Brian Purnell civil rights in Brooklyn research collection
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Creator
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Abstract
The Brian Purnell civil rights in Brooklyn research collection includes Dr. Purnell's research notes and photocopies of archival materials held at Center for Brooklyn History and other institutions related to the Brooklyn chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Congress of Racial Equality.
Biographical Note
Brian J. Purnell, Ph.D., is from New York City. He is Associate Professor of Africana Studies and History and Chair of the Africana Studies Department at Bowdoin College. Dr. Purnell received his Ph.D. in history from New York University in 2006 and was assistant professor of African and African American Studies at Fordham University before teaching at Bowdoin. At Fordham, he also worked as a research director of the Bronx African American History Project.
Dr. Purnell has focused his areas of study on U.S. Civil Rights and Black Power Movements and urban history. His Ph.D. dissertation was titled A movement grows in Brooklyn: the Brooklyn chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the northern civil rights movement during the early 1960's and his first book was published in 2013: Fighting Jim Crow in the County of Kings : the Congress of Racial Equality in Brooklyn.
Arrangement
The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Scope and Contents
The Brian Purnell civil rights in Brooklyn research collection, 1914-2015, contains the research files from Dr. Brian Purnell's research on the Brooklyn chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Brooklyn branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Most of the materials are photocopies from archival collections held at the Center for Brooklyn History, other institutions, and privately owned, with some of Dr. Purnell's research notecards and annotations. Research was conducted between 2005 to 2015 and the photocopied materials date mostly from the 1940s to the 1970s. The archival collections represented are as follows:
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Records (MSS34140) at the Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
- Rioghan Kirchner Civil Rights in Brooklyn Collection, 1960-2005 (BCMS.0011) at the Center for Brooklyn History.
- Arnie Goldwag Brooklyn Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) collection, 1943-2007 (ARC.002) at the Center for Brooklyn History.
- Olive and Marjorie Leeds paper held by their daughter Maxine Craig.
- Congress of Racial Equality. Brooklyn Chapter: Records (Mss 847) at the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
People
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Open to users without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Brian Purnell civil rights in Brooklyn research collection, CBHM.0035, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Brian J. Purnell, Ph.D., 2016.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Folder titles in brackets were provided by the archivist.
Repository
Series 1: Brooklyn branch of NAACP records, 1914-1965, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Series 1: Brooklyn branch of NAACP records, 1914-1965, consists of photocopies of materials from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Records held at the Library of Congress. Most of the materials are related to the activities of the Brooklyn branch of the NAACP and include correspondence, reports, memos, and newspaper clippings.
The Roman numeral and letter/number codes in the folder titles designate the sections that the materials are from in the collection at the Library of Congress.
Arrangement
The materials in this series are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
I:116 Police brutality BK, 1949
II:C117 BK II C118, 1940-1955, inclusive
I:G139 BK, 1933-1939, inclusive
I:C362 BK, I:G138 BK, 1914-1932, inclusive
II:E84, Fol. 2, BK COLL [Brooklyn College], 1948-1955, inclusive
Urben League papers, 1940-1943, inclusive
II:B106 Fol 8 Backus, II:B106 Fol. NYSCAD, 1942-1948, inclusive
II:A238 NY Comm Dis Emp [New York Committee on Discrimination in Employment], 1942-1944, inclusive
III:C93 BK, III:C94 BK, 1956-1965, inclusive
III:A103 Schools, 1956
III:A334 World's Fair, 1961-1964, inclusive
I:116 Police brutality BK, 1949
Vincent Young (from Mrs. Jacqueline Young), Bureau of Special Services file, 1963-1965, inclusive
Series 2: Rioghan Kirchner papers, 1960-2015, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Series 2: Rioghan Kirchner papers, 1960-2015, consists mostly of photocopies of materials in the Rioghan Kirchner Civil Rights in Brooklyn Collection, also held at the Center for Brooklyn History. The materials chronicle the activities of the Brooklyn chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Types of materials include newspaper clippings, flyers, memos, and correspondence.
Some of the folders include Dr. Brian Purnell's research notes on notecards or annotations on the photocopies themselves.
Arrangement
The materials in this series are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Processing Information
Duplicates of material in the Rioghan Kirchner Civil Rights in Brooklyn Collection (BCMS.0011) with no annotation have been discarded.
"Why Not Next Door?" Rioghan Kirchner
Misc. CORE material
LeFrak; Misc. housing
Miscellaneous
Bibuld case - Schools
Ebinger's
Operation Clean Sweep
Misc. newspaper clippings
Route 40 freedom rides
FOCUS [Freedom Organizations Coordinated for Unity in Shorefront]
Sealtest boycott
Series 3: Arnie Goldwag papers, 1962-1963, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Series 3: Arnie Goldwag papers, 1962-1963, consists of one folder of photocopies from the Arnie Goldwag Brooklyn Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) collection, also held by the Center for Brooklyn History. The folder contains flyers and newspaper clippings related to the boycott of Ebinger's Bakery due to employment discrimination.
Arrangement
The materials in this series are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Processing Information
Duplicates of material in the Arnie Goldwag Brooklyn Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) collection (ARC.002) with no annotation have been discarded.
Ebinger's boycott, 1962-1963, inclusive
Series 4: Oliver and Marjorie Leeds papers, 1920-1998, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Series 4: Oliver and Marjorie Leeds papers, 1920-1998, consists of photocopies of Oliver and Marjorie Leeds' papers, held by their daughter, Maxine Craig. Materials include biographical information, such as baptism and military records and obituaries, some correspondence, and their FBI files released via FOIA request. The records represent their work in the Brooklyn chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) on the issues of housing, schools, transportation and traffic, and youth.
The Congress of Racial Equality, Brooklyn chapter records at the Wisconsin Historical Society were also from the Leeds' papers and donated to WHS by their daughter.
Arrangement
The materials in this series are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Biographical Note
Oliver Leeds was born June 5, 1920 to Thomas Leeds and Florence Copeland in the Bronx, New York. He married Marjorie Ansorge in 1954. He co-founded the Brooklyn chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality in 1962 and served as president. At the time of his death in 1989, Leeds was a proofreader at the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and a member of the New York City Transit Authority Advisory Council.
Marjorie Leeds (nee Ansorge) was born on October 3, 1925 in Manhattan, New York. She served as treasurer in the Brooklyn chapter of CORE and was active in the Parent-Teacher Association of her childrens' school. She died on June 20, 1998.
Miscellaneous (see Life Mag. article on Downstate), 1963
Oliver Leeds military records and baptism records, 1920-1946, inclusive
ALP [American Labor Party] documents, 1953
CP [Communist Party] literature, 1947-1948, inclusive
Oliver Leeds FBI file, 1951-1991, inclusive
Marjorie Leeds FBI file, 1959-1980, inclusive
Funeral notes - obituaries - eulogies, 1989-1998, inclusive
Ollie Leeds correspondences, 1966-1998, inclusive
Lindsay Park file, 1970
Series 5: Congress of Racial Equality, Brooklyn chapter records, 1950-2000, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Series 5: Congress of Racial Equality, Brooklyn chapter records, 1950-2000, consists of photocopies of materials from the Congress of Racial Equality. Brooklyn Chapter: Records held at the Wisconsin Historical Society. The materials include a copy of the collection's finding aid and CORE's organizational files related to projects and committees mostly from 1962 to 1967.
Each folder is titled with its corresponding folder title in the Wisconsin Historical Society collection's finding aid.
Arrangement
The materials in this series are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
