Holt

University of Michigan-Flint
Frances Willson Thompson Library

Genesee Historical Collections Center

Name of the collection: EDGAR B. HOLT PAPERS

Inclusive years: 1941-1992

Quantity: 15 feet + 88 photographs

Acquisition: This collection was donated to the Genesee Historical Collections Center on April 4, 1993 by donor no. 239.

Access: There are no restrictions on access. For the series "Prisoners," the researcher may have access on condition that the names of the correspondents not be published.

Photographs: Eighty-eight photographs were removed and are to be cataloged separately.

Processed by: Paul Gifford, March 1994.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Edgar B. Holt was born in Newport News, Virginia, on November 8, 1921. He received his education in the local schools and then studied at Wilberforce University. World War II interrupted his education, during which he saw military service in the South Pacific in 1944 and worked in the Office of War Information.

His first active involvement in a civil rights organization was with the Southern Negro Youth Congress, which he had joined by 1941, and in 1946 and 1947 was one of that group's vice-presidents. In 1946, while working at a construction site in Newport News, he was beaten, after objecting to the white foreman's comment that whites drank first, and left on a road. He then left the city of his birth and finished his schooling at Wilberforce in 1947, receiving the B.A. degree. Following Wilberforce, he attended the New School for Social Research in New York City, where in 1949 he received the Master of Social Work degree, and afterwards worked as a social worker for the New York City Department of Public Welfare.

He came to Flint, Michigan, in 1950, where he remained until his death. Until his disability leave about 1969, he was employed in the foundry at Buick Motor Division of General Motors Corporation. He also ran an import-export business at various times, mostly in the early 1960s and during the last few years of his life.

His first efforts in the political/social arena in Flint were involved with organizing a union bargaining committee to obtain equal pay and rights for black employees and in starting what became known as the Foundry Council. In 1954, he managed the campaign of Floyd McCree in his run for a seat on the Flint City Council. Although this first attempt was unsuccessful, he continued working on McCree's later campaigns, which ultimately led Councilman McCree to be chosen in 1967 as one of the first black mayors in the country. Holt also managed the campaigns of UAW activist Nathaniel Turner for city and county office. He was an organizer, in 1956, of the Third Ward Better Government League, an interracial group which sought to improve black representation in local government. In 1952, he married Lois Van Zandt, of Flint, who was the first black teacher hired by the Flint Board of Education.

During the crucial decade of the 1960s, Holt focused most of his political energy in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). First elected President of the Flint Branch, following a controversial election in 1958 which included accusations by the publisher of the Bronze Reporter, Flint's black newspaper, that Holt had been a Communist, he served as First Vice-President of the Michigan Conference from 1961 and 1963 and as President from 1963 to 1966. Again, from 1967 to 1970, he served as president of the Flint branch. As head of the NAACP's largest state organization, he was in constant demand as a speaker at local branch meetings, having a reputation as a militant. Holt participated in all the national conventions of the organization and its regional workshops as well. Among the NAACP's activities during those years were participation in the civil rights marches in the South (Holt had mortgaged his house in 1957 in order to charter an airplane to transport Flint people to take part in the Montgomery demonstrations); a demonstration against General Motors in 1964; efforts to pass fair housing legislation in Flint; and investigation of complaints regarding racial discrimination and police brutality.

By 1967, civic and government agencies were making efforts to include black representation, and, as a result of his association with the NAACP, Edgar Holt began to be named to the boards of such groups. Flint city groups included the Committee on Human Relations and Law; the Renewal and Housing Department's Advisory Committee; COMPACT (Committee to Promote Action); Charter Revision Committee's Advisory Board; and Manpower Area Planning Council.

Genesee County agencies in which Holt participated included: Economic Development Commission; Manpower Advisory Council; the Housing Subcommittee of the Genesee County Technical Advisory Committee; Model Cities Economic Development Corporation; and the Probate Court Juvenile Division Advisory Committee. Regional agencies included the Region V Crime Commission and the Manpower Area Planning Council of Genesee, Lapeer and Shiawassee Counties.

As these memberships indicate, in the years following 1968, Holt was concerned with police-community relations, housing and urban renewal, employment and affirmative action, promoting the growth of black enterprise, and implementation of Federal programs, including Housing and Urban Development and Model Cities grants. These interests were also reflected in the activities of the Flint NAACP branch in the early 1970s. Among its projects was Genesee Renaissance, which purchased houses and renovated them. Holt became very interested in non-profit housing and, with other partners, formed the Genesee Valley Non-Profit Housing Corporation. In 1972, he and some partners incorporated the Genesee Community Townhouse Nonprofit Housing Association and ran the Ridgecrest Village Townhouses. Holt became very familiar with state and Federal housing programs and took full advantage of them. Ultimately, however, the project failed.

Another of Holt's big interests in the late 1960s and 1970s was the rehabilitation of criminals. His NAACP duties had already drawn him into the

concerns of black prisoners and he worked tirelessly on their behalf to help them discover their weaknesses, gain probation, and re-enter society. Through

the NAACP, he started Project New Leaf and Project Rebound in 1973, aimed at helping recently released prisoners. He also served on the Advisory Board of Rubicon-Odyssey House, a drug rehabilitation center in Flint.

Although he no longer was the president of the Flint branch, he continued many other activities through the NAACP. As chairman of its Legal Redress Committee in the mid-1970s, he was involved with numerous employee grievances, many concerning employees of General Motors, only a portion of them being racial in nature. In 1976 and 1977, he was heavily involved with the local NAACP's Human Services Information and Referral Project, which taught hard-core unemployed persons job-seeking skills and referred people to General Motors for hiring.

After what he considered to be an unfair election by the NAACP Flint branch in 1977, he resigned from the organization, although he eventually reconciled with the group. He formed a new organization, Freedom and Justice Associates, in 1977, through which he intended to continue his many activities. This organization acted as a recipient agency for CETA money, which the NAACP's by-laws prohibited. He employed a few office workers in his program, helped prisoners, processed employee grievances, and also concerned himself with issues concerning the elderly.

On a more personal level, he was interested in Africa. He attended Nigeria's independence celebrations in 1960 and visited that country several times. He and his wife frequently helped out African students as early as 1959, and the relationships they formed with them lasted for many years. Holt helped them with their immigration and financial problems and helped several get jobs in Flint. He also developed an interest in trade with Africa, starting an import-export business in the early 1960s. He renewed this interest in the late 1970s and started other trading companies, selling commodities like cement and rice to Nigerian businessmen he had met through earlier contacts.

After such a productive life, in which he attempted to change the social conditions which had affected him and his people, he died February 8, 1984, in Flint.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The period covered by this collection begins about 1955 and ends in 1983. The papers had been moved several times before they were donated to the University of Michigan and, because they were in no particular order, the archivist needed to impose an order on them. Although there are a few items dating prior to this time span, such as two Southern Negro Youth Congress newsletters from 1941, most of the material dates from the 1960s and 1970s. The 1960s, of course, were a critical era in Afro-American history, and, as Edgar Holt was president of the largest state NAACP organization at probably its most significant period, the series of NAACP records will likely draw the most interest from the researcher.

Holt attended almost every national convention of the NAACP, from 1959 to 1976. The files concerning them typically contain the convention programs, committee agendas, speeches, news clippings, and flyers. Other national NAACP material includes pamphlets, newsletters, and information on implementing certain programs, such as non-profit housing. The files from the NAACP Region 3 Leadership Training Conferences (Region 3 consisting of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin), which were primarily workshops for local NAACP officers, contain conference programs and associated material.

The Michigan State Conference was the largest of any of the state NAACP organizations during the mid-1960s, when Edgar Holt was the Conference's vice-president (1961-1963) and president (1963-1966). The correspondence and topical files in this series concern: operations of local Michigan branches, including elections, lawsuits, and demonstrations, as well as invitations to speak at local meetings; communications from national NAACP officers and from other local NAACP activists concerning affairs of the national organization; invitations to, and announcements of, conferences on civil rights, juvenile delinquency, and other social problems. However, the largest topic concerns the operations of the Michigan Conference, including elections and meetings.

The largest single series in this collection concerns the Flint Branch of the NAACP. Although president only from 1958 to 1960 and from 1967 to 1970, Holt was responsible for much of the local branch's operations through most of the next decade, including writing the newsletter, acting as a public representative in community groups, and in influencing its policies. He was chairman of the Credit Union Committee and, in the mid-1970s, of the Legal Redress Committee.

Many of the Flint Branch's operations reflected the policies of the national organization. The fight against segregation was the group's leading cause during the 1960s, and in Flint, campaigns were waged to adopt an open housing ordinance, which succeeded in 1968. Relations with police were also a major concern, and in the late 1960s, allegations of police brutality increased. In this regard, for example, in 1967 the Flint NAACP took on the case of Gernell Taylor. Holt received complaints about racist policies of businesses, employment practices, and real estate brokers. These complaints are filed in the topical folders as well as in the Legal Redress Committee files for the mid-1970s.

Holt's NAACP papers from the 1970s reveal successive projects, mostly initiated by the national organization, which the Flint Branch adopted. Non-profit housing was one. Holt attended workshops on the subject sponsored by the national organization and then put the scheme into practice. The Genesee Valley Non-Profit Housing Corporation was started in 1970, but because of certain prohibitions by the NAACP constitution, the corporation became independent. The series "Genesee Community Townhouse Nonprofit Housing Association Corporation" contains records associated with the ownership and management of Ridgecrest Village Townhouses in Flint. Another housing effort by the Flint NAACP was Genesee Renaissance, which purchased and renovated a number of Flint houses for resale to qualified buyers.

The Flint NAACP, under Holt's direction, began, with funding from the Genesee County Model Cities Program, a program to rehabilitate young offenders, which it called Project New Leaf, later Project Rebound. Southern Michigan Prison at Jackson started its own Project New Leaf, with which Holt was closely associated.

The local branch was also involved in an effort to desegregate the Flint public schools around 1975, and most of the relevant material is folders headed "Flint Board of Education." Routine annual efforts were directed at registering voters and attracting new members to the NAACP.

General Motors Corporation, as Flint's largest employer, was a major concern to the black community of Flint. The Flint NAACP was involved in a national demonstration against GM in 1964, and Holt took part in further efforts to encourage the company to hire more blacks. Later, the Flint Branch, headed by Holt, began a project to get people employed, especially in referring them to General Motors. Material relating to this is contained under the folder heading "Human services information and referral project" and dates from 1976 and 1977.

In 1978, due to NAACP constitutional restrictions against receiving and disbursing such monies, Edgar Holt created a new organization, Freedom and Justice Associates, which would administer CETA program funds. These Federal funds allowed community organizations to hire young or inexperienced workers to work in the area of social service. In 1978, Holt left the NAACP because he disputed the manner in which the Flint Branch's elections were held, and remained bitter toward the group for a number of years. However, he continued much of his previous work, such as the job referral program and prisoner rehabilitation, through Freedom and Justice Associates. The organization had a board, but the organization was really a letterhead through which Holt could continue his work. Its activities declined about 1980. Material in this series also deals with concerns of the elderly.

As a result of Holt's increasing civic visibility, through his work as campaign manager for Floyd McCree and Nathaniel Turner and as NAACP president, he became more involved with various government and civic organizations. The files with the most material are those relating to the Urban Coalition of Flint; COMPACT; the Genesee Community Development Conference; the Genesee County Community Action Agency; the Genesee County Economic Development Commission; the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission; the Genesee County Model Cities Economic Development Corporation; the Genesee County Probate Court Juvenile Division Advisory Committee; the Flint Charter Revision Commission Advisory

Board; the Flint Manpower Area Planning Council; and the Region 5 Crime Commission. Most of these agencies and advisory boards were concerned with promoting economic growth and creating jobs and with crime. The files mostly contain material from the early 1970s.

The series "Civil Rights, Black, and Other Organizations" contains files relating to miscellaneous organizations, mostly in Flint, but some national,

with which Holt had dealings, either as a member or leader or as a recipient of correspondence or merely as an interested party. The Southern Negro Youth Congress contains one of the organization's newsletters, dated 1941. The Third Ward Better Government League folder, with material from 1956 and 1957, documents Holt's first political efforts in Flint, following his management of Floyd McCree's campaigns in 1954 and 1956. Other groups are ad hoc political organizations, such as the Citizens Committee for the Support of the Oak Park Bond Issue (1968-1969), an urban renewal proposal which failed. Olive Beasley, Flint field director for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, sent Holt many memos; these are mostly in the folders under that commission's heading. Other material from her, such as items from national NAACP, can be found in other parts of the collection.

Holt's stature in the community led to his involvement in local institutions of higher education. He personally was interested in establishing a Flint campus of Shaw College, a predominately black business school based in Detroit, and worked towards that goal. He was active in helping to recruit African and black faculty to the University of Michigan-Flint and was also interested in the school's African-Afro-American Studies Program, in the student organization, Students for Black Action, and the files reflect those interests.

Although he never personally sought political office, Holt worked as a campaign manager in local elections for two of his closest friends, Floyd McCree and Nathaniel Turner. The files concerning McCree document his 1954 race for city commissioner and campaigns in later years. Turner ran for city and county offices between 1968 and 1982. Other files document the local campaigns of his NAACP associates, Harold Hayden, John Hightower, and Fred Tucker, and the first Flint efforts on behalf of Jesse Jackson's 1982 Presidential campaign.

The "Churches" series contains files with material emanating from various Flint churches. The most significant are those on Woodside Church, an

interdenominational, inter-racial congregation with a liberal social philosophy to which Holt and his wife belonged. These files contain weekly programs and other material. The Unitarian Universalist Church file is also reasonably extensive. Black churches represented are: Bethel, Quinn Chapel, and Vernon

A.M.E. The Vernon A.M.E. Chapel file contains material from a 1954 incident concerning a local NAACP election which Holt contested; he passed out literature and was arrested.

The "ceremonial" series contains mostly souvenir programs of building dedications, funerals, memorial services, testimonial dinners, as well as graduation announcements and wedding invitations. Holt spoke or gave the eulogy at many of these occasions, and the texts to his speeches may be found in some of the folders. The programs are sometimes useful biographical sources for the individuals.

A number of useful files on Flint black service organizations may be found within the "Service/Fraternal Organizations" series. Holt was an organizer of the Optimist Club of Greater Flint, and the files for this group document its activities during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was also instrumental in forming the Flint Arts and Guidance Club, which was active in the 1960s. Other files typically contain invitations to events, or programs from these events, sponsored mostly by local black organizations, such as fraternities and sororities, the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, and fraternal orders.

The records of the Genesee Community Townhouse Nonprofit Housing Association Corporation are fairly comprehensive. Dating from 1972 to 1979, they document the management of Ridgecrest Townhouses, a subsidized housing complex in Flint for low-income residents.

Under the "Social Service" heading are files of Flint organizations with which Holt was involved, usually as a member of their boards of directors. The most significant are the Genesee County Youth Service Bureau and Rubicon-Odyssey House, a local halfway house for substance abusers. The files document the organizations' activities in the 1970s.

The "Correspondence" series contains correspondence from Flint social activist Olive Beasley, her sons C. J. Beasley and U. S. Beasley, former NAACP assistant Charles W. Cheng, Genora Dollinger, the former Flint resident who was active in the Sit-Down Strike but who had later moved to California, and Al-Hajj Anas Mahmoud Luqman, a black nationalist in Chicago. Although all were Holt's personal friends, their social and political activism, more than any personal content, is reflected in their correspondence.

One significant series of the collection is the series of letters from prisoners. Organized alphabetically by surname, this series consists of more than one linear foot and dates from 1964 to 1983. Mostly black, the prisoners were usually held in the Genesee County Jail or the Southern Michigan Prison in

Jackson, although others were in various other state and Federal institutions in Michigan. Typically, the prisoner would first write to Holt for help in

obtaining parole; for many of them, the correspondence would develop into a period of several years. Many describe conditions in the prisons and some are thougtful reflections on life and race relations. Although this series is open for research, please note that this is contingent on not publishing the names of the prisoners.

As African countries began to declare their independence in the late 1950s, Holt developed a strong interest in their welfare. He and his wife went to Nigeria in 1960 and attended the independence celebrations. He developed personal contacts then and soon began an import-export business. About this time, the Holts began to assist African college students, especially at Michigan State University, both financially and in ways such as with immigration problems. The letters from Africa are from young students wishing to come to America to study or from former students who returned.

The "speeches" series contain a variety of speeches, mostly unidentified as to date or occasion, although internal evidence sometimes provides that information. They are either handwritten or typed. Other speeches may be found in other series, in the NAACP series especially, but, in those case, those

speeches were identified by the occasion of the speech. Clearly Holt was frequently asked to deliver speeches or addresses during Black History Week and to deliver eulogies.

At the end of his life, Holt resumed his interest in business. The "business" series contains files relating to various enterprises, including BEH Enterprises, Inc., an import-export business doing trade with Africa. Other businesses include Golech Associates, a consulting firm.

The remaining series, "Personal," "Meetings and Conferences," "Reports," and "Topical (Miscellaneous)," contain miscellaneous files on various subjects. The items here are mostly material which could not be easily fit into the other series. One interesting file is the Michigan State Police "Red Squad" file on Nathaniel Turner, which demonstrates the effort expended in the late 1950s and early 1960s to report on the activities of the local NAACP.

Finally, Lois Holt's series contains material documenting her employment as the first black teacher employed by the Flint Board of Education and her teaching career in general. Also in this series are various sketches of Edgar Holt's life written soon after his death and a number of letters from his friends and colleagues describing their memories of him.

FOLDER LIST

BOX 1

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE

Constitution and by-laws for branches, 1957, 1960, 1964

National conventions

1959

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974 - Material from Olive Beasley

1975

1976

1977 - Material from Olive Beasley

1978 - Material from Olive Beasley

1979 - Material from Olive Beasley

1981

1984

Topical

Adopt a Child Program

Annual report, 1983

Automobile industry employment, 1964

Bakke symposium, 1978

Day care center program, 1971

General Motors Corporation, 1964

Housing, 1975

Housing Specialist Institute, 1971

Life membership bulletin, 1964-1972

Miscellaneous, 1979-1984

Miscellaneous, from Olive Beasley, 1973-1979

National Afro American Builders Corporation, [1972?]

National Black Political Convention, Gary, Ind., 1972

National Work Conference on Energy, 1977

Newsletters, 1967-1968, 1978

Press releases and memoranda, 1964-1973

Project Rebound, 1972-1973

Publications from National office

1958-1964

1968-1976

Quality education conference, 1977 - Material from Olive Beasley

Wilkins, Roy, 1975-1977

Region 3

Conference, 1963

BOX 2

Leadership Training Conferences

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1972

1977

1979 - Material from Olive Beasley

Newsletter, 1976

Quad-state office - Annual report, 1964

Conference of Quad-State presidents, 1964

Minutes, 1967

Annual meeting, 1968

Michigan State Conference

Constitution, 1964, 1966

Annual report, 1959

Annual conventions

1958

1959

1960

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978 - Material from Olive Beasley

Minutes (including agendas)

1962-1974

1975-1979

President

Speeches, 1964-1966

Speech material

1964

1965

Local branch meetings, banquets, etc., 1964-1967

Correspondence

1964

1965

(1 of 2)

(2 of 2)

1966

Memoranda to and from local branches, 1964

Memoranda, 1965-1966

Annual reports from local branches, 1964-1965

Vice-president

Correspondence, 1961-1962

Local branch meetings, 1961-1963

Correspondence, 1970-1972

BOX 3

Correspondence - Olive Beasley, 1973-1979

Memoranda and letters from national office, 1964

Memoranda to local branches, 1973-1979

Newsletters, 1977-1982

Topical

Civil rights complaints and issues, 1963-1964

Custer Job Corps Center complaints, 1965-1966

Detroit concerns, 1966-1967

Directories, 1960-1973

Education, 1964-1966

Elections, 1966

Jackson County complaint, 1971

Lake County Branch, 1983

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, 1968-1969

Life Membership Committee, 1975

Local branch dinners, etc., 1968-1976

Local conditions reported by branches, 1964-1976

Michigan civil rights summit meeting, Benton Harbor, 1965

Miscellaneous, 1964-1979

Nelson, Ruby, 1978

Newsletters, 1959, 1964-1966

Press releases, 1964-1967

Press releases from local branches, 1964-1966

Publicity kit for branches, 1965

Treasurer's reports

Youth conference

1964

1969

Flint Branch

President

Speeches

Undated [1958-1963?]

1967-[undated]

Correspondence

1967

1968

1969

1970

Executive Board

Minutes

1959

1967-1970

1971-1974

(by form)

Banquet and other programs, 1958-1975

Correspondence

1957-1966

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977-1979

Membership lists, fundraising lists, [undated]

Memo pad, 1968

Memoranda

1967-1968

BOX 4

1969-1971

1972-

Memoranda to members, 1959, 1967-1978

Miscellaneous speeches, drafts, etc., undated

Newsletters, 1958-1982

Press releases, 1958-1975

Resolutions, 1958-1981

Vietnam War resolution, 1965

Rosters of offers and committees, 1967-1977

Speeches, drafts, etc., [undated]

Telephone log, 1977

Treasurer's reports, 1967-

Education Committee, 1959, 1965, 1971

Freedom Fund Committee, 1973

Housing Committee, 1969

Labor and Industry Committee, [1957?], 1972

Legal Redress Committee

1958

1963, 1969, 1974-1977

Bowen v. General Motors, AC Spark Plug Division, 1976-1977

Bryant, Howard, v. HUD, 1974-1979

Consumer complaints, 1977

Employee grievances (non-General Motors)

General, 1965-1978

Racial discrimination, 1965-1977

General Motors Corporation grievances

General, 1969-1978

Racial discrimination, 1966-1980

Grievances and complaints - Miscellaneous

Hamady Brothers, 1977

Northern Michigan University student complaint, 1977

Physicians and hospitals, 1975-1977

Tommy Hayes Ford case, 1975

Political Action Committee, 1972

Topical

Adopt-a-cop Program, [undated]

Affirmative action, 1968-1978

Angola resolution, 1975

Anti-drug ordinance, [undated]

Associated Real Estate Brokers of Flint, 1959

Bail bond program, 1970

Baskin, Ricky, 1976

Beecher School District controversy, 1971-1975

Bradley v. Milliken ruling, 1971

City Commission election, 1973

Clyde Turner Broadway extravaganza, 1972

Complaints about police

Complaints of racial discrimination, 1964-1977

Credit Union

1966-1968

1972-1978

Credit Union Advisory Council, 1971-1972

Crispus Attucks Corporation, 1972-1975

Daily schedules, 1975-1977

Dial, Bertha Faye, Death of, 1975

Draft counseling, 1970

Education, 1965-1972

Elections

1958-1970

1978-1979

BOX 5

End Racism in Industry conference, 1971

Ferris State College student complaint, 1969

50th anniversary dinner, 1968

Flint Black Teachers Caucus, 1975-1977

Flint Board of Education

General, 1969-1977

Report, 1971

Flint Institute of Arts protest, 1969

Flint Mayor's Implementation Committee for Relocating of University of Michigan-Flint, 1972

Freedom Fund proposal, 1975

General Motors/UAW concerns, 1970-1977

General Motors - Meeting with agencies, 1976-1977

Genesee County apportionment, 1972

Genesee County Mental Health Services Board, 1973

Genesee County Road Commission hiring practices, 1975-1976

Genesee Renaissance

Statement of purpose, [undated]

Mortgages, 1973-1974

Quitclaim deeds, title insurance, 1973-1974

Correspondence, 1973-1978

Bulk housing, 1977

Contractor's bids, inspections, etc., 1973-1975

Genesee Valley Mall incident, 1974

Genesee Valley Non-Profit Housing Corporation

Incorporation, 1970-1971

1972-1974

Gernell Taylor case, 1967

Housing conference, 1971

Housing information

1969-1972

1972-1973

Brochures, undated

Housing

1974-1976

Black contractors, 1976

Contractor bonding, 1974-1976

Human services information and referral project

GM apprenticeship information, 1970-1976

Referrals to GM, 1976-1977

Jamaica trip, 1972

Lease of 118 W. Hamilton, 1974-1977

Les Ballets Africains, 1971-1972

Life memberships, undated

Lorrick family und, 1972

Lottery agency, 1972

March on Washington, 1963

Marian Anderson visit, 1959

Membership campaign, 1967-1968

Membership drives, 1973-1975

Michigan Department of State Highways and Transportation, 1976

Minority building contractors survey, 1969

Minority business development, 1972-1979

Miscellaneous, 1958-1963

Mississippi boycott case, 1976

New Images, Inc., 1971-1972

BOX 6

Open housing, 1967-1968

Project New Leaf, 1973

(1 of 2)

(2 of 2)

Project Rebound

1973

1974-1977

Proposed human relations ordinance, 1959

Racist business practices, 1969-1972

Racist fliers, [1970s]

Rallies and demonstrations, 1967 and undated

Report on branch operations by Ronald Appleton, 1974

Rodent control project, 1974

Roy Wilkins visit and school dedication, 1972

Scripts of plays [undated]-1969

Soul Festival, [1972?]

Special Contribution Fund, 1974-1976

Testimonial dinner for Hon. Stewart Newblatt, 1970

United Agencies for Progress in Beecher, 1977

U.S. Bicentennial, 1975-1976

Voter education, 1968

Voter registration and education project, 1972-1973

Voter registration, 1976

Voter registration drive, 1980

Voyager Inn strike

WAMM [radio station] complaint, 1974-1976

WJRT-TV12, 1976-1978

Youth Council, 1977-1982

Youth Group - March in Washington, 1959

FREEDOM AND JUSTICE ASSOCIATES

By-laws, incorporation, 1977

Board of Directors

Minutes, 1977-1981

Reports, financial statements, memoranda, agendas, 1977-1978

Correspondence, 1977-1983

Affirmative action

Black contractors, 1978

CETA Hiring Center, 1977

CETA Public Service Employment Project proposals, 1978-1979

City of Flint public service employment subgrant, 1977

Complaints about police, 1982-1983

Complaints about racial discrimination, 1979-1982

Descriptions of the program, [undated]

Disco incident, 1979

Employee grievances

Non-General Motors, 1978-1982

Tidwell v. City of Flint, 1979-1981

General Motors, 1978-1983

General Motors, 1977-1979

Greater Flint Opportunities Industrialization Center, Inc., 1973-1981

Job training and retraining program, 1983

Real estate, 1980

Senior citizens

Battelle Advisory Panel on Consumer Frauds and the Senior Citizen, 1977

Flint Community Schools needs survey, 1979

Valley Area Agency on Aging - Battelle report on elderly victims of fraud in Flint, 1978

BOX 7

URBAN COALITION OF GREATER FLINT

Steering Committee, 1969

By-laws, statement of purpose

Executive Committee

Minutes and agendas, 1974-1982

Memoranda, 1977-1982

Board of Directors

Minutes and agendas, 1975-1982

Memoranda, 1975-1983

Board orientation workshop, 1980

Annual meetings, 1974-1977

Annual report, 1976

Audits, 1975, 1979

Budgets, 1975-1982

Committees and task forces, 1975-1983

Correspondence, 1974-1983

Evaluation of the Urban Coalition of Greater Flint, 1975

Ex-offender jobs program proposal, 1979

Financial statements, 1974-1982

Flint Neighborhood Coalition, 1979-1980

Jobs and training forum, 1979

Material from National Urban Coalition, 1975-1981

Newsletters, 1979-1980

Press releases, 1976-1977

Proposals, statements, miscellaneous, 1972-1981

Rosters, 1975-1984

GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN

Genesee Community Development Conference

By-laws

Board of Directors - Minutes, 1971-1976

Annual meetings

1970

1971

1972

1973

Memoranda and correspondence, 1969-1977

Financial statements, 1969-1974

Monthly reports to Mott Foundation, 1973-1974

Miscellaneous, 1967-1971

Commission on Substance Abuse Services, 1975

Community Action Agency

Employment development for youth project, 1974-1975

Head Start and CETA mailing lists, 1977

Citizens Advisory Committee, 1983

Drain Commission, 1978

Economic Development Commission

By-laws

Minutes

1973-1974

1975-1979

Annual reports, etc., 1974-1977

Correspondence, 1973-1977

Memoranda, 1973-1979

BOX 8

1977-78 overall economic development program

Housing plan, 1972

Industrial airpark feasability study, 1974

Proposed community development plan, 1974

Proposed Dort-Carpenter industrial center, 1977

Vacant industrial buildings inventory, 1977

Miscellaneous, 1974-1977

Manpower Advisory Council, 1975

Metropolitan Planning Commission

General, 1967-1979

Mayor's state of the city address, 1973

Willson Parkview Apartments, 1972

Genesee County Technical Advisory Committee

Housing Subcommittee

Jan.-June 1972

July 1972-1974

Model Cities Program, 1972-1973

Model Cities Economic Development Corporation

By-laws, 1971

Minutes, 1973

Minority business directory

Miscellaneous, 1973

Probate Court

Condemnation Commission, 1976

Juvenile Division Advisory Committee

Minutes, 1975-1976

General, 1975-1979

Probate Court operational and organizational manual, 1975

Regional Drug Abuse Commission, 1973

FLINT (CITY OF)

Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, 1974

Board of Education, 1965-1971

COMPACT (Committee to Promote Action, Inc.)

Minutes, 1970

Memoranda and correspondence, 1969-1970

Miscellaneous, 1969-1973

Cable TV Committee, 1973

Charter Revision Commission Advisory Board, 1974

(1 of 2)

(2 of 2)

City Manager (Daniel Boggan, Jr.), 1975-1976

Committee on Human Relations and Law, 1967-1968

Housing Commission, 1972-1981

Human Relations Commission, 1968-1977

BOX 9

Manpower Area Planning Council

Minutes, 1972-1973

Memoranda

1972

1973

1975

Mayor - Correspondence, 1954

Miscellaneous, 1972-1982

Neighborhood Improvement Program. Ad Hoc Committee, 1979

New Human Relations Commission, 1979

Police

General, 1967-1977

Community Relations Bureau, 1968-1979

Information, 1973-1974

Minority Coalition agreement, 1976-1977

Poverty Task Force, [197-?]

Proposed Flint human relations ordinance, 1977

Renewal and Housing Department. Citizen Advisory Committee, 1968

REGIONAL AGENCIES

Region 5 Crime Commission

Constitution, 1971

Minutes and agendas, 1969-1972

Roster, committees

Memoranda and correspondence, 1969-1973

Planning reports, 1969

Manpower Area Planning Council of Genesee, Lapeer and Shiawassee Counties

By-laws

1972

GLS-Flint Manpower Consortium - Summer youth recreation programs, 1975

GLS Comprehensive Health Planning Council, 1970-1975

CIVIL RIGHTS, BLACK, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

A. Phillip Randolph Institute. Greater Flint Chapter, 1978-1979

Ad Hoc Citizens Committee, Minimum Security Facility, 1973

Alliance for a Greater Flint

American Civil Liberties Union. Flint Branch

1963-1967

1971-1981

Black Caucus Association, Inc., 1975-1976

Citizens Committee for Social Justice, 1975-1976

Citizens Committee for the Support of the Oak Park Bond Issue, 1968-1969

Citizens Probation Authority Advisory Council, 1968

Citizens Resources-Administration of Justice, 1971

Citizens Scholarship Foundation of Genesee County, 1970

City-wide Black Caucus, 1977

Community Committee on Minority Affairs, 1981

Community Justice Committee, 1979

Concerned Citizens for Voters' Rights, 1979

Concerned Pastors for Social Action, 1976-1983

Cosmopolitan Association for Business and Economic Development

Democratic Black Caucus of Michigan, 1971-1979

Flint Black Women's Leadership Caucus, 1976

Flint Federation of Teachers, 1967-1968

Flint Spokesman [newspaper], [undated]

Friends of Amistad. Flint Chapter, 1977

Fund for Equal Justice, 1972

Genesee County Bar Association - Lawyer of the Year Award, 1973

Genesee County Legal Services Program, 1968

Genesee County Welfare Reform Coalition, 1971

Greater Flint Community Action Council, 1977

Greater Flint Downtown Corporation, 1974-1975

Hurley East Task Force, 1983

International Institute, 1974

Legal Aid Society, 1971-1972

Michigan Black Caucus, 1968-1971

Michigan Civil Rights Commission

General, 1965-1975

Conference on Reality, Goals, and Strategy, 1966

Conference of municipal officials, 1967

Directory of civil rights organizations, [undated]

BOX 10

Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 1976-1981

Michigan Education Association

Michigan Housing Federation, 1968

Michigan Welfare League, 1970

Miscellaneous Flint political organizations

Miscellaneous Detroit-area political organizations

Miscellaneous national political organizations

National Organization for an American Revolution, 1982-1983 (and James and Grace Boggs, 1968-1969)

Poor Peoples March to Washington Planning Committee, 1968

Public Housing Tenants Union of Flint, 1972

Society of Afro-American Police, 1976

South Side Improvement Corporation of Michigan, 1957

Southern Negro Youth Congress, 1941

Third Ward Better Government League, 1956-1957

U.A.W., Local 599, 1954-1955

Unity for Justice, 1978-1979

Urban League of Flint

General, 1967-1981

Negro employment survey, 1960

Housing Committee - Report, 1966

Urban Studies Committee, 1972

EDUCATIONAL

Flint Board of Education. Mott Adult Education Program. Arts Advisory Committee, 1965

Hurley Medical Center. School of Nursing. Advisory Committee

Mott Community College - Legal Assistants Advisory Committee, 1972-1973

Shaw College at Detroit-Flint Campus. Advisory Board Committee, 1981-1983

Southwestern High School, 1970

University of Michigan-Flint

African-Afro-American Studies Program, 1974-1983

General, 1969-1983

McCray and Farmer, 1980

Purchase of land, 1981

POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

Aldridge-Sims, Karen, 1982

Austin, Richard

Carter, Jimmy, 1976

Chapman, Ward, 1976

Dean, Max

Hayden, Harold, 1966

Hightower, John, 1968

Jackson, Jesse, 1983

Knopf, Edwin L., 1968

McCree, Floyd

1954

[undated]

Owens-Reed, Jo Ann, 1981, 1983

Riegle, Donald W.

1976

1982

Tucker, Fred

Turner, Nathaniel

1968

1972

1976

1982

Miscellaneous

1974

1976

1982

Different years

Official candidate listing, 1976

CHURCHES

Christ the King Parish, 1971-1972

Bethel United Methodist Church, 1961-1975

Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, 1974-1977

Unitarian Universalist Church of Flint, 1957-1974

Vernon A.M.E. Chapel, 1954, 1972

Woodside Church

Bulletins, 1961-1984

(1 of 2)

(2 of 2)

Miscellaneous, 1967-1983

Miscellaneous, 1964-1983

CEREMONIAL

Building dedications

Funerals

Miscellaneous, 1963-1981

Edwards, Thomas J., 1976

Hamilton, Julia West, 1958

Kimbrough, Leonard, 1975

Mays, Samuel Jerry, 1982

Pugh, John, 1979

Tucker, Fred, 1980

Tucker, Johnny

Martin Luther King tributes and dinners, 1975-1984

Memorial services

Wilkins, Roy, 1981

Randolph, A. Phillip, 1979

Testimonials

Hamilton, Julia West, 1955

Holt, Edgar, 1971

McCree, Floyd, 1965, 1967, 1973, 1979

Pugh, John, 1974, 1978

Turner, Nathaniel

1955

1974

BOX 11

Miscellaneous, 1963-1982

Wedding and graduation announcements, 1964-1983

SOCIAL/FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS

Black fraternities and sororities

Flint Arts and Guidance Club, 1959-1968

Flint Beneficial Club - Incorporation, 1972

Flint fraternal orders, 1965-1978

Flint Inner-City Lion's Club, 1977-1983

National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs. Flint Club, 1964-1984

Optimist Club of Greater Flint

Bylaws, correspondence, etc., 1971-1983

Newsletters, 1971-1982

Veterans of Foreign Wars. Post #3791, 1983

GENESEE COMMUNITY TOWNHOUSE NONPROFIT HOUSING ASSOCIATION CORPORATION

Articles of incorporation, etc.

Board of Directors

Minutes, 1972-1979

Correspondence and memoranda

Correspondence

General

HUD, 1975-1976

Michigan Department of Social Services, 1973-1975

Michigan State Housing Development Authority, 1972-1979

Ridgecrest Village Townhouses

Accounts payable, 1975-1977

Audits, 1973-1975

Brochures and description

Monthly management reports

1973

1975-1976

1978

1979

March-May

June-August

Newsletters and other communications to residents

Occupancy reports, 1974-1976

Outstanding rent accounts, 1974-1975

Reports, miscellaneous

Sale, 1978-1979

Weekly financial summaries, 1974-1976

Miscellaneous financial records, 1971-1982

SOCIAL SERVICE

Big Brothers of Greater Flint, 1964

Boy Scouts of America. Tall Pines Council, 1973-1977

Farnumwood Parent-Child Program, 1970

Flint Youth Bureau, 1953-1959

Genesee County Youth Service Bureau

Final evaluation report, 1976

Monthly client summaries, 1975-1976

Highest Ground, Inc., 1978

Miscellaneous Flint social-service organizations, 1975-1983

New Paths, Inc., 1980-1981

Rubicon-Odyssey House

Advisory Board. Executive Committee - Minutes, 1972-1973, 1976

Memoranda, 1972-1974, 1978

Correspondence, 1972-1974, 1977

BOX 12

Weekly activity reports, 1974 (closed)

Miscellaneous

United Way of Genesee and Lapeer Counties. Allocations Committee - Handbook, 1980

CORRESPONDENCE

Beasley, C. J., 1975-1983

Beasley, Olive

1967-1973

1974-1977

1978-1983

Beasley, U. S., 1976-1982

Cheng, Charles W., 1969-1979

Dollinger, Genora, 1962-1979

Luqman, Al-Hajj Anas Mahmoud, 1957-1979

PRISONERS (NOTE: Letters from prisoners are available for research with the condition that researchers may not cite the names of the correspondents.)

Miscellaneous legal briefs, 1969-1975

Operation New Leaf at State Prison of Southern Michigan, 1970-1974

(by name) [available to researchers if names of correspondents are not mentioned]

(1 of 2)

(2 of 2)

Bowe, Herschel, 1975-1977

Burse, Theotis, 1972-1982

Butler, Larry

Golden, Al, 1975-1977

Hill, Ellsworth "Shoebootie," 1970-1979

BOX 13

Johnson, Artis X., 1976-1977

Peavy, James E., 1977-1979

Sidney X (Jenkins)

Unidentified surnames

Michigan Department of Corrections - Correspondence

Correspondence with family members

Genesee County Jail, 1978-1979

AFRICANS

Correspondence

African students and others, 1957-1983

Are, Dr. Lekan, 1976-1983

Concerning financial aid for students, 1959-1983

Concerning placement for Levi Nwachuku, 1974-1975

Miscellaneous, 1959-1983

Africa visit, 1960

Africa/Michigan Partners in Trade, 1982-1983

African American Friendship Ball, 1962

Africare, 1973-1983

Immigration cases, 1963-1982

Omenako, Rev. Richard, 1983

Operation Crossroads Africa, 1983

Society for Friendship with Africa, 1974

Visiting dignitaries, [1965?]-1983

Youth for Understanding Teenage Exchange Program, 1973

PERSONAL

Awards and certificates

Correspondence, [1959]-1984

Miscellaneous correspondence, 1971-1983

Edgar B. Holt Day, 1979

"Get well" and thank-you cards, 1970-1982

Workmen's compensation claim, 1974

SPEECHES

Black history, [undated]

Eulogy for Charles Cheng

BOX 14

Miscellaneous, [undated]

"The Struggle for Black Political Emancipation"

BUSINESS

BEH Enterprises, Inc.

Annual report, 1981

Correspondence, 1979-1982

Incorporation, etc.

Rice mills, 1979

Bus co-op, 1971

Caribbean Travels, Inc., 1972

Edgar Holt Import/Export, 1961-1964

GM minority supplier development program, [1979]

Genesee Valley Enterprises, Inc.

Global Enterprises, Inc., [1976?]

Golech Associates

Correspondence, 1978-1983

Miscellaneous, 1978-1983

Michigan Department of Commerce - Minority Business Development Breakfasts, 1973-1975

Milady's Auto-Gar Fastener, Inc., 1960-1961

Minority Salvage Company of Michigan, 1980-1983

Miscellaneous, 1971-1983

Rayda Company, 1979

WEA, 1979-1981

MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES

American Missionary Association - 10th annual Institute of Race Relations, 1953

Assembly for Action on Revenue Sharing, East Lansing, Mich., 1973

Black unity meeting, Apr. 14, 1968

Michigan Association of Affirmative Action Officials, 1982

Miscellaneous conferences and meetings, 1968-1982

Model Cities training conference, 1970

Rally for Fred Tucker, 1979

UAW Fair Practices and Civil Rights Conference, Dec. 1-2, 1971

United Methodist Church urban ministry session, Flint, 1977

REPORTS

Center for Community Change - Reports to Mott Foundation on advisory councils and neighborhood groups, 1977

Cooperative Extension Service (Genesee County) - Summary of problems in Genesee County

Flint Jewish Community Council - Redlining report, 1978

Flint Model Neighborhood report, [n.d.]

Greater Flint Area quality of life index, 1983

Michigan Department of Civil Rights - Deadly force report, 1981

Recommendations for combatting racism in Ann Arbor Public Schools, 1971

TOPICAL (MISCELLANEOUS)

Accounting Aid Society of Greater Flint, 1977-1978

African tour, 1975

Eldridge Court Block Committee

Founders Society, Detroit Institute of Arts - Bal Africain, 1968

Friends of WFBE, 1973-1974

Hyatt Hotel, 1982

Jewish-black issues, 1979

Michigan State Police "Red Squad" files release, 1983

Michigan State Police "Red Squad" file on Nathaniel Turner (1955-1964), 1983

Miscellaneous

Nomination of Olive Beasley for Governor's Award, 1972

BOX 15

North Cook Neighborhood Association, 1975-1980

Rolandaire's Travel Club, 1977

Statement of black and Jewish community against American Nazi Party, 1977

United Nations Association. Genesee County Chapter

WTRX editorials

CLIPPINGS

Personal, 1952-1984

Column in Bronze Reporter, 1954

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Michigan Conference, 1964-1975

Flint Branch, 1958-1983

Lois Holt, 1966-1987

Flint, 1954-1983

Miscellaneous, 1962-1983

LOIS HOLT

Awards, 1967-1973

Edgar Holt's funeral, 1984

Memorials, consolations, etc., concerning Edgar Holt, 1984-1990

Biographies and reminiscences of Edgar Holt, 1984-1987

Enos and Sarah DeWaters, 1949-1950

Correspondence, 1956-1992

University of Michigan-Flint

Minority Student Awards Program, 1986

Edgar B. Holt Scholarship Fund, 1987

Education and teaching career, 1941-1976

Miscellaneous

Roscoe Van Zandt and newspaper story of GM Sit-Down Strike, 1981-1982

OVERSIZE

Bronze Reporter, Sept. 18, 1954, with text of Holt's complaint against Flint City Attorney

People's Voice, Nov. 1, 1954 (Floyd McCree campaign paper)

University of Michigan-Flint

Holt

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