Department of Civil Rights, 1965-1970

Series III contains records pertaining to the CIO; the AFL-CIO and its various departments, committees, and trade and industrial councils; the Mississippi State AFL-CIO; and a few other state labor councils. The series begins with the CIO files, 1952-1955, which include correspondence from President Walter Reuther, Vice-Presidents Allan Haywood and John V. Riffe, and Secretary-Treasurer James B. Carey.

The post-merger AFL-CIO material follows, arranged hierarchically beginning with the correspondence of President George Meany and Secretary-Treasurer William Schnitzler, followed by departments such as Civil Rights, Community Services, Education, and Legislation. This sub-series includes the voluminous files of the Committee on Political Education (COPE), which contain a twenty year (1960-1980) run of Mississippi COPE Activity Reports submitted by Mississippi AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Knight.

The third series begins with records pertaining to local and state trade and industrial councils, such as the Pascagoula Metal Trades Council and the Mississippi Building Trades Council. The Mississippi State AFL-CIO records consist of correspondence of the Executive Board and various committees, financial statements, legislative reports, memoranda, and assorted material related to state AFL-CIO conventions, 1957-1968.

Series III continues with a sub-series of files pertaining to the various city and county central labor councils in Mississippi. Series 3 concludes with files pertaining to the state labor councils of Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee.