Buggs, John A. (John Allen), 1915-1974
Dates
- Existence: 1915-1974
Biographical Note
Educator and civil rights activist John Allen Buggs was educated in American Missionary Association-founded schools and later was a teacher and school administrator for other AMA schools. While at Fessenden Academy in Florida, he implemented a program of “functional education,” a program focused on vocational training and preparation of African American students planning to further their education by attending college or university. Following his teaching career, Allen became active in a number of civil and human rights organizations in Los Angeles, California.
John Allen Buggs was born on November 20, 1915, in Brunswick, Georgia, to John Wesley and Leonora Clark. He attended the public schools of Brunswick, then continued his studies at Dillard University in New Orleans. He graduated in 1939 with a Bachelors Degree in History. He attended Fisk University and studied under Charles S. Johnson, the well-known African American sociologist, graduating in 1941 with a Masters degree in Sociology. Buggs' university work focused his interests in social and economic conditions for African Americans throughout the 1940s.
Buggs' first professional position in education was at the American Missionary Association's Trinity School in Athens, Alabama, where he was an instructor in the social sciences from 1941 to 1942. Very quickly he attained the position of Director of Fessenden Academy in Martin, Florida, another school of the American Missionary Association. His work at Fessenden focused on a modified program of vocational training and college preparation to meet the needs of African American students. Fressenden Academy closed in May 1951. During this time period he was active in the Marion County community as Secretary of the Marion County, Florida, branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1943 and the Secretary of the Florida State Progressive Voters League in 1949. He married Mary Gale Brown in February of 1943.
After the closing of Fessenden Academy, Buggs moved to Los Angeles, California, where his work with the issues of human rights and intergroup relations started. For two years he served as the Deputy Probation Officer for Los Angeles County until 1952. Buggs then worked for the Los Angels County Committee on Human Relations, first as its Executive Secretary (1954-1963) and then Executive Director (1963-1967). The focus of the organization was on racial discrimination in the Los Angeles area, including the topics of anti-Semitism, education, employment, and the use of public facilities by minorities.
Following his work with the Los Angeles County Committee on Human Relations, Buggs continued to work for various organizations that focused on civil rights for minorities. He served as President of the National Association of Intergroup Relations Officials (1966-1967), Deputy Director of the Model Cities Administration in the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. (1967-1969), Executive Committee Member for the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association (1968-1971), Vice-President of the National Urban Coalition (1969-1971), and from 1971 he acted as the Deputy Staff Director before being promoted to Staff Director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (1969-1972). In 1974, he became a member of the National Council of Boy Scouts of America.