Scope and Content Note
The papers of Bayard Taylor Rustin (1912-1987) span the years 1942-1987, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1963-1980. The collection documents Rustin's role as a master strategist of social resistance movements and major figure in the front ranks of the civil rights movement, and highlights nearly five decades of activism for social reform and international human rights. The papers consist primarily of correspondence, memoranda, reports and drafts, press releases, financial records, agendas, schedules, notes, speeches and writings, and printed material.
Rustin's papers document his philosophy and strategy for conducting passive resistance movements and securing civil rights for African Americans. Correspondence, topical files, and writings reflect his adherence to three basic principles: a belief that racial progress could be achieved only in an integrated framework; a dedication to the tactics of nonviolence; and a conviction that broad, permanent change could be accomplished only through coalition politics. Whether because of his Quaker beliefs, his socialism, or his affiliation with organized labor, Rustin always aimed at broader social objectives than those sought by most leaders of the civil rights movement. Civil rights for Black Americans, he argued, could be secured only as a part and consequence of wider and deeper social reform in the United States and throughout the world. Aspects of this world view are reflected throughout the collection. Included is material illustrating Rustin's struggle for the rights of other marginalized communities and the poor in the United States and the disenfranchised people of Africa, India, Asia, and South America.
The General Correspondence series (1942-1987), consisting of incoming and outgoing correspondence between Rustin and social activists, political organizations, labor unions, friends, and colleagues, relates primarily to Rustin's speaking engagements, public appearances, and writings and contemporary social issues. Also present are numerous letters from friends and the public bestowing congratulations for Rustin's success in helping organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and other civil rights projects.
Correspondence reflecting Rustin's strategy for attaining civil rights for Blacks is found scattered throughout the series. Most notable is correspondence between Rustin and African Americans, who, despite the passage of major civil rights legislation, were frustrated by the realization that unemployment among Black youth was still high, Black children still attended segregated schools, and low income communities were more crowded than ever. In these letters, Rustin articulates and defends his strategy against the militant, separatist, and nationalistic approach of leaders such as Eldridge Cleaver and Stokely Carmichael.
Documentation of Rustin's early struggles as a Quaker activist and an advocate for international human rights can also be found in the correspondence file. Included are letters from Abraham J. Muste, president of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR),containing remarks on pacifism and the general goals of the FOR,received by Rustin during his imprisonment in Kentucky's Lewisburg penitentiary after refusing to register for the military draft in 1943. Copies of Rustin's replies, however, are nonexistent or missing from the collection. Also present are a few pieces of correspondence relating to Rustin's trips to Africa in the 1950s to assist Kwame Nkrumah, Nnamdi Azikiwe,and other African leaders in organizing nonviolent resistance campaigns against colonialism and nuclear weapons.
Frequent correspondents in the General Correspondence series not mentioned previously include Hugo L. Black, Hyman H. Bookbinder, Ralph DiGia, Kivie Kaplan, Selma Platt,and Anita Poole.
The greatest concentration of material in the Rustin Papers is found in the Subject File (1942-1987), which contains a large segment of records relating to Rustin's accomplishments in the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Among the topics covered is Rustin's role as deputy director of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Consisting of correspondence, financial records, fliers and handouts, mailings, manuals, logistical records, newsletters, and other material, these papers document his coordination of the march and his assistance in developing a broad program of demands. Rustin's planning helped lead to the passage of significant civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965. Telegrams pertaining to the march contain messages of support from members of Congress and other political and social leaders. The collection, however, contains little documentation of coordination between Rustin and A. Philip Randolph,chairman of the march, and sponsors such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young.
Other material documenting the civil rights movement includes items relating to Rustin's position as race relations director for the FOR. Correspondence and reports concerning the FOR's freedom rides are extensive. In 1947, Rustin and fifteen others rode buses in several southern states in order to test a new law that declared segregation of interstate travelers illegal. A result of the bus rides, which became known as the Journey of Reconciliation, was Rustin's arrest and sentencing to thirty days on a "chain gang" in Roxboro, North Carolina. His report to the FOR, entitled "Twenty Two Days on a Chain Gang," was published in the New York Post and the Baltimore Afro-American and eventually led to the abolition of chain gangs in North Carolina.
Other extensive civil rights topics cover Rustin's work with Randolph on the Freedom Budget, a ten-year program conceived by Randolph as a method of abolishing poverty in the United States, and other marches organized by Rustin, including the Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington in 1957 and the 1964 marches for integrated schools. Also included are comprehensive files documenting the Mobilization in Support of the Poor People's Campaign.
The Subject File also documents Rustin's struggle to improve relations between African Americans and American Jews and Israel. Black and Jewish responses to his articles critical of Black leaders who supported the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) are of special note. Correspondence, memoranda, press releases, and other material relating to the activities of the Black Americans to Support Israel Committee, formed by Rustin in 1975, can also be found in the series. Supported by Shirley Chisholm, Lionel Hampton, Roy Wilkins, Andrew Young,and many others, the committee called for financial and military support of Israel by the United States, protested the actions of the PLO, and promoted Israel among Black Americans. Also of significance is material documenting Rustin's interest in the Black Hebrews, a religious sect of Black Americans who "illegally relocated" to Israel in the mid-1970s. Correspondence, memoranda, newspaper clippings, reports, and articles record Rustin's investigations into Israeli harassment of Black tourists suspected of being members of the sect and the activities of Ben-Ammi Carter, leader of the Black Hebrews.
Material pertaining to Rustin's work with international human rights groups also makes up a significant portion of the Subject File. Of particular interest is material documenting his assistance to Indochinese refugees in Thailand under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee, his observation of free elections in El Salvador, Grenada, and Zimbabwe with the Freedom House group, and his work with the Haitian Refugees Conference. Other notable items relate to his activities in Africa, though documentation of these projects, particularly his work in West Africa with Nkrumah and Azikiwe during the 1950s, is sparse.
The Subject File also contains material relating to a number of Rustin's other endeavors, including the Eldridge Cleaver Defense Fund, nuclear war protests, organized labor issues, and gay rights. Little documentation exists of his work as special assistant to King or of his trip to India to visit with Jawaharlal Nehru and other Indian political leaders.
The Speeches and Writings file (1942-1987) consists largely of final drafts and printed versions of articles, reports, lectures, speeches, book reviews, eulogies, and other writings by Rustin. Rough drafts and notes can also be found. Rustin's orations and writings generally cover broad issues pertaining to the civil rights movement, including such topics as integration, racism, the alienation of Black youth, Black separatism, the race riots of the 1960s, and the 1963 march on Washington. Articles and speeches regarding Randolph's life and times are found scattered throughout the series. The file also contains copies of Rustin's columns published in the New Amsterdam newspaper and press releases written during his tenure as president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.
Notable writings include articles from the 1940s and 1950s, many unpublished, describing the early civil rights movement in the South, eulogies given at services for Randolph and Muste, and the speech Rustin gave in 1958 at the Aldermaston marches for nuclear disarmament in England. Many of the articles and speeches in the file were published in journals, newspapers, popular magazines, and in Rustin's book, Down the Line: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin.
Prominent correspondents in the Rustin Papers, whose letters are primarily in the Subject File, include Nnamdi Azikiwe, Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter, Cesar Chavez, Eldridge Cleaver, Dorothy I. Height, Benjamin L. Hooks, Jacob K. Javits, Edward M. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, George Meany, Daniel P. Moynihan, Eleanor Holmes Norton, A. Philip Randolph, Elie Wiesel, and Roy Wilkins.
An addition to the Rustin Papers, processed in 1997, complements material in the General Correspondence, Subject File, and Speeches and Writings File. Some of the additional correspondence is with family members. Other files in the addition document Rustin's working relationship with Martin Luther King, Jr., and other members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the 1950s and 1960s.
The Oversize series consists of a scroll containing signatures of supporters of the 1963 march on Washington.