McSurely, Alan, 1936-

Lawyer Alan McSurely of Chapel Hill, N.C., was born in 1936 in Dayton, Ohio, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the 1960s and 1970s, he and his wife, Margaret McSurely, worked with a number of organizations endeavoring to eliminate poverty, bring about an end to segregation, and organize workers in labor disputes.

Lawyer Alan McSurely of Chapel Hill, N.C., was born in 1936 in Dayton, Ohio. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1959. During the 1960s, he and his wife, Margaret McSurely, worked with a number of organizations in Kentucky and other states that endeavored to eliminate poverty, bring about an end to segregation, and organize workers in labor disputes. Included among these were the United Planning Organization, Appalachian Volunteers, CORE, SCEF, Mississippi Freedom, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Because of their association with organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Conference Educational Fund, the McSurelys captured the attention of the FBI. Their political views and organizing work made them the subjects of an extensive investigation in the late 1960s. As a result, they were labeled as radicals and accused of holding memberships in communist organizations. Such accusations and suspicions led to a 1967 raid on the McSurelys' Kentucky home and the seizure of numerous books and other materials. Alan and Margaret McSurely were arrested for sedition, an event that marked the beginning of a lengthy battle in the courts.

Through an order handed down by the United States Circuit Court in 1968, the McSurelys succeeded in reclaiming their seized property, which was later subpoenaed again. The following year, the McSurelys appeared before the McClellan Subcommittee of the United States Senate and were charged with contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the materials. They were tried and convicted in 1970, but the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned their convictions in 1972. In 1983, a jury awarded the McSurelys more than a million dollars in damages for the violation of their constitutional rights.

Alan McSurely has practiced law in Chapel Hill, N.C., earning a reputation as a legal advocate for many in the African American community and for his handling of numerous controversial cases dealing with matters such as civil rights and labor disputes.