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July 27, 1960 The Reverend Henry G. Ruark Methodist Church Laurinburg, North Carolina My dear Dr. Ruark: May I bring you up to date on the lunch counter situation in Charlotte. I note from the July 27th issue of The Christian Century that this information was not in hand in time for your article on this subject. The Mayor appointed a Committee on Friendly Relations early in April. It was composed of five officers—a Chairman, three Vice-Chair men, and a Secretary- plus ten representatives. Of the total of fifteen, four of them were Negroes of outstanding position in the city, one a doctor, one a YMCA secretary, one a minister and one lady, an outstanding teacher. The merchants were slow to undertake any deliberations on the subject. The variety stores, with some degree of logic, felt they should wait until local stores took the lead. That threw the burden of responsible decision on our two large department stores, Ivey*s and Belk Brothers. After a number of weeks of deliberations back and forth, and then of waiting, the decision was reached by the merchants that they were willing to consider our proposal. The communication went to the Mayor but copies of it went to all the merchants. The result was that on July 9th the seven stores opened their facilities to the students who received the privilege they had sought with quiet dignity and good manners. There have been no incidents at all. The community has accepted the matter in good spirit. A very large segment of the responsible leadership of the community has expressed great appreciation to the Mayor and to the Committee and to the merchants. The Negro students report that they are being treated courteously in all of the lunchrooms. With best wishes, I am Sincerely, J R Cunningham
Object Description
Title | Reverend Henry G. Ruark correspondence |
Series | Series 2, Dr. John R. Cunningham correspondence |
Digital Collection | Charlotte Mayor's Committee on Race Relations Papers, 1960-1965 |
Creator | Cunningham, John R. (John Rood), 1891-1980 |
Date Created | 1960-07-27 - 1960-08-02 |
Series Description | This series consists of correspondence from and to the Reverend Dr. John R. Cunningham, chairman of both mayoral committees. |
Collection Description | Charlotte mayor (from 1957-1961) James Saxon Smith formed the Mayor's Friendly Relationship Committee (MFRC) in response to student organized sit-ins at lunch counters in some of uptown Charlotte's major white-owned establishments on February 12, 1960. By July 1960, the MFRC had helped the lunch counter owners and student protesters come to an agreement which resulted in the integration of many of Charlotte's lunch counters. The work of the committee continued and expanded to explore broader community issues, and was renamed the Mayor's Community Relations Committee (MCRC) in 1961. This collection comprises papers related to the establishment and work of both committees, and includes correspondence, committee minutes, memorandums, pamphlets, and research materials on the subject of race relationships. |
Subjects--Names |
Cunningham, John R. (John Rood), 1891-1980 Brookshire, Stanford R., 1905-1990 Smith, James Saxon |
Subjects--Organizations |
Charlotte (N.C.). Mayor's Friendly Relationship Committee Charlotte (N.C.). Mayor's Community Relations Committee Johnson C. Smith University |
Subjects--Topics |
African Americans--Segregation--North Carolina--Charlotte Civil rights--North Carolina--Charlotte Discrimination in public accommodations--North Carolina--Charlotte Race discrimination--North Carolina--Charlotte Civil rights movements--Southern States--History--20th century Municipal government--North Carolina--Charlotte |
Subjects--Locations |
Charlotte (N.C.)--Race relations--History--20th century Charlotte (N.C.)--Politics and government--20th century |
Coverage--Place |
Charlotte (N.C.) Mecklenburg County (N.C.) |
Box Number | 4 |
Folder Number | 19 |
Language | eng |
Object Type | Text |
Digital Format | Displayed as .jp2, uploaded as .tif |
Genre | manuscripts (document genre) |
Finding Aid | http://www.cmstory.org/sites/default/files/Manuscript/Mayor%27s%20Committee%20Race%20Relations.pdf |
Original Collection | Mayor's Committee on Race Relationships papers |
Digital Collection Home Page | http://digitalcollections.uncc.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16033coll11 |
Repository | Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library |
Digital Publisher | J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections (University of North Carolina at Charlotte) |
Rights | These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study. The digital reproductions have been made available through an evaluation of public domain status, permissions from the rights' holders, and authorization under the law including fair use as codified in 17 U.S.C. section 107. Although these materials are publicly accessible for these limited purposes, they may not all be in the public domain. Users are responsible for determining if permission for re-use is necessary and for obtaining such permission. Individuals who have concerns about online access to specific content should contact J. Murrey Atkins Library. |
Location of Original | Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library |
Grant Information | Digitization made possible by funding from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. |
Identifier | cml-mcrc-020419 |
Date Digitized | 2015-09-01 |
Rating |
Description
Title | cml-mcrc-020419-1 |
OCR Transcript | July 27, 1960 The Reverend Henry G. Ruark Methodist Church Laurinburg, North Carolina My dear Dr. Ruark: May I bring you up to date on the lunch counter situation in Charlotte. I note from the July 27th issue of The Christian Century that this information was not in hand in time for your article on this subject. The Mayor appointed a Committee on Friendly Relations early in April. It was composed of five officers—a Chairman, three Vice-Chair men, and a Secretary- plus ten representatives. Of the total of fifteen, four of them were Negroes of outstanding position in the city, one a doctor, one a YMCA secretary, one a minister and one lady, an outstanding teacher. The merchants were slow to undertake any deliberations on the subject. The variety stores, with some degree of logic, felt they should wait until local stores took the lead. That threw the burden of responsible decision on our two large department stores, Ivey*s and Belk Brothers. After a number of weeks of deliberations back and forth, and then of waiting, the decision was reached by the merchants that they were willing to consider our proposal. The communication went to the Mayor but copies of it went to all the merchants. The result was that on July 9th the seven stores opened their facilities to the students who received the privilege they had sought with quiet dignity and good manners. There have been no incidents at all. The community has accepted the matter in good spirit. A very large segment of the responsible leadership of the community has expressed great appreciation to the Mayor and to the Committee and to the merchants. The Negro students report that they are being treated courteously in all of the lunchrooms. With best wishes, I am Sincerely, J R Cunningham |
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