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Creator
Stein, Robert M.
Call number
Sc MG 138
Physical description
1.25 linear feet (3 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Robert and Anita Stein papers, Sc MG 138, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

In 1963, Robert Stein, as field manager for the Chicago Ethical Society's Commission on Race and Equality, oversaw "Creative Inter-Racial Recreational Programs" such as Inter-Racial Vacations (summer camps in the North for Southern African American children), tutorial programs, and remedial classes for adult African Americans and whites. The Robert and Anita Stein papers document the efforts of the American Ethical Union to further interracial harmony in the South through social interaction: seminars, tutorials, and summer camps for African American children.

Biographical/historical information

In 1963, Robert Stein, a member of the American Ethical Union (of the Ethical Culture Society) was made field manager for the Chicago Ethical Society's Commission on Race and Equality. As part of Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Commission worked to eliminate bigotry in the South by having African Americans and whites interact in social settings. The commission therefore sponsored "Creative Inter-Racial Recreational Programs" such as Inter-Racial Vacations (summer camps in the North for Southern African American children), tutorial programs, and remedial classes for adult African Americans and whites. Begun in the summer of 1963, the programs continued until 1977, when loss of money and camp sites put an end to these activities.

Scope and arrangement

The Robert and Anita Stein papers document the efforts of the American Ethical Union to further interracial harmony in the South through social interaction: seminars, tutorial programs, and summer camps for African American children. The papers consist mainly of evaluations submitted by staff members for the summer projects in Mississippi and Alabama. Also included are camp yearbooks, staff and camper responses to the program, and an interview with Robert Stein after his 1963 fact-finding trip to Birmingham, Alabama. Additionally, there are budgetary records, correspondence, camp brochures, year-end reports, news clippings, and curricula for the tutorial program and adult seminars. Also included are newspapers such as the Alabama Council Newsletter published by the Alabama Council on Human Relations, the Birmingham News, the Tuskeegee News, and New America.

Arrangement

Mostly arranged chronologically.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Robert and Anita Stein, June 1987.

Revision History

Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark. (2021 April 20)

Processing information

Accessioned by Sule Greg Wilson, April 1988, through the Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project.

Separated material

Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor

Access restrictions

Camper evaluations closed until 50 years after most recent date in each individual file.