E. Frederic Morrow papers

The papers of E. Frederic Morrow document the administration of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as it relates to business, commerce, civil rights legislation, and economic conditions for minorities in the southern United States. The collection encompasses 5.0 linear feet of correspondence, autobiographical manuscript drafts, photographs, and speeches that are mainly professional in nature related to Morrow's work as the first African American to serve as an executive assistant to the President of the United States (1955-1961) and as the first African American staff member of the United States government to visit the African continent.

The correspondence for Morrow's work within the Eisenhower administration is notable for descriptions about the administration's lack of action and attention to the poor living conditions for minorities in Mississippi, as well as the continued physical abuse of African Americans during the 1950s. Notable correspondents include President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Liberian President William Tubman, and Vice-President Richard Nixon. The letters dating post-1970 mainly pertain to Morrow's autobiographical writings, publishing efforts, and speaking engagements.

Correspondence of interest includes a letter to Robert Finch concerning Martin Luther King Jr's. incarceration in an Atlanta jail in 1960; a letter to Judge Leonard Hall in reference to the Republican campaign's treatment of African Americans dated September 12, 1960; and a letter pertaining to a meeting between African American leaders and President Dwight D. Eisenhower dated June 24, 1958, concerning civil rights legislation. Also notable are letters concerning the White Citizens Council's work in economic terrorism of the African American population in the southern states during the 1950s.

Individual items of note include interview transcripts of Morrow done for the Civil Rights Documentation Project (1970) and the National Archives and Records Service (1977). Also of interest is an undated typescript of unknown origin titled, "Harlem Manifesto" by the SNOB (Some Nasty Old Bastards, Indians, Nigger's, Clowns, Inc.).