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Creator
Pickens, William, 1881-1954
Call number
Sc Micro R-4463
Physical description
25 boxes (available on 25 reels of microfilm)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
William Pickens papers (Additions), Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 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.

Collection primarily relates to Pickens' work as NAACP Field Secretary and Director of Branches, and contains a great deal of correspondence with NAACP officials. Of interest is material chronicling Pickens' and the NAACP's involvement in the Scottsboro Case in Alabama. Correspondents relating to the NAACP include James Weldon Johnson, Walter Francis White, Mary White Ovington, Arthur B. Spingarn, Joel E. Spingarn, Roy Wilkins, Thurgood Marshall, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Other correspondence is between Pickens and friends, acquaintances, fellow scholars, and business associates. There is correspondence with many organizations with which Pickens was involved, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, League for Industrial Democracy, Socialist Party of America, National Council of the Young Men's and Women's Christian Association, American Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born, and the Council for Pan American Democracy. Correspondents include Claude A. Barnett and Percival L. Prattis of the Associated Negro Press, and other individuals in government, education, and church affairs, among them John Haynes Holmes of the Community Church of New York. Writings are primarily composed of typescripts (manuscripts and editorials), speeches, and mimeographed Associated Negro Press columns and newspaper clippings of articles and editorials written by Pickens. Subjects dealt with in these different formats cover a wide range and serve to reveal Pickens' broad interests and intellectual scope.

Biographical/historical information

William Pickens was born in Anderson County, S.C. on January 15, 1881. When he was seven years of age, his parents moved to Arkansas, where he graduated from Union High School in Little Rock, in 1899, as the valedictorian of his class.

Following high school Pickens entered Talladega College in Alabama and finished the Bachelor of Arts course in 1902, after which he entered Yale University, where in 1904 he earned a B.A. degree in linguistics. At Yale, Pickens received the Phi Beta Kappa Key and was in the highest ranking group of his class.

Upon completion of his degree, Pickens began teaching foreign languages and other subjects at Talladega College. He spent ten years there and then went to Wiley University in Texas where he served as head of the departments of Greek and Sociology for one year. In 1915 Pickens accepted the position of Dean of Morgan College in Baltimore. He remained at Morgan for five years, serving as Vice-President in the last two years. Although his tenure as dean of Morgan College was brief, he would be known for many years after as “Dean Pickens.”

While pursuing his career as a college professor, Pickens also received the following degrees: a diploma from the British Esperanto Association, 1906; a Master of Arts degree from Fisk University, 1908; a doctorate in Literature from Selma University, 1915, and an L.L.D. from Wiley University, 1918.

In 1905 Pickens married Minnie Cooper McAlpine of Meridian, Mississippi, who had earned her B.A. degree from Tougaloo University. They subsequently had three children, William Jr., Harriet and Ruby.

In 1913 Pickens made his first of many trips abroad to attend conferences and deliver lectures in England, Scotland, Germany, Poland, Russia, Switzerland and Austria. An inveterate traveler throughout his life, he traveled through most of Europe, Central America, the West Indies and Canada.

It was also during this period that Pickens acquired a reputation as an author and lecturer. He wrote The Heir of Slaves,an autobiography; The New Negro,a collection of essays; The Vengeance of the Gods,short stories; Bursting Bonds,another autobiography; American Aesop,after-dinner stories, and other works. He was a well-known contributor to the press and leading periodicals, and was a contributing editor of the Associated Negro Press for twenty-five years.

Abandoning the field of education in 1920, Pickens became Field Secretary and then Director of the Branches for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Always intensely interested in the welfare and progress of black people, Pickens had been a member of the noted Niagara Movement, which antedated the NAACP. He remained with the NAACP officially until 1942. During his tenure he successfully used his organizing and oratorical skills to raise funds and increase membership.

While with the NAACP Pickens also served as a Leader in the Federal Forums Projects conducted by the U.S. Department of Interior during 1937 and 1939. In addition, under appointment by Governor Herbert H. Lehman, he served as a member of the Selective Service System on draft and appeal boards in New York City.

At the request of the Treasury Department of the United States, Pickens took a leave of absence from the NAACP in May 1941 and went to work for the Defense Savings Staff Section. He was designated Chief of the Interracial Section, the National Organization Division of the Treasury in 1942. At that time, he officially severed his employment with the NAACP and became the first black person affiliated with the Treasury Division in twenty-five years.

During World War II, Pickens led black bond buyers through eight successful drives - seven war loans, and one Victory loan. When the war ended, rebuffed by Walter White in his attempt to return to the NAACP, he continued with the Treasury Department selling to blacks the idea of thrift through government securities. His duties took him all over the United States, traveling from 15,000 to 40,000 miles a year for the ten years he was with the Treasury Department. He gained prominence as one of the nation's top war and savings bond salesmen.

After his retirement from the Treasury Department at age 70, in 1951, Pickens traveled extensively throughout the world, writing articles for various newspapers. He died aboard the S.S. Mauritania on April 6, 1954, off Kingston, Jamaica, while on a Caribbean cruise. At his wife's request, William Pickens was buried at sea.

Scope and arrangement

The William Pickens Papers (Additions) encompass the years from 1909 to 1950. Pickens had a long and active career, and for most of his life he was on the fringe or near the center of most political activities in the black community, fighting for the cause of black advancement and the improvement of race relations in the United States. These additions to the William Pickens Papers span the period in his professional life when he was affiliated with both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the United States Treasury Department. The bulk of the material relates to his activities with them. Also included are his writings: mainly his Associated Negro Press (ANP) editorials and newspaper columns, manuscripts for articles, typescripts of speeches, and correspondence requesting his services as a speaker. In addition, the papers document his interest in organizations concerned with national and international political issues and humanitarian causes, such as the Scottsboro Case, the American Civil Liberties Union, the League for Industrial Democracy, the Council for Pan American Democracy, the Anti-Imperialist World Congress, and the Ethiopian World Federation.

The Pickens papers are divided into seven series: Personal Papers; General Correspondence; General Subject Files; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; United States Treasury Department; Writings; and Printed Material.

  • Baldwin, Roger
  • Barnett, Claude
  • Bethune, Mary McLeod
  • Bolin, Jane
  • Bunche, Ralph
  • Burroughs, Nannie
  • Cunard, Nancy
  • Dewey, Thomas E.
  • DuBois, W.E.B.
  • Edwards, Thyra
  • Fauset, Jessie
  • Handy, William C.
  • Hastie, William
  • Holmes, John Haynes
  • Hoover, Herbert
  • Hughes, Langston
  • Hunter, Nell
  • Imes, William L.
  • Johnson, James Weldon
  • Jones, E. Kinkle
  • Lehman Herbert
  • Marshall, Thurgood
  • Morgenthau, Henry
  • Murray, Pauli
  • Nail, John E.
  • Ovington, Mary White
  • Pankhurst, E. Sylvia
  • Parker, Dorothy
  • Powell, Adam Clayton, Sr.
  • Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.
  • Prattis, Percival L.
  • Randolph, A. Phillip
  • Rogers, J.A.
  • Roosevelt, Eleanor
  • Schomburg, Arthur A.
  • Schuyler, George
  • Spingarn, Arthur B.
  • Spingarn, Joel E.
  • Stone, Irving
  • Tobias, Channing
  • Thomas, Jessie O.
  • Thomas, Norman
  • Vincent, Stenio
  • Weaver, Robert C.
  • White, Walter
  • Woodson, Carter G.
  • Work, Monroe

The following items were removed from:

Name of Collection/PapersWilliam Pickens Papers (Additions)

Accession NumberSCM78-1

Donor:Harriet Pickens, Mrs. Ruby Pickens Holbrook, and William Pickens III

Gift X

Purchase

Date received:July 1982

Date transferred:July 1982

The item(s) listed below have been sent to the division indicated, either to be retained or disposed of there. Any items that should receive special disposition are clearly marked.

Schomburg Library:

See List of Books in Accession Record

Schomburg Art and Artifacts Division:

George W. Carver Savings Bond Poster; NAACP Anti-Lynching Meeting Poster

Schomburg Photographs and Print Division:

1 Box of Photographs

Processed by:B. Robinson/D. Lachatanere

Date:July 12 1982

The William Pickens papers (Additions) is arranged in seven series:

  • Personal Papers

    The PERSONAL PAPERS,1929-1950, n.d., series focuses on the Pickens family and personal business correspondence (e.g. banking, house rentals and maintenance, and income taxes). Business correspondence includes letters from the influential Harlem realtor and businessman, John E. Nail, brother-in-law of James Weldon Johnson.

    There is a small amount of correspondence between Pickens and his wife and other family members. Highlighted in this series is correspondence with Eleanor Roosevelt concerning his daughter, Harriet's accomplishments as one of the first black naval officers in World War II.

    Biographical and autobiographical sketches of his life are included. Additionally, there is information relating to the sale of, and critical reactions to his writings.

  • General Correspondence

    GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE,1925-1950, n.d., the largest of the series in this collection, is comprised of incoming and outgoing correspondence between Pickens and his friends, acquaintances, fellow scholars and business associates. Included is correspondence with many organizations with which Pickens was involved, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, League for Industrial Democracy, Socialist Party of America, National Council of the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Association, American Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born, and the Council for Pan American Democracy.

    Pickens corresponded with a wide range of notable figures in government, education, and other fields. He also received, and did not stint in acting upon and answering, requests from strangers seeking help concerning education or jobs. In addition, he maintained correspondence with a number of African students.

    The series contains revealing correspondence concerning Pickens' feelings about the treatment of blacks in the areas of public transportation and accommodations. He wrote many letters, particularly to railroad lines, complaining about his treatment at the hands of their employees and received a number of apologetic replies.

    A large amount of correspondence passed between Pickens and Claude A. Barnett and Percival L. Prattis, his associates at the Associated Negro Press. He also corresponded frequently with E. Kinkle Jones of the National Urban League, with two New York clergymen--John Haynes Holmes of the Community Church, and William L. Imes of St. James Presbyterian Church. In the field of politics he corresponded with Roger Baldwin (ACLU), and Norman Thomas.

    Correspondence for 1930 through 1940 was voluminous and varied. After Pickens' confrontation with the House Un-American Activites Commitee and during his later years as a government employee, Pickens curbed his correspondence with “controversial” organizations.

    The correspondence is filed chronologically and, therein, alphabetically by person or institution, and in a few instances, topically. Thus, letters from individual correspondents may be found in more than one location within the series.

  • General Subject Files

    GENERAL SUBJECT FILES,1926-1945, are divided into three subseries. The first subseries contains correspondence and other material primarily relating to Pickens' early travels abroad to attend conferences, his trip to Cuba with Mary Mcleod Bethune in 1930, his service on draft and appeal boards during World War II, and the damaging effect on his career of charges brought against him by the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities. Correspondents of note in this subseries are Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker and Thyra Edwards. Subjects files in this subseries are arranged chronologically according to topic or organization.

    Speaking Engagements,1926-1944, are covered in the second subseries. Pickens was an extremely popular speaker and was in constant demand to fulfill speaking engagements for organizations throughout the country from 1926 until 1950, when he retired from the Treasury Department. Full documentation for the speaking engagements after he joined the Treasury Department is scant. Within the Treasury Department series, however, there is a file entitled “U.S. Treasury Department Travel Receipts, 1946-1947,” from which it can be ascertained that Pickens traversed the United States twice, during the latter portion of 1946 and 1947, making speeches for sales of U.S. savings bonds.

    While many of Pickens' speaking engagements related to his work with the NAACP and the Treasury Department, he was also popular as an individual speaker with such organizations as the Y.M. and Y.W.C.A., churches, colleges, charities, and political organizations. There was a considerable drop in demand for his services after his confrontation with the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee in 1942-1943. The correspondence in this sub-series is filed chronologically (commencing when correspondence was first generated by an organization to secure Pickens' services) and arranged by organization.

    The third subseries, Forums,has been treated as a separate category from Speaking Engagements because of the nature of the sponsoring organizations for the Forums. Included in this subseries are the Federal Forums Project which was government sponsored and funded, and two private forum bureaus, the Adult Education Council of Chicago and the Open Forum Speakers Bureau, which were both non-profit organizations that acted as agents for organizations requiring speakers. The Federal Forums Project material has been arranged according to administrative files concerning the entire forum format throughout the country, and then by individual cities and states in which Pickens was directly involved. Forums are filed by state, in chronological order.

  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

    The material found in the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE - ADMINISTRATIVE FILES(NAACP) 1925-1945, n.d., series documents Pickens' long and distinguished career with the organization. The NAACP records have been organized into two subseries; Administrative Files, and Department of Branches files.

    Included in the subseries are correspondence, files of the board of directors, memoranda, reports, and conference-related materials. A good picture of the overall goals and the day-to-day workings of the NAACP are provided by the material in this subseries. Of particular interest are letters documenting the contentious relationship between Walter White and Pickens, and Pickens' stormy severance from the NAACP. Both issues are well documented in the correspondence and the board of directors minutes.

    The second subseries, the Department of Branches,contains plans, itineraries and reports for field work in the branches. Pickens' extremely active role as Field Secretary - traveling cross-country, visiting and making speeches at branches all across the United States - is reflected in the itineraries. The number of branches increased significantly under Pickens' directorship.

    Correspondents of particular importance in this series are James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, Mary White Ovington, Arthur B. Spingarn, Joel E. Spingarn, Roy Wilkins, Thurgood Marshall and W.E.B. DuBois.

    The NAACP correspondence is arranged chronologically, then alphabetically within each year. The remainder of this series is arranged chronologically.

  • United States Treasury Department

    The UNITED STATES TREASURY DEPARTMENTmaterial, 1941-1950 is divided into official and general correspondence, reports and meetings. At some points the official and general correspondence overlap, because much of the general correspondence is with his fellow workers in the Treasury Department. The reports and meetings categories are scant but clear-cut in nature, providing an adequate picture of Pickens' activities with the Department.

  • Writings

    In arranging the WRITINGSseries the identification or labeling of the writings as “Manuscript”or “Editorial”established by Pickens has been maintained. Manuscripts form the bulk of the writings, although it is not clear in what form, or if, the manuscripts were published. The writings have been arranged alphabetically by title; inclusive dates are also given.

  • Printed Material

    The PRINTED MATERIAL,1923-1944, n.d., series includes articles and clippings about Pickens as well as miscellaneous clippings on a variety of subjects that were collected by him. The clippings about Pickens are of articles mainly dealing with his numerous speaking engagements. These are arranged in chronological order, and the inclusive dates are given. Articles collected by him are arranged similarly.

    Also included in this series are two scrapbooks that contain items collected by Pickens. Some of the material is about him, but the bulk of the scrapbook material involves issues of the day of interest to him and pertinent to blacks. A small amount of manuscript material concerning his encounter with the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee is also included in volume two of the scrapbooks.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Harriet Pickens, Mrs. Ruby Pickens Holbrook and William Pickens III.

SCM78-1

Processing information

Processed by Berlena Robinson; Machine-readable finding aid created by Apex Data Services; revised by Terry Catapano.

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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