Rosa Freeman Keller papers

Collection

Identifier: 208

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Rosa Freeman Keller papers consist of correspondence, news clippings, collected ephemera and publications, and photographs reflecting Rosa Keller's wide civic involvement and especially her activism in the areas of race relations and social welfare. Materials of note involve Keller's involvement with Dillard University and Flint-Goodridge Hospital; the Committee to Name Public Schools in New Orleans; and correspondence and other materials integral to the suit brought against Tulane University of New Orleans by Barbara Guillory and Pearlie Elloie for the desegregation of that university. Of significant research value to those interested in African American grassroots politics in the mid-twentieth century is a special reprint edition of the States-Item newspaper entitled "Black Politics in New Orleans." Prominent correspondents in the Rosa Freeman Keller papers include John P. Nelson, John Furey, Albert W. Dent, various administrators of Tulane University, Pearlie Elloie, Elizabeth Wisner, and Rosa Freeman Keller.

This collection was processed under a grant from the Keller Family Foundation.

Dates

Created: 1931-1998
Other: Majority of material found in 1954-1998
Other: Date acquired: 04/07/1971

Creator

Keller, Rosa Freeman (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright to these papers has not been assigned to the Amistad Research Center. It is the responsibility of an author to secure permission for publication from the holder of the copyright to any material contained in this collection.

Biographical or Historical Information

Born to the Louisiana Coca-Cola magnate in 1911, Rosa Freeman Keller made her social debut in the early 1930s. Though she was a product of enormous wealth, however, Keller utilized her position of power to fight social injustices on numerous fronts. First faced with social inequity and discrimination when she married her Jewish husband, Charles Keller, Rosa Keller first encountered the social injustices unique to African Americans when she assumed her mother’s position on the board of the YWCA. Strongly influenced by African American women she met in this new role, Rosa Keller joined the board of directors of the local chapter of the Urban League. From her position of great social and economic power, Keller championed the causes of the Civil Rights Movement – against the will of most of New Orleans’ white elite – at great personal risk. To name just a few of her causes, Rosa and her husband Charles invested in the Pontchartrain Park neighborhood to address housing shortages for African Americans in New Orleans and to also to demonstrate to whites of her social and economic class that middle class African Americans presented no adverse financial risk to lenders. Rosa Keller also paid for the legal representation of the students seeking to integrate Tulane University. In addition, Keller was an active and influential member of board of directors for the New Orleans Public Library, Dillard University, and Flint-Goodridge Hospital, and she served at president of the local chapter of the Urban League. Keller also dedicated herself to the cause of geriatric studies and invested time and money into providing educational services and resources to New Orleans’ elderly citizens. The Rosa Keller Campus – which provides tuition-free classes to senior citizens at various New Orleans colleges and universities – and the Rosa Keller Branch of the New Orleans Public Library are but a few of the lasting tributes to Keller’s activism and philanthropy.

Note written by Andrew Salinas