The Papers of Clarence Mitchell, Jr., at SUNY College at Old Westbury seek an Assistant Editor.

Project Description:

The Papers of Clarence Mitchell Jr. Project, a nine-volume historical documentary edition, is seeking an assistant editor to continue work on completing in print and digitally the final three volumes. The project is publishing the weekly, monthly and annual reports Mitchell prepared, first as associate director of field administration at the Fair Employment Practice Committee from 1942 to 1946, a period during the war that marked the beginning of the modern civil rights movement, and subsequently as a staff member of the NAACP. Here Mitchell was labor secretary working out of the newly created NAACP Washington Bureau until 1950, when he became its director. That year he assumed leadership of the NAACP struggle in Congress for passage of civil rights laws. His reports, one of six categories of his papers, document the struggles by African Americans for presidential leadership for laws to end racial segregation and discrimination, initially in the defense industry, and subsequently throughout society. Then, the struggle in Congress was waged within the limitations of the “separate but equal doctrine.” Following the Supreme Court’s decision in 1954 that declared that segregation was unconstitutional because it was discrimination, Mitchell then launched the struggle for Congress to pass laws to enforce the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. He was to the NAACP’s legislative struggle what Thurgood Marshall was to the NAACP’s legal struggle, the defining and inspirational strategist and leader whose mission was to uphold and implement the constitutional protections for citizenship rights of African Americans.

The NAACP Washington Bureau archive is the only source that documents how Mitchell devised, strategized, and led the struggle for passage of the 1957 Civil Rights Act, the 1960 Civil Rights Act, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the 1968 Fair Housing Act, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, and for presidential leadership to protect all other forms of constitutional rights of African Americans. The nature of this struggle Mitchell led earned him popular recognition as the “101st senator.” See the project web site www.clarencemitchellpapers.com

Description:

Candidates should have an ability for, and interest in assessing the historical relevance of the archive prepared by the director of the NAACP Washington Bureau who led the struggle for passage of the civil rights laws from 1950 to 1978. Needed skills are an ability to annotate the monthly and annual reports Clarence Mitchell, Jr. prepared as a civil rights lobbyist; draft or write headnotes based on this historical record; copy edit; conduct extensive research for supplementing the archival record being published; prepare a comprehensive index; and perform other related tasks essential to the edition.

Candidates must also have a knowledge of Drupal and other basic electronic platforms that are essential for working with the NHPRC-Mellon Foundation digital publishing cooperative. Specific job functions are doing basic scholarly research; preparing the Biographical and Congressional Directories; progressively preparing subject and name volume indexes using Cindex; preparing the Bibliography; knowledge of NAACP history; being able to work through the NAACP General and Washington Bureau collections at the Library of Congress; and knowing the functions of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

The Project is directed and edited by Prof. Denton L. Watson in the American Studies/Medial Communications Department at SUNY College at Old Westbury. A detailed job description may be obtained from the Papers of Clarence Mitchell, Jr.,  project, or by emailing Prof. Watson at watsond@oldwestbury.edu

Qualifications:

Candidates for the position should hold a Ph.D. in History, Political Science, Sociology, Law, or have a background in historical documentary editing relevant to the civil rights legislative struggle that Mitchell led.

The project is sponsored by SUNY Old Westbury and funded primarily by the National Historical Publications and Records Communications.

Send letter of interest and CV with references to:

The Papers of Clarence Mitchell, Jr.

SUNY College at Old Westbury, CC E215

Old Westbury, NY 11568

Phone: (516) 459-9248

Fax: (516) 876-2886