Neighborhood Adult Participation Project records, 1962-1976, undated

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Summary

Title:
Neighborhood Adult Participation Project records
Dates:
1962-1976, undated
Creators:
Jones, Opal C., (Opal Christopher) and Neighborhood Adult Participation Project (Los Angeles, Calif.).
Abstract:
The Neighborhood Adult Participation Project (NAPP) records consist of correspondence, reports, and training materials, 1962-1976 and undated, that document the founding and activities of this Office of Economic Opportunity-funded project. Founded in April 1965, the project was initially funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity and originally overseen by the Los Angeles Economic and Youth Opportunities Agency; by 1976 it was the largest and oldest poverty program in Los Angeles County. NAPP began operations as a Community Action Program funded under Title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, with the primary purpose of providing training and employment opportunities for adults in ten poverty areas identified by the Los Angeles Welfare Planning Council. The bulk of the collection consists of booklets and manuals written by executive director Opal C. Jones that were used as orientation and training materials for NAPP employees. In addition to the training activities of NAPP, the records document some of the administrative and personnel difficulties that plagued the organization in its early years.
Extent:
1.25 Linear feet 4 boxes
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Neighborhood Adult Participation Project records, Collection no. 0488, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Background

Scope and content:

The Neighborhood Adult Participation Project (NAPP) records consist of correspondence, reports, and training materials, 1962-1976 and undated, that document the founding and activities of this Office of Economic Opportunity-funded project. The bulk of the collection consists of booklets and manuals written by executive director Opal C. Jones that were used as orientation and training materials for NAPP employees. In addition to the training activities of NAPP, the records document, in forms, memorandums, and reports, some of the dissatisfaction felt by the NAPP communities with the past performance of professional social workers; the organizational problems that this project, dispersed over a dozen or more "outposts" across the county, experienced; and the personnel difficulties it encountered, including conflicts between Mexican American and African American groups. Of particular interest is the file of correspondence and memorandums that document the termination of the Boyle Heights Outpost director, Gabriel Yanez.

Biographical / historical:

The Neighborhood Adult Participation Project (NAPP) was founded in April 1965 at the Avalon Center in Watts; Opal C. Jones was the project's first executive director. Initially funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity and originally overseen by the Los Angeles Economic and Youth Opportunities Agency, NAPP had become by 1976 the largest and oldest poverty program in Los Angeles County, delivering services to over 50,000 residents each year at 14 community centers. NAPP began operations as a Community Action Program funded under Title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, with the primary purpose of providing training and employment opportunities for adults in ten poverty areas identified by the Los Angeles Welfare Planning Council. The project was one of the first and most ambitious "War On Poverty" programs in Los Angeles County. Apart from its employment component, NAPP was designed to conform with the federal edict of "maximum feasible participation" of the poor themselves by using thousands of previously unemployed "indigenous neighborhood residents," called NAPP aides, as trainee community workers in an effort to bootstrap up from poverty both aides and the communities they served.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Sue Luftschein
Date Prepared:
2011 August
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2011-09-26T03:40-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

The use of archival materials for on-site research does not constitute permission from the California Social Welfare Archives to publish them. Copyright has not been assigned to the California Social Welfare Archives, and the researcher is instructed to obtain permission to quote from or publish manuscripts in the CSWA's collections from the copyright holder.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Neighborhood Adult Participation Project records, Collection no. 0488, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Location of this collection:
Special Collections
Doheny Memorial Library, Room 209
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0411, US
Contact:
(213) 740-5900
specol@usc.edu
Website