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Finding Aid to the San Francisco Civic Unity Committee Minutes, Nov. 9, 1944-April 24, 1946, SFH 742
SFH 742  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Provenance
  • Processing Information
  • Historical Note
  • Scope and Contents
  • Arrangement

  • Title: San Francisco Civic Unity Committee Minutes
    Identifier/Call Number: SFH 742
    Date (inclusive): Nov. 9, 1944-April 24, 1946
    Creator: San Francisco (Calif.). Civic Unity Committee
    Physical Description: 3 folders
    Contributing Institution: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
    100 Larkin Street
    San Francisco, CA 94102
    sfhistory@sfpl.org
    Abstract: Minutes of committee to study trends in racial prejudice and to make recommendations for improvements.
    Physical Location: The collection is stored on site.
    Language of Material: Minutes are in English.

    Access

    The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours.

    Conditions Governing Use

    All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], San Francisco Civic Unity Committee Minutes, (SFH 742), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

    Provenance

    Received by library from mayor's office in 1995.

    Processing Information

    Processed by Tami J. Suzuki in 2023.

    Historical Note

    In the fall of 1944, Mayor Roger D. Lapham appointed a civic unity committee of sixteen members to advise the mayor in "smoothing out any dissensions which might arise because of racial tensions." Maurice Harrison served as chairperson. The volunteers met regularly in 1944 but not much in 1946. The committee went out of existence with the end of Lapham's term, at the end of 1947.

    Scope and Contents

    Minutes of committee to study trends in racial prejudice and to make recommendations for improvements. The minutes include notes on letters received and discussed by the committee but not the letters themselves.
    At the first meeting (Nov. 9, 1944), the committee discussed the "Hunters Point situation," regarding the police department, Housing Authority, and African American and white residents and workers. Subsequent topics included a charge by the American Civil Liberties Union against Southern Pacific Railway of discriminating against African Americans in selling train reservations (Aug. 8, 1945); the (1943) resignation of Alice Griffith from the Housing Authority (Sept. 12, 1945); and problems confronting African American (then called Negro) physicians and surgeons and patients requiring hospitaliation (April 24, 1946).

    Arrangement

    The minutes are arranged chronologically.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    San Francisco (Calif.) -- Civic Unity Committee.
    Civil rights -- California -- San Francisco.
    Discrimination -- California -- San Francisco .
    Discrimination in municipal services -- California -- San Francisco.
    Human rights -- California -- San Francisco.