BROWNING, JOAN C.
Joan C. Browning papers, 1961-2006

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Additional Physical Form

Selected items from this collection are available digitally to researchers in the Emory Digital Collections repository.

Source

Gift of Joan Browning, 1998. Additions were donated by Browning in 2013 and 2014.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Joan C. Browning papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Appraisal Note

Acquired by Curator of African American Collections, Randall Burkett, as part of the Rose Library's holdings in African American culture and history, Georgia history, and Civil Rights movements.

Processing

Processed by Anne Thompson, 1999.

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Biographical Note

Joan C. Browning grew up in rural South Georgia, graduated from Lumber City High School, and was the first in her family to attend college. She started college in 1960 at Georgia State College for Women (Milledgeville, Ga.) and was asked to leave after worshipping at a black church. She moved to Atlanta in 1961 and became involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. On December 10, 1961, Browning was among eight Freedom Riders who traveled on a segregated Georgia Central Railroad from Atlanta to Albany, Georgia. Upon their arrival in Albany, the Freedom Riders were arrested, incarcerated, and eventually charged with unlawful assembly.

She continued to work in human relations and anti-poverty programs throughout the 1960s and helped organize the Federation of Southern Cooperatives. Browning eventually earned her Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia State College and became a free-lance writer.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of the papers of Joan C. Browning from 1961-2006. The papers include correspondence, writings, and other materials pertaining mostly to her involvement as a Freedom Rider in the Albany Movement in Georgia. The Albany Movement/Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee materials consist of Browning’s letters from jail in Albany, Georgia, to her friend, Faye Powell, who resided in Atlanta. Browning writes about jail conditions, the importance of non-violent protest, the police officers in charge, her hunger strike, and the other individuals who were arrested. Also available are several letters or notes written by her fellow civil rights workers, mainly James Forman, Lenora Taitt, and Per W. Laursen, who were incarcerated with her. A large number of newspaper articles describing the events in Albany are included, on some of which Browning has written comments. There are also newsletters and news releases regarding the Albany Movement, a copy of Browning's Grand Jury arrest record, and two letters from her lawyer, C.B. King, of Albany, Georgia. A small notebook contains mainly notes she took while attending civil rights meetings and discussion groups from 1961-1962. Among these are notes she took at a town meeting at Atlanta University held on October 12, 1961 at which Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a talk. King's original autograph, which was secured by Ms. Browning on the evening of the talk, is on a separate page.

The incoming correspondence contains letters from various friends, including several from Jim McManus who edited The Spokesman, journal of the inmates of Georgia State prison. There are a few letters concerning other aspects of the civil rights movement, including a letter from Browning to Lester Maddox concerning a black woman who no longer wanted to be an American due to racism.

Writings by Joan Browning include various published articles and copies of her columns, the “Reader’s Corner” and “History Lesson.” Other materials include awards and certificates she received from 1956-1969, a signed Harry Belafonte program, and a few other printed items.

Unprocessed additions to the collection consist mainly of subject files and printed material documenting Browning's life and work in West Virginia. Included are files relating to her involvement with the Greenbrier County Commission on Aging and Greenbrier County school districts; files relating to her campaign for the West Virginia House of Delegates; and files that contain her writings. Also present are nine files consisting of recordings and transcripts of interviews with civil rights figures such as Constance Curry and Faye Powell, among others.

Arrangement Note

Arranged by record type.