The papers of Leon Howard Sullivan (1922-2001) span the years 1940-2002 with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1988-2002. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, reports, personal files, program files, articles, and miscellaneous material from Sullivan’s role as president of the International Foundation for Education and Self Help (IFESH), with additional material regarding Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America. The papers are arranged in three series: IFESH , OIC , and Personal Miscellany .

Leon Sullivan devoted many years of his life to the Philadelphia community, serving as pastor of the Zion Baptist Church from 1950 until his retirement in 1988. In that span, Sullivan founded the Zion Non-Profit Charitable Trust in 1962, Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America in 1964, the OIC International in 1969, and served on the board of directors for General Motors beginning in the 1970s, where he developed a code of conduct for companies called the Sullivan Principles.

After his retirement, Sullivan founded the International Foundation for Education and Self Help, which would extend his principles of self-help and community empowerment to Africa. Through the use of assistance programs, IFESH helped educate and train Africans in the areas of health, business, and economic development in order to reduce poverty and unemployment. As president, Sullivan began the African-African American Summit to bring together world leaders and highlight issues facing African countries. The IFESH series contains program files, reports, summit materials, contributions, and administrative files documenting the various functions of the organization.

While serving as president of IFESH , Sullivan was kept abreast of the operations of Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America. The OIC series contains information regarding OIC International, affiliates, reports, and miscellaneous administrative records. The Personal Miscellany series contains correspondence, press and news clippings, articles written by Sullivan, and assorted material concerning General Motors, South Africa, and the Sullivan Principles.