Collection Overview

Title: Community Relations Council of Greater New Orleans records, 1965-1982

Predominant Dates:1964-1974

Creator: Community Relations Council of Greater New Orleans

Extent: 3.75 Linear Feet

Arrangement: Collection is arranged by format or topic and chronologically within.

Date Acquired: 01/01/1983

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The records of the Community Relations Council of Greater New Orleans reflect the general objectives and other program activities adopted by this non-profit, interracial organization of about 800 members. The collection includes correspondence, minutes, and agendas and notices, as well as by-laws, reports, biographical material on members, financial records, news releases, printed items, and worksheets.

Correspondence is arranged in chronological order. The reports deal with various programs and activities undertaken by the CRC or its associated Round Table, including: cable television and media, Consumer Protection Conference, the Emergency Welfare Coalition, the Fair Housing Agency, HUD and Housing Action Program, Liberty Monument, National Health Insurance, New Orleans Police Department, New Orleans schools, and the Uptown River Bridge. One folder is devoted to Administrative Coordinator Findley Raymond. Files on Model Neighborhood Areas provide statistical information regarding New Orleans neighborhoods and home ownership.

Also present are a 16mm film and accompanying project booklet that were produced by the council and New Orleans high school students who took part in a community-school relations project. Students formed bi-racial committees to discuss race relations, desegregation, community relatins and other topics. It provides a few of education and the New Orleans school system through the eyes of students.

Biographical Note

The Community Relations Council of Greater New Orleans (CRC) was an organization established in 1962 by a group of progressive minded citizens of New Orleans to ameliorate racial tensions and promote community relations among all members of the New Orleans community regardless of race, color, ethnicity, or religion. This was to be achieved through discussions, negotiations, and mediations around the conference table rather than on the streets with the able assistance and participation of professionals, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Whites, African Americans, Hispanics, and other local, state, regional, and national agencies and organizations. Recommendations and solutions for economic, social, and political issues were studied and discussed.

Leonard Burns was the first president of the CRC. Other presidents included Joan Armstrong, Helen Mervis, and Revius Ortique.The Council was a leader in the campaign to peacefully integrate Audubon Park in the city, and worked as a mediator between New Orleans city officials and protestors during the march to integrate the cafeteria at the New Orleans City Hall. In 1968, the Council organized a meeting of New Orleans-based organizations concerned with the promotion of human relations in the city, out of which was born the "Round Table of Human Relations Groups," a body of over thirty like-minded organizations. The next year leaders of various organizations interested in promoting human relations met for discussions on four issues: police-community relations, equal employment, housing and education, and communications media. An ad-hoc committee was formed to study incidents of police brutality, which presented a report entitled "The Police and the Rest of Us" was presented to the Round Table and featured in a 90-minute presentation on WYES television, which gained national coverage. The Round Table decided to continue with studies of the New Orleans Police Department on the small number of Black police officers (74 out of 1320 employees), the department's hiring and operational practices, budgeting, and recruitment.

During the controversial 1970 proposal to build a bridge over the Mississippi River in the Uptown area of New Orleans, the CRC Board of Directors supported a two-bridge proposal (with bridges to be built at Press Drive and at the Jefferson-Orleans Parish line). The CRC-supported proposal would have displaced 300 residents as opposed to the Uptown proposal that would have displaced 7,000 residents.

The Council stopped regular meetings in 1971, but during that same year, the CRC planned a one-day housing conference to be attended by various community agencies and groups, including representatives from the construction industry and housing authorities. A proposal for the development of the Fair Housing Agency in New Orleans was passed in 1972. The agency was a special program devoted to solving problems of blockbusting and to open up housing to anyone who has the purchasing or rent capacity, and was aimed at combating racism in the housing market.

In April and May of 1972, the CRC proposed the setting up of a bi-racial court appointed committee to study the desegregation problems in the Orleans Parish schools and requested that the Orleans Parish School Board remove the National Teacher's Examination scores as criteria for hiring of teachers. The Council also took a public stand on appointments and elections of African Americans to public offices, commending Governor Edwin Edwards and New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu for their appointment of African Americans to key positions in their respective administrations. The CRC also recommended that the election of delegates to the State Constitutional Convention be non-political and non-partisan.

Findley Raymond, who had served as Administrative Coordinator of the CRC resigned in 1972. Joan Bernard Armstrong served as President of the CRC from 1972-1974 prior to becoming the first African American woman elected to a Louisiana judgeship, when she became a judge in the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court.

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.

Technical Access Note: 16mm film is unavailable at this time.

Acquisition Source: Unknown

Appraisal Information: Records document the objectives and program activities of this interracial organization in New Orleans.

Related Materials: Revius Ortique papers

Preferred Citation: Community Relations Coucil or Greater New Orleans Records, Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

Processing Information: Processed April 1990 by Sabita Manian; portions reprocessed by Christopher Harter August 2010.

Box and Folder Listing

Box 1

Folder 1: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1964 July-1969 December
Folder 2: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1970 January-July
Folder 3: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1970 July-December
Folder 4: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1971 January-April
Folder 5: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1971 May-June
Folder 6: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1971 June-December
Folder 7: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1972 January-April
Folder 8: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1972 May-June
Folder 9: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1972 July-December
Folder 10: Correspondence: Interoffice memos, 1973 April-July, undated
Folder 11: Correspondence, 1964 May-1969 October
Folder 12: Correspondence, 1969 November-1970 November
Folder 13: Correspondence, 1971 February-May
Folder 14: Correspondence, 1971 June-December
Folder 15: Correspondence, 1972 January-June
Folder 16: Correspondence, 1972 August-1973 February
Folder 17: Correspondence, 1973 June-1977 February
Folder 18: CRC 10th Anniversary Meeting, 1973 June

Box 2

Folder 1: Board of Directors: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1965 June-December
Folder 2: Board of Directors: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1966 January-November
Folder 3: Board of Directors: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1967 January-December
Folder 4: Board of Directors: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1968 February-November
Folder 5: Board of Directors: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1969 January-September
Folder 6: Board of Directors: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1970 January-1971 April
Folder 7: Board of Directors: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1971 May-December
Folder 8: Board of Directors: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1972 May-December
Folder 9: Board of Directors: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1973 January-1974 June
Folder 10: Round Table: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1968 October-December
Folder 11: Round Table: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1969 April-September
Folder 12: Round Table: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1970 January-November
Folder 13: Round Table: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1971 March-November
Folder 14: Round Table: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1972 February-1974 June
Folder 15: Agenda Committee: Minutes and agenda, 1971 June 21
Folder 16: Education Committee: Proposed letter to Dr. Alton Cowen, Supterintendent of New Orleans Public Schools, undated
Folder 20: CRC By-laws, 1971-1972
Folder 18: Round Table School Study Committee: Minutes, agendas, and notices, 1971
Folder 19: Steering Committee: Minutes and agenda, 1971 April 28
Folder 17: Nominating Committee: report, 1969 May

Box 3

Folder 1: Personnel: resume and biographical data, undated
Folder 2: Personnel: Findley Raymond records, 1969-1973
Folder 3: Financial records: Bills and invoices, 1970-1976
Folder 4: Financial reports, 1965
Folder 5: Financial reports, 1966-1968
Folder 6: Financial reports, 1969-1970
Folder 7: Financial reports, 1971-1974
Folder 8: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1969 June-December
Folder 9: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1970 January-April
Folder 10: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1970 May-December
Folder 11: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1971 January-May

Box 4

Folder 1: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1971 June-December
Folder 2: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1972 January-May
Folder 3: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1972 June-December
Folder 4: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1973 January-May
Folder 5: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1973 June-December
Folder 6: Financial records: Dues receipts, 1974 January-June
Folder 7: Reports: Committees and programs, undated
Folder 8: Reports: Program activities and other materials, Cable TV and the media, 1972 September-1973 May, undated
Folder 9: Reports: Program activities and other materials, Consumer Protection Conference, 1971
Folder 10: Reports: Program activities and other materials, Emergency Welfare Coalition, 1970, undated
Folder 11: Reports: Program activities and other materials, Fair Housing Agency, 1972 February, undated

Box 5

Folder 1: Reports: Program activities and other materials, HUD and Housing Action Program, 1971 April, undated
Folder 2: Reports: Program activities and other materials, Liberty Monument, 1971 July, undated
Folder 3: Reports: Program activities and other materials, National Health Insurance, 1971
Folder 4: Reports: Program activities and other materials, New Orleans Police Department study, 1969 October-1970 January, undated
Folder 5: Reports: Program activities and other materials, New Orleans Police Department superintendent selection, 1970
Folder 6: Reports: Program activities and other materials, School Project, 1971
Folder 7: Reports: Program activities and other materials, Uptown Mississippi River Bridge, 1971
Folder 8: Reports: Program activities and other materials, US Public Health Service Project, 1971 January-1972 August
Folder 9: Brochures, pamphlets, etc., 1969-1972, undated
Folder 10: News releases, 1969 July-1971 May
Folder 11: News releases, 1971 June-1972 September
Folder 12: Newsletters, 1968-1972
Folder 13: Mailing lists, undated
Folder 14: Mailing lists, undated
Folder 15: Mailing lists, undated
Folder 16: Mailing lists, undated

Box 6

Folder 1: CRC Board of Directors and officers: Lists and rosters, 1969-1975

Folder 2: Lists from external organizations: Mailing lists and other materials, undated

Folder 3: Lists, forms, etc., undated

Folder 4: Notes and worksheets, undated

Folder 5: Notes and worksheets, undated

Folder 6: Notes and worksheets, undated

Folder 7: CRC roster and other lists, undated

Folder 8: Action Conference on Tuberculosis: Report, 1969 February

Folder 9: ACLU of Louisiana: Reports, 1972 February, undated

Folder 10: American Friends Service Committee: Reports, discussion papers and programs, undated

Folder 11: American Jewish Committee: Report, 1982 March

Folder 12: Burroughs School: Report, undated

Folder 13: Ca-Ce: Printed ephemera, undated

Citizens United for Responsive Broadcasting: notice, undated

Community Information Service: flyer, undated

Congress of Racial Equality: brochure, undated

Folder 14: Central City People's Action Center: Reports and studies, 1969 December 10-1970 February 5

Folder 15: Central Housing Development Corporation: Reports and studies, 1968 September-1970 February

Folder 16: Community Service Center: Notes and notices, 1971 March 18, undated

Folder 17: Community Workshop on Facilitating Change in New Orleans, circa 1971

Folder 18: Council for a New State Constitution: Proposals, resolutions, and other materials, 1973 February, undated

Folder 19: Future of Manpower Policy: Reports and notes, 1971 December, undated

Folder 20: Houma Project: Notes and correspondence, 1965, undated

Box 7

Folder 1: Housing and Urban Development: Model Neighborhood Areas report, undated: Includes information on New Orleans neighborhoods of Central City, Desire/Florida, and Lower Ninth Ward
Folder 2: Model Cities Comprehensive Demonstration Plan (New Orleans): Introduction and Part I, 1970
Folder 3: Model Cities Comprehensive Demonstration Plan (New Orleans): Part II, p. 1-129, 1970
Folder 4: Model Cities Comprehensive Demonstration Plan (New Orleans): Part II, p. 130-182, 1970
Folder 5: Model Cities Comprehensive Demonstration Plan (New Orleans): Part II, p. 183-269, 1970
Folder 6: Model Cities Comprehensive Demonstration Plan (New Orleans): Part II, p. 270-335, 1970
Folder 7: Model Cities Comprehensive Demonstration Plan (New Orleans): Part II, appendices, 1970
Folder 8: Model Cities Comprehensive Demonstration Plan (New Orleans): Parts III-VII, 1970

Box 8

Folder 1: Human Relations Committee of New Orleans: Notes and correspondence, 1969 August-1972 June, undated

Folder 2: Innovative Education Coalition: Notes and correspondence

Folder 3: Louisiana Council on Human Resources: Notices and position papers, 1968 September-1971 November, undated

Folder 4: Louisiana League of Good Government: Surveys and reports, undated

Folder 5: Metropolitan Area Committee: Proposals and other notices, 1972 May

Folder 6: NAACP: Reports, correspondence and other materials, 1970 July-1971 March

Folder 7: National Education Association: Proposals, reports and memos, 1970 September 15

Folder 8: New Orleans Area Health Planning Council: Minutes, notices and proposals, 1971 April-June, undated

Folder 9: Na-Ne: Reports, notices, etc., 1972, undated

National Catholic conference for Interracial Justice: Tentative conference schedule, undated

New Orleans Alcohol Safety Action Project: Counterattack, Vol. 1, no. 3 (July 1972)

Folder 10: Or-Pr: Reports , notices, etc., 1973, undated

Orleans Parish Public Schools: A Citizen's Guide to New Orleans Public Schools / by The League of Women Voters of New Orleans 1973 September

Presbytery of New Orleans: notice, undated

Folder 11: S-T: Brochures, notices and papers, 1955-1967, undated

Southern Regional Council: workbook and reports, 1955-1957, undated

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: Aframerican News for You, 1966 October and 1967 July

Terrebonne Community Council: form, undated

Folder 12: Urban League of Greater New Orleans: Notices, proposals and correspondence, undated

Folder 13: U-Z: Brochures, notices and papers, undated

United Church of Christ: Guide to Citizen Action in Radio and Television / by Marsha O'Bannon Prowitt, 1971

United States Conference of Mayors: Washington Analysis, No. 1 (September 1972)

Zonta International: Zontian, Vol. 54, no. 2 (June 1974)

Folder 14: Photographs, undated

Folder 15: Press clippings, 1969 May-October

Folder 16: Press clippings, 1970 January-October

Folder 17: Press clippings, 1971 March-1972 January

Folder 18: Press clippings, 1973 February-1975 February

Folder 19: Press clippings, undated

Box 9

Item 1: Index cards showing dues paid, circa 1966-1973
Item 2: CRC meeting registration cards, circa 1969-1973, undated
Item 3: Blank CRC membership cards, undated

Box 10

Item 1: 16mm film: A Place to Start, 1972: With accompanying project booklet