CR. Civil Rights and Social Justice

Collection of fliers, posters, buttons, handbills, and other political ephemera from the 1960s-1970s documenting activist movements in New York City, Queens, and Queens College. Topics include the Vietnam War, 1968 presidential and other elections, students’ rights, and racism. Materials in the collection were gathered by Harvey Silver, a Queens College alumnus who was student activist and photographer of various political and cultural events in the 1960s-1970s.

This collection documents Johnson’s participation in the civil rights movement as well as later involvement in social justice efforts through literary works he has created. The collection contains five physical works, one digital work, miscellaneous papers and articles describing social justice events he participated in, and a typed profile sheet of Johnson as a poet.

James Forman was an important figure in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, serving as Executive Secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) between 1961-1966, and a life-long intellectual and activist. The James Forman Library includes approximately 1,940 books; four thousand printed items (comprised of pamphlets, serials, and reports); ten linear feet of FBI files; five linear feet of media materials; and three linear feet of personal papers.

This collection includes personal and printed materials, photographs, and feature personal accounts of Konzal’s activities as a tutor, civil rights activist, and student. The collection documents the Student Help Project in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and, to a lesser extent, other civil rights activism through 1965. Also present are materials on the 1963 March on Washington and documents from several civil rights organizations.

This letter, to Mississippi Freedom Summer Project volunteer Anne Koeppicus, is from her Mississippi host Johnnie Mae Walker, a field secretary for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. The letter describes life in Mississippi during the summer of 1964. A newspaper article about Koeppicus, a photo of Koeppicus, a published autobiography of Walker, and transcript of the letter are also included.

The Michael Harrington Center for Democratic Values and Social Change was created to continue the goals and ideals of Michael Harrington, a professor at Queens College who campaigned for social change and reform. The bulk of the Michael Harrington Center records consist of papers, news letters and journals published by the center.