American Social Movements Collections

This collection contains over 400 newspaper issues from 1967 to 1980, organized by the Black Panther Party(BPP). The newspaper covers a variety of topics, from community to global events. It was also used to distribute information of the BPP's ideologies and their support for different groups fighting oppression.

The Black Panther Publications and Related Articles Collection (1965-1986, 1991, 1995; undated) contains 3.24 linear feet of material mostly related to the Black Panther Party and its members. Series One contains materials directly written, published, and distributed by the Black Panther Party. It contains insight into their ideology and other important matters at the time. Series Two contains materials directly written by Eldridge Cleaver and Huey P. Newton, two central figures of the Black Panther Party. Also included is an interview of Huey P. Newton. Series Three contains material published by outside sources, but directly related to actions and ideas of the Black Panther Party. Magazines and newspapers in this series are not entirely related to the Black Panthers, but do explicitly mention the Party or its members. Series Four contains material from outside sources and in the majority of the materials, there is no explicit mention of the Black Panther Party or its members. However, it is clear that the material is inspired by the ideology and tactics of the Black Panther Party to push for the rights of several other groups.

This collection contains flyers, leaflets, broadsides, magazines, and other documents related to civil rights activism. Included are flyers regarding activist Angelo Herndon; an event aimed at Los Angeles' Latinx voters; Delegates National Assembly for Peace, Washington D.C. April 1, 1952; a reprint of the address Rev. Edward D. McGowan of the National Committee to Defend Negro Leadership delivered before the National Fraternal Council of Churches; a Filmore Club Communist Party flyer; material related to the Free Angela Davis movement; and others. Also included are pamphlets, magazine issues, brochures, and other publications generated by organizations advocating for civil rights and promoting racial equality such as: "The Southern Letter", published by the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute; Bureau of Propaganda Investigation of the Non Sectarian Anti Nazi League to Champion Human Rights; "Motive" a magazine of the Methodist student movement; Southern Regional Council; International Labor Defense; National Negro Congress; League for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation; Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service and Training; Civil Rights Congress; "Negro History Bulletin"; and others. This collection is arranged chronologically.

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) San Francisco Chapter Papers (1964-1965; undated) contains 22 documents mostly related to activities of the San Francisco Chapter of CORE. A majority of the documents are in regards to an agreement between Community Dry Goods Relation Association and CORE, and CORE's belief that the terms of the agreement were not met due to discriminatory hiring practices; board meeting minutes and agendas; and a listing of some of CORE's activities from 1962-1965. Also included are documents regarding the Citizens United Against Poverty (CUAP) request for a meeting with Mayor Shelley; two essays entitled "American Slave Revolts" and "The Haitian Revolutions" by Nancy Lamberson; and other documents.

This collection contains eight black-and-white press photographs taken of Malcolm X at various events, as well as images taken of him at the [L.A.] courthouse, in front of his home after it was firebombed, and an image of him taken on a stretcher after he was assassinated.

The Selma, Alabama Civil Rights Movement Collection contains six flyers and one pamphlet regarding voter registration and rights for African Americans; and civil rights events that took place in Selma, Alabama prior to the Selma-to-Montgomery marches in 1965. Material in this collection was produced and distributed mostly by Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and Dallas County Voters League (DCVL).

This collection includes publications, organizational documents, correspondence, pamphlets, interviews, and other material related to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Los Angeles branch of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, formally known as H. Rap Brown.

This collection is comprised of materials generated by Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC). The Watts Labor Community Action Committee formed in 1965 prior to the Los Angeles (Watts) Riots of 1965 in an effort spearheaded by Ted Watkins, Sr. and supported by local labor unions, most notably, the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). Their purpose was to create and provide programs and services that serve the needs of the under-served, predominantly African American residents of the Watts and Greater Watts communities. In this collection are organizational documents, minutes, correspondence, memoranda, reports, program proposals, drafts/notes, ephemera, publications, newspaper clippings and photographs. The materials gathered here chiefly represent the organization's activities from the mid- to late-1960s, early 1970s and the early- to mid-1990s.

This collection contains material related to the Watts Rebellion, the Watts neighborhood, Los Angeles during 1965, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and also includes material regarding race, rioting, civil rights, activism, and poverty. A majority of this collection consists of newspaper and magazine articles; and also includes photographs, reports, and other material.