Frederick W. Wells papers 1924

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Frederick W. Wells papers 1924

http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20602

The Frederick W. Wells Papers consist of letters, telegrams and newsclippings documenting a crossburning incident by the Ku Klux Klan as part of an effort by white students to have Wells, an African American Columbia University School of Law student, removed from his on-campus dormitory. The collection dates from January through May of 1924 and consists primarily of 61 letters of support from organizations, friends and members of the public, both black and white. The letters came from supporters primarily in the United States, although the West Indies is also represented. Letter writers include: William M. Ashby, Executive Secretary of the New Jersey Urban League; J. B. Matthews, President of the Wilberforce Club of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Rev. John W. Robinson of St. Mark's Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City; and Jedediah Tingle, philanthropist. A letter from the Dean of the Law School, Herbert E. Hawkes, reassured Wells' father, Charles W. Wells, that safety precautions were being taken to protect his son.

82 items (2 folders)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archives Section

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SNAC Resource ID: 6316897

Related Entities

There are 9 Entities related to this resource.

Matthews, J. B. (Joseph Brown), 1894-1966

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m43k4r (person)

1894, June 28 Born, Hopkinsville, Kentucky 1915 B.A., Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky 1915 1921 Methodist Missionary to Java 1917 Marrie...

Robinson, John W.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68b3zt7 (person)

Tingle, Jedediah

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63s3t4j (person)

Columbia University. School of Law.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jd8tzf (corporateBody)

Hawkes, Herbert E. (Herbert Edwin), 1872-1943

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d50rgn (person)

Wells, Frederick W. (Frederick Wilson), 1896-1979.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ht2t81 (person)

Frederick W. Wells was an attorney and housing specialist in New York City. He was born in Tennessee, attended Wilberforce University, then Yale Law School, and later was a senior at Columbia University Law School. In 1924 he was assigned a dormitory room in Furnald Hall at Columbia University. Initially, white students assumed he was a janitor. When some white students from Kentucky associated with the Ku Klux Klan learned that Wells was a student, they circulated petit...

Wells, Charles W

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vc157z (person)

Ku Klux Klan 1915-....

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x38p5s (corporateBody)

The Ku Klux Klan was formally incorporated under the laws of the state of Georgia on Dec. 4, 1915. The incorporated organization is a continuance of the earlier post Civil War Reconstruction Era unincorporated Ku Klux Klan and of the Knights of the White Camellia. Women of the Ku Klux Klan was incorporated at a late date as a separate entity. The stated purpose of the KKK was to promote an all White, Protestant United States, excluding all other races and religions. From the descript...

Ashby, William M. (William Mobile), 1889-1991

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6319zqh (person)

Ashby was honored by the Municiple Council of the City of Newark in 1979 as a distinguished citizen of Newark and a pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement, the first Black social worker in New Jersey, the first Director of the Urban League of Essex County, an active member of the United Way of Newark, the Newark Human Rights Commission, the Newark Senior Citizen's Commission and numerous other civic organizations. From the description of William M. Ashby papers, 1917-1990. (Plainview-O...