Scope and arrangement
The Doxey A. Wilkerson papers reflect Wilkerson's activities from the 1950s through the 1980s. Documented are his careers at the Jefferson School for Social Science and Yeshiva University, educational consulting, and board memberships for many Connecticut-based civic organizations. Although he also taught at Virginia State College and Howard University from the 1920s to 1940s, there is very little information about these positions, his four years as executive editor of The People's Voice, or his membership in the Communist Party.
The Doxey A. Wilkerson papers are arranged in four series:
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1926-1994
The Personal series includes biographical information and copies of Wilkerson's Master's thesis and Ph.D. dissertation. Material related to his membership and association with the Communist Party includes his testimony pertaining to the Smith Act in 1952, during which he provided testimony about his own participation in the affairs and activities of the Communist Party. Other documents related to Wilkerson's Communist affiliation concern his appearance before the U.S. Senate's Jenner Committee (the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee) in 1953; his resignation from the Communist Party in 1957; and a statement presented to the House on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1958. There are also FBI reports on Wilkerson, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Of interest is a 1983 interview about Paul Robeson conducted by Martin Duberman for his biography on Robeson.
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1936-1993
The Professional series includes Wilkerson's alphabetical files; these files contain material on Councilman Benjamin J. Davis, Jr.'s reelection in 1949, Paul Robeson's struggle to secure his passport, and the attempt by Edna Winston to have the prison sentence of her husband Henry Winston (African American Communist Party leader) commuted. The Employment subseries contains Wilkerson's manuscripts and supporting documentation for the research memorandum, "Negro in American Education", 1939-1940, which he wrote for the Carnegie Corporation study, "The Negro in America". Wilkerson's years as director of curriculum at the Jefferson School of Social Science, 1948-1956, are represented by his teaching notes, study guides, and curricula for courses he taught in philosophy, psychology, and political economy. There is printed material, including course listings, and files about the closing of the school in 1956. Wilkerson's one-year stint at Bishop College in Marshall, Texas (1959-1960), is documented via a file regarding his forced resignation due to media reports that he was an instigator of student demonstrations. The Yeshiva University files, 1963-1973, focus on his involvement in designing programs for prospective elementary school teachers of socially disadvantaged children; they include a report and related information about Project Beacon and teaching material for the course "Teaching the Black Experience". Wilkerson's employment with Mediax Associates, an educational firm, is represented by files for projects such as the Boston Middle School Reading Program, Head Start Program, and various projects for Public Education Associates (PEA). Among the documents in the PEA files is Wilkerson's testimony regarding the value of Board of Examiners' teacher examinations. The Consultancies subseries, 1962-1990, contain files on the American Jewish Congress (New York City school integration project, 1962-1963); Chicago Public Schools; and Norwalk (Connecticut) Public Schools (which includes several programs involving minorities, students of differing socioeconomic statuses, and desegregation). The subseries Subject files, 1947-1987, contains printed material, correspondence, and notes. Of special interest are files pertaining to W. E. B. Du Bois which include his 1947 address, "The United Nations and Colonies"; a 1954 typescript by Du Bois, "The Passing of Alain Locke"; Wilkerson's manuscript regarding Du Bois's indictment of the Peace Information Center; and correspondence between the two men. In addition, in the folder "School for Drug Addicts", 1972, there is information about a New York City school operating independently of a school board. The subseries Writings is divided into Wilkerson's writings about communism and education. Most of his writings concern ways of improving teaching methods for Black and socioeconomic disadvantaged youth, and reporting on the changing social status of Blacks in the North. There are also writings about education by other authors. In the Professional affiliations subseries are files from Wilkerson's service on boards of national- and New York-based educational organizations. Of interest are his addresses given before the American Federation of Teachers (1937), one with an appeal for federal aid to schools in the South teaching Black children (1937-1944). Records from the Little Red School House and the Elisabeth Irwin High School in Manhattan (a progressive private school) include minutes, director's reports, and financial records. Files for the National Committee on the Education of Migrant Children reflect some of the organization's activities.
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This reflects Wilkerson's commitment to education and the advancement of Blacks. He served on the board of a wide range of organizations in his home state of Connecticut, particularly Norwalk. Some of the organizations include the George Washington Carver Foundation (a community-based organization which provides programs for low income minority youth), Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now (provides assistance programs to economically disadvantaged residents of the greater Norwalk area), the Operation SPEAR, Norwalk Drug Abuse Committee, and the Village Creek Homeowners Association (a cooperative community formed in 1949 that was open to blacks and other minorities; Wilkerson resided in this community). The records of the organizations in this series consist of minutes, reports, correspondence, planning documents, and financial records.
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This series contains files on which Wilkerson had intended to work, and it retains his title. The material includes correspondence, reports, clippings, and other printed material.