CURRY, CONSTANCE, 1933-
Constance W. Curry papers, 1951-2002

Restrictions on Access

Access to processed born digital materials is only available in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (the Rose Library). Use of the original digital media is restricted.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

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

Source

Gift of Constance Curry, 1998 with subsequent additions.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Constance W. Curry papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Processing

Processed by Anne Thomason, January 1999.

Born digital materials processed, arranged, and described by Brenna Edwards, 2020. Born digital materials include files taken from one 3.5" floppy disk. For information as to how these materials were processed, see the processing note in the description of series 1, Civil rights activities.

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Biographical Note

Constance W. Curry grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina and graduated from Greensboro High School in 1951. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Agnes Scott College (1955) and held a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Bordeaux, France, during 1955-1956. She studied political science at Columbia University and received the J.D. degree from Woodrow Wilson College of Law in 1984. For two years she served as National Field Representative of the Collegiate Council for the United Nations. From 1960-1964 she was Director of the Southern Student Human Relations Project of the National Student Association and became the first white female on the executive committee of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). From 1964-1975, she was Southern Field Representative of the American Friends Service Committee. In 1975, she became Director of the Office of Human Services for the City of Atlanta. Her book, Silver Rights, won the 1996 Lillian Smith Award for non-fiction and recounts the story of one rural Mississippi family’s struggle for education and for civil rights during the 1960’s.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of the personal papers of Constance W. Curry from 1951-2002. The papers include materials relating to her civil rights activities, personal papers, and printed material. The first series includes minutes, correspondence, publicity and other records from civil rights and student organizations, particularly the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC), and National Student Association (NSA). The second series includes papers from her high school years, papers from her college courses at Agnes Scott College, Agnes Scott publications (including college newspapers), and a small amount of material concerning her work with the Atlanta city government and the Chamber of Commerce. Also included is a typed manuscript draft of her book Silver Rights. The third series consists of a large collection of newspaper clippings covering various aspects of the civil rights movement as well as publications from a variety of organizations concerned with social change and civil rights. The collection includes several photographs and broadsides, including posters for the campaign of John Buffington for mayor of West Point, Mississippi, the National Democratic Party of Alabama, and an early SNCC poster featuring Julian Bond. The fourth series contains a VHS copy of a documentary produced by Constance W. Curry entitled, The Intolerable Burden.

Arrangement Note

Organized into five series: (1) Civil rights activities, (2) Personal papers, (3) Printed material, (4) Audiovisual material, and (5) Unprocessed additions.