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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Philadelphia Branch Records
Notifications
Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The Philadelphia Branch of the NAACP is affiliated with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It institutes and supports legal and other actions in the fields of civil rights, discrimination, education, housing, employment and law enforcement. In 1967 the Philadelphia Branch was divided into ten area offices by order of the National Board of Directors. In 1990, the five active NAACP Philadelphia branches merged to form a unified branch.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Philadelphia Branch Records, consist of two accessions: URB 6 (1943-1963, 28.5 cubic feet), and accession 836 (1968-1991, 17 boxes). Separate inventories for both accessions can be found below, followed by a list of photographs (1 box).
URB 6 contains correspondence, minutes, case records, reports, membership files, clippings, and other records from the files of the executive secretary and field secretary. Includes material on African-Americans, race relations, discrimination, housing, legal matters, employment, education, juvenile delinquency, public health, police, unions and legislation concerning these and other matters.
Accession 836 contains partial records of two NAACP branches that merged with the larger Philadelphia organization in 1990: the North Philadelphia Action Branch, which accounts for most of the records, and the West Philadelphia Branch, which accounts for less than 10 folders of material. The other three Philadelphia branches that merged at the same time, South Philadelphia, Northeast Philadelphia, and Northwest Philadelphia (Germantown) are not represented in this collection. Included in this accession are administrative records for both the North Philadelphia Action Branch and the West Philadelphia branch, comprising executive committee meeting minutes and general membership meeting minutes, as well as correspondence and activities files. The more voluminous files of the North Philadelphia Action branch include newspaper clippings as well as files on individuals such as the former branch presidents and community leaders, Cecil B. Moore and Alphonzo Deal. The bulk of the accession (more than 8 boxes) consists of plaques and awards that were either given or received by the NAACP Philadelphia branches. Also included are audio tapes and oversized dry-mounted photographs.
Photographs consist mostly of unidentified and undated images, and include photography by John W. Mosley, Jack T. Franklin, and Peace Photo.
This collection includes preserved versions of the organization's website, available through Archive-It.
This collection is organized into 4 series:
- Series 1: URB 6, 1943-1963
- Subseries 1.1: Executive Secretary's Files, 1943-1963
- Subseries 1.2: Executive Secretary's Files, 1950-1959
- Subseries 1.3: Field Secretary's Files, 1951-1962
- Subseries 1.4: Financial Records, 1944-1962
- Subseries 1.5: Cases (RESTRICTED), undated
- Subseries 1.6: Membership Campaigns, 1946-1959
- Subseries 1.7: Ballots, 1962
- Subseries 1.8: Newspaper Clippings, 1943-1952
- Subseries 1.9: Printed Material, 1950-1959
- Series 2: Accession 836, 1944-1991
- Subseries 2.1: NAACP North Philadelphia Action Branch, 1944-1990, bulk 1969-1990
- Subseries 2.2: NAACP West Philadelphia Branch, 1972-1991
- Subseries 2.3: NAACP Pennsylvania, 1974-1986
- Subseries 2.4: NAACP Northeastern Region (Region 2), 1980-1990
- Subseries 2.5: NAACP National Organization, 1962-1991
- Subseries 2.6: Miscellaneous Events and Publications, 1957-1987
- Subseries 2.7: Awards and Plaques, 1962-1987
- Subseries 2.8: Audio Tapes, 1972
- Subseries 2.9: Oversized Photographs, 1976-1978
- Series 3: Photographs (PC-75), 1944
- Series 4: Website versions in Archive-It, 2012-2016
Additions to this collection are expected. Websites are captured using Archive-It periodically, and the latest additions may not yet be included in this finding aid. For information on material–physical and digital, including captured websites–that may have been added since the last finding aid update, please contact the Special Collections Research Center.
URB 6 was deposited by the organization through Mr. Phillip H. Savage, Tri-State Director, 1969. Accession 836 was received on July 24, 1996 from Jean P. Rodwell.
A selection of photographs from this collection has been digitized and is available online on the Temple University Digital Collections website.
Original audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy. Certain digital files may also be inaccessible. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
Accession 836 was processed and a finding aid prepared by Matthew S. Hopper, April, 1998. All photographs from URB 6, and two photographs from accession 836, were removed at one time to a separate photograph collection. Finding aids combined and revised according to contemporary archival standards in 2013 by Katy Rawdon, Coordinator of Technical Services. Finding aid updated with captured website information in July 2016.
People
Organization
- Fellowship Commission (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- Philadelphia (Pa.). Commission on Human Relations
Subject
- African Americans, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Education, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Housing, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Juvenile delinquency
- Police, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Segregation
Place
- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.
- Finding Aid Date
- May 2024
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research. Case records in Subseries 1.5 are restricted until 75 years after the date of their creation.
- Use Restrictions
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The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Philadelphia Branch Records are in custody of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.
Collection Inventory
This series contains preserved versions of two iterations of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Philadelphia Branch's website, 2012-2014 and 2015-present. To access these sites, see the Temple University Special Collections Urban Archives Archive-It web page: https://www.archive-it.org/collections/4487.
Physical Description1 Archived Websites