Summary
Overview
Law Students Civil Rights Research
Council.
Law Students Civil Rights Research Council
Records
1961-1994 (mostly 1964-1987)
Abstract
The Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (LSCRRC), founded in 1963, is a
non-partisan organization dedicated to facilitating discussion on civil rights and
providing research for civil liberties cases. In the early years, it worked to recruit
support young law students who would then work with civil rights organizations in the
south. The documents consist of minutes, correspondence, reports, pamphlets, notes, and
briefs related to the LSCRRC. Through these materials the collection highlights the
organization’s growth, student protests and arrests, and activism in civil rights issues
and lawsuits.
Description
Description
The documents consist of minutes, correspondence, reports, pamphlets, notes, and
briefs related to the LSCRRC. Through these materials the collection highlights the
organization’s growth, student protests and arrests, and activism in civil rights
issues and lawsuits. The background and development of regional conferences and law
school chapters is extensively documented, as well as short histories of the
organization written by LSCRRC staff. The major role of the Summer Internship Program
is represented by the records. The papers contains detailed individual personnel
files for interns who participated in the SIP form 1984-1986 and the records of the
administrative and application process throughout the duration of the program.
Collection Creator
History
The Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (LSCRRC), founded in 1963, is a
non-partisan organization dedicated to facilitating discussion on civil rights and
providing research for civil liberties cases. LSCRRC also makes its members available to
do legal research for organizations needing assistance with civil liberties cases. The
organization also created a library of civil rights materials organized into a numerical
system for use by students, researchers, and legal professionals. Though a number of the
original files were lost during the LSCRRC operation, remaining materials can be found
in the LSCRRC records.
The organization was established in 1963 by law students from northern universities
traveling to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Through the assistance of
Marion Wright Edelman, the LSCRRC secured space in the ACLU offices. In 1964, Howard
Slater was named the group’s first director. The goal of the council was to offer law
students an opportunity to use their legal and organizational skills to promote
economic, ethnic, racial, and sexual equality. The group was run by a board of directors
comprised of representatives from each of the LSCRRC’s fourteen regions. Membership
could be acquired by applying to the Summer Internship Program (SIP), participating in a
LSCRRC event, or contacting a regional office.
Starting in 1964 the LSCRRC began the SIP to give interested law students real world
experience and foster activism among young professionals. In the twenty-four years that
the program was active, over four thousand students participated in the program. In
addition to raising social awareness, the SIP served as a training program for the
student interns while providing direct legal assistance to needy communities and
organization. The SIP was the largest function of the organization, but the LSCRRC also
ran programs partnered with Legal Services Corporation, National Lawyers Guild,
Community Designed Projects, NAACP, Legal Aid Society, Advocates for Children, ACLU,
Center for Constitutions, the Ford Foundation Women’s Law fund, and numerous other
civically minded groups.
The organization has chapters in law schools around the United States and continues as
of 2008 as a non-partisan group dedicated to legal questions surrounding topics such as
the death penalty, migrant worker rights, and AIDS.
Collection History
Acquisition
This collection was donated by Amy Ruth Tobol and Jeremiah Gutman in June 1996.
Archival Appraisal Information
Appraisal has been conducted in accordance with Mudd Manuscript Library guidelines.
No materials were separated from the collection during processing in 2008.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Pete Asch in 2008. Finding aid written by Pete Asch in August
2008.
Bibliography
The following sources were consulted during preparation of the organizational
history: Tobol, Amy Ruth (1999). Badge of Honor: The Law
Students Civil Rights Research Council. (Doctoral Dissertation, State
University of New York, Buffalo, 1999). Materials from the Law Students Civil Rights
Research Council Records, 1961-1987; Public Policy Papers, Department of Rare Books
and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research use, except for subseries 7B, the intern
personnel files, which contain sensitive personal information which will be redacted
as items are paged.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish materials
from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Public Policy Papers. Any
copyright vested in the Law School Civil Rights Research Council has passed to
Princeton University. Researchers are responsible for determining any other copyright
questions.
Preferred Citation
Law Students Civil Rights Research Council
Records; 1961-1994 (mostly 1964-1987), Public Policy Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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