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AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department, Southern Office records

 Collection
Identifier: L1983-26

Scope and Content of the Records

The records, 1964-1979, of the Southern Office of the AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department consist primarily of correspondence and related reports, surveys, statements, and newspaper clippings. Much of the correspondence is between Director E.T. (A1) Kehrer and various AFL-CIO departments, notably his superiors Don Slaiman (1965-1974) and William Pollard (1974-1979). There is also substantial correspondence between Kehrer and the AFL-CIO state and city labor councils in the South; apprenticeship and training programs; a wide range of groups and persons concerned with community action and social reform issues, principally in the field of civil rights; and political figures. These persons and groups include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Georgia Citizens' Coalition on Hunger, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Social Change, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Southern Regional Council, the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, vocational education programs, George and Lurleen Wallace, Charles Weltner, the Workers Defense League, and many others. An extensive pamphlet collection includes a large body of labor statistics compiled and published by the Georgia Labor Department in the 1970's, and others relating to fair housing, busing, voter education, equal employment, and other social, economic, and political issues.

Dates

  • Creation: 1964-1979

Creator

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open for research use.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Georgia State University is the owner of the physical collection and makes reproductions available for research, subject to the copyright law of the United States and item condition. Georgia State University may or may not own the rights to materials in the collection. It is the researcher's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and obtain permission from the copyright holder before publication, reproduction, or display of the materials beyond what is reasonable under copyright law. Researchers may quote selections from the collection under the fair use provision of copyright law.

Biography of E. T. Kehrer

E.T. (Al) Kehrer, Director of the Southern Office, received his M.A. in Economics from Yale University. Before assuming the directorship of the Civil Rights Department, Southern Office, he was the Southern Director of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union from 1953 to 1964.

Extent

7 Linear Feet (in 17 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract:

The records, 1964-1979, of the Southern Office of the AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department consist primarily of correspondence and related reports, surveys, statements, and newspaper clippings. Much of the correspondence is between Director E.T. (Al) Kehrer and various AFL-CIO departments, notably his superiors Don Slaiman (1965-1974) and William Pollard (1974-1979). There is also substantial correspondence between Kehrer and the AFL-CIO state and city labor councils in the South; apprenticeship and training programs; a wide range of groups and persons concerned with community action and social reform issues, principally in the field of civil rights; and political figures.

Arrangement

The recorda are arranged into six series:

  1. Series I: AFL-CIO Departments, 1964-1979
  2. Series II: Apprenticeship, Recruitment, and Training Programs, 1966-1978
  3. Series III: A. Philip Randolph Institute, 1966-1977
  4. Series IV: Recruitment and Training Programs, 1970-1977
  5. Series V: Subject File, 1964-1978
  6. Series VI: Oversize Material, 1960, 1965, 1969-1976

Acquisition Information

Donated by AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department, Southern Office director E.T. Kehrer, July 1983.

Related Archival Materials

Related Materials in This Repository

  1. E. T. Kehrer Papers, 1940-1989 (L1989-22)
  2. AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department, Southern Region records, 1963-1972 (L1973-05)
  3. AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department, Southeastern Office records, 1974-1984 (L1985-16)
  4. AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department, Southeastern Region records, 1966-1986 (L1988-22)
  5. AFL-CIO Southern Area Civil Rights Department records, 1962-1988 (L1989-17)

The Southern Labor Archives holds numerous AFL-CIO collections. These collections include State level organizations (Virginia State AFL-CIO, Mississippi AFL-CIO, Florida State AFL-CIO, Georgia State AFL-CIO, South Carolina State AFL-CIO, and North Carolina State AFL-CIO). In addition, the SLA has a number of regional office collections (the designations and locations have changed over time) including: AFL-CIO. Region 5, AFL-CIO. Region 6, AFL-CIO. Region 8 (Knoxville, Tenn.), and AFL-CIO. Region 10 (Nashville, Tenn.) as well as the AFL-CIO. Civil Rights Department. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Separated Materials

During processing, materials were separated to other Southern Labor Archives Collections. For photographs, see the Southern Labor Archives Photographs Collection finding aid. For pamphlets, see the Southern Labor Archives Pamphlet Collection finding aid (note that this collection has been weeded over time). For periodicals, see the Southern Labor Archives Periodicals Collection finding aid or catalog. For artifacts, constitutions, and contracts, consult Special Collections for access.

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Artifacts Collection

  1. One paper hat, Drug and Hospital Union # 1199

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Constitutions Collection

  1. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, 1965

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Contracts Collection

  1. The Lockheed-Georgia Company and the Aeronautical Machinists Local Lodge 709, 1968

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Photographic Collection

  1. E. T. Kehrer (3), 1977-1978
  2. Tri-State Labor School, 1965
  3. Florida AFL-CIO (E. T. Kehrer), 1965
  4. Pascagoula (MS.) Metal Trades Council, Human Relations Committee, 1971
  5. Members of Atlanta labor movement picket the distribution of Indiana Desks by Office Equipment Distribution, Tulane Drive. Indiana Desks was the target of a U.F.W.A. boycott. Left to right are Spurgeon Griggs, ILGWU; Jean Davis; OPEIU; Deborah Banes, IAMAW; and Jim Sala, Regional Director of the AFL-CIO, District 5. June, 1982
  6. Members of SEIU picket Office Equipment Distributors to inform the public of the boycott of Indiana Desks. June, 1982
  7. Jean Davis (OPEIU) and Amos Beasley (Laborers) picket Office Equipment Distributors
  8. Aletha Johnson, International Representative with the U.F.W.A., picketing Office Equipment Distributors
  9. Mark Fleischman (SEIU) and other labor activists picket Office Equipment Distributors
  10. SEIU member leafletting members of the Lions during their annual convention in Atlanta. The Lions national office in Chicago had recently terminated members of SEIU who served on the maintenance staff as a cost-cutting measure. June, 1982
  11. Labor union members picketing Office Equipment Distributors. June, 1982 [L1983-26]

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Pamphlet Collection

  1. Apprenticeship: Engineering News-Record; Labor and the Philadelphia Plan
  2. Black workers: Black Progress on Illiberal Rhetoric; The Changing Profile of Black Workers; The Foundation: A Black Working Class; Preferential Hiring for Negroes
  3. Capitalism: The Fortune Directory of the 500 Largest U.S. Industrial Corporations; The Fortune Directory of the Second 500 Largest U.S. Industrial Corporations
  4. Civil rights: Cry for Justice; To Fulfill These Rights (White House Conference), 1966; To Fulfill These Rights, Council's Report (White House Conference), 1966; To Fulfill These Rights, Speeches (White House Conference), 1966
  5. Cooperatives: Something of Our Own, Part I; Something of Our Own, Part II
  6. Legal aid services: Early Experience with Group Legal Services; The Future of the Legal Profession; Group Legal Services and Clinical Legal Education; New Ways to Cut Legal Fees
  7. Manpower Development and Training Act: Manpower Efforts in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia
  8. Mississippi unionism: A History of Mississippi; Some Dimensions of Unionism in Mississippi
  9. Organizing: Some Ideas for Community Organizers
  10. Poverty: Counting the Poor; Our Invisible Poor; Planning the End of the American Ghetto; Poverty; Organizing the Poor
  11. Public Education: The New York School Crisis
  12. A. Philip Randolph Institute: The A. Philip Randolph Institute Story
  13. Race relations [South]: The Role of the White Liberals in Changing Patterns of Race Relations in the South
  14. Right to work: The `Right to Work' Law
  15. American Federation of Teachers: The Full and Sometimes Very Surprising Story of Ocean Hill, the Teachers Union and the Teachers Strikes of 1968
  16. Textile industry: Employment Patterns in the Textile Industry
  17. Unemployment: Unemployment: The Problem We Can Solve
  18. US Labor Department [Bureau of Labor Statistics]: Selected Earnings and Demographic Characteristics of Union members, 1970
  19. Women workers: Women Workers: Profile of a Growing Force

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Periodicals Collection

  1. Action (Alliance for Labor Action)
  2. Action Bulletin [AFL-CIO Legislative Department]
  3. Agenda [AFL-CIO Industrial Union Department]
  4. Breakthrough [Recruitment and Training Program]
  5. Civil Liberties in New York [New York Civil Liberties Union]
  6. Georgia Council on Economic Education [Georgia Council on Economic Education]
  7. Georgia State AFL-CIO News [Georgia State AFL-CIO]
  8. IUD Bulletin [AFL-CIO. Industrial Union Department]
  9. IUD News and Views [AFL-CIO. Industrial Union Department]
  10. IUD Spotlight on Health and Safety [AFL-CIO. Industrial Union Department]
  11. Industrial and Labor Relations Newsletter [Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University]
  12. National Labor Group [National Labor Group]
  13. Southern Co-Op News [Southern Co-Op]
  14. WDL News [Workers Defense League]
  15. Full Employment News Reporter, September/October 1975
  16. Southern Patriot, December 1971

Processing Information

Processed by Special Collections Staff at the file level.

Title
AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department, Southern Office [L1983-26]:
Subtitle
A Guide to Its Records at Georgia State University Library
Status
Completed
Author
Georgia State University Library
Date
June 2001
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • June 2001: EAD finding aid created by Apex Data Services.
  • October 2005, August 2007: EAD edited by William Hardesty.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
100 Decatur St., S.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404-413-2880
404-413-2881 (Fax)