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ODU Community Collections
3000 Perry LibraryJan Halecki
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[Identification of item], Box [insert number], Folder [insert number and title], Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Mrs. H. M. Silverman
Gift of Mrs. H.M. Silverman, president of the organization from 1955 to 1957. Accession #A82-13
On April 17, 1945, eight black and eleven white women met in the vestry room of Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk. Mrs. Vivian Carter Mason had invited these women in order to consider forming an interracial committee. All the women present were active in civic organizations, and came from different religious backgrounds.
At that first meeting it was decided that such an interracial group could indeed be beneficial to Norfolk. Furthermore, they decided that their organization should be autonomous - not affiliated with any other organization, but working in cooperation with them.
Mrs. Mason was appointed temporary chairman and the group held meetings in May, June, and September. The first two meetings were devoted to establishing a constitution and coming up with a name. By December, there were 86 members.
Early in 1946, the WCIC was becoming active in the public school system, and worked with the public libraries and the Boy Scouts to notify the public of their humanitarian goals. These goals were: to improve city facilities for education, recreation, employment, and health; improve interracial attitudes; to seek equality of opportunity for everyone; and to work towards full citizenship privileges for all
The WCIC implemented these goals by calling attention to the need for more blacks in civic occupations; worked with health organizations in providing testing for diseases and public health information; held public meetings and other activities with nationally known speakers to advance the ideas of integration; and met with city officials concerning proper housing for the poor. For the first two years the group met in different churches and kept their files and printed materials in the homes of its officers and chairmen. Finally the WCIC was able to get space for an office and meetings at the YWCA. This lasted for several years.
As stress in Norfolk over the desegregation of public schools reached a climax, the WCIC found itself pitted against many opponents of desegregation. It became more difficult to find meeting places open to such a group. Also, when they did find a place, they often could not advertise their meeting because of criticism and possible censure it would draw towards those who allowed such a meeting to take place at their establishment. Consequently, for a period of time, the WCIC worked more "behind the scenes" than in the public eye. However the effectiveness of the group endured and through their studies and reports of other cities with integrated school systems, the group helped Norfolk overcome the crisis in 1958 when the public high schools were shut down.
Note written by Jan Halecki
The Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation (WCIC) was an organization of white and black women devoted to fostering racial harmony. The records include the organization's constitution, minutes of meetings, correspondence, speeches, annual reports, member lists, booklets, pamphlets, programs, invitations, newspaper clippings and published articles. Of interest is a transcribed panel report titled, "How Norfolk Opened Her Schools," dated February 2, 1959, and Susan Slaughter's personal account of the "First Fifteen Years of WCIC." In addition, there is material relating to the inception and early history of the Human Relations Council, which superseded the WCIC.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 1, Annual Reports Constitution Rules Etc., 1945-1959, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 2, Annual Reports Commission on Community Relations, 1963 September 4-1964 June 22, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 3, Board Members and Other Lists, undated, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 4, Booklets and Pamphlets WCIC and Virginia Council, 1963-1964, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 5, Board Minutes, 1960 September 14-1964 April 19, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 6, Correspondence Clippings to Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1964 March 14, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 7, Correspondence to and from Sen. Hubert Humphrey, 1964 June 1, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 8, Correspondence Concerning Printed Materials, 1962 February 15, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 9, Correspondence and Potential Speakers, 1951-1952, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 10, Correspondence and Potential Speakers, 1952-1955, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 11, Miscellaneous Correspondence, undated, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 12, Innovations, undated, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 13, Magazine Articles, undated, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 14, Newspaper Clippings, 1954 December-1958 November, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 15, Newspaper Clippings, 1959 January 1-20, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 16, Newspaper Clippings, 1959 January 2-30, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 1, Newspaper Clippings, 1959 January 30-1959 February 21, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 2, Newspaper Clippings, undated, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 3, Norfolk Human Relations Council, 1964 September, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 4, Norfolk Story: "How Norfolk Opened Her Schools", 1954 February 2, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 5, Photographs, undated, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 6, Programs and Miscellaneous Events, undated, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 7, American Red Cross Certificate, 1939 March, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 8, Speeches, undated, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 9, YWCA Material, 1961 July 7, Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.