James Forman Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Prepared by Connie L. Cartledge with the assistance of Tracey Barton, Maria Farmer, Sherralyn McCoy, Dan Oleksiw, and Carolyn Ray Manuscript Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2009
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James Forman Papers
A Finding Aid to the Collection
in the Library of Congress
Prepared by
Connie L. Cartledge with the assistance ofTracey Barton, Maria Farmer, Sherralyn McCoy,
Dan Oleksiw, and Carolyn Ray
Manuscript DivisionLibrary of CongressWashington, D.C.
2009
James Forman Papers Page ii
Collection Summary
Title: James Forman PapersSpan Dates: 1848-2005 (bulk 1961-2001)ID No: MSS85370Creator: Forman, JamesExtent: 78,500 items; 253 containers; 99.6 linear feet; plus two oversize and electronic
filesLanguage: Collection material in English, French, and SpanishRepository: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.Abstract: Writer, journalist, and civil rights activist. Correspondence, memoranda, diaries,
subject files, speeches and writings, family papers, appointment books andcalendars, and other papers relating primarily to Forman’s activities as executivesecretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and president of theUnemployment and Poverty Action Committee.
Provenance: The papers of James Forman, writer, journalist, and civil rights activist, were givento the Library of Congress by Forman’s sons, Chaka Forman and James Forman, Jr., in 2007 and2008. Additional material was given by Patricia Anna Johnson, a friend of Forman, in 2008.
Transfers: Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisionsof the Library. Some photographs and posters have been transferred to the Prints andPhotographs Division. Videotapes, audiotapes, and other sound recordings have been transferredto the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Some periodicals have beentransferred to the Serial and Government Publications Division. All transfers are identified inthese divisions as part of the James Forman Papers.
Copyright Status: Copyright in the unpublished writings of James Forman in these papers andin other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult reference staffin the Manuscript Division for further information.
Access and Restrictions: The papers of James Forman are open to research. Researchers areadvised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are storedoff-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Electronic Format: Electronic files were received as part of the papers of James Forman Papers.Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for more information.
Preferred Citation: Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the followinginformation: Container number, James Forman Papers, Manuscript Division, Library ofCongress, Washington, D.C.
James Forman Papers Page 2
Biographical Note
1928, Oct. 4 Born, Chicago, Ill.
1947-1951 Served, United States Air Force
1950 Married Mary Sears (divorced 1956)
1957 B.A., Roosevelt University, Chicago, Ill.
1958 Attended African Research and Studies Program, Boston University,Boston, Mass.
1958-1959 Journalist, Chicago Defender, covering events in Little Rock, Ark.
1959 Married Mildred Thompson (divorced 1965)
1959-1960 Attended Chicago Teachers College, Chicago, Ill.
1959-1961 Public school teacher, Chicago, Ill.
1960 Worked with the Emergency Relief Committee of the Congress for RacialEquality, in Fayette County, Tenn.
Wrote press releases for the Chicago Defender about his work with theRelief Committee
1966-1969 Director, International Affairs Commission of the Student NonviolentCoordinating Committee, New York, N.Y.
1968 Minister of foreign affairs, Black Panther PartyPublished Liberation Viendra d’une Chose Noir. Paris: F. MasperoPublished Sammy Younge, Jr.: The First Black College Student to Die in
the Black Liberation Movement. New York: Grove Press
1969 Gave speech about the “Black Manifesto,” Riverside Church, New York,N.Y.
James Forman Papers Page 3
1969-1970 Field director, Black Economic Development Conference
1970 Published Political Thought of James Forman. Detroit: Black StarPublishing Co.
1972 Published Law and Order. New York: T. NelsonPublished Making of Black Revolutionaries: A Personal Account. New
York: Macmillan
1974 Founder and publisher, Black America News Service
1974-2004 President, Unemployment and Poverty Action Committee
1980 M.A., African American Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
1981 Founder, Washington TimesPublished Self-Determination and the African-American People. Seattle:
Open Hand Publishing
1982 Ph.D., Union of Experimental Colleges and Universities with the Institutefor Policy Studies, Cincinnati, Ohio
1983 President, Unemployed Poverty Action Council, Legal Defense, Education,and Research Fund, Inc.
Candidate, school board position from Ward 1, District of Columbia
1984-1986 Adams-Morgan Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, District ofColumbia
1987 Ran unsuccessfully for Democratic Party shadow senator, District ofColumbia
1990 Recipient, Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom Award of the National Conferenceof Black America
Ran unsuccessfully for Democratic Party shadow senator, District ofColumbia
1994 Published High Tide of Black Resistance and Other Political and LiteraryWritings. Seattle: Open Hand Publishing
Ran unsuccessfully for Democratic Party shadow senator, District ofColumbia
2005, Jan. 10 Died, Washington, D.C.
James Forman Papers Page 4
Scope and Content Note
The papers of James Rufus Forman (1928-2005) span the years 1848-2005, with the bulkof the material dating from 1961 to 2001. The papers document Forman’s interest in a widevariety of domestic and international issues, his activities as executive secretary and director ofinternational affairs of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), one of theprincipal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and his endeavors as presidentof the Unemployment and Poverty Action Committee (UPAC), a non profit organizationconcerned primarily with voter education and voter registration. UPAC was first establishedunder the name of the Unemployment Poverty Action Council, but the last part of the name was changed to committee in the early 1980s. The papers are in English, French, and Spanish and areorganized into the following series: Diaries, Correspondence, Student Nonviolent CoordinatingCommittee File, Subject File, Speeches and Writings File, Printed Matter, Miscellany, Oversize,and Electronic Files.
The Diaries, 1957-2004, primarily chronicle Forman’s activities as an activist with SNCCand two other organizations interested in improving the economic and working conditions ofAfrican-Americans, the Black Economic Development Conference and the Black WorkersCongress. In the diaries Forman writes about SNCC, its leaders, other civil rights organizations,including the Black Panther Party, and the civil rights movement. Also described are speakingengagements and meetings and the background to the research and writing of two of his books,The Making of Black Revolutionaries: A Personal Account, Forman’s autobiography, and anunpublished work on Frantz Fanon. Entries for the 1990s and 2000s reflect on SNCC, the civilrights movement, and his life and current events. The diaries also contain letters sent that heretained as diary entries. Copies or duplicates of these “diary” letters are usually located in theCorrespondence series and Forman’s correspondence in the SNCC series.
The Correspondence series, 1956-2005, documents Forman’s interests and activities innational politics, foreign relations, civil rights, labor issues, and the political affairs of the Districtof Columbia. Many of the files concern his work as president of UPAC and a relatedorganization, the Unemployed Poverty Action Council, Legal Defense, Education, and ResearchFund, that Forman established for the protection of civil rights and human rights activists. Someof the correspondence also pertains to his endeavors as a consultant and as a journalist andfounder of the Black America News Service.
Files in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee series, 1950-2003, contain bothForman’s papers and those he collected from other members of the organization. The seriesdocuments Forman’s activities with the organization such as fund-raising, press coverage,
James Forman Papers Page 5
obtaining legal assistance for staff in jail, representing the organization at meetings with othercivil rights groups, and collecting material to document the violent and dangerous circumstancesendured by staff and those participating in voter registration and direct action protests againstsegregation. The papers include field reports and other records relating to SNCC’s efforts inAlabama, including Selma and the counties of Dallas and Lowndes, and in Georgia, particularlyAlbany and other parts of southwest Georgia. The most extensive files relate to Mississippi andcontain field reports, statements and affidavits concerning violence, press releases, clippings, andprinted matter. Topics and organizations represented are the Mississippi Freedom Project (alsoknown as Freedom Summer), the Mississippi Freedom Schools, the Mississippi FreedomDemocratic Party, and the Mississippi Freedom Labor Union. Featured as well are Africa, blackpower, the Black Panther Party, and the March on Washington in 1963. Subject files in the seriesinclude information about H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, and Sammy Younge, the firstAfrican-American student to be killed in the civil rights movement. Forman knew Younge andwrote a book about his death in Tuskeegee, Alabama. Files relating to the book are in theSpeeches and Writings File.
The Subject File, 1848-2005, treats Forman’s interest in politics, foreign relations, andcivil rights before and after his affiliation with SNCC. Files pertaining to civil rights includeForman’s trip to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1958, to report on school integration for the ChicagoDefender; his work as a Congress of Racial Equality volunteer in Fayette and Haywood Counties,Tennessee, in 1960, assisting sharecroppers and their families who had been evicted forregistering to vote; and his arrest in 1961 with SNCC volunteers protesting segregated facilitiesin Monroe, North Carolina. In addition, the series contains extensive material relating toForman’s involvement with the Black Economic Development Conference (BEDC) and theBlack Workers Congress. While affiliated with the BEDC, Forman helped adopt a “BlackManifesto.” Forman presented this manifesto in May 1969, at the Riverside Church, in NewYork City, where he demanded 500 million dollars from white churches as reparations for theinjustices and exploitation that blacks had suffered. Foreign relations topics featured are Africaand South Africa, Central America, the Middle East, and China. Also represented are numerousfiles relating to political campaigns and the District of Columbia, including his unsuccessfulcampaigns to be the first Democratic senator of the District and his tenure on the Adams-MorganAdvisory Neighborhood Commission for Ward One. This series also contains extensive papersdocumenting Forman’s relationship from 1958 through 2005 with P. Anna Johnson, his friendand publisher.
The bulk of the Speeches and Writings File, 1872-2004, consists of books and bookprojects. Most of the files relate to The Making of Black Revolutionaries, Sammy Younge, Jr.:The First Black College Student to Die in the Black Liberation Movement, and Forman’sunpublished novel “The Thin White Line.” Included as well are extensive files relating to histhesis, “An Examination of the Question of Self-Determination and Its Application to the AfricanAmerican People,” later published as Self-Determination and the African-American People. Theseries also contains newspapers and periodicals that Forman established, the Washington Times,
James Forman Papers Page 6
the Capitol Hill Express, and Tempo and the Times, a newsletter about labor issues, and pressreleases by him. Reflections about the civil rights movement and its leaders are also evident inForman’s miscellaneous writings and notebooks.
The Printed Matter series, 1934-2002, contains newspapers, periodicals, and newslettersfeaturing black radicalism, civil rights, communism and socialism, labor, and the District ofColumbia. Included is a substantial collection of the Liberation News Service.
The Miscellany series, 1928-2005, consists chiefly of address cards and notes, familypapers, business cards, financial and legal records, student files, and teaching files. The teachingfile includes essays of Forman’s students when he worked as an elementary school teacher inChicago from 1960 to 1961. Also in the series is material from retrospective projects relating tothe civil rights movement in Mississippi and other areas of the South.
Correspondents include Harry Belafonte, Fay Bellamy, Anne Braden, StokelyCarmichael, Bill Clinton, Ivanhoe Donaldson, St. Clair Drake, Tom Hayden, Faye Holt, LenHolt, P. Anna Johnson, Charles McDew, Alan McSurely, Josie Meeks, Constanica Romilly,Kathie Sarachild, Monroe Sharpe, Donald P. Stone, Flora Stone, Robert Penn Warren, DorothyZellner, and James A. Zellner.
James Forman Papers Page 7
Description of Series
Container Nos. Series
1-6 Diaries, 1957-2004Handwritten and typewritten diaries, including copies of outgoing
correspondence, documenting Forman’s personal and professionalactivities. Arranged by type of diary and therein chronologically.
6-16 Correspondence, 1956-2005Incoming and outgoing correspondence between Forman and friends,
colleagues, government officials, acquaintances, and the public relating toForman’s personal and professional interests. Arranged chronologically.
newsletters, speeches and statements, writings, background material, financial records, poetry and songs, a scrapbook, lists, clippings, printedmatter, and other material pertaining to Forman’s tenure at SNCC.Arranged in correspondence and subject files. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by name of person or type of correspondence andtherein chronologically. The subject file is arranged alphabetically by nameof person, topic, or type of material.
58-125 Subject File, 1848-2005Correspondence, memoranda, reports, interviews, speeches and
statements, writings, notes, press releases, newsletters, campaign material,political memorabilia, programs, background material, lists, clippings,printed matter, and other material. Arranged alphabetically by name ofperson, topic, or type of material.
125-180 Speeches and Writings File, 1872-2004Speeches and speech material, articles, essays, pamphlets, book drafts,
book proposals and outlines, reviews, letters to the editor, newsletters andperiodicals, press releases, short stories and plays, a thesis, notebooks,notes, bibliographies, lists, research material, clippings, and printed matter.Arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein chronologically oralphabetically.
James Forman Papers Page 8
181-225 Printed Matter, 1934-2002Newspapers, periodicals, and newsletters relating to topics of interest to
Forman. Arranged alphabetically by topic and therein chronologically oralphabetically.
225-253 Miscellany, 1928-2005Address books, appointment books and calendars, biographical
material, family papers, financial and legal records, medical records, notesand lists, business cards, class papers, telephone logs, clippings, printedmatter, and other papers. Arranged alphabetically by topic or type ofmaterial and therein chronologically or alphabetically.
OV 1-OV 2 Oversize, 1943-2003Oversize material consisting of a scrapbook, posters, certificates, a
genealogical chart, and a diploma. Arranged and described according to theseries, containers, and folders from which the items were removed.
EL 1 Electronic Files, 2000A color photographic image. Arranged and described according to the
series, container, and folder from which the item was removed.
Congress of Racial Equality, 1961-1964, circa 1977Democratic National Convention, Los Angles, Calif., 1960Economic data, 1962-1963Education, 1962-1969Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity, 1960Executive and central committees
Central CommitteeGeneral, 1966-1967Meetings and related material, 1966-1967 (3 folders)
35 Lewis, John, 1962-1966, 1993, undatedLitigation, 1963-1967, undated (2 folders)London, England, trip by Forman, 1964March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington, D.C., 1963
Cities or countiesHattiesburg, 1962-1964, undated (2 folders)Holly Springs, 1962-1966Holmes County, 1962-1964Indianola, 1963-1966Itta Bena, 1963-1964Jackson
General, 1962-1968
38 Jewett, Richard A., 1964Lauderdale County, 1963-1964Laurel, 1962-1965Leflore County, 1963-1965Liberty, 1961-1964Lowndes County, 1964Madison County, 1963-1965Moss Point and Pascagoula, 1964Natchez, 1964-1965Neshoba County, 1964-1965Ocean Springs, 1964Oktibbeha County, 1963-1966Panola County, undatedRolling Fork, 1965Ruleville, 1962-1965Scott County, 1965Sunflower County, 1962-1965Tallahatchie County, 1964Vicksburg, 1964Washington County, 1962-1964
National Black Liberators, 1968National Conference for New Politics (organization), 1966Newton, Huey P., 1968 (2 folders)North Carolina, Hyde County school boycott, 1969Notes, 1961-1969, undated (4 folders)
51 ResearchGeneral, 1963-circa 1968, undated (3 folders)“Life with Lyndon in the Great Society,” by Jack Minnis, 1965
(2 folders)Robinson, Ruby Doris, 1965-1967Scrapbook, 1963-1966 See OversizeSouthern Christian Leadership Conference, 1964, undatedSouthern Education and Research Institute, 1966-1976, 1997-2000,
undated (3 folders)Speeches
By Forman See Containers 125-126, Speech fileBy others, 1962-1969 (2 folders)
Criminal code revision, 1975-1981Cuba, 1975-1992, undatedDavis, Angela, 1971, undatedDelany, Martin R., 1969-1971Democratic Party
1976-1980
73 1981-1996, 2002, undated (6 folders)Democrats for Victory in 1996, 1994-1996Democrats for Victory in 2000, 2000Descartes, René, undatedDetroit, Mich.
1967-1974
74 1978, undatedDinkins, David N., 1989-1991, undatedDistrict of Columbia
Adams Morgan Neighborhood Advisory Commissioner, 1984-1986,undated (3 folders)
83 1969League Link (newsletter), 1961-1962Notes and writings by Forman and related material, 1961 (3 folders)Press releases, 1960-1961Transcripts of interviews with tenant farmers, 1961 (3 folders)
Federal Bureau of InvestigationClippings, 1976-1983, undated (4 folders)Correspondence, 1979-2002
SUBJECT FILE, 1848-2005 (Continued)
Container Nos. Contents
James Forman Papers Page 27
83 (cont.) Federal Bureau of InvestigationFreedom of Information Act
Correspondence, 1976-1982
84 Documents released1963-1971 (3 folders)
85 1966-1967
86 1967-1968
87 19681969
Jan.-Apr.
88 May-July (3 folders)
89 1969-1970Notes about documents released, undated
General, 1973-1979, 1985-1990, 2005, undated“Security Index,” undated (2 folders)
Film classes, 1976, undatedForeign affairs, 1977-1979, undated
90 Forman v. Starr, 1998 (2 folders)Freemasons and other secret societies, 1973-1981, undated (3 folders)Funeral programs and obituaries, 1974-1987, 1996-2000Gay rights, 1977-1980, 1987, undatedGovernment
General, 1975-1981, 1994, undated (2 folders)Surveillance, 1970, 1977-1986, undated
Grants and fellowships, circa 1958, 1980, undatedHealth, circa 1969-1999, undatedHearst, Patricia, 1976-1977
91 Howard University, Washington, D.C., 1977-1985, 1992, undatedImmigration, 1975-1981, undated
SUBJECT FILE, 1848-2005 (Continued)
Container Nos. Contents
James Forman Papers Page 28
91 (cont.) Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, D.C., 1980-1988, 1994Intelligence
Central Intelligence AgencyClippings, 1967, 1974-1983 (6 folders)Freedom of Information Act, requests, 1980-1983, 1990General, 1975-1992, undated (2 folders)
General, 1971-1983, undated (2 folders)International Monetary Fund, 1982
Background material, 1953-1961Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants, 1961-1964 (2 folders)Correspondence, 1961, 1969, 2002 (3 folders)Crusader (newsletter)
1959 (3 folders)1960
Jan.-July (3 folders)
108 Aug.-Dec. (2 folders)1961, 1968 (3 folders)
Mallory, Mae, 1961-1962Monroe Defense Committee, 1961Notes, undatedTranscripts of interviews and conversations, 1961 (2 folders)Writings
109 Music and plays, 1969-1985, undatedMuslims, 1965-1979, 2001, undated (2 folders)NAACP, 1975-1982National Association of Black Students, 1970-1971 (3 folders)National Black Economic Development Conference See Containers 61-63,
Black Economic Development ConferenceNational Black Political Assembly, 1976-1980National Council of Negro Women, 1975-1976, 1987, undatedNational Governors Association, 1984National Rainbow Coalition, 1986, 1993National Youth Congress, 1955, 1971, undated
123 VotingGeneral, 1977-2004, undated (2 folders)Voting Rights Act of 1982, 1982 (3 folders)
War Resisters League, 1976-1979, undatedWashington Peace Center, Washington, D.C., 1978-1981, undatedWelfare, 1970, 1976-circa 1980West Germany, 1970, 1977-1981Wilder, Lawrence Douglas, 1985-1990Women
Native Americans (unpublished), 1975, undatedThe Political Thought of James Forman (1970) (3 folders)Reagan, Ronald (unpublished), undatedSammy Younge, Jr.: The First Black College Student to Die in
the Black Liberation Movement (1968 and 1986,2nd edition)
“Uniting the Oppressed African American Nation, Its NationalMinority Areas, and Its Allies, and Externally on a WorldScale ” (unpublished), 1979 (2 folders)
Correspondence, 1958-1994, 2004, undated (5 folders)Letters to the editor, 1958, 1978-1985
Black America News ServiceAdministrative file, 1975-1976, 1991-2000, undatedChronological file
1987-1992 (3 folders)
169 1993-2004, undated (4 folders)James Forman and Associates Political Consultants, 1986-1991Miscellaneous, 1979-2003, undated (2 folders)Unemployment and Poverty Action Committee
1978-1989 (3 folders)
170 1990-2004, undated (5 folders)Short stories and plays
“All Too Soon,” 2004“Betrayed,” undated“Good Will and Greens,” undated“Guilt,” undatedMiscellaneous, 1957, undated (2 folders)“The Old Woman and the Wall,” undated“On the Rock,” undated
171 “A Sad Day for Elizabeth,” undated“Somewhere in Glory,” undated (2 folders)“Steal Away,” undated (3 folders)“Two Potatoes and One Onion,” circa 1962
Thesis, “An Examination of the Question of Self-Determination andIts Application to the African American People”
Correspondence, 1978-1981 (2 folders)
SPEECHES AND WRITINGS FILE, 1872-2004 (Continued)
Container Nos. Contents
James Forman Papers Page 43
172 Writings fileBy Forman
Thesis, “An Examination of the Question of Self-Determination andIts Application to the African American People”
DraftsComplete, 1980 (3 folders) Miscellaneous
Front matter, 1980, undatedChapter 1, 1979, undated (3 folders)
Rufus, Octavia (mother), 1950, 1958, 1976-1980, undatedFinancial and legal records
Application, change of name, 1984
244 Bank statementsUnemployed and Poverty Action Council Legal Defense, Education,
and Research Fund, 1986-2001Unemployment and Poverty Action Committee, 1983-2003
MISCELLANY, 1928-2005 (Continued)
Container Nos. Contents
James Forman Papers Page 53
244 (cont.) Financial and legal recordsBorger Management, 1985-2000Charles D. Sager, Partnership, 1982
245 ContributionsCard file, 1968-1973
246 General, 1978-2001, undated (6 folders)Friends of James Forman Campaign Committee, 1987-1992, undatedFund-raising
1973-1995 (9 folders)
247 1996-2004, undated (3 folders)General, 1965-2003, undated (2 folders)Harvard Hall Apartments, Washington, D.C., 1980-1985Internal Revenue Service, 1967, 1983-1995, 2003-2004, undatedWill, 1982-1983William C. Smith & Co., 1981-1989
Guest lists, 1992-1995, undatedMedical records of Forman
Documents released by California concerning his 1953 hospitalization,1979-1984, 1995 (3 folders)
248 General, 1970, 1978-2004, undated (8 folders)Membership and identification cards, 1960-2001Passports and certificates of vaccination, 1964-1969, 1975Performances and video presentations
“Freedom is a Constant Struggle, the Mississippi Civil RightsMovement: A Retrospective Through Theater, Song and Dance”