As the historiography of the civil rights movement has shifted from analysis of broad themes and events to the study of the grassroots level, the significance of papers of local movements has increased. Scholars are now focusing on the local dimensions of the post-1965 period, when strategies shifted and civil rights organizations turned to a variety of issues that differed from the targets of the 1950s and early 1960s. While scholars have focused on activities in Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, this collection opens a wider study into the activities of another Alabama city, one with a unique ethnic mix as well as a unionized work force that rivaled that of Birmingham.

The publication of John L. LeFlore papers and the NPVL records will provide researchers in political science, history, law, and other fields an opportunity to examine the primary documents of an important twentieth-century civil rights organization in Alabama. These papers represent the workings of an independent civil rights organization and invite new investigations into black activism at the local level. Further, the LeFlore-NPVL papers shed light on the civil rights struggle in Mobile itself, a city more politically responsive to blacks during the 1950s than Montgomery or Birmingham. Students of urban politics and historians of school desegregation will find much new material in these papers. The LeFlore-NPVL papers are worthy additions to the Primary Source Microfilm collections on social activism and civil rights in the twentieth-century America.

44 reels in two parts
Part 1: The John L. LeFlore Papers, 1926-1976. 15 reels
Part 2: Records of the Non-Partisan Voters League, 1956-1987. 29 reels

Part 1: The John L. LeFlore Papers, 1926-1976

John L. LeFlore's career as a community leader and civil rights activist spanned fifty years (1925-1975). He was the most significant figure in the struggle for black equality in Mobile, Alabama, throughout southern Alabama and Mississippi, and along the Florida Gulf Coast. The John L. LeFlore Papers shed the light on the civil rights movement in the urban South, document the development and early work of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Mobile, and provide insight into LeFlore's life and aspirations. Materials in the collection document LeFlore's prolific work in both public and private life. He served in leadership positions in many organizations, ranging from the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters to the Mobile Committee for the Support of Public Education. LeFlore was the first African American appointed to the Housing Board and, with J. Gary Cooper, was the first African American elected to the state legislature from Mobile since Reconstruction. Personal records include correspondence and materials relating to his employment and conflicts with the U.S. Postal Service, his business interests in the Azalea Homebuilders Association, and his journalistic work.

Documents are arranged in nine series:

• NAACP
• Mobile Housing Board
• Other Committees and Organizations
• Editorials and Articles
• Personal Correspondence and Records
• Azalea Home Builders, Ltd.
• Alabama State Legislature
• Published and Legal Materials
• Photographs

15 reels

Part 2: Records of the Non-Partisan Voters League, 1956-1987

The Non-Partisan Voters League was organized in Mobile, Alabama. The exact date of its origin is unknown but it is believed to be before 1956. That year the attorney general of the state of Alabama and the state court system forced the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to cease all operations in the state. The League carried on the local civil rights struggle in Mobile during the eight years that the NAACP was outlawed, and continued to function long after the injunction was overturned. The records in this collection span thirty-one years (1956-1987), with the bulk of the materials dating between 1961 and 1975. During that time the League demanded and obtained the hiring of more black municipal employees, sued to force desegregation of the Mobile school system, filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice to open public accommodations to all, launched massive voter-registration campaigns to bring large numbers of African Americans into the political process, and challenged the constitutionality of Mobile's commission form of municipal government. All of these activities are documented in this collection.

The records have been arranged in six series:

• Casework
• Education and Employment Services
• Voter Registration
• Outside Agencies and Organizations
• Non-Partisan Voters League Operating Files
• Printed Materials

29 reels