National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Albany, New York Branch records,
- Author:
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Albany Branch.
- Call Number:
- MSS APAP-074 local
- Abstract:
- These records document the activities and interests of the Albany Branch of the NAACP from 1966-1988. The records consist of meeting agendas, minutes, correspondence, annual reports, newspaper clippings, and membership rosters that document events and activities organized by the branch. The records in the collection are files preserved by Harry L. Hamilton, president of the organization from 1969-1978. The records reflect the activities of the committees on which he served and the offices he held. Harry Hamilton was President from 1968-1978, and Vice President from 1966-1968. He was a member of the Executive Board from 1966-1990. He served as Treasurer from 1984-1990, and was Chair of the Legal Redress Committee from 1978-1984. From 1970-1990 he was Chair of the NAACP Scholarship Fund Board of Trustees. He also served on other committees for short periods of time, but the Education Committee, with which he was involved in the 1970s, is the only committee for which he kept serparate files. There is relatively little specific coverage of the activities of other Albany NAACP committees. These committees' activities are therefore limited to what Harry Hamilton dealt with as President, Treasurer, or Member of the Executive Board. Hamilton left the Capital District in 1990, and the records for the branch cease with his departure from the Board. It is unclear whether these are the only extant files for the branch during this time period. The records were organized into subject files, which consisted mainly of the records of the Executive Board, the Legal Redress Committee, and the Education Committee. Board members served on other committees (Membership, Housing, Fundraising/Budget, Political Action, Program, and Communications) that are not specifically represented in the subject files, although some records of all committee activities may be found in the existing subject files. Issues that were of interest to more than one committee may be documented in more than one place, most often in both the committee files and in the Executive Board files when the issue was brought up before the Board. All loose newspaper clippings in the collection were photocopied for preservation purposes. Several of the current folder titles were created by the archivist from several series of loose papers found in the collection.
- Historical Note:
- The Albany branch of the NAACP was founded in 1935 in response to "continuing unnecessary violence" on the part of the Albany police toward the African American community. The branch's first meeting was held in February 1935 at the Israel African Methodist Church on Hamilton Street. The first president of the branch was Dr. William Fletcher Brown, an Albany dentist who personally raised many of the signatures necessary to warrant a charter from the national organization. The causes taken up by the Albany branch were the same as those championed by the national organization. Members carried on the same struggles at the local level that were being fought nationally to attain equal rights--social, economic, and legal--for all citizens in the United States. Primary goals for the group were equal access to education, housing, and employment, garnering attention for African Americans in the medica and in politics, and ending police brutality toward African Americans. Members used litigation, protests, and lobbying as peaceful means to achieve these goals.
- Physical Description:
- 3.2 cu. ft
- Access Terms:
- Access to the collection is unrestricted.
- Notes:
- Part of the Archives of Public Affairs and Policy. local
- Subjects:
- African Americans Civil rights History 20th century Sources, African Americans Civil rights New York (State) History Sources, African Americans Housing New York (State), Civil rights New York (State), African Americans New York (State) Albany, African Americans Employment New York (State), African Americans, African Americans Civil rights, African Americans Employment, African Americans Housing, and Civil rights
- Genres/Forms:
- Minutes. aat, Contracts. aat, Registers. aat, Archives, History, and Sources
- Corporate Names:
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Albany Branch, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Archives, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Albany Branch
- Chronological Terms:
- 1900-1999 fast
- Geographic Terms:
- New York (State) and New York (State) Albany
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