Post About “Fair Housing Survey by the SAHR”

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.

The document(s) were filed in a folder which contained two other documents each pertaining to the Macalester College Student Action for Human Rights, a student organization, during 1961-1963. The other two documents are both letters from the organization. One is to the Community Council and the other is to the faculty and administration of Macalester College. This document contains three separate sheets of 8 ½” by 11” paper, which are stapled together haphazardly on the short edge, although in the past they appear to have been paper clipped. They are all legible and in good condition.

The first document is titled “Housing Survey” and is typed in black ink and was previously folded in thirds along the short edge. It is on a standard copy paper which appears to be yellowed with use and browned with age It contains the results of a Housing Survey conducted on March 11th, 1961 by students from Macalester College and Hamline University. It is signed by Harlan Hanson (Macalester College), Dick Fisher (Hamline University) and Bill Mcpherson (Macalester College).

The second document does not appear to have a title and is printed on carbon paper. It has both typed and handwritten lettering. At the top of the document are statements by representatives of three different religious groups (Protestant, Catholic, Jewish) in the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. All three contain support for fair housing in the greater community. Following the three statements, is a section titled “Endorsements”. It communicates the signers support of “free and open housing in our neighborhood”. Below the signers is a handwritten section. It appears to be for additional handwritten endorsements of the statements above, but is blank on this document. It is signed by:

  1. Jim Luggar: Executive Secretary of Catholic Interracial Community  
  2. James Tillmon: Minneapolis Interfaith House Community
  3. Dr. Roy Burt: President of Minnesota Council of Civil Rights
  4. The Minnesota NAACP
  5. Ernest Cooper: Urban League
  6. Jewish Community Relations Council
  7. Minnesota Rabbinical Association

The third document is titled “Survey of Student Attitudes”. It is typed in royal purple ink on standard copy paper. It is slightly browned with age and was previously folded in thirds along the short edge. It has three sections. The first is instructions for the surveyors,  which mean the document would have been printed for the enumerators and not given to people taking the survey. It contains five points of instruction and a statement which the surveyor should read when approaching a person whom they wish to survey. The second section contains the five questions that were supposed to be asked. The final section is a place for surveyors to record the data they collect, and is blank in this document.

These documents in conjunction with the other two they were filed with, provide a context for the activities of the Student Action for Human Rights (SAHR) during the early 1960s. The involvement of the organization in this issue highlights the importance of the fair housing debate to the Macalester community. In addition to the historical commitment of Macalester students to equality, justice and acceptance of all peoples and the college’s cornerstone belief that discrimination on any basis should not be tolerated let alone promoted by government, articles from the Mac Weekly during this period reveal the very real problem Macalester students were facing: like members of the community, minority students were unable to find housing in the vicinity near the college campus. However, the conduction of these surveys reveal that it is only a minority of the local population who are opposed to fair housing. The SAHR expressed their hopes to present their findings to the Minnesota State Legislature in support of the proposed Fair Housing Act and potentially bring about a change that would benefit the Macalester community and the Twin cities at large.  

–Katie Grahn

Packet of materials from fair housing survey, Student Action for Human Rights– SAHR folder, Program Collection

Metadata
Title: Post About 'Fair Housing Survey by the SAHR'
Creator: Grahn, Katie
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: 1961-1963
Type of Content: Text
Source: Packet of materials from fair housing survey, Student Action for Human Rights– SAHR folder, Program Collection
URL: https://dwlibrary.macalester.edu/counterbalance/student-projects/fair-housing-survey-by-the-sahr/

Suggested Citation: Grahn, Katie. "Post About 'Fair Housing Survey by the SAHR'." Counterbalance, Macalester College Archives. . Text. https://dwlibrary.macalester.edu/counterbalance/student-projects/fair-housing-survey-by-the-sahr/.
Post About “Fair Housing Survey by the SAHR”
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