Gordon Blaine Hancock papers, 1928-1970

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Summary

Creator:
Hancock, Gordon Blaine, 1884-1970
Extent:
0.8 Linear Feet
525 Items
Language:
English.
Collection ID:
RL.00502

Background

Scope and content:

The papers of Gordon Blaine Hancock, clergyman, journalist, educator, and civil rights spokesman, span the years 1928-1970, and include five series: Correspondence; Southern Regional Council; Clippings/Writings; Miscellany; and Photographs. The collection relates primarily to Hancock's efforts to increase opportunities for Blacks.

Among those efforts was a course he organized on race relations at Virginia Union University in 1922, which is believed to have been the first course of its kind in America. In the 1930's and 1940's, Hancock became an outspoken leader in the struggle for racial equality, speaking at over 40 black and white colleges and universities. He launched a one-man crusade under his "double-duty dollar" philosophy in 1933, contending that blacks should create an economy within their own communities, thereby providing jobs and better economic opportunities. In 1942, with P. B. Young, editor of the Norfolk Journal and Guide and black historian Luther P. Jackson of Virginia State College, he helped organize the Southern Conference on Race Relations. The conference was held in Durham, N.C., Oct. 10, 1942, and brought together black leaders from across the South. As a result of the conference, the group issued the "Durham Manifesto" in which they set forth the "articles of cooperation." The articles stated what blacks wanted and expected from the post war South and from the nation in the areas of political and civil rights, employment, education, agriculture, military service, and social welfare and health.

The Southern Regional Council series provides several references to this conference and to two that followed in Atlanta, Ga. and Richmond, Va. in 1943. Included is information about the conferences' early leaders and printed information issued as a result of the conferences. The series also contains correspondence and background information about the origins of the Council, and its relationship to the conferences, and to its predecessor organization, the Commission on Interracial Cooperation. Correspondents include P. B. Young, James E. Shepard, Benjamin E. Mays, Guy B. Johnson, Howard W. Odum, Jessie Daniel Ames, and Virginius Dabney.

The Writings/Clippings Series forms the bulk of the collection and consists primarily of photocopied newsclippings from Hancock's weekly syndicated news column "Between the Lines," which he wrote for the Associated Negro Press from 1928 to 1965. The column appeared in 114 black newspapers throughout the United States. The articles chiefly articulate the concerns of blacks in American society in the areas of politics, desegregation, economics, and black leadership, though a few relate to broader social and political issues. This series also contains poems, songs, and music composed by Hancock.

The few letters in the Correspondence Series, primarily relate to voting registration irregularities in Northampton County, N.C., and to Hancock's efforts to further social and economic justice for blacks.

The Miscellany Series includes writings and newsclippings about Hancock, a few written after his death; a statement reciting the history of the Richmond Urban League; a biographical sketch of P. B. Young; news columns by Luther P. Jackson; a few of Hancock's sermons and sermon notes; information relating to the history of Moore Street Baptist Church, where Hancock served as minister (1925-1963); and a few other papers. The Photograph series consists chiefly of two packets of souvenir photographs from Versailles, Vienna, and Berlin.

Biographical / historical:
Chronology
Date Event
1884, June 23
Born, Ninety-Six, South Carolina.
1911
A.B., Benedict College, Columbia, S.C.
1911
Married Florence Marie Dickson.
1912
B.D., Benedict College, Columbia, S.C.
1912-1918
Principal, Seneca Institute, Seneca, S.C.
1919
A.B., Colgate University.
1921
M.A., Harvard University.
1921-1952
Professor of economics and sociology Virginia Union University, Richmond, Va.
1925-1963
Pastor, Moore Street Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
1928-1965
Wrote syndicated weekly column for Associated Negro Press, "Between the Lines."
1931
Organized the Torrance School of Race Relations at Virginia Union University.
1942
Helped organize the Southern Conference on Race Relations, held in Durham, N.C.
1944
Helped found the Southern Regional Council.
1952
LL.D., Benedict College, Columbia, S.C.
1962
LL.D., Virginia Union University.
1970, July 24
Died, Richmond, Va.
Acquisition information:
The papers of Gordon Blaine Hancock, clergyman, educator, journalist, and civil rights spokesman, of Richmond, Va., were acquired by the Rubenstein Library through a gift in 1986.
Processing information:

Processed by: Janie Morris

Completed Sept. 16, 1987

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The status of copyright interests in these papers is unknown. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], The Papers of Gordon Blaine Hancock, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.