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Creator
Meier, August, 1923-2003
Call number
Sc MG 340
Physical description
73.6 linear feet (149 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation

August Meier Papers, Sc MG 340, 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.Restrictions apply

Since the early 1960's August Meier has been a major force in the study of African-American history in his examination of late nineteenth and twentieth century America by his application of rigorous social and intellectual analysis. Meier was actively involved in the civil rights movement and studied its origins and development. He taught at three historic black colleges followed by twenty years at Kent State University. As editor of two major series on blacks in America, he influenced scholars and students alike.

Biographical/historical information

Since the early 1960's August Meier has been a major force in the study of African-American history in his examination of late nineteenth and twentieth century America by his application of rigorous social and intellectual analysis. Meier was actively involved in the civil rights movement and studied its origins and development. He taught at three historic black colleges followed by twenty years at Kent State University. As editor of two major series on blacks in America, he influenced scholars and students alike.

Born in 1923 in Newark, New Jersey, Meier was reared in upwardly mobile, middle class surroundings. He openly acknowledges his parents' influence on his intellectual development--his East European Jewish mother was a teacher and vice principal of a public school, his father was a chemist. His parents had met in the Socialist Party--his mother, of German extraction, came from a family of radical intellectuals. By the mid-1930's his parents were liberal in their thinking and made him aware of the plight of the poor and the oppressed.

Another significant factor was Meier's experience as a camper and counselor at Pioneer Youth Camp near Kingston, New York where he spent his summers between 1934 and 1939. Pioneer Youth of America had been founded in 1924 by a group of reformers including progressive educators, anarchists, Communists, socialists, union leaders and liberals. A racially integrated camp, the children decided democratically what their activities would be. Pioneer Youth served as a catalyst for Meier's interest in social issues, his growing commitment to racial equality, his persistent anti-Stalisism, and the shaping of his activity in the black student protest movement of the 1960's.

Between 1940-1945 Meier attended Oberlin College, which had a reputation for being "liberal." One year during this time was spent working at a War Department agency in Newark, one-third of the employees were the black. Experiences at this agency gave impetus to Meier's decision to teach at a black college and he began studying race relations and black history. Moreover, his last two years at Oberlin were engaged in activist concerns and in anti-discrimination practices.

Meier was an assistant professor of history at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, 1945-1949, utilizing the last year of his experience there pursuing his Master's degree at Columbia University. His thesis was a study of black American nationalism prior to Marcus Garvey. Between 1953 and 1956 he held the same title at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee where he also served as President Charles S. Johnson's research assistant. Meier was awarded the Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1957 with his tome, "Negro Racial Thought in the Age of Booker T. Washington, ca. 1880-1915" serving as his dissertation. In 1963 his revised published dissertation Negro Thought in America, 1880-1915 placed Meier on the cutting edge of intellectual historians who used sociological and anthropological approaches in his examination of black history.

From 1957 to 1964 Meier taught at Morgan State College in Baltimore, first as assistant professor of history, then as associate professor. Unlike Fisk and Tougaloo where there were approximately equal numbers of black and white faculty, at Morgan 90% were black. Morgan State students had been active in civil rights work, and in 1960 Meier was also involved in the students' attempt to integrate a restaurant at Northwood shopping center by demonstrating their protest at being excluded. The students formed an organization called the Civic Interest Group and asked Meier to become and adult adviser. Later, as a result of participating in a restaurant sit-in, Meier was arrested. With the cooperation of the Congress of Racial Equality and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the students won the right to integrate these public services through the passage of laws. Meier developed a long-standing interest in the origins of non-violent direct action, researching early twentieth century manifestations of this form of protest.

As a liberal and integrationist teaching history at black institutions, Meier became involved in student activism, and in the early 1960's also became acquainted with officers of CORE, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the NAACP. He got to know such leaders as Bayard Rustin, Norman Hill, Stokeley Carmichael, Floyd McKissick, and Herbert Hill.

Meier taught history at Chicago's Roosevelt University from 1964 to 1967, a time when the era of integration had passed and black power had begun. The interest in black experience during this time period by both black and white researchers broadened the audience for Meier's publications. From 1967 until his retirement in 1993, Meier taught history at the only largely white university with which he was affiliated, Kent State University in Ohio. In 1969 he was appointed University Professor, the highest rank to which Kent State faculty members can be named. His long collaboration with his colleague, Elliott Rudwick, professor of sociology at Kent State, resulted in seven books and numerous articles. Their joint effort lasted until Rudwick's death in 1985.

Meier's activity in civil rights dates back to his college days at Oberlin in the 1940's when he joined in the campaign against discrimination of the white barbershops and witnessed the protest against the Jim Crow blood bank. Meier joined the local branch of the Newark, New Jersey NAACP in 1948, and served as secretary between 1950-1952, then again in 1957. Meier was a consultant for the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, also known as the Kerner Commission, 1968.

Since the 1950's Meier has been active in several national scholarly organizations including the Southern Historical Association, the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians. From about 1959-1961 he participated in a campaign to prevail upon the SHA to end its practice of holding conventions at hotels that barred blacks, and in 1980 he served on its Program Committee, then became its president in 1992. For the AHA Meier was on the Program Committee in 1972, and he chaired the Organization of American Historians's Program Committee in 1990. In 1998 thenAHA honored Meier with its Award for Scholarly Distinction, which is bestowed upon senior historians. In presenting this honor, the AHA declared that "since the pioneering work of Carter G. Woodson and the establishment of the Journal of Negro History in 1915, no historian has influenced the study of African American history more broadly than August Meier."

In the 1970's Meier received a number of research grants, including a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and one from the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences. He was also a recipient of a research grant from the National Endowment for the Huamanities; in addition in the 1980's he twice presented a summer seminar with NEH funds entitled "Black Protest Movement in Twentieth-Century America."

Meier has been a prolific writer analyzing black protest thought, civil rights and related issues. He has either authored or edited fourteen books between 1963 and 1986, published close to a hundred articles, and written book reviews which have appeared in the major history journals. He has lectured at colleges and universities across the country about timely race related issues and aspects of his research.

Perhaps Meier's most far-reaching impact on the intellectual community has been achieved through his role as editor of books and other publications for four series in black studies. He served as general editor of the Negro in American Life Series for Atheneum, 1966-1974. He has also been general editor of the University of Illinois Press Black in the New World Series, from 1972 to 1998. Meier along with Elliott Rudwick co-edited the Bobbs-Merrill Reprint Series in Black Studies, 1966-1974, in addition to serving as a co-editor (also with Rudwick) for the University Publications of America, Black Studies Research Sources: Microfilms of Materials in Major Archival Manuscript Collections, 1983-1998. In his capacity as editor of Atheneum and the University of Illinois Press, Meier's demanding criticism and generous aid to recent students publishing their first scholarly work as well as to experienced writers can be noted in the excellent quality of the series. His former student, John H. Bracey, became his co-editor for UPA and Bobbs-Merrill, and in 1991 became his co-editor for the University of Illinois Press series. Meier was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Rutgers University in 1994. He is now retired and living in New Jersey--he makes it a point to regularly attend and participate in historical association meetings.

Scope and arrangement

The August Meier Papers document the formative years and career of this scholar, writer, professor, and editor of late nineteenth and twentieth century black America. The collection consists primarily of personal papers, notes and drafts for his Ph.D. dissertation, records from his teaching career including files for his Kent State University graduate students, correspondence with colleagues and publishers of his own books and articles, and correspondence and manuscripts for books submitted for possible inclusion in two series related to blacks in the United States of which Meier was an editor. Additionally the collection encompasses his published articles, conference papers, speeches and lectures; as well as his role in professional organizations, the grants and fellowships he received, and his consultancies. The papers are strong in civil rights research materials including numerous interviews Meier and his colleague Elliott Rudwick conducted with participants, printed material and notes related to Baltimore and various geographical areas Meier was interested, copies of records of the legal and educational offices of the NAACP Meier and Elliott Rudwick gathered for research purposes, and some records of the Newark, New Jersey branch of the NAACP which Meier helped create during his tenure as secretary in the 1950's. Many national and Southern civil rights organizations such as SNCC as well as pertinent subject files are represented by printed material and Meier's notes. Research files for publications authored by Meier include notes, printed material and some manuscripts, spanning the period of Meier's first publication in 1947 to one of his latest in 1988. He had made a selection of his writings to include in his papers prior to the donation of the collection of the Schomburg Center. The collection concludes with his research files for unpublished material and a file on Elliott Rudwick.

The August Meier papers are arranged in ten series:

  • Personal Papers
  • Organizational Memberships

    The ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIPS - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Newark Branch series, 1948-1958 (.6 lin. ft.) reflects Meier's role as secretary from 1951-1952 and then again in 1957. The Newark Branch records consist of the constitution and by-laws, directory of members, a resolution on Jim Crow in the armed forces, minutes of meetings, and other resolutions. There is correspondence soliciting support for the integration program of the Newark Housing Authority in addition to civil rights legislation considered by Congress in 1957 (unpassed), newsletters of the (Newark) Mayor's Commission on Group Relations, and material regarding the Fair Employment Practice Commission sought by the National Emergency Civil Rights Mobilization (1950).

  • Teaching Career

    The series TEACHING CAREER, 1932-1995 (3.2 lin. ft.) spans Meier's long career as a history professor at six colleges. Tougaloo College is represented by minutes Meier took of College Council meetings, an article he wrote after his departure about his evaluation of Tougaloo fulfilling its role as an educational institution for African Americans, printed material and photographs. For Fisk University there is correspondence with Preston King, Meier's undergraduate student discussing their common interests in black intellectual thought, Meier's participation in civil rights activities, as well as King's dispute with the United States military and his self exile to London. Meier's position as Charles S. Johnson's research assistant is documented by notes prepared for Johnson's speeches and articles, and correspondence pertaining to Negro History Week celebrations. There is also material documenting a course on African-American history. Meier's annual reports provide information on his teaching career at Morgan State College.

    Kent State University served as Meier's "home port" for twenty-five years and is where he trained a significant number of graduate students. These files reveal Meier's relationship with his graduate students and includes assessments by commitees regarding the acceptance of the applicant as a graduate student. Some correspondence between students and Meier, members of the dissertation committee, and administrators regarding students' status and progress, especially at the dissertation writing level is available. A few files include essay exams, reading lists, administrative material, job references, lists of dissertation committee members and their assessment of the student, and papers (some published). Correspondence indicates an ongoing relationship with some of his students after they obtained their Ph.D.'s and secured professional positions. Students represented in the collection include Elsa Barkley Brown, Leroy Davis, William Hine, Reginald Kearney, Paul Lammermeier, Christopher Reed, and Tyrone Tillery. Lastly, these files include letters of gratitude written for Meier's 1993 retirement.

    Additional files for Kent State University includes material Meier distributed for his honors section on the history of civilization, such as chapter notes, study and review questions, exam questions, and lecture notes. For a colloquium he taught called "Black Protest Movement in the Twentieth Century" there are assignments, quizzes, bibliographies, and outlines for class discussions. Papers by Harold Baron, Robert Curvin, George Wiley and others from a conference on civil rights that Meier organized are included. Meier's efforts in building the Kent State University library's African-American collection between 1969-1986 through the purchase of microfilm is also documented.

  • Correspondence
  • Editor/Scholarly Publications
  • Professional Activities

    The series PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, 1945-1998 (5.2 lin. ft.) covers Meier's career excluding his teaching and editorship positions. The series is divided into six subseries: Consultancies; Writings - Published Articles; Conference Papers, Speeches and Lectures; Professional Affiliations; Grants and Scholarships; National Endowment for the Humanities.

  • Civil Rights Movement Research Files

    Of particular interest is the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT RESEARCH FILES, 1940-1995, (bulk 1942-1979) (14 lin. ft.) which includes an Interviews subseries, 1961-1985, (1961-1971 bulk) (.8 lin. ft.), consisting of hundreds of interviews Meier and his colleague, Elliott Rudwick, conducted with individuals regarding their roles in the civil rights movement. The bulk of the interviews were conducted for Meier and Rudwick's book CORE: A Study in the Civil Rights Movement, 1942-1968. Included are interviews conducted with CORE leaders at both the national level and local chapters. Other organizations represented in the interviews are the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Southern Regional Council, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the National Action Council, and the Council of Federated Organizations. Among the numerous interviewees are: Julian Bond, John H. Bracey, Gordon Carey, Ronald Corvin, Gloster Current, Robert Curvin, St. Clair Drake, Leslie Dunbar, James and Lula Farmer, Charles Hamilton, Aaron Henry, Herbert Hill, Norman Hill, Carl Holman, Genevive Hughes, Roy and Doris Innis, Sam and Fredericka Kushner, Charles McDew, Floyd McKissick, Charles Oldham, Carl Rachlin, Marvin Rich, James R. Robinson, Ralph Rosenfeld, Phyllis Ryan, Mark Solomon, Herbert Wright, Andrew Young and Whitney Young. A complete list is available as an appendix to this finding aid.

    Interviews were conducted either by telephone or in person and were not taped. They were open ended and varied in length from a single page to approximately 30 pages. The interviews are arranged alphabetically and then chronologically for individuals who were interviewed on more than one occasion.

  • Research Files for Publications

    The RESEARCH FILES FOR PUBLICATION series (23.8 lin. ft.) encompass notes, drafts, reference material, printed material, correspondence and data for only thirteen of Meier's numerous books and articles. Meier and Rudwick retained sample research files in order to provide insight into the ways they did their research and writing, therefore only certain files were kept. For example, most of the data gathered about streetcar boycotts were discarded. Similar material for Meier's other publications was not retained. This large series has been arranged chronologically by publication date of Meier's work.

  • Research Files - Unpublished Material

    The series RESEARCH FILES - UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL consists of material for two of Meier's unfinished projects, the "History of the Negro Upper Class, circa 1890-1950" and a history of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Although he originally planned to write a history of the NAACP, he decided later to focus on the labor issue only.

    The "Negro Upper Class Study," 1958-1960 (1.6 lin. ft.) subseries was slated to be a follow-up study to his earlier publication, "History of the Negro Upper Class in Atlanta, Georgia, 1890-1958." There are notes, newsclippings, articles and research correspondence. The cities covered include New Orleans, Baltimore, Durham (North Carolina), Charleston (South Carolina), Philadelphia, Nashville, and Washington, D.C.

  • Elliott Rudwick

    This extensive collection concludes with the ELLIOTT RUDWICK series, 1960-1983 (2 lin. ft.) which contains a modest amount of material reflecting Rudwick's and Meier's joint projects. Included are Rudwick's vita and bibliographies, papers presented about black Detroit, the Congress for Racial Equality, and black nationalism, his consultancy with the United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1962-1963, and a partial manuscript about the history of blacks in East St. Louis, IL. There is also reference material about the Illinois State Conference of NAACP branches, labor, 1960's, and student papers about blacks in Ohio. The series concludes with Rudwick's reprints.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of August Meier, 1988 and 1994. Accession Number SCM 88-43, SCM 94-33 MG 340.

Processing information

Processed by Janice Quinter; Machine-readable finding aid created by Ricki Moskowitz.

Related Material

Additional manuscript material relating to August Meier's years at Oberlin College are housed at the Oberlin College Archives. Material pertaining to research conducted by Meier, Rudwick and John Bracey from the 1980s relating to the NAACP, labor, A. Philip Randolph, and affirmative action is stored at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA. The collection is currently not available for research.

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

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Access restrictions

Student files closed until 50 years after most recent date in each individual file. One file relating to Tyrone Tillery is closed until 2041.