Special Collections and Archives Public Health Subject Guide: Racial Discrimination

Maria Helena Dolan Papers (Q134)
Maria Helena Dolan is an activist, author and columnist. She helped to expand Atlanta's Pride March during the 1970s, and received national recognition for her "Defiant Dyke" speech at Atlanta's 1978 Anita Bryant protest. Her papers include newspaper clippings, reports, publications, textiles and artifacts, and they thoroughly document LGBTQ+ history locally, nationally and internationally.

Lorraine Fontana Papers, 1947-2014 (Q110)
Lorraine Fontana is an activist for the LGBTQ community and has fought for social justice since her early college days. Her papers, 1947-2014 (bulk 1968-2010), include correspondence, conference materials, flyers, notes, programs and publications, representing her activities in Atlanta, New York, and elsewhere.

Millard Farmer Papers, 1960-1995; 2001-2002 (Y002)
Attorney Millard Farmer has fought against the death penalty since the 1960s. His papers primarily comprise legal files and records, the papers include correspondence, photographs, sound recordings, and printed material such as reports, articles, and clippings.

Stetson Kennedy Papers, 1933-1981 (L1979-37)
Kennedy's career as an author began in the 1930s when he worked as both a writer and an editor on the Federal Writers Project guide to Florida. The Papers, 1933-1981, of Stetson Kennedy comprise correspondence; subject files on various organizations, individuals, and ideas; typescripts of articles written by Kennedy; newsclippings; press releases; bulletins and fliers; pamphlets; periodicals; and photographs. Anyone interested in primary source material on the pioneering struggles to introduce unionization, civil rights, and socio-economic-political progress to the South during the Great Depression, WW II, and the decade which followed will find this extensive collection highly rewarding.

Roberta Malavenda Papers, 1978-1985 (W037)
Roberta Malavenda has worked as an educator, community consultant, social worker and community organizer advocating for child care and developmental disabilities rights. The Roberta Malavenda papers, 1978-1985, document her involvement in the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), Georgia Women's Political Caucus (GWPC), and National Anti-Klan Network.

Lee Ague Miller Papers, 1960-1972 (W131)
Attorney and political consultant Lee Miller (1930- ) was born in New York City, graduated from Brooklyn College, with a degree in Elementary education, and earned a law degree from the University of Wisconsin. She worked for the Federal Trade Commission and Civil Aeronautics board during the Eisenhower administration before moving to Smyrna, Georgia. Once in Georgia, Miller became a major player in the emerging Republican politics of the formally one party state. She founded the Cobb County Federation of Republican Women before becoming the President of the Georgia Federation in 1965. She also served on the National Federation of Republican Women Board of Directors and as the head of the Educational Advisory Committee. Under her leadership, she spearheaded Operation Lend-An-Ear, which polled women on education and political topics throughout the nation. In state politics, Miller served as Republican State Canvas Chairwoman for Barry Goldwater in 1964, Director of Women’s Activities (which included leading a massive group of women volunteers who handled detailed polling) for the Callaway campaign), and was on the State Executive Committee for years. She played crucial behind the scenes rolls for both the Nixon and Reagan campaigns in Georgia. After moving to Columbus, Georgia, Miller and her husband dove hard into the politics of forced school busing and desegregation. She challenged the Muscogee County (GA) school board in court and the press in an attempt to mitigate the effects of federal courts on local control of schools. In 1997, after her daughter recovered from a traumatic brain injury, Miller established the Georgia Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. She continues to serve as CEO of the organization.

Newport News Central Labor Council Records, 1899-1981 (L1980-40)

The records, 1899-1981, of the Newport News Central Labor Council (NNCLC) contain limited correspondence; minutes and financial documents comprise the bulk of the material. Issues present in the correspondence and minutes are affiliation of local unions in the area, delegates, charities, voter registration drives, organizing campaigns, and several instances of charges of racial discrimination or tension between black and white members. Principal correspondents are Richard Joyner, President, and C. W. Athearn and Fred Conner, Secretary-Treasurers.

United Paperworkers International Union, Local 446 (St. Marys, Ga.) Records, 1941-1998 (L2002-06)

The records of the United Paperworkers International Union (UPIU) Local 446 consist of materials that reflect the establishment and day-to-day running of the union (administrative and financial records), as well as illustrating its relationships with the Gilman Paper Company and with other unions (administrative, personnel and company relations records). Some of the records also represent a time, after the enactment in 1964 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, when desegregation was an important issue in the United States. Relating to this matter, and of particular interest, are the records of a racial discrimination suit filed in 1975 against the Gilman Paper Company and its unions.

AFL-CIO Southern Area Civil Rights Department records, 1962-1988 (L1989-17)

The records of the AFL-CIO Southern Area Civil Rights Department, spanning 1964 to 1988, include correspondence, minutes, reports, writings, financial records, printed materials, clippings, membership cards, photographs, and artifacts that document the activities of the office's director, E.T. "Al" Kehrer, in facilitating the employment of minorities and women in the region. The records show that some of Kehrer's work related directly to job training, affirmative action, and equal opportunity complaints. Other materials document that many of his activities contributed to increasing cooperation among civil rights groups, unions, and government agencies. Kehrer also participated in a wide range of community, labor, and political organizations.

AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department, Southeastern Region records, 1966-1986 (L1988-22)

Series I of this collection contains newsletters and some correspondence of state and local AFL-CIO bodies from 1984-1986. The materials concern legislative interests, local union news, voter registration, and "get-out-the-vote" campaigns. Series II contains materials of the Advanced Southern Labor School from 1981 to 1986. Training guides, manuals, and other supporting documents for labor education in Nashville, New Orleans, and Jacksonville are included. Series III contains a summary of the activities of the AFL-CIO School for Union Women of 1981. Series IV contains correspondence, news articles, newsletters, registration information, and schedules of events for the AFL-CIO Regional Conferences from 1981 to 1985. Series V contains correspondence, schedule of events, brochures, and news articles of the AFL-CIO Civil Rights Conferences. Series VI contains official AFL-CIO Executive Council statements on economic issues, social policies, and foreign policy matters of the United States from 1984 to 1985. Series VII contains correspondence concerning conferences held throughout the country by the A. Philip Randolph Institute from 1984 to 1986. National Urban League Conferences of 1983 compose Series VIII. Materials include conference agenda, speech transcripts, reports on civil rights activities, and proposals for working with minority youth. Newsletters and employment statistics for the state from the Georgia Department of Labor are in Series IX. Series X consists of Fair Employment Practices Reports from the Bureau of National Affairs, 1978-1984. Subject files from 1974 to 1986 constitute Series XI.

Newport News Central Labor Council Records, 1899-1981 (L1980-40

The records, 1899-1981, of the Newport News Central Labor Council (NNCLC) contain limited correspondence; minutes and financial documents comprise the bulk of the material. Issues present in the correspondence and minutes are affiliation of local unions in the area, delegates, charities, voter registration drives, organizing campaigns, and several instances of charges of racial discrimination or tension between black and white members. Principal correspondents are Richard Joyner, President, and C. W. Athearn and Fred Conner, Secretary-Treasurers.

Stetson Kennedy Papers, 1933-1981 (L1979-37)

Kennedy's career as an author began in the 1930s when he worked as both a writer and an editor on the Federal Writers Project guide to Florida. The Papers, 1933-1981, of Stetson Kennedy comprise correspondence; subject files on various organizations, individuals, and ideas; typescripts of articles written by Kennedy; newsclippings; press releases; bulletins and fliers; pamphlets; periodicals; and photographs. Anyone interested in primary source material on the pioneering struggles to introduce unionization, civil rights, and socio-economic-political progress to the South during the Great Depression, WW II, and the decade which followed will find this extensive collection highly rewarding.

M.H. Ross, 1916-1987 (L2001-05)
Myron Howard "Mike" Ross, was born November 9, 1919. Ross worked with a number of unions as an organizer, arbitrator, and advocate in the South. He ran for elective office in North Carolina on the Progressive Party ticket. After receiving public health training, he founded the Fairmont (West Virginia) Clinic, which had the mission of providing high quality medical care for miners and their families. Administering the clinic 1958-1978, Ross developed a longstanding interest in coal miners and worked on writing a history of them. The M. H. Ross papers consists of campaign materials from congressional races held in 1940 and 1948, labor union activities, social and political research, coal mining research, including a large collection of coal miner oral histories, manuscripts and those related research files, office files, photographs, audio/visual materials, and personal and family oral histories.

Millard Farmer, March 9, 2012
Born in 1934, noted death penalty defense attorney Millard C. Farmer, Jr. grew up in Newnan, Georgia. A University of Georgia graduate (1956), he worked in the family business and attended Woodrow Wilson College of Law during the evenings. He was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1967, built a successful practice in Newnan, and was a co-founder of the Bank of Coweta there. Farmer also represented disadvantaged clients, and came to question whether African American defendants could be tried fairly before all-white juries. By 1970, he and his associates were challenging jury composition on the grounds of race. In 1976, he co-founded the Team Defense Project (TDP) with social psychologist Courtney J. Mullin and Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center. TDP was dedicated to the representation of indigent persons in death penalty cases and enjoyed many high-profile successes in the 1970s and 1980s, notably the case of the “Dawson Five” in Dawson, Georgia. Most of Farmer and Team Defense Project’s work was intended to bring attention to the inequities in the way capital punishment is used, and many of TDP’s litigation strategies, such as jury composition challenges and motion filings it developed, have become widely adopted tactics. Farmer and his colleagues taught and lectured on these strategies to numerous legal groups and audiences. An acknowledged expert in capital cases, Farmer has also represented clients bringing racial discrimination suits. He has received numerous honors from legal and civil liberties advocacy organizations.

Millard Farmer, April 6, 2012

Millard Farmer, May 11, 2012

Millard Farmer, July 13, 2012

Millard Farmer, September 28, 2012

Millard Farmer, November 2, 2012

Lorraine Fontana

Georgia Government Documentation Project Oral Histories, 1971-2002
The Georgia Government Documentation Project (GGDP) documents the state's political heritage through oral history interviews and collections of associated papers. The GGDP collection includes more than 200 interviews with former governors, legislators, women in politics, African-American political activists and civil rights leaders, journalists, and numerous other public figures. In addition to the interviews generated by the project, the GGDP actively collects interviews conducted by other scholars of Georgia politics.

Stetson Kennedy

Special Collections and Archives

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