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Kenneth Douty collection

 Collection — Box: 1-2
Identifier: 0000-0000-0000-0035

Scope and contents

This small collection consists of the papers Douty generated and used during his project. The bulk of the collection is the correspondence between Douty and McCallister, and the people they solicited materials or interviews from while doing research. Of special interest is James Dombrowski's responses to Douty's questionnaire regarding Communist infiltration of the SCHW which illustrates the membership and turmoil of the organization in its later years. Dombroski was an administrator of the SCHW until he left in 1947 to become the Executive Director of the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF). Of note is the 1939 correspondence of sociologist Howard Odem which documents the development of the Southern Regional Council. There are also reports, minutes, and publications Douty and McCallister collected as background research. The Financial Records are Douty's and McCallister's expense reports connected to the project. The Draft Report series consists of four incomplete versions of Douty's report to the Fund for the Republic.

Dates

  • Creation: 1940-1956

Creator

Rights statement

All materials in this collection are either protected by copyright and/or are the property of the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center, Inc., and/or the copyright holder as appropriate. For more information, please contact archives@auctr.edu.

Biographical note

In 1955 Kenneth Douty wrote a report for the Fund for the Republic as part of its larger project examining the activities of American Communists. (The Fund for the Republic was a think tank founded to counter threats to basic civil liberties during the anticommunism investigations of the 1950s.) The focus of Douty's study was the Southern Conference for Human Welfare (SCHW). His study was part of an examination of Communist inflitration of ideological pressure groups (the NAACP, ACLU, etc.). The study was headed by John Roche, an Assistant Professor Political Science at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Douty was assisted in his study by Frank McCallister, Director of Roosevelt University's Labor Education Division. At the time of this project, Douty was the Executive Director of the Illinois Division of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Extent

1 Linear feet

Language of Materials

English

Related materials

Douty's final report is not included in this collection. It can be found in the Southern Conference for Human Welfare Collection (box 4, folder 3).

Title
Kenneth Douty collection, 1940-1956
Author
Finding aid prepared by William M. Kimok and Cathy Lynn Mundale, 2002 June.
Date
2002
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center, Inc. Repository

Contact:

404-978-2052
404-978-2109 (Fax)