Scope and arrangement
The Jean Sindab papers date from 1970 to 1995 and primarily consist of professional files created by Sindab throughout the course of her career. Travel diaries, appointment books, and files concerning Sindab's education at Hunter College and Yale University are also present.
The professional files document subjects of interest to Sindab; organizations for which she worked, served as a board member, or that she was otherwise involved with; conferences that she organized or attended; and local, grassroots, and governmental initiatives that furthered her efforts in environmental and racial justice in the United States, Latin America, and Eastern and Southern Africa. Subjects documented include race relations; environmental justice strategy; economic and social reform; environmental education; global and environmental racism; church statements on racism; South Africa; and African American youth. Sindab's involvement with a variety of organizations is well documented, including the National Council of Churches (NCC), the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Washington Office on Africa (WOA), the New World Foundation, the Peace Development Fund, and the National Political Congress of Black Women. Conferences, symposia, summits, and other events that are represented through the files include the Progressive National Baptist Convention; the 1985 Non-Governmental World Meeting for Women in Nairobi, Kenya; and the 1994 Environmental Grant Makers Association Fall Retreat. Education files document Sindab's studies at Hunter College and Yale University and contain essays, examinations, syllabi, and research files. Also present is an annotated draft of her dissertation, The Impact of Expatriates on Zambian Development (1984).
The professional files vary in terms of volume and content, and may include reports, action agendas, calls for participation, conference materials, articles, brochures, correspondence, speeches, and other writings created by Sindab. Subject files may contain documents relating to conferences or other related projects. For example, the file for Economic and Social Reform contains a proposal for The Black Church Summit on Environmental Justice, a pamphlet for The Harvest Institute, and a report on the Voices of the Garden Project in the San Francisco area. Likewise, conference files may contain articles or reports on related subjects. Files for Jesse Jackson contain materials relating to the 1988 presidential campaign, the Rainbow Coalition, and speeches, addresses, and conference proposals.
Researchers should consult correspondence, speeches, writings, and notes files in addition to the professional files, as information on a given topic may be represented in both places. For example, while correspondence files hold incoming and outgoing letters pertaining to the WCC and other personal and professional projects, the WCC files themselves also contain correspondence. Furthermore, essays contained in a writings file may overlap with topics addressed in other places in the collection.
Appointment books and travel diaries date from 1970 to 1993 and further document Sindab's personal and professional activities, such as business travels or meetings not otherwise represented in the collection. One travel diary summarizes her experiences in Geneva, Switzerland in 1987, a period when she was particularly active in the Programme to Combat Racism for the WCC.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by file type, with Professional Files further arranged alphabetically by subject.