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Finding Aid Compiled by
Jeanne Manton
January 1995
M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives
University Libraries / University at Albany / State University of New York
1400 Washington Avenue / Albany, New York 12222 / (518) 437-3935
VOLUME: 4 reels of microfilm
ACQUISITION: The records were received from Joseph Allen, President of the NAACP Schenectady (New York) Branch. These records were lent to Dr. Gerald Zahavi as part of the Schenectady General Electric in the Twentieth Century Project with the understanding that the records would be microfilmed for addition to the Archives of Public Affairs and Policy of the University Libraries, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives. The records were received by the University Libraries in October 1994. The records were organized with funding support from the Schenectady General Electric in the Twentieth Century Project and microfilmed with funding support from the Capital District Black History Project. The original records were returned to Joseph Allen after microfilming was completed.
ACCESS: Access to this record group is unrestricted.
COPYRIGHT: The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
The Schenectady Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in 1949 by an interracial group of men and women committed to the task of improving the status of Blacks in the Schenectady community. The first ten years of the Branch's activity were characterized by strong committee work in the areas of housing and employment. Committee work was focused on ameliorating discrimination in housing and hiring practices. At the National conventions of 1952 and 1953, the Branch was honored with the Thalheimer Award for outstanding performance in the elimination of discrimination in public housing.
The NAACP Schenectady (New York) Branch worked to eliminate discrimination against workers in local industry in a variety of ways, notably functioning as a clearinghouse for applicants and employers during the 1950s when many areas of employment were effectively closed to Blacks in Schenectady. At the same time, the Branch reached out to colleges and universities to recruit young Black professionals to the area. The 1970s saw the Branch reaching out into the community in new ways in order to keep interest in the group high. This activity included close contact with area social service providers and other community organizations. Internal branch problems surfaced at this time also, resulting in some dissipation of energies.
As a research source for investigating the status of race relations in a medium sized northern city, the records of the Schenectady Branch of the NAACP will be of some value. The presence of General Electric as a major employer in the city and a strong union presence sheds some light on race matters in labor as well as NAACP relations with socialist influenced groups. Systematic initiatives in housing and employment emanated from the local Branch from the time of its inception. Executive Committee files from the 1950s detail these initiatives.
The role of women in activist organizations and in civil rights work can be explored in these records through qualitative analysis of duties performed, often in membership drives and other outreach initiatives, fundraising events and organizational support. The Branch elected its first female President in 1959, Mrs. Malinda Myers.
Many of the files are incomplete or sparse and only through cross referencing several files of the same period can events be fleshed out to a valuable extent. These conditions make the research value of these records scanty at points. Unfortunately, the records for the time period between 1964 and 1973 are unavailable. The later portion of the files are larger but also contain much more in the way of routine correspondence of little research value.
The Executive Committee minutes document the proceedings of the Branch's Executive Committee meetings and include Board member and officer lists, committee reports, motions and resolutions and program and budget proposals. The Branch represented the interests of African Americans in social, political and legal issues. Members of the Executive Committee directed the Branch activities under the influences of local constraints and immediate community needs and the direction of the National office and National campaigns. Discrimination in public housing and in municipal hiring practices were early targets for legalistic attacks. Community outreach and interaction with area civic, labor and religious groups provided local support for the broadest social and educational aims including non discriminatory hiring by local private businesses.
The Membership Meeting Minutes document the proceedings of the members' meetings including committee reports, outreach proposals and motions and resolutions from the rank and file membership of the Branch. The Branch presented a speakers' series and planned and executed special community events for outreach and fundraising. Women often managed fundraising functions. Close adherence to the campaigns of NAACP National and to its organizational procedure characterized the direction of the membership's activities. Affiliation of members with local, professional, religious and educational organizations is evident in the proceedings and programs followed.
Series 3: Membership Lists, 1949-1979
These files contain the names, addresses, and dues paid by Branch members. Also included in the file are routine correspondence and membership reports to the National Membership Secretary in New York, New York.
Series 4: Correspondence, 1949-1980
The Branch correspondence reflects interaction with local labor organizations, elected officials, and church and civic groups. Correspondence with NAACP National included routine business as well as the Branch's requests for guidance regarding, administration, leadership, organizational solidarity and Branch activities. Correspondence from Thurgood Marshall is notable. Local businesses corresponded with the Branch to inform members of equal opportunity employment. Public and private human services providers also corresponded frequently with the Branch, especially in the latter years of the 1970s. Correspondence of Edward Gamarekian, a founding member of the Executive Committee, is found under Gamarekian in Series 5: Subject Files.
Series 5: Subject Files, 1949-1981
The Subject Files contain records of Branch programs, committee work, news clippings and files on the careers of certain Branch members and officers. The Subject Files are organized alphabetically and span the entire period of 1949 through 1981 though the period of the 1970s is more heavily represented. The files include research on local housing conditions among Schenectady's black population in 1960. Local discrimination grievance cases are included.
Series 6: Financial Records, 1949-1979
Missing Years: 1960-1962, 1966-1976
The Financial Records include proposed budgets, financial statements, audits (1976 and 1978), revenue and fundraising reports, and records of membership dues paid.
Series 1: Executive Committee Minutes, 1949-1982 (Missing Years: Dec. 1959-Jan. 1963, May. 1964-Sept. 1973)
Reel 1
No minutes exist for the period Dec. 1959-Jan. 1963, May 1964- Sept.
1973.
Each folder heading is followed by a list of major topics.
Executive Committee Minutes, 1949
- Recognition of Schenectady Branch by State Office
- Political Action re: execution of Negro prisoners in New Jersey
- Approach local candidates about housing problems of African-American
Schenectady citizens
Executive Committee Minutes, Dec. 1949-Oct. 1950
- Segregation: a) legal action, b) branch recommendation that
a Negro be appointed to the Municipal Housing Authority, c) public housing
placement efforts,d) segregation of public recreational facilities
- Job Discrimination
- Political Action: a) petition Senator Kearney for civil rights
legislation, b) letter writing campaign supporting FEPC
- Legal Defense Initiatives
Executive Committee Minutes, July 1951-Dec. 1954
- Communist Organizations and the NAACP
- Segregation: a) housing; community outreach for Negro appointment
to the MHA, b) initiative to enlist Federal support in MHA problem
- Employment: initiative to place Negroes in local companies;
a) General Electric
- Educational Equality, campaign for: a) vocational programs,
b) community education program, c) Negro History Week, d) resolution praising
Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education
- Political Action: a) protest to President Eisenhower and New York State
Senators against the appointment of Governor Byrne to Ambassador to the United
Nations
Executive Committee Minutes, 1955
- Political Action: express constituent support of legislative
measures addressing a) discrimination in public housing and
initiatives to prohibit discrimination in Federal Housing
Authority funded housing, b) the need to investigate
discrimination in private housing, c) study of area slums, d) enforcement of anti-discrimination
measures
- Communist Organizations and the NAACP: communist organization
activities in Schenectady and expulsion of members from Schenectady NAACP
- Housing: Telephone survey by NAACP members of local landlords
re: attitudes toward and willingness to rent to Black tenants
- Community Outreach: Outreach efforts on race relations
Executive Committee Minutes, Jan. 1956-Sept. 1958
- Educational Equality
- Housing: housing code violations
- Political Action: constituent support for Metcalfe-Baker Bill
Report from the US South
- Youth Work
Executive Committee Minutes, Oct. 1958-Nov. 1959
- Community Outreach
- Political Action: a) letter to Gov. Harriman re: discrimination
from labor unions,
b) support efforts for Metcalfe-Baker Bill
Missing Executive Committee Minutes, Dec. 1959-Jan. 1963
Executive Committee Minutes, Jan. 1963-Apr. 1964
- Officer and Committee chair list
- Community Outreach: outreach through local churches
- Education: a) racial imbalance in area schools, de facto segregation,
b) disparate facilities, c) State Conferences call for one day boycott
of school
- Housing : anti-discrimination ordinances for Schenectady housing
- Political Action: a) committee analysis of pending civil rights
legislation, b) letter writing campaign to legislators and news releases in support of the civil rights bill
- Voter Registration
Missing Executive Committee Minutes, May 1964-Sept. 1973
Executive Committee Minutes, Sept. 1973-Dec. 1975
- Education: a) status of Black teachers in the area, b) racial
imbalance persists in area schools, c) Boston bussing crisis
- Employment: discrimination in hiring for Schenectady Police
Force
- Internal branch problems
Executive Committee Minutes, 1976
- Employment: minority hiring in civil service
- Internal branch problems
- Voter Registration
Executive Committee Minutes, 1977
- Internal branch problems
Executive Committee Minutes, 1978
- Internal branch business: a) new office space at 214 Broadway, b) relations
with National office
Executive Committee Minutes, 1979
- Affirmative Action: Schenectady Police Department
- Campaign for Martin Luther King Jr. legal holiday
Executive Committee Minutes, 1980
- Internal branch business
- Political Action
Executive Committee Minutes, April 1981-Nov. 1982
- Community Watch Program
- Internal branch business
- Response to Neo-Nazi Activity
Series 2: Membership Meeting Minutes, 1949-1980
Reel 1 (cont)
No Minutes exist for Jan. 1963-1972, 1973 (only one meeting found),
1974 and Oct. 1975-Apr. 1976.
Much of the content of the Members Meeting minutes closely parallels the initiatives
reported in the Executive Committee meeting minutes, therefore, detailed contents
notes are omitted. Reports presented as part of a meeting's minutes and provided
as paper copy are included in the file with those minutes.
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1949
Membership Meeting Minutes, Dec. 1949-Feb. 1951
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1951
Membership Meeting Minutes, Jan. 1952-Nov. 1955
Membership Meeting Minutes, Jan. 1956-Mar. 1957
Membership Meeting Minutes, April 1957-May 1959
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1960
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1961-1962
Missing Membership Meeting Minutes, 1963-1972
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1973
- Only one meeting found
Missing Membership Meeting Minutes, 1974
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1975
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1976
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1977
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1978
- Branch reorganization
Membership Meeting Minutes, 1979
Membership Meeting Minutes, Jan. 1980
Series 3: Membership Lists, 1949-1980
Reel 2
Membership Lists, 1952
Membership Lists, 1954
Membership Reports, 1949-58
Membership Reports, 1962
Membership Reports, 1974-1975
Membership Reports, 1976
Membership Lists and Reports, 1977-78
Membership Lists and Reports, 1979
Membership List, 1980
Series 4: Correspondence, 1949-1980
Reel 2 (cont)
Missing Correspondence for years, 1964-1974.
For miscellaneous correspondence of Edward Gamarekian, founding member of the
Executive Board, see Series V: Subject Files under Gamarekian.
Incoming Correspondence, 1949-1964
- "Blacklisting" of United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers
of America; question addressed by Thurgood Marshall, Jan. 10, 1950
- Employment: Professional placement campaign
- Political Action: a) Memo to all Branch offices re: Senator L.B. Johnson
civil rights proposal, b) Senator Kenneth B. Keating in support of civil rights
legislation
Outgoing Correspondence, 1949-1964
- expulsion of communists, memoranda, 1951, 1952
Missing Correspondence for 1964-1974
Incoming Correspondence, 1975-1976
Outgoing Correspondence, 1974-1976
Incoming Correspondence, 1977
- response to the Schenectady Branch campaign to bar the name "Sambo's"
from an area restaurant. Name change affirmed by Regional Director of Sambo's.
Outgoing Correspondence, 1977
- Request of Branch for assistance from National Director Benjamin Hooks
in resolving internal branch problems, Nov. 10, 1977
Incoming Correspondence, 1978
- Re-organization of Schenectady Branch, Feb. 1, 1978
- Requests for NAACP inquiries in local grievances, October 1978
Outgoing Correspondence, 1978
- Political Action: mailgram campaign in support of Humphrey-Hawkins
Bill HR50, Mar. 3, 1978
Reel 3
Incoming Correspondence, 1979
- City of Schenectady Affirmative Action Task Force first meeting
Apr. 30, 1979
- Employment: job postings
Outgoing Correspondence, 1979
Incoming Correspondence, 1980
Outgoing Correspondence, 1980
- Branch President complaint of harassment by an on-duty police officer
Executive Committee "Call to Meeting" Announcements, 1980
Series 5: Subject Files, 1949-1981
Reel 3 (Continued)
Act-So (Afro-American Cultural, Technological Scientific Olympics),
1979
Affirmative Action Plan, 1979
Affirmative Action: Schenectady Police Department, 1979
Allmond v. Workshop discrimination investigation, 1977
Art Center Theatre of Schenectady, 1980
Black and Hispanic Political Caucus, 1980
Chapter Applications (misc. doc. forms)
Cintron, N.: employment matter, 1978
Community Outreach (miscellaneous), 1950-1970s
Conferences of Branches, New York State, 1979
Conventions, National, 1959, 1978
Education (miscellaneous documents, scattered years), 1964-1970s
Employment, 1970s
Fair Housing Plan, 1979
Funding: CETA, 1979
Fundraising, 1954, 1978, 1979
Gamarekian, Edward, founding member of the Executive Board of
the NAACP Schenectady Branch, 1949-1953
Grievances Cases, 1978, 1979
Historical (incomplete), 1949-1975
Housing, discrimination, surveys (Union College Social Research
Center), 1951, 1960, 1973
Housing, desegregation by the Municipal Housing Authority, 1951,
1952, 1959
IUE-UE, memorandum, 1951
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Observances, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979
Labor and Industry, 1978
LeFlore, Marzella, resume, 1978
May 17 Observances, 1979
Membership Drives, 1959, 1992
Mississippi Project ,"Freedom Summer", 1964
Myers, Malinda, first female Schenectady Branch president, resume,
1979
Newsletter, Branch, 1951, 1952, 1977
Newspaper clippings (Miscellaneous topics), 1951-1982
Reel 4
Political Action (incomplete), 1964, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
Poverty Program, 1964
Press Releases, 1977-1980
Press/Publicity Committee, 1977
Program Committee, 1958
Reorganization, 1977
"Sambo" restaurant demonstration, 1977
Schenectady Branch, Constitution and By-laws, 1952, 1977
Speeches; meeting submissions, 1952
State Association assessments, 1979
Thomas, Willis, 1975-1978
Town Meeting Radio Program, 1951
WAST T.V., 1979
Youth, Youth Work, 1952, 1964, 1977 (see branch newsletters)
Zuber, Paul, 1978
Series 6: Financial Records, 1949-1979
Reel 4 (cont)
Missing Financial Records for 1960-1962 and 1966-1976.
Financial Statements, 1949-1959
Missing Financial Records for 1960-1962
Reports to the Treasurer, 1963
Financial Statements, 1964
Reports to the Treasurer, 1965
Missing Financial Records for 1966-1976.
Audit, 1976
Financial Statements, 1976-1978
Treasurer's Journal, 1977-79
Audit, 1978
Financial Statements, March 1979-Jan. 1981