By Amber L. Moore
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
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.
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.
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.
