Harvey O'Connor Civil Liberties collection (Ms.2011.013)

The material contained in the collection is generally grouped alphabetically by year or year span and subject matter. There is however, some material which is miscellaneous in nature without any year or subject organization. In addition, there is a fair amount of document duplication across agencies and the collection as a whole. The majority of the collection contains materials which encompass flyers, annual reports, pamphlets, correspondence, press releases, petititons, periodicals, announcements, court documents, articles, newsletters, journals, and publications

Box 1 contains "About Face" the U.S. Servicemen's Fund Newsletter; American Civil Liberties Materials (ACLU) from 1968-1972 which includes some correspondence from Senator Paul Douglas and Aryeh Neier; Civil Liberties Scene (RI Affliate ACLU); American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born (ACPFB), defending the rights of the foreign born, especially radicals and Communist Party members; court document on the American Servicemen's Union ... vs. John N. Mitchell; Amnesty Action (civil rights) irregular issues journal 1969, 1970, 1972; Angela Davis American political activist including materials from the Angela Davis Defense Fund (Marin County courthouse incident); CCCO (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors) Newsletters; Center for Constitutional Rights reports; Civil Liberties Legal Defense Fund ,1968-1969, which include some letters with Jane Fonda, Benjamin Spock, M.D. and Julian Bond signatures; additonal clippings and printed materials related to civil rights issues; Committee for GI Rights news releases, with items concerning Pvt. Andrew Stapp; Committee to Defend the Panthers, with correspondence signed by Ossie Davis, Dick Gregory, and Angie Dickerson and article "Here and Now for Bobby Seale"; Committee to Defend the Rights of Pfc. Howard Petrick; Congressional Records; "downdraft" with articles on David Mitchell; Emergency Action Committee on Genocide; Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (ECLC), material of the Fort Dix 38 (the Fort Dix Stockade Rebellion), an important event in the history of the GI Resisters Movement during the Vietnam War; GI Civil Liberties Defense Committee, Gus-Hall, Benjamin Davis Defense Committee which includes "Steps to Victory" bulletin; a wealth of material on and by the House Un-American Activities Committee(HUAC) including materials concerning Alan and Margaret McSurely violators of the Kentucky anti-sedition statue; Kent Defense Fund; Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (Law Students Council); Liberty, and the McCarran Act (McCarran Internal Security Act)

Box 2 focus is on the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation (NCARL) from 1970-1972 with some correspondence by Frank Wilkinson. Additional items are from the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Library by the Meiklejohn Institute; Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party versus James O Eastland; Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALD); and a few items concerning the Vietnam War protestors known as the Milwaukee 14

Box 3 contains a significant amount of material from the National Committee to Abolish the House Committee on Un-American Activities (NCAHUAC), 1966-1969, with additional material on and from the House Internal Security Act (HISE) and the National Committee Against Repression from 1969-1970

Box 4 contains material from the National Conference for New Politics (NCNP); National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC), 1971-1972, which includes "Rights" and the "Bill of Rights Journal'; Notes from ADC (Newsletter of Alexander Defense Committee) including anti-apartheid articles about Franz J.T. Lee; pamphlets "Radical Education Project", "Socialist Workers Campaign Committee" and others; Pete Seeger; Plainfield Joint Defense Committee concerning Bobby Lee Williams, Gail Madden, and George Merritt, Jr.; miscellaneous publications related to civil rights issues including "Anatomy of Apartheid in Southern Africa" by Franz J.T. Lee, "The Arlington Case" by Robert Thompson and "The Conspiracy Tactic" by Paul L. Ross, and "RESIST" opposition to the draft and the Vietnam War; Rhode Island Bail Fund; Rhode Island Political Offensive for Freedom; Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and Morton Sobell; Nicolla Sacco and Bartolome Vanzetti; Soledad Brothers; Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), 1966-1972, including materials by Carl and Anne Braden; Southern Poverty Law Center; Jeremiah Stamler and Yolanda Hall; Union Democracy in Action; USLA Reporter, and the Workers Defense League, 1969-1972, (WDL News)