George R. Metcalf research files

1956-1971

George Rich Metcalf (born Feb. 5, 1914 in Auburn) was a white American N.Y. State Senator; president of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing; an activist; businessman; journalist; author; and philanthropist. In 1948, he became chairman of the Auburn Housing Authority before being elected to the New York State Senate in 1950. He authored many bills regarding fair housing, civil rights, and public health. In 1965, he left the Senate to write about racial injustice. He authored four books, including two books on Black history. During the 1970s, he taught Black history at Auburn Community College. He died on May 30, 2002. The George R. Metcalf research files are comprised of research material for Metcalf's two books, Black Profiles (13 biographies of prominent African Americans living and deceased), and Up from Within: Today's Black Leaders (a biographical sequence of emerging Black personalities and their contributions to the "Black revolution" in America). Material consists of clippings, correspondence, typescripts, transcribed interviews, notes, and miscellaneous printed material. The material covers notable figures including Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Roy Wilkins, Shirley Chisolm, W.E.B. Du Bois, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, Medgar Evers, Jackie Robinson, Eldridge Cleaver, Whitney Young, Jr., Harriet Tubman, Edward Brooke, Julian Bond, James H. Meredith, and Andrew Brimmer, among others.