Guide to the Community Organizer Genealogy Project oral history interviews , 2007-2011

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2021

Collection Overview

Title:	Community Organizer Genealogy Project oral history interviews
Date range:	2007-2011
Creator:	Elmer, Don
Extent:	1 linear_foot 9 folders, 108 DVDs, 119 miniDV video tapes
Abstract:	The Community Organizer Genealogy Project was a special project of Center for Community Change to document the development of community organizing, the development of individual organizers and the connections among organizers, organizations and networks. They conducted oral history interviews with 100 individuals and collected biographical data on community organizers throughout the United States from 2008-2010.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	MS.2015.016

Scope & content

The Center for Community Change created the Community Organizer Genealogy Project in order "to document the development of community organizing, the development of individual organizers and the connections among organizers, organizations and networks." The project was led by Don Elmer who also interviewed the majority of the community organizers during 2008-2010.

Series 1: Oral History Interviews The project created 100 oral history interviews with community organizers throughout the United States who worked in all aspects of community organizing: neighborhood organizations, labor unions, civil rights, human rights, religious communities. The interviews together provide a history of community organizing during the 20th century as well as the effect of community organizers on the history of the United States. The original interviews were recorded on miniDV tapes and are restricted for 50 years per agreement with the interviewees. The final edited versions are on DVDs and are accessible without restrictions. A standard set of questions was asked during each interview and included:

• How did you get into organizing?
• Who inspired you?
• Memories of movements and moments
• What are your accomplishments?
• What is the most difficult aspect of organizing?
• What is the most satisfying aspect of organizing?
• What comes easily?
• How do you balance your personal life with your work life?
• What lessons have you learned?
• What are the barriers to organizing?
• What is the future of organizing?
• What personal and/or professional crises have affected you?

Series 2: Genealogy Project Documentation The documentation for the project includes handwritten interview notes, 2 completed questionnaires as examples of the type of information gathered by the project, and information on the development of the website. The website provided video clips from the interviews, biographical information about each participant and mapped the connections between organizers. The full edited versions of the interviews were for sale on DVDs through the website. The Community Organizer Genealogy Project website is no longer available on the internet but was captured by the Internet Archive WayBack Machine 77 times between April 15, 2008 and November 15, 2014. As of Dec 2015, all 77 captures of the Community Organizer Genealogy Project website can be accessed at this address on the Internet Archive's website: https://web.archive.org/web/20141115203424/http://www.organizergenealogy.org/.

Series 3: Herbert D. White and Jessica Fernandez-White Herbert White and Jessica Fernandez-White were community organizers active in South Korea, the Philippines, and India from the 1950s through the 1970s. They donated to the Center for Community Change a documentary and 22 photographs related to their work in those countries as supplements to the oral history interview of Herbert White. The documentary was created by the: "EACC Urban Industrial Mission Committee in cooperation with The People of Tondo AVACO, Japan and the United Church of Christ in the USA" about the Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO) in Manila, Philippines and the grassroots organizing done to improve the lives of the people in a slum and the 2nd Annual ZOTO Convention in 1972.

Series 4: Original oral history recordings on miniDV tapes - RESTRICTED These are the original recordings of the oral histories on miniDV tapes. They are restricted for 50 years per agreement with the interviewees. The staff at the Center for Community Change, in cooperation with the interviewees, edited the original footage to include only the parts the individual wished to make public on the DVD version of the recording.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Elmer, Don
• Folarin, Tolulope
• Fernandez-White, Jessica

Subject Organizations

• Center for Community Change
• Zone One Tondo Organization (Philippines)
• Community Organizing Archive (Brown University)

Subject Topics

• Clergy -- Political activity -- United States
• Political activists -- United States
• Community organization
• Women in community organization
• Community power
• Community development
• Community organization -- United States -- History -- 20th century
• Social justice
• Labor policy
• Housing policy
• Radicalism -- United States
• Protest movements -- United States

Geographical Names

• United States -- Social conditions -- 20th century
• United States -- Social policy -- 20th century

Document Types

• Oral histories

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in 4 series.

• Series 1: Oral history interviews
• Series 2: Project documentation
• Series 3: Herbert D. White and Jessica Fernandez-White
• Series 4: Original oral history recordings on miniDV tapes - RESTRICTED

Biographical / Historical

The Center for Community Change was created in 1968 as the first project of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation. The Center's mission is to build the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to change their communities and the public policies that affect their lives. In the beginning, the CCC worked with six community groups in California, Illinois, Mississippi and New Jersey to provide technical assistance, organizational development, planning and fundraising, and hands-on help with community organizing campaigns in their neighborhoods. They expanded quickly and have worked with hundreds of grassroots groups and networks of low-income people that represent the diverse communities of low-income people in the United States: urban, suburban and rural geographies that are home to low-income African American, Latino, Asian, Native American, and white communities, as well as immigrants from around the world. They focus on jobs and wages, immigration, retirement security, affordable housing, access to nutritious food, racial justice and barriers to employment for formerly incarcerated individuals.

In 2007, they began working on the Community Organizer Genealogy Project to "document the development of community organizing, the development of individual organizers and the connections among organizers, organizations and networks." Don Elmer led the project. They collected interviews and information from community organizers from 2008-2010. The main products were the 100 oral history interviews and a website that provided information about each person, mapped the connections between them, and video clips from the interviews.

Bibliography: "Center for Community Change." Center for Community Change. Web. 16 Dec. 2015.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access with the exception of the raw footage of the oral history interviews recorded on the miniDV tapes which are restricted for 50 years, until 2060. The interviewees only gave permission for the edited version of the oral history recorded on the DVDs to be released to the public. The interview of Kelly Ford is restricted for 50 years as it only exists on the miniDV tape, there is no edited DVD for that interview. The collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Brown University Library. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Community Organizer Genealogy Project oral history interviews, Ms.2015.016, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of the Center for Community Change in 2015.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Karen Eberhart.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2021-03-08.
Descriptive rules:	Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Additional Information

Inventory

---