Post About “Letter to Community Council from Student Action for Human Rights”
This text is part of a collection of student work from the Fall 2017 class HIST 294-04/AMST 294-01, Public History: African American Life — Past, Present and Future. Students selected, described, and analyzed items from the Macalester Archives pertaining to Black history. The entire class collection can be found here.
Letter to Community Council from Student Action for Human Rights
The object is a standard letter document that is a letter to the Community Council from Carolyn Dirks and Bill Henderson, the co-chairs of Student Action for Human Rights. Standard 8 ½” by 11” inches of letter paper. Printed single sided and stapled in the left-hand corner. This is a mimeographed document, which was a duplicating machine that produces copies from stencils. It was written January 30th, 1962. The paper is in really good condition and still legible.
Context
The letter is addressed to the community council and it is a summary of the activities of the Student Action for Human Rights Committee, which had its origin in appointment by the Community Council in April 1960. The SAHR was formed by the Community Council (student government). This raises questions about the Community Council’s involvement in student life. The appointment was to investigate the background and purposes of the then current Southern Sit-In Movement, and then to determine whether Macalester students could properly play a part in this movement. The letter outlines the Student Action of Human Rights involvement in the Civil Rights. The letter is filed with two other documents about the Fair Housing Survey. It is filed in the SAHR file that includes a letter to Faculty and Administration from SAHR, and Housing Survey that was sent out to residents in the Macalester area. All of the documents were spearheaded by the Student Action for Human Rights and co-chairs, Carolyn Dirks and Bill Henderson
Interpretation
The letter to the Community Council highlighted SAHR’s involvement in the Fair Housing Survey and racial relations in the Twin Cities. The Housing Survey, conducted by Macalester and Hamline students, was sent out to residents asking about diversity in the neighborhood. This was in response to the Fair Housing Bill. The Fair Housing Bill was supported by Senator Donald M. Fraser. The Fair Housing Bill – According to Think Again MN, “the bill as enacted made Minnesota the ninth state in the country to ban housing discrimination. It converted the state’s existing Fair Employment Practices Commission into a State Commission against Discrimination, which would enforce a ban on discrimination in the sale, rental, or lease of housing, starting in 1963 when the law took effect. Over the next five years, the State Commission and its successor, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, would investigate more than 500 cases of alleged housing discrimination. During the review process, the state’s civil rights agency was able to achieve voluntary compliance.”[1] SAHR became involved in housing discrimination and understanding housing discrimination/diversity in the Twin Cities, particularly the Mac-Groveland neighborhood. Prior to the survey, there was a panel on Open Occupancy sponsored by the Religious Forum Commission, a discussion of the Fair Housing Bill by Senator Donald M. Fraser before a group of student, and a presentation of the surveying technique by Dr. Walter Mink of the Psychology Department. After this, the survey was conducted and the responses were compiled and presented to the Minnesota House of Civil Administration Committee. The letter continues on to talk about the SAHR’s role racial relations and distributing information about these issues. SAHR and its org members wrote letters of support and encouragement to Southern students involved in integration. The letter ends with a focus on the Semester Exchange Program, which SAHR argues for a continuation of.
–Samantha Manz
[1] http://www.thinkagainmn.org/the-mn-miracle/195-progress-on-civil-rights
MetadataTitle: Post About 'Letter to Community Council from Student Action for Human Rights'
Creator: Manz, Samantha
Description: This text is part of a collection of student work from the Fall 2017 class HIST 294-04/AMST 294-01, Public History: African American Life — Past, Present and Future. Students selected, described, and analyzed items from the Macalester Archives pertaining to Black history. The entire class collection can be found in the Fall 2017 Public History Class tag.
Date Created:
Dates of Content: January 30, 1962
Type of Content: Text
Source: Dirks, Carolyn, and Bill Henderson. Carolyn Dirks and Bill Henderson to Community Council, St. Paul, MN, January 30, 1962.
URL: https://dwlibrary.macalester.edu/counterbalance/activism/letter-to-community-council-from-student-action-for-human-rights/
Suggested Citation: Manz, Samantha. "Post About 'Letter to Community Council from Student Action for Human Rights'." Counterbalance, Macalester College Archives. . Text. https://dwlibrary.macalester.edu/counterbalance/activism/letter-to-community-council-from-student-action-for-human-rights/.