“To Preach the Gospel to the Poor”

By Sarah Quigley, Project Archivist, Southern Christian Leadership Conference records Ralph David Abernathy assumed the presidency of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1968 following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Roughly one year later, twelve members of Local 1199B of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in Charleston, South Carolina were Read More …

The Voter Education Project

By Courtney Chartier, Project Archivist, Voter Education Project Collection The Voter Education Project (VEP) was formed in 1962 as a program of the Southern Regional Council (SRC). It was the brainchild of then U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who wanted to establish a government funded voter registration program that would eliminate the need for Read More …

Andrew Young, the Minister

Fifty-five years ago, Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. was ordained as a minister at the Central Congregational Church in New Orleans. The eldest of two brothers, Young was expected to follow his father’s footsteps and become a dentist. After graduating from Howard University in 1951 (age 19), he struggled to figure out his path in life. Read More …

Finding “Treasures” Through Technology

By Laura J. Thomson, Director of Processing, Amistad Research Center It is a new era of access for the Amistad Research Center thanks to the Center’s recent implementation of innovative archival collection management software. Archon, a collection management system for archives and manuscripts collections developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has assisted in Read More …