Scope and Contents of the Materials

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.

Biographical Note

John G. Field, intergroup relations and equal opportunity activist, served with local, state, and national organizations to help promote equality in the workplace for minorities and women. He served as executive director of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity under John F. Kennedy.

Born on December 4, 1922, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Joseph L. and Jessie V. Feild, John G. Feild grew up in Detroit. Michigan. He graduated from Wayne State University in 1943, and served in India and China during World War II. Following his military service, he returned to Detroit and worked as a field secretary for the American Veterans Committee and as the field director for the Detroit Commission on Community Relations. Beginning in 1951, Feild was a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Intergroup Relations Officials (NAIRO), which later became the National Association of Human Rights Workers (NAHRW). He also served as secretary and president of that organization. In 1952, Feild became executive secretary of the Toledo Board of Community Relations, and worked toward the passage of the nation's first fair employment practices law by the Toledo City Council. In 1956, he became the first director of the Michigan Fair Employment Practices Commission.

From 1959-1961, Field served as legislative secretary to U.S. Senator Philip A. Hart. He assisted with John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1960, and served as executive director of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity from 1961-1963. He left the White House in 1963 to work for the Defense Department, where he set up an in-house equal opportunities and affirmative action plan for civilian employees of the Department. After working for the U.S. Conference of Mayors from 1964-1968, Feild became a lobbyist for eight cities. In 1987, he joined the policy staff of the assistant secretary of the former Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he worked until his retirement in 1995.

Upon his retirement, Feild moved to North Carolina, where he resided until his death in 2006. He married his wife, Marilyn Smith, in 1943; the couple had three children: David, Tracey, and Thomas.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions: Copyright to these papers has not been assigned to the Amistad Research Center. It is the responsibility of an author to secure permission for publication from the holder of the copyright to any material contained in this collection.

Acquisition Source: John G. Feild

Acquisition Method: Gift

Related Materials: Related collections at the Amistad Research Center include the personal papers of Marshall Bragdon and Herman Long, as well as the records of the National Association of Human Rights Workers. Additional papers related to Feild's work are housed at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. For more information please see http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JGFPP.aspx.

Preferred Citation: John G. Feild papers, Amistad Research Center, New Orleans, LA

Processing Information: Collection processed in February 1985.

Other Note: Correspondence Index attached as PDF.

Other URL: http://www.amistadresearchcenter.org/pdfs/Archon/John_G_Feild_Papers_-_Correspondence_Index.pdf

Box and Folder Listing

Box 1

Folder 1: Correspondence, 1952-1953
Folder 2: Correspondence, 1954
Folder 3: Correspondence, 1955
Folder 4: Correspondence, 1956-1957 May
Folder 5: Correspondence, 1957 June-December
Folder 6: Correspondence, 1958
Folder 7: Correspondence, 1959 January-March
Folder 8: Correspondence, 1959 April-June 10
Folder 9: Correspondence, 1959 June 11-September
Folder 10: Correspondence, 1959 October-December
Folder 11: Correspondence, 1960 January-March
Folder 12: Correspondence, 1960 April
Folder 13: Correspondence, 1960 May-July
Folder 14: Correspondence, 1960 August-October
Folder 15: Correspondence, 1960 November-December
Folder 16: Correspondence, 1961 January-April
Folder 17: Correspondence, 1961 May-July

Box 2

Folder 1: Correspondence, 1961 August-September
Folder 2: Correspondence, 1961 October-December
Folder 3: Correspondence, 1962 January-February 15
Folder 4: Correspondence, 1962 February 19-March
Folder 5: Correspondence, 1962 April-May
Folder 6: Correspondence, 1962 June-August 9
Folder 7: Correspondence, 1962 August 13-October 15
Folder 8: Correspondence, 1962 October 18-November
Folder 9: Correspondence, 1962 December-1963 March
Folder 10: Memoranda, 1957-1958
Folder 11: Memoranda, 1959-1960
Folder 12: Memoranda, 1961-1962
Folder 13: Memoranda
Folder 14: Memoranda, 1963
Folder 15: Biographical sketches, circa 1952-1961
Folder 16: Speaking engagements list, 1961-1963
Folder 17: Notes, circa 1955
Folder 18: Employment forms, 1952-1961
Folder 19: Legislative materials, 1959
Folder 20: Legislative materials, 1960
Folder 21: Legislative materials, 1960
Folder 22: Legislative materials, 1961
Folder 23: Governors' Conference on Civil Rights materials, 1959-1960

Box 3

Folder 1: 1960 presidential campaign: Democratic candidates' positions on civil rights, 1960
Folder 2: 1960 presidential campaign: John Kennedy and Richard Nixon positions on civil rights, circa 1960
Folder 3: 1960 presidential campaign: Democratic convention delegates favorable to Kennedy, 1960
Folder 4: 1960 presidential campaign: Platform hearings of Democratic National Committee, 1960
Folder 5: 1960 presidential campaign: John Kennedy memorandum on African students airlift, 1960
Folder 6: 1960 presidential campaign: Democratic National Committee press releases, 1960 June 24-August 2
Folder 7: 1960 presidential campaign: Democratic National Committee press releases, 1960 September-October 10
Folder 8: 1960 presidential campaign: Democratic National Committee press releases, 1960 October 11-25
Folder 9: 1960 presidential campaign: Democratic National Committee press releases, 1960 October 27-November
Folder 10: 1960 presidential campaign: Democratic National Committee Research Division, 1959-1960
Folder 11: 1960 presidential campaign: Kennedy conference on jobs and new growth, 1960
Folder 12: 1960 presidential campaign: Kennedy campaign literature, 1960
Folder 13-17: 1960 presidential campaign: "religion issue" items, 1960
Folder 18: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: rules and regulations, 1961
Folder 19: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: memoranda, 1961-1962
Folder 20: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: memoranda, 1963, undated
Folder 21: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: meeting materials, 1961 April-July
Folder 22: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: meeting materials, 1961 December

Box 4

Folder 1-2: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: meeting materials, 1961 December
Folder 3: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: meeting materials, 1962 February-November
Folder 4: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: budget materials, 1961
Folder 5-6: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: budget materials, 1962
Folder 7: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: budget materials, 1963
Folder 8: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: complaint materials, circa 1961
Folder 9: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: Analysis of Employment Positions in Classified Civil Service report, 1961
Folder 10-11: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: special year-end report, 1961-1962
Folder 12: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: Theodore W. Kheel report, 1962
Folder 13-14: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: "Plans for Progress" report, 1962
Folder 15: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: "Plans for Progress" joint statements
Folder 16: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: newsletters, pamphlets, and certificates, 1961, undated
Folder 17: President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity: press clippings, 1961-1962
Folder 18: NAIRO: amended by-laws, 1959
Folder 19: NAIRO: Board of Directors meeting, 1958
Folder 20: NAIRO: Board of Directors meeting, 1959
Folder 21: NAIRO: Board of Directors meeting, 1960

Box 5

Folder 1: NAIRO: Commission on Civil Rights report, 1956
Folder 2: NAIRO: Commission on Manpower report, 1956
Folder 3: NAIRO: Commission on Education report, 1956
Folder 4: NAIRO: draft report on resolutions, 1957
Folder 5: NAIRO: "Nature and Scope of Intergroup Relations" / by Frances R. Cousens and John G. Feild, 1958
Folder 6: NAIRO: report on the state of the association, 1959
Folder 7: NAIRO: "Background Reports: The Status of Equal Opportunities - Education, Housing, Employment in the Middle-South Region", 1960
Folder 8: NAIRO: "NAIRO's Goals, Directions, and Priorities, 1960-1962" draft report, 1962
Folder 9: NAIRO: "Intergroup Relations and the Public Interest" draft foundation appeal, 1960
Folder 10: NAIRO: NAIRO Newsletter, 1956-1957
Folder 11: NAIRO: NAIRO Newsletter, 1958
Folder 12: NAIRO: NAIRO Newsletter, 1959-1960
Folder 13: NAIRO: NAIRO Reporter, 1953-1955
Folder 14: NAIRO: NAIRO Reporter, 1956-1959
Folder 15: NAIRO: conference materials, 1956
Folder 16: NAIRO: conference materials, 1957
Folder 17: NAIRO: conference materials, 1958
Folder 18-19: NAIRO: conference materials, 1959
Folder 20-21: NAIRO: conference materials, 1960
Folder 22: NAIRO: conference materials, 1962

Box 6

Folder 1: Collected items, 1952-1960: Invitations, Wayne State University memoranda and forms, Panel of Americans reports and lists, U.S. Department of Labor report: Excerpts from Notes on the Economic Situation of Negroes in the United States
Folder 2: Collected items, 1961-1962: brochures; newsletters, reports, and brochures on human relations in Nashville, Tennessee
Folder 3: Collected items: Study on President's Committee on Governmental Contracts, pp. 1-75, 1961
Folder 4: Collected items: Study on President's Committee on Governmental Contracts, pp. 76-150, 1961
Folder 5: Collected items: Study on President's Committee on Governmental Contracts, pp. 151-225, 1961
Folder 6: Collected items: Study on President's Committee on Governmental Contracts, pp. 226-300, 1961
Folder 7: Collected items: Study on President's Committee on Governmental Contracts, pp. 301-322, appendix, 1961
Folder 8: Press clippings, 1959-1963

John G. Feild papers, 1952-1963

Collection Overview

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Biographical Note

Administrative Information

Box and Folder Listing