Community Organization Project, 1963-1967

The Community Organization Project of the mid-1960s was carried out under the direction of the SRC director of Field Activities, Paul Anthony. Series 14 contains the records of Anthony’s assistant, Albert C. Ulmer, who was in charge of the Community Organization Project. The records of series 14 include correspondence, reports, and a variety of printed in other materials that document a project that was became known as the Southern Regional Council‘s “action arm“ during the mid-1960s.

Two special areas that are reflected in the series 14 records are Ulmer’s popularity among young people who were involved in community work in the South, and his interest in organizing cooperatives. Among the specific organizations for which there is information in series 14 are the Freedom Information Service of Edwards, Mississippi; the Grand Marie Vegetable Cooperative of Opelousas, Louisiana; the National Sharecroppers Fund; the North Nashville Project to eliminate urban blight; the Pearl City Civic League of Boca Raton, Florida; the Poor People’s Corporation, centered in Jackson, Mississippi; and the Selma Alabama Inter-Religious Project, otherwise known as the “Freedom Quilting Bee“.