W. Burghardt Turner Collection
Manuscript Collection 260

Description:
Papers, 1963-1982.
30.7 cubic ft.
Educator, civil rights and community activist in Suffolk County, N.Y.
Correspondence, minutes, reports, budgets, clippings and other papers chiefly from Turner's service on the Suffolk County, N.Y., Human Relations Commission and his terms as chairman; together with papers relating to his work with civil rights organizations and the United Fund of Long Island, subject files on police brutality and civil rights legislation, and personal papers, including material relating to his appointment and work as a professor of history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Introduction

The W. Burghardt Turner Papers deal with an individual who became extensively involved with the civil rights movement at the height of its national concern during the 1960's and 1970's. This collection is significant due to Mr. Turner's service and activity on many governmental and institutional levels.

W. Burghardt Turner was born in Jamaica, N.Y., in 1915. He was educated in Kentucky and New York City, where he also engaged in extensive post-graduate study. His wife, Joyce (née Moore) Turner, was also actively involved in the civil rights movement, specifically the Educational Opportunity Commission during the 1960's.

As an educator, Mr. Turner taught in the New York City and Suffolk County high schools. In 1965 he accepted a position as Assistant Professor of History at Southampton College, Long Island, N.Y. In 1968 he left Southampton College for a position at the State University of New York at Stony Brook as an Associate Professor of History. It was during his career at Stony Brook that the majority of his civil rights activities developed. Because of his academic responsibilities at the university, however, he eventually had to request not to be reconsidered for another reappointment as Chairman of the Suffolk County Human Relations Commission (SCHRC) in 1971, and the following year had to resign as both Vice-President and Executive Committee member of the United Fund of Long Island.

The earlier series in this collection contain civil rights legislation, civil rights organizations, and police brutality information. These topics appear to have affected Mr. Turner during his tenure as President of the Patchogue Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and a member of the Long Island Coordinating Committee on Civil Rights. The civil rights legislation was of great concern to him as manifested by the correspondence and letters to congressmen.

Besides this national concern for action he maintained a relationship with civil rights organizations on the local level. Workshops dealing with these topics in Suffolk County, public demonstrations, coordination of human relations groups, and association with immediate area communities is contained in the Civil Rights Organizations series. Another early series contains papers dealing with police brutality and abuse of power. This theme reoccurs its importance to him constantly from 1964-1976.

The United Fund of Long Island is the smaller of the two major series. In 1968 Mr. Turner accepted a position on the United Fund's Admissions and Allocations Committee. He remained on this committee until 1971. In 1969 he was appointed to the Board of Trustees, and a year later agreed to serve as a Vice-President. The following year, 1971, he was elected a member of the Executive Committee. It was in April, 1972, that he asked not to be reconsidered for his position as Vice-President and Executive Committee member. He did, however, remain as a member of the Board of Trustees.

The most substantial portion of this collection deals with W. Burghardt Turner's nearly ten year association and service on the SCHRC. His early involvement with the Commission was a Chairman of the Employment Committee. In 1970 he was appointed Chairman of the SCHRC, succeeding Ralph R. Watkins. During his service as chairman, varied and extensive problems were addressed. The desegregation of schools throughout Suffolk County and the issue of student rights was handled effectively. Labor problems in the public sphere were addressed, from the plight of the migrant worker in eastern Long Island to the desegregation of corporate and big business hiring practices. Fair housing for both the disadvantaged and the elderly also became an issue of concern for the Commission. One of Mr. Turner's most consistent efforts focuses on police brutality. Actions taken by the SCHRC on behalf of the victims of these alleged actions is substantial, as well as communication with both the Suffolk County Executive and Suffolk County Commissioner of Police.

In 1971 Mr. Turner found himself over-extended and asked County Executive H. Lee Dennison not to consider him for reappointment as Chairman of the SCHRC. This was due to Mr. Turner's own recognition of having to devote more time to his research and teaching at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

In 1974, W. Burghardt Turner once again returned to active involvement as a commissioner in the SCHRC and as co-chairman of the Employment Committee, and in 1976 he accepted the position as chairman of the Budget Committee. This most recent appointment as commissioner expired in 1978.

Box List

Box 1. Personal Papers. n.d., 1967-1971, 1973-1976.

Inter-Office memos, employee notices and records, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters and correspondence. This appears to have been Mr. Turner's chronological file.

  1. n.d., 1967-1968
  2. 1969 - January - April
  3. 1969 - May - June
  4. 1969 - July - December
  5. 1970 - January - April
  6. 1970 - May - June
  7. 1970 - July - September
  8. 1970 - October - December
  9. 1971 - January - April
  10. 1971 - May - June
  11. 1971 - August - September
  12. 1973
  13. 1974 - January - April
  14. 1974 - May - August
  15. 1974 - September - December
  16. 1975 - January - February
  17. 1975 - March - April
  18. 1975 - May - July
  19. 1975 - August - December
  20. 1976 - January - March
  21. 1976 - April - May
  22. 1976 - June - July
  23. 1976 - August - September
  24. 1976 - October - December

Box 2. Personal Papers. (Oversize of Box 1, f.2-24)

  1. 1969
  2. 1970-1973
  3. 1974 - January - July
  4. 1974 - August - December
  5. 1975
  6. 1976

Box 3. Personal Papers. (Oversize of Box 1, f.2-24)

  • 1. Civil Rights Legislation, 1963-1964. Government Documents, Letters and Correspondence.
  • 2. Civil Rights Organizations, 1963-1965. Government and Public Organizations Which Were Motivated by Church, School and Local Community Initiative.
  • 3. Police Brutality, 1960-1968. Pamphlets, Newspaper Clippings, Magazine Articles and a Speech Delivered by Mr. Turner on This Subject.
  • 4-5. Suffolk County Human Rights Commission
    • Education Committee, 1969-1973. Notices, Newspaper Clippings, Conference Programs, Federal and State Legislation and Local School District Letters Dealing With Student Rights. (See Also Box 4, f.7)
    • 6-10. Employment Committee, 1971-1975. Committee Papers, Corporate and Business Letters, Newspapers Clippings and Federal, State and Local Action. (See Also Box 4, f.8)
    • 11-18. Meetings: Agendas and Minutes, 1967-1971, 1973-1976.
    • 19. Newsletters, 1968-1969, 1974. (See Also Box 4, f.9)
    • 20-24. Reports, 1967-1971, 1974-1975. Reports of the Executive Director of the Commission Committees and Task Force Assignments. (See Also Box 4, f.10)
  • 25-31. United Fund of Long Island, 1968-1974

Box 4. Personal Papers.

  • 1-2. United Fund of Long Island, 1973-1974. Minutes, Reports, Rosters, Budgets, Audits, Letters, Correspondence and Newspaper Clippings. (See Also Box 4, f.11)
  • 3. Civil Rights Organizations. (Oversize of Box 3, f.2)
  • 4-6. Suffolk County Human Rights Commission
    • Budgets. Fiscal Years 1969-1978. Drafts of Budgets for the Above Years as well as Descriptions, Comparisons and Expansion of Previous Years.
    • 7. Education Committee. (Oversize of Box 3, f.4-5)
    • 8. Employment Committee. (Oversize of Box 3, f.6-10)
    • 9. Newsletters. (Oversize of Box 3, f.19)
    • 10. Reports. (Oversize of Box 3, f.20-24)
  • 11. United Fund of Long Island. (Oversize of Box 3, f.25-31; Box 4, f.1-2)

Box 5. Personal Papers.

  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - Complaints and Problems, 1980.
  • RI-TEC Committee
  • Brookhaven Laboratory - Minority Contracts Task Force
  • Regional Finance Study June 1984
  • Public Education in Suffolk County
  • Final Report on Equity
  • A Synopsis of Public Education Responses and Pupil Performance
  • Economic Opportunity Council September, October, November and December 1984
  • Day Care Services, Inc.

Box 6. Personal Papers.

  • Economic Opportunity Council Meeting April 17, 1986
  • Economic Opportunity Council January - December 1986

Box 7. Personal Papers.

  • Tyrell S. Wilson Scholarship
  • Brookhaven National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 1979-1981
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Education Committee
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Literature

Box 8. Personal Papers.

  • Minority Coalition 1982
  • Civil Rights and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Literature and Pamphlets
  • ASALH Annual Conference
  • BLAC - Bellport Alliance 1982
  • 100 Black Men
  • Brookhaven Laboratory

Box 9. Personal Papers.

  • Economic Opportunity Council Files, 1987 and 1989

W. Burghardt Turner Accession, November 29, 1993

Materials added November 1993.

Turner, W. Burghardt: Carton marked SHRC-1977 [Suffolk County Human Rights Commission], includes Planned Parenthood, Wyandanch School ..., Vocational ..., NYSTA [New York State Teachers Association], NEA [National Education Association]

Box 13. Marked HRC [Suffolk County Human Rights Commission] 1978, Afro-Am Clips, Pamphlets-etc

Box 17. Marked HRC [Suffolk County Human Rights Commission] 1979-1980

Box 21. marked SCHRC [Suffolk County Human Rights Commission] 1980-1982 (few items already filed in 12)

Boxes 26-39. Marked EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission/Council]

  • 26. EEOC 1970-1974
  • 29. EEOC end 1974, 1982-August 1984

Box marked NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] 1975-1979, and Legal Aid Service

  • 40. Patchogue NAACP 1967-1969
  • 41. 1975, 1977-1978
  • 42. Brookhaven Branch NAACP, September 1979; NAACP January-July, 1979; Membership 1979
  • 43. Legal Aid Society, 1965-1979

Box marked Education, Integration, Civil Rights 1953-1963, New Clippings, South Shore Citizens Association. Also includes NAACP Center Moriches

Box marked NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] Education Program, Field staff-National Office, June Shagaloff; Inst. School Integration Southampton College, Clippings, Education-Desegregation, etc.

  • Large unmarked box.. Contained instructional materials, student papers, and miscellaneous unsorted materials
  • Unmarked boxes.: Appear to be subject files marked Education

Box and folders marked "CED" [Continuing Education Division, State University of New York at Stony Brook]

Materials from three cardboard Princeton files

Box 60.

  • Metal case of 3" x 5" index card bibliography: re-boxed and to be numbered at end of collection
  • Collection of 4" x 6" index cards, apparently with notations on students. Shelved at end of collection.