basis of faulty evidence and improper procedure by SGA, resulting in an eventual legal filing by SGA members. At the beginning of the 1973-74 school year, the Neo Black Society was reinstated by SGA as a recognized and funded student organization after revising its constitution to reflect that membership was open to all students without regard to race.
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- Comments on William A. Chafe's book pertaining particularly to chapter three, "The Sit-Ins Begin"
- In this seven-page document, Clarence "Curly" Harris comments on historian William Chafe's book Civilities and Civil Rights. Harris, who was manager of the Greensboro Woolworth store at the time of the sit-ins, provides extensive footnotes refuting factual details and many of Chafe's assertions presented in the chapter covering the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins. Harris takes issue especially as to how he and the F.W. Woolworth Co. are represented in the book, as well as with the specific timing of certain events. He notes how much Woolworth's lost due to protests around the country and concludes that the sit-ins were responsible for destroying many downtown business districts throughout the South.
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- Committee on the Study of Time and Place Report to Faculty
- This committee report on inter-racial policies at Guilford College is included in the April 14, 1952 faculty meeting minutes. The report affirms the college's longstanding commitment to inclusion of diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural groups, yet acknowledges challenges of contemporary race relations. The committee recommends integrating faculty, inviting guest speakers, and continuing to teach open-mindedness until constituent communities can be more accepting of integration. <br><br>A committee to "consider the entire problem of race relations as it is related to the policies and program of Guilford College" was appointed at the February 11, 1952 faculty meeting. The committee was chaired by physics professor and athletic coach, Dr. E. Garness Purdom. The committee became known as the Committee on the Study of Time and Place. <br><br>At the May 5, 1952 faculty meeting, the report was re-read and praised as a "noble step forward." The motion carried to accept the report and distribute it to the college's Board of Trustees. The committee was continued helped with faculty discussions on integration in 1954 after the Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision.
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- Communist Workers Party 5 Died Fighting the KKK/Nazis Rather than Live as Slaves
- This flyer, produced by the Committee to Avenge the CWP 5, outlines the Communist Workers Party (CWP) position on events related to the November 3, 1979, Death to the Klan march that resulted in the death of five CWP protestors (also known as the Greensboro Massacre). The flyer states that five CWP members killed in the incident were targted for being leaders and also accuses the Greensboro Police Department and FBI of supporting the Ku Klux Klan. The flyer also promotes organizing and other activities of the CWP.
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- Communist Workers Party press release
- This February 4, 1980 press release, issued by the Communist Workers Party USA, describes a February 2, 1980, demonstration held in Greensboro. The demonstration, which coincided with the twentieth anniversary of the 1960 Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins, protested Ku Klux Klan activity, particularly the November 3, 1979, Death to the Klan march where five protestors were killed. The press release is critical of government agencies for their lack of support for the demonstration, and of civil rights leaders, including Joseph Lowery of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) for their "passive, non-violent philopsphy" and their calls to disarm the demonstration. Andrew Young's February 1, 1980, speech at North Carolina A&T State University was similarly criticized.
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- Communist Workers Party press release
- This February 8, 1980 press release, issued by the Communist Workers Party (CWP), criticizes the Greensboro city government, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the FBI for permitting a Nazi party motorcade on April 19, 1980. Greensboro District Attorney Mike Schlosser is also criticized for his handling of the murder case arising from the November 3, 1979, Death to the Klan march where five protestors were killed. There are also accusations that the government "arranged and allowed" the murders of CWP supporters on November 3rd.
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- Community approach to better human relations
- This is a transcript of a speech on desegregation given by Dr. Gordon W. Lovejoy to the Greensboro Community Council, on December 21, 1954. Lovejoy was a visiting sociology professor at Guilford College and taught classes at Greensboro College at the time of this presentation. In his speech, Lovejoy argues that people receive moral guidance from religion, the legal system, and economics. He goes on to say that their motivations are changing in the face of desegregation, and that the South is in a period of transition. His recommendations for the Greensboro community are: a community self-survey; teaching of human relations in schools; training and support of human relations in PTAs; training of police in human relations; broadening the composition of the ministerial alliance; intensifying of youth programs; desegregation of community facilities; and an increase in the number of facilities where interracial meetings can be held. He says that it is necessary for the council to make a statement in support of improved human relations and to form a human relations committee. The transcript was produced and printed by the Community Council and includes Lovejoy's introduction by Guilford College professor Robert Dinkel, as well as the question and answer session moderated by Community Council president B. Tartt Bell. Topics covered include: possible desegregation rulings in the Supreme Court, desegregation in private schools, and the fear of interracial marriage preventing school desegregation.
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- Complaint and motions for temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction
- This seventeen-page document is the original complaint and motion filed by plaintiffs in the case of the Neo-Black Society status dispute at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). On March 26, 1973, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) Student Government Association (SGA) had voted to reclassify (removed funding and recognition from) the Neo-Black Society. The SGA decision was overturned by university administration on the basis of faulty evidence and improper procedure by SGA, resulting in an eventual legal case that led to the Neo-Black Society's reinstatement as a recognized and funded organization. The document contains firsthand accounts from the plaintiffs of what they described as threatening and intimidating contact by Neo-Black society members.
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- Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident group committee report
- This February 25, 1982, committee report (seven pages) from the Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident contains the committee's recommendations for a mass meeting to report on the group's progress to date. The plan discusses media coverage, a community meeting tentatively scheduled for March 22, 1982, strategies for securing cooperation from the Representative John Conyers and the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and other involved parties, and outreach to other groups. The report includes a draft letter to Representative Conyers voicing concerns about the focus of a proposed grand jury to indite individuals involved in the murder of five Communist Workers Party members at the Death to the Klan march, on November 3, 1979. Also included is a fundraising letter restating the group's aims and concerns about the grand jury, and a draft letter to attorneys McAllister and Michael Johnston also expressing concern about the grand jury and questioning which parties are to be indicted. The report and draft letter to Johnston have handwritten notes and corrections.
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- Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident minutes
- These minutes (two pages) of a July 7, 1982, meeting of the Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident discuss the adoption of a statement of moral and ethical concerns, and plans for the July 15 evening meeting. The statement was to be used as a tool for reach out to the local religious community for support. The July 15 evening meeting was designed to attract a broader participant base; planned agenda items were the formation of a delegation to the Justice Department and the issuance of a statement soliciting information from individuals with knowledge of the murder of five Communist Workers Party members at the Death to the Klan march, on November 3, 1979.
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- Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident minutes
- These minutes (one double-sided page) of a June 23, 1982, meeting of the Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident discuss various aspects of the group's ongoing activities, including planned upcoming meetings and fact-finding delegations, fundraising, a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, a letter to the chief of police asking for a public meeting, and other items. A report on the meeting with the Black Congressional Caucus is described as informative and useful, although the news from the meeting was not good. It was decided that the letter to police chief William Swing requesting a public meeting on surveillance tactics should be signed by individuals rather than by the American Civil Liberties Union and Concerned Citizens for purposes of public perception.
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- Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident minutes
- These minutes (four pages) of a March 10, 1982, meeting of the Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident discuss various aspects of the planned March 22 Mass Meeting, including potential media appearances, speakers, and the purpose of the meeting. The program for the meeting was finalized, with Anne Welsh, Dr. Young, Rev. Brooks, and possibly a representative of the Congressional Black Caucus as speakers. There is also discussion of the pending grand jury and the group's concern that the focus would be on blaming the victims of the five murders at the Death to the Klan march, on November 3, 1979, rather than on activities of the police and other government officials. Strategies for opening up the process to public scrutiny were also mentioned.
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- Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident minutes
- These minutes (two pages) of a February 17, 1982, meeting of the Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident discuss plans for a mass community meeting on March 27 and efforts to bring Representative John Conyers and his House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice to Greensboro for a hearing at which impacted members of the community would speak.
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- Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident minutes
- These minutes (five pages) of a February 3, 1982, meeting of the Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident discusses the group's January 27 meeting with Representative John Conyers of the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and the group's future plans. The meeting with Conyers is described as ""overall favorable"" although the group was disappointed with press coverage and the fact that the Congressional Black Caucus was unable as a whole to meet with the delegation. It was decided that the group would focus on community education and increasing participation from other groups. Attached to the minutes are a letter of support from Representative Walter E. Fauntroy of the Congressional Black Caucus and a draft letter and statement of concerns sent to Representative Eugene Johnston. The statment of concerns also contains a list of community groups supporting Concerned Citizens.
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- Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident minutes
- These minutes (two pages) of a December 16, 1981, meeting of the Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident discusses resolutions in support of federal prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan members involved in the murder of five Communist Workers Party members at the Death to the Klan march, on November 3, 1979, by the Greensboro Human Relations Commission and the Greensboro Citizens Forum, and plans for conveying the group's work to the general public. Also mentioned are plans to meet with Representative John Conyers and the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice; the minutes note that the committee had been very cooperative to date and had suggested several possible dates for meetings.
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- Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident minutes
- These are minutes (four pages) of a Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident meeting held November 24, 1981, at the Trevi Fountain restaurant. At this meeting, the group agreed on a statement of purpose stressing its support for federal prosecution of participants in the murders of five Communist Workers Party members, on November 3, 1979, at the Death to the Klan march. In addition, the group adopted a plan of action to include a press conference, media appearances, coordination with local churches, a request that the Greensboro City Council and Human Relations Commission endorse the group's call, a petition drive, a visit to Representative John Conyers of the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, and community outreach. There was also discussion of budgeting and finance for the group's operations.
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- Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident minutes
- These are minutes (two pages) of a Concerned Citizens of the November 3rd Incident meeting held October 28, 1981, at the Trevi Fountain restaurant. Included is a report on a forum held October 27, 1981, on the federal investigation into the murder of five Communist Workers Party members at the Death to the Klan march, on November 3, 1979, where it was suggested that federal prosecution would be an appropriate option. The minutes also discuss ways to make the general public aware of the findings and additional means of expressing support for a federal investigation. The decision was that Julian Bond should return to Greensboro for a mass community meeting to be held November 22, 1981, and that representatives to congress would also be contacted.
