Collection Guide
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Filer Compton Collection
SPC.2022.012
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
Title: Filer Compton Collection
source:
Los Angeles Times (Firm)
source:
Jet Magazine
source:
Ebony Magazine
source:
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
source:
The Crisis (magazine)
Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2022.012
Physical Description:
17 boxes
Physical Description:
9.4 Linear Feet
(six record storage cartons, three document cases, 8 oversized boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1957-2020
Date (bulk): 1960-1990
Abstract: This collection consists of approximately 25 magazines and newspaper titles, as well as newspaper clippings and ballots. The
collection predominantly focuses on African American social and political news, civil rights issues, and cultural and entertainment
news. A large portion of the collection consists of Jet magazines but almost equally as large is the collection of Ebony magazines.
Some of the titles also included are The Crisis, Los Angeles Times, The Bulletin and more.
Language of Material:
English
.
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
For information about citing archival material, see the
Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.
This collection was processed by Priscilla Avitia; Spring 2022.
The Filer Compton Collection (1957-2020; bulk 1960-1990) contains 17 boxes and 9.4 linear feet of approximately 25 magazines
and newspapers titles. The newspapers mostly cover news that are local to the city of Compton as well as the greater Los Angeles
area, whereas the magazines are from a national perspective. The collection focuses on a variety of topics such as political
news, social and civil rights issues, cultural and entertainment news mostly within the African American community but also
include other communities of color. Its publications range from the late 1950s to the early 2000s, but most are of the 1960s
and 1970s. The bulk of the collection contains issues of Jet Magazine, but almost as large is the collection of Ebony Magazines.
Also included are ballots and newspaper clippings. Series I: contains issues of Ebony Magazine. Series II: contains issues
of Jet Magazine. Series III: contains issues of The Crisis. Series IV: contains various magazines titles including Sepia,
American Visions, Life, Sentinel, XXL, New Week, The Black Politician, and Grapevine, also included are pamphlets for the
Compton Civic Symphony Orchestra Benefit Concert and the Bicentennial Exhibition, "Black Heritage". Lastly, this series includes
miscellaneous items, such as magazine covers and magazines with no identifications. Series V: contains newspapers that are
then split into 5 subseries. Sub-Series A: contains issues from the Los Angeles Times as well as miscellaneous newspaper clippings.
Sub-series II: contains issues from the Los Angeles Sentinel as well as miscellaneous newspaper clippings. Sub-series III:
contains issues from the Heral American as well as miscellaneous newspaper clippings. Sub-series IV: contains issues from
The Bulletin as well as miscellaneous newspaper clippings. Sub-series V: contains issues from The Compton Bulletin as well
as miscellaneous newspaper clippings. Sub-series VI: contains miscellaneous newspaper publications, some of which have of
one issue while others have multiple issues, also included are miscellaneous newspapers clippings. Series VI: contains two
ballots.
The collection is made up of both magazines and newspapers that were published between the late 1950s to the early 2000s,
but the majority are from the 1960s and 1970s. The newspapers are mostly local to the Los Angeles area, specifically the City
of Compton, whereas the magazines are from a national perspective. Topics covered include social and political news within
the African American community such as coverage of Martin Luther King Jr's 1968 assassination, the election of African American
politicians, and topics regarding women's rights issues. Cultural and entertainment news, like the literary postings in the
Crisis magazine and celebrity news found in Ebony. Other topics covered are the Chicano movement, Labor rights issues, the
1968 moon orbit and landing, and many others.
The collection was donated by Blondell and Maxcy Filer. Blondel worked as a Nurses Aid and Attendant at UCLA Harbor General
Hospital from 1962-1966, was a Teachers' Assistant at Dickson Elementary School from 1968-1971, she also worked as a Journalist
where she worte a weekly article for the Bulletin, "Women's World," in which she wrote of issues from the women's perspective.
Maxcy Filer was a councilman turned lawyer who took the bar exam 48 times! His eagerness for law and the reason for his perseverance
to pass the bar came from the Civil Rights Movement, when it was the lawyers' wins in courts that desegregated schools and
banded discrimination in jobs and other public places. Before passing the bar, he worked varrious law related jobs, including
working as a law clerk for his lawyer son, Kelvin.
This collection is arranged into six series:
- Series I: Ebony Magazine, May 1964-January 2007
- Series II: Jet Magazine, October 1957-June 2007
- Series III: The Crisis Magazine, April 1965-Spring 2009
- Series IV: Other Miscellaneous Magazine Publications, 1967-2008
- Series V: Newspapers, 1959-2020
- Subseries I: The Los Angeles Times, 1968-1993
- Subseries II: Los Angeles Sentinel, 1966-2020
- Subseries III: Herald American, 1959-2009
- Subseries IV: The Bulletin, April 9, 1970-September 8, 1982
- Subseries V: The Compton Bulletin, 1973-2005
- Subseries VI: Miscellaneous Newspaper Publications and Clippings, 1959-2020
- Series VI: Ballots, 1962; May 6, 1969
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Newspapers
Compton (Calif.)
Periodicals
African American periodicals
Civil rights
Social justice
Los Angeles (Calif.)
Politics
Los Angeles Times (Firm)
Jet Magazine
Ebony Magazine
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The Crisis (magazine)