Scope and Contents: The papers of John G. Feild comprise 2.4 linear feet and date from 1952-1963. They include correspondence, memoranda, notes, legislative materials, and documents pertaining to Feild's work in the area of intergroup relations, the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, and as a legislative aid to U.S. Senator Philip A. Hart.
The correspondence documents Feild's role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He was successively head of a large city's community relations commission, director of a major state's fair employment practices commission, legislative secretary to a U.S. Senator, and director of the federal agency charged with enforcing equality of opportunity in government employment. His letters provide an understanding of governmental efforts at the local, state, and federal levels to promote equality of opportunity. Correspondents include: Thomas L. Ashley, John W. Bricker, Herbert Brownell, Arthur J. Goldberg, Philip A. Hart, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Hobart Taylor Jr., and W. Willard Wirtz.
Throughout the period documented in these papers, Feild was active in the National Association of Intergroup Relations Officials (NAIRO). NAIRO materials in the collection include minutes of the board of directors meetings during Feild's tenure on that body. Reports, newsletters, and conference materials cover the late 1950s and early 1960s. Prominent among NAIRO correspondents are: Marshall Bragdon, Herman Long, Galen Martin, Frederick Routh, and George Schermer.
Materials from Feild's tenure as a legislative aid in Washington show the important part he and Senator Philip A. Hart played in the attempts to pass civil rights legislation in the late 1950s. The collection includes extensive materials on the 1960 presidential campaign, during which Feild served on John Kennedy’s staff. Of particular interest are items on Kennedy's and the Democratic Party's stand on civil rights issues and collected materials on anti-Catholic semtiment during the campaign.
Feild's work on the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity is represented by memoranda and minutes of meetings, which show the decision-making processes of the agency. Reports, including 1962's "Plans for Progress," reveal the official goals and actions of the Committee. Also included in the Committee materials are financial and budget records, newsletters, pamphlets, and press clippings.
Collected materials are arranged chronologically, followed by press clippings.
John G. Feild papers
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