Congress of Racial Equality: position papers, 1965

The Civil Rights Organizations series consist of 2.5 linear feet of collected documents and primary materials pertaining to John O'Neal's involvement with several civil rights organizations. The materials are arranged alphabetically by organization name, encompassing correspondence, brochures, flyers, newsletters, news clippings, press releases, position papers, pamphlets, field reports, and publications. The bulk of the materials include administrative files, project proposals, programs, and collected reports from O'Neal's participation with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), and the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE). For example, during the Civil Rights Movement, O'Neal served as the Field Secretary for SNCC and a Field Coordinator for COFO's Educational Summer Program in Georgia and Mississippi, where he contributed extensively to voter rights registration efforts. As the Field Secretary, O'Neal composed weekly field reports to Charles Sherrod, the Field Coordinator for the Southwest Georgia Voter Registration Project for SNCC.

Other civil rights organizations represented in this series are the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP); the National Association for Advancement for Colored People (NAACP); the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); the Southern Regional Council (SRC); and activist groups, such as the Students for a Democratic Society (SDC) and the Southern Student Organization Committee (SSOC).

Of note is a memorandum from the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project staff that was sent to teachers of the Mississippi Freedom Schools. The memorandum describes an overview and purpose of the Freedom Schools, which was to provide an educational experience for African American students in Mississippi and the South to foster social and political participation in the Civil Rights Movement. Another unique document is a certificate of attendance awarded to John O'Neal in recognition of his participation in the SCLC's Citizenship School Training Program (1963).