Ronnie Moore papers, 1959-2004 | Amistad Research Center

By Amber L. Moore

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Collection Overview

Title: Ronnie Moore papers, 1959-2004

Predominant Dates:1964-1972

Creator: Moore, Ronnie Malcolm (1940-)

Extent: 7.12 Linear Feet

Arrangement: The papers are arranged by general format, with photographs, originally housed in albums grouped alphabetically by place.

Date Acquired: 04/16/1997. More info below under Accruals.

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The bulk of this collection consists of photographs (1964-1972) from Moore's involvement with different civil rights activities including the 1965 Voter Registration Drives in Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina; Economic Development Commission Projects in Mississippi, Maryland and Washington D.C.; conferences; elections; and demonstrations in Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina; and other activities in the South, Connecticut, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Virginia. Photographs are arranged alphabetically by geographical location (Boxes 3-8) and alphabetically by subject (Boxes 8-9). All photographs are listed at the item level.

Of note are copies of the Core-lator, the Congress of Racial Equality's (CORE) bimonthly newsletter, which reported on civil rights marches, protests, and voter registration drives; a police pass issued to Moore by the Memphis Police Department following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in April 1968; reports from the Scholarship, Education and Defense Fund for Racial Equality, Inc. (SEDFRE); and booklets written by or featuring Moore.

Also included are correspondence, newspaper clippings, publications for the African American Youth Congress and the National Black Catholic Congress (1987-1997), as well as other collected articles and publications (1977-1999), honors, and videocassettes (1995-1997) on Tulane University training, the African Youth Congress (1995), and the National Center for the Urban Community at Tulane and Xavier University.

This collection was processed under a grant from the Council for Library and Information Resources.

Biographical Note

Ronnie Moore is a civil rights activist, community development consultant and photographer who trained leaders in community organization, youth development, cultural diversity, and team building. Moore was the field secretary in the South for the Congress of Racial Equality (1961-1965) and the executive director of the Scholarship, Education and Defense Fund for Racial Equality, Inc. (1965-1973).

Moore, son of Albert and Beatrice (nee Andrews) was born on December 31, 1940, in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the age of 15, Moore and his peers attempted to integrate a public park across from All Saints Catholic School in New Orleans. Shortly thereafter, the police arrived ordering them to leave the park. The boys refused and were subsequently arrested and later released into the custody of their parents. Moore recalls, "We were before the movement... we were out there confronting school segregation."

Moore, a civil rights veteran, became involved in the movement in 1961. He stated, "The Civil Rights movement wasn't something you joined, it was something you got drafted and persuaded." While a student at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Moore led a group of 2,500 students to the state capitol to protest the city's hiring policies and segregated lunch counters. Moore was arrested, jailed, and expelled from Southern University for his involvement in the demonstration.

After his release from jail, Moore began working full-time as a field secretary for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1961. In this position, Moore worked on CORE's Southern program where he established voter registration initiatives in the South, particularly in St. Francisville and Jonesboro, Louisiana and Williamsburg, South Carolina, where he and other activists registered and recruited African Americans to vote and establish local CORE chapters.

In 1965, Moore was appointed as the executive director of the Scholarship, Education and Defense Fund for Racial Equality, Inc. (SEDFRE), a leadership training organization committed to serving civil rights organizations and producing community leaders. As executive director, Moore was responsible for staff recruitment and the development of leadership programs in more than 25 states.

Moore also served as the director of the Institute for Resident Initiatives at Tulane University (1996-2005) and the director of the African American Youth Congress (1982-1994). He has authored articles and pamphlets on community change skills and "how to" manuals on generic skills such as listening, community organization, affirmative action and leadership training.

Administrative Information

Accruals: Addition received 01/07/2004

Access Restrictions: The Ronnie Moore papers are open and available for use.

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.

Technical Access Note: 16 mm film reels of the documentary, Louisiana Diary (1963) and two video tape reels are unavailable for use.

Acquisition Source: Ronnie M. Moore

Acquisition Method: Gift

Related Materials: The Amistad Research Center holds the Charles Sherrod papers, the Gwendolyn Midlo Hall papers, and the microfilm of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) records, which are closely related topically to the Ronnie Moore papers.

Preferred Citation: Ronnie Moore papers, Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

Processing Information: This collection was proccessed in February 2010 by A. Moore and L. Thomson.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[Box 9],
[Box 10],
[Box 11: Video tape reels, slides, and negatives, 1978, undated],
[Box 12: 16 mm Film Reel: documentary, Louisiana Diary, 1963],
[Box 13: 16 mm Film Reel: documentary, Louisiana Diary 2, 1963],
[Box 14],
[All]

Box 8

Folder 1: Poor People's Campaign, Washington, D.C.: photographs; black and white, 16 items, 1968 April

Item 1: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1968 April: Label reads "Poor People's Campaign, Resurrection City, Washington, D.C., April 1968"
Item 2: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Spiver talked with elderly men]
Item 3: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1968 April: Label reads "Poor People's Campaign, Resurrection City, Washington, D.C., April 1968"
Item 4: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Hunger Wall: Tell It Like It Is]
Item 5: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1968 April: Label reads "Poor People's Campaign, Resurrection City, Washington, D.C., April 1968"
Item 6: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1968 April: Label reads "Poor People's Campaign, Resurrection City, Washington, D.C., April 1968"
Item 7: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Training for protesters]
Item 8: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1968 April: Label reads "Poor People's Campaign, Resurrection City, Washington, D.C., April 1968"
Item 9: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [People walking on dirt road]
Item 10: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1968 April: Label reads "Poor People's Campaign, Resurrection City, Washington, D.C., April 1968"
Item 11: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1968 April: Label reads "Poor People's Campaign, Resurrection City, Washington, D.C., April 1968"
Item 12: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1968 April: Label reads "Poor People's Campaign, Resurrection City, Washington, D.C., April 1968"
Item 13: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [People seated]
Item 14: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [People seated]
Item 15: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1968 April: Label reads "Poor People's Campaign, Resurrection City, Washington, D.C., April 1968"
Item 16: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [People seated]

Folder 2: Abernathy, Ralph David: 2 photographs; 8 x 10 inches

[Abernathy and unidentified woman]

Folder 3: Bayou Boys State: photograph; 7.5 x 16.5 inches, black and white, 1959

Folder 4: Farmer, James: 3 photographs; 8 x 10 inches, black and white

Folder 5: Moore, Carol at Conference of Newly Elected Black School Board Members: photograph; 8 x 10 inches, black and white

Folder 6: Moore, Ronnie in Africa: 13 photographs; 4 x 5 inches, color

Folder 7: Moore, Ronnie and Kenneth Gibson, mayor, Newark, NJ: 9 photographs; 8 x 10 inches, black and white

Folder 8: Moore, Ronnie and Retrospect interview: photographs; black and white, color, 15 items

Item 1: Photograph: 3.5 x 5 inches, black and white: [Young Ronnie Moore in front of Freedom Now CORE sign]
Item 2: Photograph: 3.5 x 5 inches, black and white: [Young Ronnie Moore seated behind desk]
Item 3: Photograph: 5 x 7 inches, color: [Image of Ronnie Moore talking to woman in wedding dress and veil with man] Photo credit: Freudy Photos
Item 4: Photograph: 5 x 7 inches, black and white: [Headshot of young Ronnie Moore wearing Freedom Now CORE pin on his lapel] Banner Photographers
Item 5: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Ronnie Moore with pipe with group of men, seated]
Item 6: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Headshot of young Ronnie Moore in plaid blazer with CORE pin on his lapel]
Item 7: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Ronnie Moore with two other men seated behind NBC and WJRZ microphones]
Item 8: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1972 July: Label reads "KQED-TV "Retrospect" July 1972. Left to Right: Richard Moore, Melba Beales, Ronnie Moore."
Item 9: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1972 July: Label reads "KQED-TV "Retrospect" July 1972. Left to Right: Richard Moore, Melba Beales, Ronnie Moore."
Item 10: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1972 July: Label reads "KQED-TV "Retrospect" July 1972. Left to Right: Richard Moore, Melba Beales, Ronnie Moore."
Item 11: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Headshot of young Ronnie Moore in plaid blazer with CORE pin on his lapel]
Item 12: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Ronnie Moore seated on steps with unidentified man]
Item 13: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Ronnie Moore headshot]
Item 14: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1972 July: Label reads "KQED-TV "Retrospect" July 1972. Left to Right: Richard Moore, Ronnie Moore."
Item 15: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white, 1972 July: [KQED-TV "Retrospect" July 1972. Left to Right: Richard Moore, Melba Beales, Ronnie Moore.]

Folder 9: Protests, Picketing and Harassment: photographs; black and white, 13 items, 1963, undated

Item 1: Photograph: 6.25 x 10 inches, black and white, 1963: Label reads "The Georgia-Alabama State Line. 1963. Robert Gore."
Item 2: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Two state police officers]
Item 3: Photograph: 8 x 10 inches, black and white: [Protesters]