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(404) 978-2052
Kenneth Douty Collection
1939-1956
1 linear feet
In 1955 Kenneth Douty wrote a report for the Fund for the Republic as part of its larger project examining the activities of American Communists. The focus of Douty’s study was the Southern Conference for Human Welfare (SCHW). His study was part of an examination of Communist infiltration of ideological pressure groups (the NAACP, ACLU, etc.). The study was headed by John Roche, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Douty was assisted in his study by Frank McCallister, Director of Roosevelt University’s Labor Education Division. At the time of this project, Douty was the Executive Director of the Illinois Division of the American Civil Liberties Union.
This small collection consists of the papers Douty generated and used during his project. The bulk of the collection is the correspondence between Douty and McCallister, and the people they solicited materials or interviews from while doing research. Of special interest is James Dombrowski’s response to Douty’s questionnaire regarding Communist infiltration of the SCHW. His answers illustrate the membership and turmoil of the organization in its later years. Dombrowski was an administrator of the SCHW until he left in 1947 to become the Executive Director of the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF). Of note is the 1939 correspondence of sociologist Howard Odum that documents the development of the Southern Regional Council. There are also reports, minutes, and publications Douty and McCallister collected as background research.
Related collection:
Southern Conference for Human Welfare Collection