The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Reno-Sparks Branch

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909 and is the largest civil rights organization in the United States. Membership is open to everyone whatever their race, color, faith, or national origin. The NAACP goal is to eliminate racial discrimination and segregation, working through the courts and Congress. The NAACP, Reno-Sparks Branch, was established in 1945 by Alice L. and Alfred O. Smith. Its jurisdiction covered most of northern Nevada, with another NAACP branch located in Las Vegas. The Reno organization was also affiliated with the Pacific Coast Region of the NAACP.

Another organization worked parallel and in conjunction with the Reno-Sparks NAACP. The Society to Underwrite Racial Equality (SURE) was headquartered in Reno with jurisdiction over the state of Nevada. SURE believed that discrimination based upon prejudice should be abolished and that every person should be accepted on individual merit. To that end, members of SURE dedicated themselves to arousing public concern regarding moral responsibility, enlisting the cooperation of community leaders and elected officials to their cause, proposing and supporting legislation to protect human rights, and investigating conditions adverse to racial equality. SURE seems to have been active from 1959-1961; many of the members of SURE were active in the NAACP and vice versa.

Scope and Content

The records of the NAACP, Reno-Sparks Branch, were donated to the University Library in about 1963 by Russell G. Benedict. There are no restrictions on use of the collection.

The collection dates from 1951-1965 and consists of one cubic feet of records, plus a few photographs which were transferred to the Special Collections photographic archives as collection P88-31.

The collection consists of the records of three organizations: the NAACP, Reno-Sparks Branch; the Society to Underwrite Racial Equality; and the NAACP (national and regional). Records related to this collection may also be found in the papers of Alice L. Smith, manuscript collection number 93-10, in the Special Collections Department.

The records of the Reno-Sparks Branch includes typical administrative records such as minutes, financial documents, and membership rolls. In addition the series documents the status of racial discrimination in the Reno-Sparks area through the varied surveys and reports on housing, education, public dining and sleeping accommodations, and enfranchisement. One file is of special interest, as it documents the Mary Rucker case, in which Miss Rucker was asked by security at the Primadonna Club to leave because "her kind" was not wanted in that club. There are also some reports from the Nevada Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, documenting civil rights violations and discrimination in Nevada. The clipping files also constitute a substantial source of information on civil rights in Reno and Sparks.

Just as the activities of SURE paralleled those of the NAACP, so too, did their records. There are some minutes and a set of bylaws and constitution (unfortunately, undated), as well as a substantial number of public accommodation survey forms and report. SURE sponsored a several rallies and meetings in 1960 and 1961, which are chronicled through letters and flyers in Series II, and clippings in Series I.

Series III, the national material from NAACP, also documents west coast civil rights concerns through annual reports of the West Coast Region. In addition, this series contains general material about the civil rights movement and the efforts to end discrimination throughout the U.S.

Processed by: Susan Searcy
Date: January 8, 1999

The papers of the NAACP Reno-Sparks Branch have been arranged in the following series:

1. NAACP Reno-Sparks Administrative Records
2. SURE Records
3. NAACP National Materials

Series I. NAACP Reno-Sparks Branch Administrative Records. 1951-1964.   .5 cu. ft.

This series contains minutes; resolutions; financial documents; membership information; reports from the Nevada Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission; surveys and statistics on education, public accommodations, housing, and enfranchisement in northern Nevada; Mary Rucker case letters; and clippings.

Materials are arranged by function and chronologically within each file.

Box 1

I/1	Minutes and reports. 1958-1963; n.d.
I/2	Treasurer's reports. 1959-1962.
I/3	Treasurer's ledger, 1957-1959; membership roll, 1960.
I/4	Correspondence. 1951-19063; n.d.
I/5	Membership rolls and correspondence. 1956-1962; n.d.
I/6	Newsletters. 1960-1963.
I/7	News releases. 1960; 1962.
I/8-9	Nevada Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Reports.
I/8	Survey forms, minutes. 1959-1960.
I/9	Public Accommodations Report, Sept. 8, 1959. Report, Mar. 1963.
I/10	Resolutions of support from civic organizations. 1960-1961; n.d.
I/11	Programs and flyers. 1960-1964.
I/12	Biographical sketches of William Bailey (1960) and Nathaniel S. Colley (n.d.).
I/13	Complaint forms [for failure to receive service because of race]. 1961-1962.
I/14	Survey of restaurants and drug stores. 1954 Survey of motels. 1960.
I/15	"Population Shifts in Nevada by Race and Year, 1930-1970." Compiled by Hazel Erskine. 1963.
I/16	Voting and election statistics for Nevada. 1960; n.d.
I/17	Reno education statistics. 1960-1962.
I/18	Reno housing statistics. 1958; n.d.
I/19	Reno service clubs listing. n.d.
I/20	Mary Rucker discrimination incident. 1960.
I/21	Scrapbook of clippings. 1954-1959.
I/22	Clippings.
I/23	Bibliography.
I/24	Miscellaneous: certificate, reminder to vote.

Series II. Society to Underwrite Racial Equality Records. 1959-1961.   .25 cu. ft.

Included in this series are minutes, bylaws and constitution, correspondence, newsletters, civil rights rally flyers, and public accommodations reports and surveys. Arranged by type of material and then chronologically within each folder.

Box 1

II/1	Minutes, resolution. 1960-1961.
II/2	Constitution and bylaws. n.d.
II/3	Correspondence. 1959-1961.
II/4	Bulletin [newsletter]. 1961.
II/5	Public accommodations reports and surveys. 1961.
II/6	Civil rights rally. Aug. 24, 1960.
II/7	Rallies and meetings. 1961.
II/8	Russell G. Benedict speech at First Methodist Church. Feb. 19, 1961.
II/9	Resolutions in support of civil rights from community organizations. 1961.
II/10	Nevada Legislature. n.d.

Series III. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. National Materials. 1952-1965.   .25 cu. ft.

This series contains general materials and correspondence issued or published by the NAACP, and reports from the West Coast Region of the NAACP, of which the Reno-Sparks Branch was a member.

Box 1

III/1	NAACP constitution. 1957.
III/2	West Coast Region annual reports. 1956-1960.
III/3-6	General information from NAACP and West Coast Region. 1952-1963.
III/7	Clippings. 1959-1962.
III/8-10	Brochures and flyers.

Manuscripts | Special Collections

Please direct questions to Jacquelyn Sundstrand
Updated October 27, 2008