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Finding Aid to the Cottrell Laurence Dellums Papers, 1920-1971
BANC MSS 72/132 c
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Cottrell Laurence Dellums papers
Date (inclusive): 1920-1971
Collection Number: BANC MSS 72/132 c
Creator:
Dellums, C.L. (Cottrell Laurence)
Extent:
43 cartons, 15 boxes, 1 oversize-folder
59.80 linear feet
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Cottrell Laurence Dellums Papers, BANC MSS 72/132 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley
Partial collection is available on microfilm: Notebook (May 5, 1936-January 11, 1944) BANC FILM 2712.
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters papers, BANC MSS C-A 393.
C.L. Dellums oral history, International President of The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and civil rights leader, BANC
MSS 74/127 c.
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters work card: Oakland, Calif., 1948, BANC MSS 2011/86.
Cottrell Laurence Dellums Papers, MSS 14, African American Museum and Library of Oakland, 5606 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland,
Ca 94608.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
Dellums, C.L. (Cottrell Laurence) - Archives
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
California State. Fair Employment Practice Commission
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Pullman Company
United States. Committee on Fair Employment Practice
African American labor union members - History
African Americans - California - Oakland
African Americans - Civil rights
Discrimination in employment - United States - History
Porters - Labor unions - United States - History
Porters - United States
Railroads - Employees - Labor unions - Pacific Coast (U.S.)
The Cottrell Laurence Dellums papers were given to The Bancroft Library by C.L. Dellums on February 8, 1972.
No additions are expected.
Processed by Janice Otani in 2014.
Cottrell Laurence Dellums was born in Corsicana, Texas and moved to Oakland, California as a young man. He worked for the
Pullman Company as a sleeping car porter and observed the difficult working conditions and discrimination towards African
Americans on the job. He joined A. Philip Randolph who formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) and became a
union organizer and an International Vice President for the organization. Dellums became involved in the civil rights movement,
eventually serving as the Western Regional Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
and appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown to serve on the California Fair Employment Practice Commission. He participated
in working for the passage of the California Fair Employment Practice Act, the first anti-discriminatory law in the country,
and continued his involvement with racial discrimination cases in employment and housing. Dellums died in 1989 in Oakland,
where later the Oakland Amtrak Station was dedicated in his name. He was also the uncle of Ron Dellums, who represented Oakland
as Mayor and United States Congressman.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection mainly represents C.L. Dellums' years as an International Vice President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters (BSCP) and contains the organization's records, including correspondence, Executive Board meeting minutes, district
administrative papers, agreements with railroad companies, convention proceedings, financial reports, porters' grievance cases
and claims, membership information, publicity, and publications. There are also many materials from other organizations, institutions,
and agencies relating to Dellums' involvement as a civil rights activist and labor leader. Of note are the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), California Fair Employment Practice Commission, The Pullman Company, and Southern
Pacific Railroad Company. There are a few personal papers, including correspondence with family and personal property papers.