Creator: McSurely, Alan, 1936-
Collection number: 4928
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Abstract: Lawyer Alan McSurely of Chapel Hill, N.C., was born in 1936 in Dayton, Ohio, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the 1960s and 1970s, he and his wife, Margaret McSurely, worked with a number of organizations endeavoring to eliminate poverty, bring about an end to segregation, and organize workers in labor disputes. Correspondence, legal documents, photographs, and publications pertaining to Alan and Margaret McSurely’s work with civil rights and labor organizations in the 1960s and 1970s. Among these groups were the Southern Conference Educational Fund, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (formerly known as the Student National Coordinating Committee), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).Included are numerous documents concerning the McSurelys’ 1967 arrest for sedition in Kentucky; their 1969 arrest for contempt of Congress; and their legal battles and appeals, which continued until the 1980s. The McSurelys were ultimately freed in both arrests and won a damage suit in 1983 against those who had arrested them. Also included are photocopies of materials relating to Drew Pearson that the McSurelys collected for the relevance to their own legal battles.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: The collection is comprised of correspondence, legal documents, photographs, and publications pertaining to Alan McSurely’s and Margaret McSurely’s work with civil rights and labor organizations in the 1960s and 1970s. Among these groups were the Southern Conference Educational Fund, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (formerly known as the Student National Coordinating Committee), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
Of particular note is Series 3, which contains newletters and related publications from various political and labor organizations the McSurely’s were involved with, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the National Anti-Klan Network.