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Collection Overview

Creator:
Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (U.S.)
Title:
Law Students Civil Rights Research Council Records
Repository:
Public Policy Papers
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/hd76s005t
Dates:
1961-1994 (mostly 1964-1987)
Size:
31 boxes and 2 items
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Box 1-31
Language:
English

Abstract

The Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (LSCRRC), founded in 1963, is a non-partisan organization dedicated to facilitating discussion on civil rights and providing research for civil liberties cases. In the early years, it worked to recruit support young law students who would then work with civil rights organizations in the south. The documents consist of minutes, correspondence, reports, pamphlets, notes, and briefs related to the LSCRRC. Through these materials the collection highlights the organization's growth, student protests and arrests, and activism in civil rights issues and lawsuits.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The documents consist of minutes, correspondence, reports, pamphlets, notes, and briefs related to the LSCRRC. Through these materials the collection highlights the organization's growth, student protests and arrests, and activism in civil rights issues and lawsuits. The background and development of regional conferences and law school chapters is extensively documented, as well as short histories of the organization written by LSCRRC staff. The major role of the Summer Internship Program is represented by the records. The papers contains detailed individual personnel files for interns who participated in the SIP form 1984-1986 and the records of the administrative and application process throughout the duration of the program.

Arrangement

This collection is not fully processed. The Records have been arranged in seven series, but are not arranged within the series:

Collection Creator Biography:

Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (U.S.)

The Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (LSCRRC), founded in 1963, is a non-partisan organization dedicated to facilitating discussion on civil rights and providing research for civil liberties cases. LSCRRC also makes its members available to do legal research for organizations needing assistance with civil liberties cases. The organization also created a library of civil rights materials organized into a numerical system for use by students, researchers, and legal professionals. Though a number of the original files were lost during the LSCRRC operation, remaining materials can be found in the LSCRRC records.

The organization was established in 1963 by law students from northern universities traveling to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Through the assistance of Marion Wright Edelman, the LSCRRC secured space in the ACLU offices. In 1964, Howard Slater was named the group's first director. The goal of the council was to offer law students an opportunity to use their legal and organizational skills to promote economic, ethnic, racial, and sexual equality. The group was run by a board of directors comprised of representatives from each of the LSCRRC's fourteen regions. Membership could be acquired by applying to the Summer Internship Program (SIP), participating in a LSCRRC event, or contacting a regional office.

Starting in 1964 the LSCRRC began the SIP to give interested law students real world experience and foster activism among young professionals. In the twenty-four years that the program was active, over four thousand students participated in the program. In addition to raising social awareness, the SIP served as a training program for the student interns while providing direct legal assistance to needy communities and organization. The SIP was the largest function of the organization, but the LSCRRC also ran programs partnered with Legal Services Corporation, National Lawyers Guild, Community Designed Projects, NAACP, Legal Aid Society, Advocates for Children, ACLU, Center for Constitutions, the Ford Foundation Women's Law fund, and numerous other civically minded groups.

The organization has chapters in law schools around the United States and continues as of 2008 as a non-partisan group dedicated to legal questions surrounding topics such as the death penalty, migrant worker rights, and AIDS.

Collection History

Acquisition:

This collection was donated by Amy Ruth Tobol and Jeremiah Gutman in June 1996 .

The 2016 addition of an evaluation written by Melvin Wulf was donated by Melvin Wulf in September 2016. The accession number associated with this donation is ML.2016.026.

Appraisal

No materials were separated from the collection during processing in 2008 or in 2016.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Pete Asch in 2008. Finding aid written by Pete Asch in August 2008.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Materials in Subseries 7B: Intern Personnel Files are restricted for 75 years due to the presence of sensitive personal information. All other materials in this collection are open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Law Students Civil Rights Research Council Records; Public Policy Papers, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/hd76s005t
Location:
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
(609) 258-6345
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Box 1-31

Find More

Related Materials

Collections at the Mudd Manuscript Library of particular relevance to the Law Students Civil Rights Research Council are the American Civil Liberties Union Records, which shared office space with the LSCRRC and often cooperated on cases and programs.

Bibliography

The following sources were consulted during preparation of the organizational history: Tobol, Amy Ruth (1999). Badge of Honor: The Law Students Civil Rights Research Council. (Doctoral Dissertation, State University of New York, Buffalo, 1999). Materials from the Law Students Civil Rights Research Council Records, 1961-1987; Public Policy Papers, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Subject Terms:
African Americans -- Civil rights -- History -- 20th century.
African Americans -- Civil rights -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
Civil rights -- Law and legislation -- United States -- 20th century.
Civil rights demonstrations -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
Civil rights movements -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
Civil rights movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Law students -- United States -- Political activity -- 20th century.
Nonprofit organizations -- United States -- 20th century -- Records and correspondence.
Nonprofit organizations -- United States -- Political activity -- 20th century.
Genre Terms:
Briefs.
Correspondence
Minutes.
Reports.
Names:
Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (U.S.)
Places:
Southern States -- Race relations -- 20th century.
United States -- Race relations -- 20th century