Guide to Federal Records

Records of the United States Commission on Civil Rights [USCCR]


(Record Group 453)
1957-78

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 453.1 Administrative History
  • 453.2 General Records 1957-73
    • 453.2.1 Records of the Office of Staff Director
    • 453.2.2 Records of the Public Affairs Unit
  • 453.3 Records of the Office of Research 1960-78
  • 453.4 Sound Recordings (General)
  • 453.5 Machine-Readable Records (General)

453.1 Administrative History

Established: The Commission on Civil Rights was first established as an independent agency in the Executive Branch by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, then reestablished as the United States Commission on Civil Rights by the Civil Rights Commission Amendments Act of 1994 (108 Stat. 4338), October 25, 1994.

Predecessor Agencies:

  • Commission on Civil Rights (1957-94)

Functions: Holds public hearings and collects and studies information on discrimination or denials of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin; and on discrimination or denials of equal protection in the administration of justice.

Finding Aids: Preliminary Inventory in National Archives microfiche edition of preliminary inventories.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Commission on Civil Rights in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
Records of District Courts of the United States, RG 21.
General Records of the Department of Justice, RG 60.
General Records of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, RG 207.
Records of the President's Committee on Equal Opportunity in Housing (in Johnson Library), the President's Committee on Equal Opportunity in the Armed Forces (in Johnson Library), and the President's Committee on Urban Housing (in Johnson Library) in RG 220, Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards.
Records of the Committee on Fair Employment Practice, RG 228.
General Records of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, RG 235.

Top of Page

453.2 General Records
1957-73

History: Original CCR established, for a limited term, by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (71 Stat. 634), September 9, 1957, subsequently extended by amendment. Superseded by a new CCR, established by the United States Commission on Civil Rights Act of 1983 (97 Stat. 1301), November 10, 1983. Name of act changed to Commission on Civil Rights Act of 1983 (to accord with name by which CCR was known, 1983-94); and CCR redesignated USCCR, by the Civil Rights Commission Amendments Act of 1994. See 453.1.

Top of Page

453.2.1 Records of the Office of Staff Director

Textual Records: Investigative case files of alleged discriminatory conduct in AL, FL, NC, TN, SC, and MS ("Black Belt Survey"), 1959-60. Hearing files of LA and AL voting rights cases, 1959-61. Investigative case files of alleged discriminatory acts by state agencies with police powers ("Administration of Justice Case Files"), 1958-59. Unprocessed complaints considered not to have merit, and letters received commenting on the CCR's program objectives, 1957-62. Records of state advisory committees, 1959-61, including the "Six City Survey," a study of the employment practices of four federal agencies (Internal Revenue Service, General Services Administration, Veterans Administration, and Federal Housing Administration) in Chicago, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Washington, and of employment practices of the private concerns receiving funds from these agencies. Surveys of the administrative organization of federal courts to determine the number of minority employees at federal penitentiaries and in the court system, 1961. Junior Village Committee report on public housing in Washington, DC, 1959. Urban League survey of black unemployment in 50 cities, 1961.

Sound Recordings: Hearings on local discrimination issues in education, employment, and housing, held at the following locations: Memphis, TN, n.d.; Jackson, MS, February 11- 19, 1965; Boston, MA, September 1966; Rochester, NY, September 16-17, 1966; Cleveland, OH, April 2-7, 1967; San Francisco, CA, May 1-4, 1967; Oakland, CA, May 4-6, 1967; Montgomery, AL, April 27-May 2, 1968; San Antonio, TX, December 11-14, 1968; St. Louis, MO, January 14-17, 1970; Baltimore, MD, August 17-19, 1970; Washington, DC, June 14-17, 1971; Cairo, IL, March 23-25, 1972; and Gallup, NM, October 22-24, 1973 (285 items). See Also 453.4.

Top of Page

453.2.2 Records of the Public Affairs Unit

Sound Recordings: CCR press conference on discrimination in housing, October 4, 1961 (1 item). "UPI News Film" interview with W.L. Taylor on busing to achieve school desegregation, February 20, 1967 (1 item). "Eye on St. Louis" interview with Commissioner Frankie Muse Freeman, February 26, 1967 (1 item). "Florida Forum" interview with David Cohen on busing, segregation, and housing, March 19, 1967 (1 item). See ALSO 453.4.

Top of Page

453.3 Records of the Office of Research
1960-78

Machine-Readable Records: Population census data, 1960 (1 data set), with supporting documentation. Social indicators of equality for minorities and women, 1960-78 (1 data set), with supporting documentation. Population census 5 and 15 percent sample data, 1970 (1 data set), with supporting documentation. Data on persons with Spanish and Puerto Rican surnames, extracted from population census, 1970 (4 data sets), with supporting documentation. Income and education survey data, 1976 (1 data set), with supporting documentation. National Assessment of Desegregation survey of school desegregation since 1966, evaluating 996 school districts, each with a total enrollment exceeding 1,500 and a minority enrollment of 5 percent, 1976 (1 data set), with supporting documentation.

Top of Page

453.4 Sound Recordings (General)

See Under 453.2.1 and 453.2.2.

Top of Page

453.5 Machine-Readable Records (General)

See Under 453.3.


Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.

Ordering information

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.


Top of Page

Guide to Federal Records >

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272