Supervised by Michael Flug, Senior Archivist, Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature
More than 100 files,d contain documents or correspondence of Dickerson. These include the three files listed below, which the Library has on microfilm.
The NAACP Papers collections contains internal memos, legal briefings, and direct action summaries from national, legal, and branch offices throughout the country. It charts the NAACP's work and delivers a first-hand view into crucial issues. With a timeline that runs from 1909 to 1972, the NAACP Papers document the realities of segregation in the early 20th century to the triumphs of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and beyond.
Call Number: microfm E370 Part 16, Series B, reel 6, fr. 087
Publication Date: 1994
Major topics: Assignments; policies and procedures; legal cases; publicity; press relations; membership campaigns; financial matters; personnel; branch activities; political matters; National Bar Association.
Call Number: microfm E370 Part 16, Series B, reel 5, fr. 063
Publication Date: 1994
Major topics: Nominations; policies and procedures; role of vice presidents. Principal correspondents: Earl B. Dickerson; Grace B. Fenderson; Palmer Weber; Walter White; Roy Wilkins.
Oral Histories
The HistoryMakers, established in 1999, is a non-profit institution whose purpose is to record, preserve and disseminate the content of video oral history interviews highlighting the accomplishments of individual African Americans and African-American-led groups and movements. The HistoryMakers video oral history database includes over thirty individuals sharing their recollections about Mr. Dickerson.
The HistoryMakers, established in 1999, is a non-profit institution whose purpose is to record, preserve and disseminate the content of video oral history interviews highlighting the accomplishments of individual African Americans and African-American-led groups and movements. Its aim is to provide a unique scholarly and educational resource for exploring African American history and culture. It is unique among collections of African American heritage because of its large and varied scope, with interviewees from across the United States, from a variety of fields, and with memories stretching from the 1890s to the present. Rather than focus on one particular part of a person’s life or a single subject, such as a career or participation in the civil rights movement, the interviews are life oral histories covering the person’s entire span of memories as well as his or her own family’s oral history.
Interviews were first conducted in 1993, and continue to the present. The archive continues to grow, so that queries saved today may have new results tomorrow based on new interviews added into the archive. Some people in the collection may be interviewed again, so that content for a particular person may grow as well. All of the appropriate metadata for the interviews is shown when you drill down to a particular person or a particular story.
Transcript. Recalls early childhood experiences that stimulated his interest in civil rights. Discusses landmarks in his career including his work with the NAACP in Chicago, Ill., against restrictive covenants; chief counsel for plaintiff in Hansberry v. Lee; integrating Chicago and Illinois Bar Associations; preparing draft for petition, "We Charge Genocide", to be placed before the United Nations by DuBois (probably W.E.B. DuBois). No tape available. Interviewer: Robert Wright.