Black Coalition records 1968 August-1969 December

ArchivalResource

Black Coalition records, 1968 August-1969 December

Black Coalition records 1968 August-1969 December

http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/pacscl/ead.html?id=PACSCL_TUSCRC_TUSCRC296

The Black Coalition was formed in response to the growing concern among certain members of the Greater Philadelphia Movement that efforts to establish a meaningful dialogue between whites and blacks in Philadelphia were failing. The reason for this was attributed to the lack of communication with the so-called “gang element” in the city. Convinced of the necessity to deal with this element, a meeting was planned for Good Friday, April 12, 1968, one week after the assassination of Martin Luther King. A broad cross section of both the white and black communities were invited to this meeting, including a number of gang leaders. It was at this meeting that the Black coalition was formed, as a vehicle to maintain an ongoing dialogue between the white business community and the gang element, as well as other segments of the black community within the city. This collection dates from April 1968 to December 1969 and the bulk of the materials cover the time during which the Black Coalition operated, from April 1968 to April 1969. The collection contains records from the Black Coalition, the Good Friday Group, and the Greater Philadelphia Movement, along with its fiduciary body, the Greater Philadelphia Foundation. All of the records, regardless of the originating organization, pertain to the operations of the Black Coalition, and include correspondence and clerical records relating to funding the Black Coalition and its programs or projects.

3.5 Linear feet

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