- unitid
-
{"value"=>"21127", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 974", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b22622980", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1864-1997", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1864/1997"}
{"value"=>"1930-1995", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1930/1995"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Lawrence D. Reddick papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"116 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"54.21 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The Lawrence D. Reddick papers (1864-1997) reflect Reddick's activities as a historian, professor, and advocate for the study of Black history, as well as his involvement in the civil rights movement as both participant and documentarian. The bulk of the papers date from the 1930s through Reddick's death in 1995."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Reddick, Lawrence Dunbar, 1910-1995", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Lawrence Dunbar Reddick (1910-1995) was a historian and writer who documented the U.S. civil rights movement and was a pioneer in the field of African American studies.</p> <p>Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Reddick attended Fisk University where he studied history under Charles S. Johnson, E. Franklin Frazier, and Horace Mann Bond. He earned his PhD in history at the University of Chicago, writing a dissertation on \"The Negro in the New Orleans Press, 1850-1860: A Study in Attitudes and Propaganda.\" In 1938 he married Ella Ruth Thomas, a New Orleans native, social worker, and teacher whom Reddick met while they were both pursuing graduate work at the University of Chicago.</p> <p>During the 1930s, Reddick taught at Kentucky State College and Dillard University, and headed a Federal Emergency Relief Agency (FERA) project to collect slave narratives (which later continued under the auspices of the WPA Federal Writers Project). After the death of Arthur (Arturo) Schomburg in 1938, Reddick became the second curator of the Schomburg Collection at the New York Public Library (NYPL). During World War II, he spearheaded a project to gather letters and other materials from Black soldiers to document their experiences in the war. While in New York during the 1940s, he also lectured at City College and the New School. In 1948, Reddick resigned from his position at NYPL following a dispute with the Library over what Reddick felt was a lack of funds necessary to properly oversee the Schomburg Collection. He then served as a history professor and chief librarian at Atlanta University, a position he held from 1948-1955; he then moved to Alabama State College, where he became chairman of the history department.</p> <p>In the mid-1950s, while teaching at Alabama State College, Reddick became involved with the Montgomery bus boycott, and chronicled events of the protest for <span class=\"title\">Dissent</span> magazine. During this time, Reddick met and befriended Martin Luther King, Jr., then pastor at Dexter Avenue Church and president of the Montgomery Improvement Association. In 1959, Reddick wrote the first biography of King, <span class=\"title\">Crusader Without Violence</span>. That same year, he accompanied Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King on a month-long trip to India, and in 1964, Reddick again joined King on the trip to Oslo, Norway, when he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Reddick also became involved in the Southern Christian Leadership Council, serving on the board and various committees from its formation through the 1980s. Reddick saw his role as the official historian of the civil rights movement, and in that capacity collected materials, conducted interviews, and took copious notes, in addition to his published writings on the topic.</p> <p>Due to his participation in the civil rights movement, Reddick was fired from his position at Alabama State College in 1960 at the request of Governor John Patterson, who accused him of being a Communist sympathizer. He found a position at Coppin State College in Baltimore, Maryland, where he taught for seven years, then took a break from academia to serve as director of the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) Institute, a Philadelphia-based adult education and job training program started by Leon Sullivan. In 1967, Reddick began teaching at Temple University in Philadelphia, soon joining the newly-created Afro-Asian Institute to teach classes in Black history. Reddick's time at Temple was marked by turbulence, and he often clashed with the history department and university administration. In 1976, Reddick authored a report alleging discriminatory hiring practices at Temple, leading to the formation of two investigatory committees.</p> <p>Throughout his academic career, Reddick continued to expand the field of Black history, giving frequent lectures at academic conferences and participating on numerous committees devoted to developing African-American studies curricula and advocating for the inclusion of Black history in academia and cultural institutions. In the early 1970s, he joined the Kinte Library Project, an effort spearheaded by Alex Haley to study Black genealogy through archival research and oral history, producing a book-length report on the \"Search for the Black Family in America.\" From 1977-1978, Reddick taught at Harvard as a visiting professor of African-American studies; while there, he embarked on a research project to study the institution's history of Black students and faculty. A few years later, in the early 1980s, he received a NEH grant to study the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.</p> <p>In 1978, Reddick moved to New Orleans to take a position as professor of African American history at Dillard University, which he held until his retirement in 1987. He remained in New Orleans until his death on August 2, 1995.</p> <p>Timeline</p> <p><ul class=\"chronlist\"> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1910 March 3</span> <span class=\"event\">Born in Jacksonville, Florida to Amos Reddick and Fannie Ethridge Reddick</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1932</span> <span class=\"event\">Receives BA in history from Fisk University</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1933</span> <span class=\"event\">Receives MA in education from Fisk University</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1933-1935</span> <span class=\"event\">Assistant professor of history, Kentucky State College</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1934</span> <span class=\"event\">Director, FERA slave narratives project</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1935-1938</span> <span class=\"event\">Associate professor of history, Dillard University</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1938 December 25</span> <span class=\"event\">Marries Ella Ruth Thomas</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1939</span> <span class=\"event\">Receives PhD in history from University of Chicago</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1939-1948</span> <span class=\"event\">Curator of Schomburg Collection, NYPL</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1941-1948</span> <span class=\"event\">Lecturer at City College of New York</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1944-1946</span> <span class=\"event\">Solicits letters from Black World War II servicemembers</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1946-1948</span> <span class=\"event\">Lecturer at New School for Social Research</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1948-1955</span> <span class=\"event\">Professor of history and chief librarian at Atlanta University</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1956-1960</span> <span class=\"event\">Chairman of history dept at Alabama State College</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1959</span> <span class=\"event\">Travels to India with Martin Luther King</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1959</span> <span class=\"event\">Publishes <span class=\"title\">Crusader Without Violence</span></span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1960-1967</span> <span class=\"event\">Professor of history at Coppin State College</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1960</span> <span class=\"event\">Travels to Nigeria for independence celebration</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1964</span> <span class=\"event\">Accompanies Martin Luther King to Oslo for Nobel Prize ceremony</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1966-1970</span> <span class=\"event\">Director of Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) Institute</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1967-1976</span> <span class=\"event\">Professor of history at Temple University</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1972-1974</span> <span class=\"event\">Archival research director of Kinte Library Project</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1977-1978</span> <span class=\"event\">Visiting professor of Afro-American studies at Harvard University</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1978-1987</span> <span class=\"event\">Professor of African-American history at Dillard University</span></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1995 August 2</span> <span class=\"event\">Dies in New Orleans</span></li></ul></p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Lawrence D. Reddick papers (1864-1997) reflect Reddick's activities as a historian, professor, and advocate for the study of Black history, as well as his involvement in the civil rights movement as both participant and documentarian. The bulk of the papers date from the 1930s through Reddick's death in 1995.</p> <p>The papers do not cover Reddick's tenure as curator of the Schomburg collection or his research project on Black World War II soldiers; see Related Materials for these. The papers also do not include the slave narratives Reddick collected during the 1930s.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Lawrence D. Reddick papers are arranged in six series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21127#c1653491'>Personal</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1924-1981</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The personal files, a small portion of the collection, include biographical sketches of Reddick and press releases announcing his activities; journals written during Reddick's years in Atlanta and Alabama during the 1940s and 1950s; a file of material relating to Reddick's wife Ella Ruth; and various diplomas, address books, and a passport.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21127#c1653509'>Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1932-1995</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The correspondence files include both personal and professional, incoming and outgoing letters. Personal correspondents include Reddick's wife Ella Ruth Reddick, sister Fan Diaz, brother Harold Reddick, and his longtime friend St. Clair Drake. Much of the correspondence is with academic acquaintances: former students, teachers, and colleagues, often regarding conferences, articles, and other projects. There is also correspondence with many civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King, Ralph and Juanita Abernathy, A. Philip Randolph, and Bayard Rustin, many of whom are also represented in various professional files. Correspondence with publishers such as Doubleday and Harper and Brothers are also present, as well as various letters to the editor Reddick wrote to newspapers including <span class=\"title\">The New York Times</span> and <span class=\"title\">The Times-Picayune</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21127#c1653706'>Professional</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1932-1989</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>These files document Reddick's academic career as a history professor from the 1940s onward; his position as director of the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) Institute, the adult education and job training program started by Leon Sullivan; and his time as research director of the Kinte Library Project, a study of African American genealogy led by Alex Haley. There are also files on professional and academic organizations Reddick was involved in, such as the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, as well as various workshops and conferences he attended.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21127#c1654150'>Civil Rights and Political Activities</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1936-1986</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series documents Reddick's political activities, most notably his involvement with the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. There is significant material from the Montgomery Improvement Association and Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which Reddick served as the historian and held positions on the board and various committees. There are also files documenting Reddick's relationship with Martin Luther King outside of these organizations, including copies of King's speeches collected by Reddick, as well as Reddick's documents and notes from traveling with King to India in 1959 (as well as a much smaller amount from his travel to Oslo when King was awarded the Nobel Prize). Outside of these years, there is also material on Reddick's work with the NAACP, beginning in the 1930s with a survey he conducted of American history textbooks, as well as his activities in the 1970s and 1980s with groups such as Jesse Jackson's Operation PUSH and the National Black Political Convention.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21127#c1654308'>Writings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1864-1997</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The writings include manuscript and typescript drafts of articles, speeches, and books by Reddick, including incomplete drafts of Reddick's biography of Martin Luther King, <span class=\"title\">Crusader Without Violence</span>. There are also notes and drafts from significant unpublished writing projects in varying states of completion, including an account of King's travel to India, biographies of Ralph Abernathy and Leon Sullivan, as well as a proposed history of Black students at Harvard and a survey of historically Black colleges and universities, among other topics. Note that works by Reddick written as part of specific projects or organizations are found with the files for that organization; e.g., for <span class=\"title\">The Essence of OIC</span>, see the Opportunities Industrialization Center in the Professional series. Note also that some of Reddick's writings on the Black experience of the US military, including an unpublished book \"Brotherhood Under Fire,\" are in the Reddick World War II project collection.</p> <p>The Writings by Others primarily consist of essays and academic papers collected by Reddick, often written by friends and associates.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21127#c1654777'>Printed Matter</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1901-1995</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Printed Matter includes offprints of journal articles by Reddick and others, clipping files, television show transcripts, and ephemera. The clipping files predominantly consist of press clippings on the assassination of Martin Luther King, which Reddick, through the OIC, employed a clipping service to compile from newspapers around the world.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Lawrence Reddick papers are arranged in six series: I. Personal; II. Correspondence; III. Professional; IV. Civil Rights and Political Activities; V. Writings; and VI. Printed Matter.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift from Ella Ruth Reddick, 1998</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Artifacts transferred to the Art and Artifacts Division.</p> <p>Books and printed matter transferred to the JBH Research and Reference Division.</p> <p>Audio and moving image materials transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound (MIRS) Division. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.</p> <p>Photographs transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Allison Hughes</span> in <span class=\"date\">2019-2021</span>.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Lawrence D. Reddick World War II Project (Sc MG 490)</p> <p>Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture records (Sc MG 44)</p> <p>National Negro Congress records (Sc Micro R-1182)</p>"}
- bibliography
-
{"id"=>"aspace_51f42f963b8bc8692b7c129f516e26f7", "value"=>"<p>Pace, Eric. \"Lawrence Reddick, 85, Historian and Writer.\" <span class=\"title\">The New York Times</span>, August 16, 1995. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/16/obituaries/lawrence-reddick-85-historian-and-writer.html</p> <p>Varel, David. <span class=\"title\">The Scholar and the Struggle: Lawrence Reddick's Crusade for Black History and Black Power</span>. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020.</p>"}
- sponsor
-
{"value"=>"Home to Harlem Project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation"}
- date_start
-
1864
- keydate
-
1864
- date_end
-
1997
- date_inclusive_start
-
1864
- date_inclusive_end
-
1997
- date_bulk_start
-
1930
- date_bulk_end
-
1995
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], Lawrence D. Reddick papers, Sc MG 974, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}