Processed by
Wilma Gibbs
13 April 2000
Revised 3 July 2002
Updated 9 March 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
One manuscript box |
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COLLECTION |
195055 (bulk 195152) |
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PROVENANCE: |
Alison Brown, 600 W. 106th St., Carmel, IN 46032-9601 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
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RELATED |
Harvey N. Middleton, M 0441; Henry J. Richardson, M 0472 |
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ACCESSION |
2000.0431 |
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NOTES: |
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An Indiana state committee for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) began organizing in August 1950. The purpose of the organization was to solicit contributions for the 32 African American colleges belonging to the fund. Corporations, companies, black college alumni, and individuals contributed monies. An organizational meeting was held on 27 October. There was a kick-off luncheon held on Tuesday, 14 November 1950 at the Ferguson Hotel. In 1950 when the Indiana Committee of the UNCF was established, it was estimated that the black colleges graduated 90 percent of all African American college graduates. Frederick D. Patterson established the national organization in 1944.
In 1950 several Indiana cities held fundraising campaigns for the United Negro College Fund. They included Indianapolis, Gary, Terre Haute, Richmond, and Columbus. By the 1951 campaign, Ft. Wayne, Huntington, and Muncie were added to the state campaign. Though there was not a formal campaign conducted in South Bend in 1951, the Studebaker Corporation gave a substantial contribution. Lilly Endowment shored up the Indiana Campaign with a $25,000 matching funds donation to get the fund organized in 1950. The following year the endowment gave $50,000.
Sources: Materials in the Collection; Harvey N. Middleton Collection, Indiana Historical Society M 0441; Henry J. Richardson Collection, Indiana Historical Society M 0472; and the Indianapolis Recorder, 18 November 1950.
This collection contains eleven folders of material pertaining to the Indiana Campaign of the United Negro College Fund. Joseph Russell Brown (191579) worked as the state organizer for the 1950 and 1951 campaigns of the fund. He worked as the executive secretary during the 1952 campaign. He communicated often with Paul Franklin who worked as the National Director of Fund Raising. Though communication was less frequent, he also corresponded with the national executive director, William J. Trent, Jr. Brown maintained an office in Indianapolis and Franklin and Trent were in New York City. In Indiana Brown solicited contributions from business people, companies, corporations, foundations, individuals, and alumni of the thirty-two member colleges that were part of the United Negro College Fund. His correspondence is in Box 1, Folder 1. Most of the correspondence represents Brown's dealings with the national organization as it pertained to the Indiana Campaign. Some correspondence related to the inner workings of the 195053 Indiana campaigns and their players including Brown, Harvey N. Middleton, W. R. Sinclair, and Perry O'Neal is in the Harvey N. Middleton Collection (Indiana Historical Society M 0441).
As executive secretary, Browns responsibilities included working with sponsoring committees around the state, securing a campaign chairman, arranging luncheons and other campaign functions, and coordinating volunteers. He maintained the office files and the financial records of the campaign. Minutes, reports, and materials pertaining to publicity for the organization are in folders 24. Folders 59 contain financial records including invoices, receipts, and petty cash disbursements. Photographs in folders 1011 include some of the principal players in the 1950 Indiana UNCF campaign including Dr. Harvey N. Middleton, John Bookwalter, Rev. Plummer Jacobs, and W. R. Sinclair (Rev. Plummer Jacobs is depicted giving a $200 personal contribution to kick off the 1950 campaign.). Other Indianapolis community leaders pictured include Russell Lane (principal of Crispus Attucks High School), State Senator Robert L. Brokenburr, Cleo Blackburn (superintendent of Flanner House); F. E. DeFrantz (executive director of the Senate Avenue Young Men's Christian Association), and Dr. Joseph Ward. Norman Miller, vice president of the American Playground Device Company in Anderson, Indiana, is also shown presenting a check to W. R. Sinclair, chairman of the board of Kingan and Company and the Indiana chairman of the UNCF.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Correspondence, 195152 |
Folder 1 |
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Steering Committee Minutes, 1951 |
Folder 2 |
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Reports, 1951 |
Folder 3 |
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Publicity, 195055 |
Folder 4 |
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Petty Cash, 1951 |
Folder 5 |
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Petty Cash Disbursements, 195253 |
Folder 6 |
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Invoices and Receipts, 195152 |
Folder 7 |
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Funds from National Office, 1952 |
Folder 8 |
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Financial Records, 1952 |
Folder 9 |
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UNCF: Indiana Campaign Fundraising Activities (1 of 2) |
Visual Collections |
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UNCF: Indiana Campaign Fundraising Activities (2 of 2) |
Visual Collections |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://157.91.92.2/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M 0748).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.