HIST 2600: Violence in the United States, 1860-Present

Papers of a Charlotte artist, poet, civil rights activist, and UNC Charlotte alumnus, highlighting his role as one of the Charlotte Three and his interest in the civil rights movement. Consists primarily of correspondence, legal documents, and other material concerning his controversial arrest, trial and conviction for arson; subsequent legal proceedings; and the activities of the North Carolina Political Prisoners' Committee. Also includes files on the Wilmington Ten, the North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, and periodicals and monographs published by left-wing and civil rights groups.

Papers of a Charlotte dentist, minister, and civil rights activist, who was the first African-American to run for governor of North Carolina. Consists chiefly of clippings and correspondence documenting his involvement in the desegregation of schools, public accommodations, hospitals, the North Carolina Dental Society, and the Shrine Bowl. Also includes information on voter registration projects, gubernatorial campaign files (1968 and 1972), material concerning Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Primarily material relating to the involvement of this Textile Workers Union of America official in a strike at Harriet-Henderson Mills in Henderson, N.C. (1958-61), his conviction and subsequent imprisonment amidst allegations of a state-supported frame-up, and his eventual pardon. Includes correspondence, transcripts of radio broadcasts, clippings, audio-visual material, and manuscripts of his book, Scapegoat (1970).

Collection contains the papers of Charles A. McLean, primarily during his work as an officer of the North Carolina NAACP. Other papers were produced as a result of his business activities or by his family.

Public papers of a Charlotte politician and civil rights leader. Primarily material created and received by Alexander as the first African-American member of the Charlotte City Council in the 20th century (1965-74) and as a North Carolina state senator (1975-80).

Files of a Charlotte attorney and his firm, Chambers, Stein, Ferguson, and Lanning, relating to their representation of Darius and Vera Swann and other plaintiffs in the landmark case, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts were constitutionally authorized to exercise broad powers to oversee and produce solutions to achieve school integration, which could include using student quotas as a starting point, and developing new attendance zones and busing policies to achieve more racially balanced schools. Includes pleadings and other documents prepared by Chambers and attorneys for the Board of Education at the district, circuit, and Supreme Court levels; court rulings and opinions; correspondence; clippings; research materials; statistics; desegregation plans prepared by the board and court consultant John Finger; proposed attendance zone maps; transcripts of proceedings; and depositions, briefs, and notes.

Pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, and other printed items published by various radical groups based largely in the Midwest, especially Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Material addresses such issues as the Vietnam War; United States political involvement in Latin America and other regions; civil rights, racism, and black power; socialism and communism and their relevance to the United States; economics and labor; and women's liberation.

Part two of papers of a journalist, best selling author, and civil libertarian. Consists chiefly of material generated as editor (1944-68) of the Charlotte-based Carolina Israelite but also documenting his involvement in the Democratic Party, the civil rights movement, and Jewish issues. Includes extensive correspondence files, manuscripts and research materials for books and articles, speeches, financial records, publications, and photographs.