James W. McPherson papers

The papers of James Wesley McPherson contain professional and personal documents highlighting McPherson's work in the area of civil rights, particulary his efforts to increase voter registration among African Americans in South Carolina. The papers encompass 0.8 linear feet and contain correspondence, photographs, sample ballots, background information on the South Carolina Voter Education Program, newspaper clippings, speeches, pamphlets, certificates, and programs, including a program on black culture that took place at South Carolina State University.

The papers span over fifty years from (1917-1974) with the bulk of the materials being professional in nature. The correspondence focuses on his work with the South Carolina Voter Education Project, and their efforts to register African Americans in the state. The correspondence include letters from Senator James Storm Thurmond, President Richard Nixon, Governor Robert E. McNair, Senator Phillip A. Hart, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Bayard Rustin, Jane Fonda, Vernon E. Jordan. Jr., President Lyndon B. Johnson, Roy Wilkins, Senator Ernest F. Hollins and Senator Olin D. Johnston.

Of note, is correspondence between McPherson and Senator James Storm Thurmond, regarding the nomination of Thurgood Marshall as a Supreme Court Justice dated, August 11, 1967. Also of note is a letter dated February 12, 1968, from McPherson to South Carolina Governor Robert E. McNair in which McPherson seeks justice for the students killed in the Orangeburg massacre; the letter includes several attachments, including a Declaration by the Orangeburg NAACP and an open letter from the NAACP to the African American citizens of Orangeburg calling for a no buying boycott. Another letter of interest is a letter from McPherson to Senator Olin D. Johnston asking the Senator to support the Civil Rights Bill.