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The Papers of The American Civil Liberties Union


Reference Code:

Repository: University of Akron Archival Services

Title: The Papers of The American Civil Liberties Union

Dates: 1950-1970s (Bulk dates: 1950s-1960s)

Extent: 6 cubic feet

Creator: American Civil Liberties Union

Language: English

Access: The collection is open for research.

Finding Aid prepared by: Adam Clark, 10/30/86

Related Material: ACLU Correspondence 1977-1980 (see end of document)

Administrative History:

The American Civil Liberties Union is a non-governmental organization created to protect citizens' civil rights as declared in the Bill of Rights. The ACLU was born in January of 1920. It grew out of the National Civil Liberties Bureau, itself an independent outgrowth of the American Union against Militarism. Leaders of AUM were joined by other persons of various political and social opinions in forming the new body - ACLU. They were united solely by the idea that the Bill of Rights was haphazardly observed and frequently violated. To keep democracy's guarantees intact, the ACLU wants to defend the civil liberties of everybody-even those who do not believe in civil liberties.

Up to 1960s, the ACLU grew into a national organization of fifty thousand members. The membership includes writers, business executives, teachers, lawyers, labor unions, housewives, white-collar employees, legislators, clergymen, students---young and old, men and women. Also, ACLU was a member of several national organizations, including the National Civil Liberties Clearing House, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the National Committee Against Discrimination and the Council of National Organizations for Adult Education. On the international scene, the ACLU became one affiliate of the International League for the Rights of Man, representing groups in some thirty nations.

The ACLU has local organizations in states and cities. In Ohio, there are the Ohio Civil Liberties Union, the Akron Area Civil Liberties Union and the Cleveland Civil Liberties Union.

The Akron branch of ACLU is called the Akron Area Civil Liberties Union. Like other branches of ACLU, AACLU was very active during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. AACLU's board often held board meeting and all-membership meetings to discuss the general problems concerning civil liberties and sometimes the problems facing Akronites. The chairman of AACLU during that time, James T. Haight and Richard Arnesen, had close relations with Union persons in other areas. AACLU published its own newsletters to give people the information about its various meetings and to try to attract Akronites' attention to the problem concerning civil liberties. AACLU took efforts to enlarge its membership. It tried to let everyone understand the importance of ACLU's purpose and action.

Scope and Content:

This collection contains a variety of documentary materials of the ACLU, OCLU and AACLU. It covers the period from 1950s and 1970s, but most of the material in it belong to the 1950s and 1960s. Generally speaking, the materials of this collection reflect the Union persons' activities and their ideas about various problems dealing with civil liberties. This collection is useful to people interested in the history of the ACLU and the OCLU and AACLU.

Arrangement:

The collection consists of eight series: 1. Articles of OCLU Organization, 2. Newsletters, 3. Correspondence, 4. Minutes, 5. Newspaper Clippings, 6. Miscellaneous Collection on One Certain Topic, 7. Miscellaneous Collection about the Membership of the Union, and 8. Miscellaneous Collection.

The Articles of OCLU Organization (Series 1) include the draft articles and constitution of OCLU, and the suggested and adopted By-Laws of OCLU and AACLU, passed by the organizing committee of the Union. The Minutes of the meetings of the organizing committee tell readers the process of the discussion and passing of the constitution of the Union.

The Newsletters (Series 2) contain the information of the Union's various meetings frm 1958 to 1989, including the topics and agenda of the meetings. The topics include abortion rights, legal and infection aspects of AIDS, how to interpret the constitution, common ground for ACLU and Labor Union, the state of civil liberties today, and so on. The newsletters give the background information of the topics, and the general information about the speakers. Sometimes, the newsletters talk about the speakers in detail.

The Correspondence (Series 3) mainly includes the letters among the Union persons, especially the letters between James T. Haight, chairman of AACLU in the 1950s, and other Union persons. The other important persons in this series are: Alan Reiman, associate director of ACLU in 1959; B.W. Huebsch, treasurer of ACLU in 1950; Jeffrey E. Fuller, editor of Civil Liberties and assistant director of ACLU in the 1950s; Leanne Golden, executive assistant of the ACLU in 1960. The topic of these letters are various. The letter writers talked about their opinions about the Union's activities and their ideas about the problems concerning civil liberties in society. Most of the letters in this series were written in the 1950s.

The Minutes (Series 4) contain the minutes and agenda of ACLU, OCLU and AACLU's various meetings, mainly the meetings of the Union board. These minutes date from 1957 to 1975. They reflect the Union leadership's concerns about the existing problems of civil liberties in society. For example, the topics of AACLU annual meeting on December 9, 1959 include the organizational activities, the problem of censorship, legislation work, and educational activities.

Newspaper Clippings (Series 5) consist of various newspaper articles from 1957 to 1959, and the articles about academic freedom on Akron Beacon Journal from 1962 to 1964.

Series 6 contains miscellaneous materials of ACLU, including official documents, newspaper articles, correspondence, pamphlets, minutes and newsletters. There are eight folders in this series, and each folder in on one topic. These topics are: censorship, police training, the relation between church, religion and civil liberties, the problem of church and state, school and education rights, criminal justice, Comensatory Treatment, the problem of state power and war, Stipe Case in 1960, and misuse up college censorship.

Series 7 is a miscellaneous collection about the membership of the Union. Although the materials in this series are diverse, any reader may through reading them, get some knowledge about the Union's membership in 1960 and 1972.

Series 8 contains miscellaneous materials of the ACLU and OCLU.

Container List:

Series 1 -- Articles of OCLU Organization

Folder

1

Articles and Minutes



1. Articles of Ohio Civil Liberties Union



A. Draft articles and Constitution of OCLU



B. Suggested and adopted By-Laws of OCLU



C. A pamphlet of the Union about its ideas and actions



2. Minutes of the meetings of the directors board of OCLU, 1953


28

By-Laws and Articles



1. By-Laws of AACLU



2. Articles of Organization, OCLU

Series 2 - Newsletters

Folder

2

Newsletters about the topics of the annual meetings of AACLU, from 1978 to 1989, except 1985.


17

Civil Liberties notes published published by AACLU about the Union's public meetings, 1959 and 1958.


26

Newsletters, AACLU's public meeting agenda, from 1981 to 1987


32

Newsletters, and newspaper articles



1. Newsletters about the discussion of educational problems by ACLU 1963-65



2. Some newspaper and journal articles about education, 1972, 1975 and 1983


42

Newsletters about the Union's meetings and the Union persons' speeches. 1958-60

Series 3 - Correspondence

Folder

4

Letters in 1959



1. Letters between James T. Haight, Chairman of AACLU, and other Union people



2. Some documents about civil liberties given to members of the board of governors.


6

Letters in 1959



1. Letters between James T. Haight and other Union people.



2. Some newspaper articles about the problems of civil liberties


19

Correspondence of newspapers in 1957 and 1958



1. Letters among the Union officials



2. Articles about the problems of civil liberties


23

Correspondence, 1956 to 1958



1. Letters among the Union persons



2. News releases and case-report forms.


37

Letters in 1960



1. Letters among the Union persons



2. Some newspaper and journal articles about the problem of civil liberties.

Series 4 - Minutes

Folder

5

Minutes and Agenda of ACLU in 1959



1. Minutes of the meetings of board of directors, from January to October of 1959



2. Agenda of the meetings of board of directors, from January to October of 1959



3. Newsletters about the Union persons' activities in 1958 and 1959


11

Minutes and Correspondence in 1959



1. Minutes of the annual meetings of AACLU



2. Letters between James T. Haight and other Union persons.


12

Minutes in 1959



1. Minutes of AACLU's executive board meetings about the daily affairs of the Union.



2. Other diverse materials, including attendance records of the executive board meetings and By-Laws of AACLU.


21

Minutes, Agenda and Newsletters of the Union in 1957 and 1958



1. Minutes and agenda of OCLU board meetings, from January of 1957 to November of 1958.



2. Newsletters and other releases in 1958.


25

Minutes of OCLU, 1971-73



1. Minutes of the Union board meetings



2. Diverse memorandum and working paper by the board


27

Minutes and agenda of OCLU board meetings, from May of 1960 to January of 1960.


41

Minutes of AACLU



1. Minutes of AACLU board meetings, 1957-75



2. Membership records of the board, 1968-72


18

Minutes and Agenda in 1957 and 1958



1. Minutes and agenda of ACLU board meetings about the problem of civil liberties, from November of 1957 to December of 1958.



2. Press releases of ACLU, 1958

Series 5 - Newspaper Clippings

Folder

9

Newspaper articles about the problems of civil liberties, from November of 1959 to December of 1959


16

Newspaper articles about the problems of civil liberties, from November of 1957 to October of 1958


31

Newspaper articles and correspondence



1. Newspaper articles about academic freedom on Akron Beacon Journal, from 1962 to 1964

Series 6 - Miscellaneous Collection on One Certain Topic

Folder

3

Miscellaneous documents of AACLU about censorship, 1959



1. Documents about House and Senate Bills concerning censorship including the Bills, veto message by governor of Ohio and the articles on newspapers about these Bills.



2. Varieties of articles about the problem of freedom and censorship, including the records of discussion about sexual problems and the case of Anti-Smut bill, and newspaper articles about violation of civil liberties.


8

Miscellaneous documents of AACLU about police training, 1958



1. Correspondence



2. Newsletters



3. Pamphlets about the training program


10

Miscellaneous documents of AACLU about Amish School Controversy



1. Pamphlet: Ohio State Bar Association Report



2. The Union's reports to its board membership and Akronites


13

Miscellaneous documents of ACLU about the problem of the Third Party Ballot



1. Correspondence 1960-69



2. Newspaper articles, 1958-71



3. Minutes of the Union meetings, 1962-1967



4. Memorandum, 1960-69


15

Miscellaneous documents about Hatch Act



1. Correspondence, April and May of 1960



2. Minutes of Free Speech and Association Committee Meetings, 1960-64



3. Newsletters and typed articles, 1967



4. Working paper


24

Miscellaneous documents about church, religion and civil liberties



1. Reports about religion and civil liberties published by National Council of Church in 1958.



2. Newsletters and newspapers, 1958



3. Correspondence, 1958



4. Pamphlets


29

Miscellaneous documents about the problem of church and state, 1974



1. Newsletters by Cleveland CLU, AACLU and OCLU



2. Correspondence among Union persons


32

Miscellaneous materials of ACLU about School and education rights



1. Newsletters, 1963-65



2. Newspaper and journal articles, 1972, 75, and 83


34

Congressional records about criminal justice, December 1972


35

Memorandum of ACLU about Compensatatory Treatment, November 1972


36

Memorandum, Newsletters and Minutes of ACLU about the problem of state power and war, 1965


37

Correspondence and newspaper articles about Stipe Case, 1960


38

Miscellaneous materials of ACLU about objections to misuse of College censorship



1. Correspondence, 1964 and 1965



2. Typed reports



3. Journal in 1960 and pamphlet in 1959

Series 7 - Miscellaneous Collection about the Membership of the Union

Folder

33

Diverse records and correspondence of the bank account of the membership of AACLU, 1972


43

Diverse records and correspondence of the AACLU membership in 1960

Series 8 - Miscellaneous Collection

Folder

7

Miscellaneous documents of OCLU, 1959



1. Minutes of OCLU board meetings from December of 1958 to October of 1959



2. Agenda of the board meetings, February and April of 1959



3. Newsletters about topics of the board meetings



4. Other things: State Board Roster of 1974-75; A draft of Proposed Open Occupancy Bill for the State of Ohio.


20

General Documents of the Union in 1957 and 1958



1. Correspondence, from September 1957 to November 1958



2. Minutes and agenda of the Union Meetings in 1958


39

Miscellaneous materials of ACLU



1. Newspaper and Journal articles about the violation of civil liberties, 1972, 73, 79, 83, and 85.



2. A record of membership address



3. Correspondence, 1972 and 1973


40

Miscellaneous material of ACLU, 1950s and 1960s



1. Pamphlet about civil liberties



2. Reports of membership survey in 1959



3. Newsletters and memorandum, 1960



4. Journals, 1960

ACLU Correspondence

  1. ACLU Correspondence March to August 1979 (folder)

  2. ACLU Correspondence September 1979 to January 1980 (folder)

  3. Biasella Information (Envelope)

  4. Desegregation Correspondence 1978 (folder)

  1. ACLU Correspondence 1979 (folder)

  2. ACLU Abortion (folder)

  3. ACLU Correspondence 1977 (folder

  4. ACLU (folder)

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