Series III. NCCJ outreach and program file, 1946-1988 .

Containers:

Box 18-44

Extent:

Extent: 27 boxes.

Scope and content:

Outreach and program files, 1946-1988, reflect the NCCJ's focus on educational efforts rather than direct activism. In general, materials include program syllabi and agendas, planning materials, annual and program reports of the national office and various regional offices, and manuals articulating policies and describing past programs. Several of the programs with which Mellette was more directly involved are represented in greater volume than others. These include Rearing Children of Good Will, Police-Community Relations, various youth programs, and NCCJ's signature program, Brotherhood Week.

Perhaps the most visible and far-reaching of the NCCJ's efforts, Brotherhood Week was designed to promote the organization's guiding ideal of the "brotherhood of mankind under the fatherhood of God." Typically falling during the week of George Washington's birthday, the program consisted of media promotions in radio, television, newspapers, and movie theater newsreels; lectures, the showing of films, panel discussions, and other programs at schools and colleges, places of worship, and community organization meetings; billboards; high-profile chairpersons; mayoral, gubernatorial, and presidential proclamations; awards banquets; concerts; and other events. Observances were organized at both the local and national level.

Brotherhood Week materials gathered here include agendas; brochures and other promotional literature; committee reports; correspondence; guides for speakers; invitations and programs; invoices; photographs; posters; press kits with suggested editorials, public service announcement scripts, etc.; press releases; resource lists; speech transcripts; and other items. Included are copies of Brotherhood Week addresses, statements, and proclamations made by William Tuck, Harry Truman, Douglas MacArthur, John S. Battle, Dwight Eisenhower, Thomas B. Stanley, John F. Kennedy, J. Lindsay Almond, Albertis Harrison, Lyndon Johnson, Mills Godwin, Linwood Holton, and Brooks Hays, among others. Also included is an audio recording of several brief radio spots for the 1965 observance of Brotherhood Week, one of which features the voice of Mitch Miller.

Also included in this series are papers relating to various awards bestowed by the NCCJ. The accompanying dinner events served as one of the main sources of funds to keep the organization in operation. Peter Mellette is credited with founding the National Brotherhood Citation Dinner in Richmond in 1963, and later bringing it to other cities around the state.

Researchers should also consult Series I, as much of the correspondence filed there deals with NCCJ programs.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Access and use

Contents