Council for United Civil Rights Leadership (CUCRL) was an umbrella group formed in June 1963 to organize and regulate the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. The Council brought leaders of Black civil rights organizations together with white donors in business and philanthropy. It successfully arranged the August 1963

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...

with the

Kennedy administration John F. Kennedy's tenure as the 35th president of the United States, began with his inauguration on January 20, 1961, and ended with his assassination on November 22, 1963. A Democrat from Massachusetts, he took office following the 1960 ...

. The Council encompassed groups with different strategies and agendas, from the radical Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to the conservative

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

(NAACP). By centralizing donations, the formation of the group muted disagreements over fundraising and membership. It worked to oppose tactics like civil disobedience and boycotts by controlling distribution of funds and by virtue of connections to the media establishment. Conflict nevertheless overcame the group quickly, and its money and power declined gradually until dissolution in January 1967.

Formation

Preparatory work for the Council began when Stephen Currier, President of the Taconic Foundation, asked to meet with Rev.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

of SCLC in February 1963."Council for United Civil Rights Leadership: Where Are Negro Donors In $1,500,000 Campaign?", ''New Pittsburgh Courier'', 27 July 1963, p. 3. With national attention on the

Birmingham campaign The Birmingham campaign, also known as the Birmingham movement or Birmingham confrontation, was an American movement organized in early 1963 by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to bring attention to the integration efforts o ...

, King became even more valuable as a high-profile fundraiser. Conflict intensified among movement leaders, particularly between King and NAACP chief

Roy Wilkins Roy Ottoway Wilkins (August 30, 1901 – September 8, 1981) was a prominent activist in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s. Wilkins' most notable role was his leadership of the National Association for the ...

. Historian

David Garrow David Jeffries Garrow (born May 11, 1953) is an American author and historian. He wrote the book ''Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference'' (1986), which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Biogr ...

writes:

To a number of close observers, Wilkins' anger and the growing appearance of interorganizational competition were rooted basically in the heightened financial stakes that had resulted from the Birmingham crisis. That event had elevated King to the indisputable civil rights top spot in the American public's mind. It also meant that King's SCLC, rather than the long-established NAACP, would be the chief financial beneficiary of the new interest in civil rights.

On 19 June 1963, representatives from 96 corporations and foundations met for a fundraising breakfast at the

Carlyle Hotel The Carlyle Hotel, known formally as The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, is a combination luxury apartment hotel located at 35 East 76th Street on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and East 76th Street, on the Upper East Side of New York City. O ...

in Manhattan. $800,000 was raised. Donations came from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

and Rockefeller Foundation, and 93 other businesses and foundations in addition to the Taconic Foundation. Few or none of these were Black-owned. Garrow continues:

At the Currier-sponsored breakfast the next morning, the Taconic Foundation's president recommended that the black leadership establish the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership (CUCRL) which, under Currier's auspices, would serve as a clearinghouse for dividing large contributions among all the organizations. Everyone present knew of Currier's great personal wealth, as well as his remarkable ability to generate funds from other well-to-do friends. No one dissented from his plan. The arrangement could lessen the growing internecine conflict before serious damage was done, and it was all but certain to provide each of the organizations with funds they otherwise would not receive.

The Council announced itself on 2 July 1963 after a meeting of the

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (The Leadership Conference), formerly called the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is an umbrella group of American civil rights interest groups. Organizational history The Leadership Co ...

. It told the ''New York Times'' that it was seeking $1,500,000 in "emergency" funds—and that it had already raised $800,000. The funds would be used, said the group, "to employ additional field staff to work in areas of greatest tension, to provide additional attorneys to handle the mounting number of court cases arising from mass arrests, and to strengthen the staffing of the seven organizations."

Organization

The organizations involved were: * The

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civ ...

(SCLC), led by

and other ministers * The

(NAACP), a legal advocacy group led by

* The

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Altho ...

(LDF)—a group which split from the NAACP in 1957—under Director-Counsel Jack Greenberg * The

National Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

, a community organizing group led by

Whitney Young Whitney Moore Young Jr. (July 31, 1921 – March 11, 1971) was an American civil rights leader. Trained as a social worker, he spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban ...

* The

National Council of Negro Women The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African-American women, their families, and communities. Mary McLeod Bethune, the f ...

(NCNW), led by

Dorothy Height Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) was an African American civil rights and women's rights activist. She focused on the issues of African American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is cr ...

* The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), led by

James Forman James Forman (October 4, 1928 – January 10, 2005) was a prominent African-American leader in the civil rights movement. He was active in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party, and the League of Revolutio ...

and soon also

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

* The

Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...

(CORE), directed by

James Farmer James Leonard Farmer Jr. (January 12, 1920 – July 9, 1999) was an American civil rights activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement "who pushed for nonviolent protest to dismantle segregation, and served alongside Martin Luther King Jr." ...

and advised by

Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin (; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an African American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin worked with A. Philip Randolph on the March on Washington Movement, ...

(According to Forman, SNCC was not initially included in the Council. He writes:

The insistence at first that SNCC be excluded from the council revealed a dislike that was never overcome. But the growing importance of SNCC in the field of human and civil rights made it impossible for those leaders to ignore its existence.

Forman's first Council meeting took place at the Carlyle Hotel after the March on Washington.) Soon after its formation, the Council announced that it would be led by co-chairs Whitney Young and Stephen Currier.Peter Kihss, "Race Sit-In Begins at Mayor's Office in a Job Protest", ''New York Times'' 10 July 1963; accesse
via ProQuest
22 May 1963. Outsiders attended meetings only by invitation, and leaders were not allowed to send delegates. For public relations, the Council employed producer

Victor Weingarten The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

. Also involved from the White fund-raising world were tax lawyer Mel Dewitt and Jane Lee J. Eddy, director of the Taconic Foundation. The Council formed a tax-exempt account called the Welfare, Education, and Legal Defense (WELD) Fund. The fund was managed by civil rights lawyer Wiley A Branton."Branton To Coordinate Rights Committee Work", ''Atlanta Daily World'', 21 August 1963, p. 1; accesse
via ProQuest
22 May 1963. WELD received additional money ($50,000) from the

Rockefeller Brothers Fund The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is a philanthropic foundation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was founded in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle for the five third-generation Rockefeller brothe ...

. In its first disbursement of funds, the Council allocated $125,000 to the NAACP, $125,000 to the Urban League, $100,000 for the NAACP LDF, $100,000 to CORE, $50,000 to the SCLC, $50,000 for the NCNW Educational Foundation, and $15,000 for SNCC."Joint Negro Council Allocates $565,000 to Rights Groups", ''New York Times'', 18 July 1963; accesse
via ProQuest
22 May 2013.

Conflict within the Council

SNCC, one of the more radical groups, was dissatisfied to receive the smallest amount, but stayed in the coalition. Promising access to large amounts of money allowed the CUCRL to regulate SNCC, CORE, and the SCLC—considered the more radical groups within the Council. Historian Charles W. Eagles writes:''Eagles, The Civil Rights Movement in America'' (2012), pp. 63–64.

... it is essential to appreciate the admixture of motives that lay behind the mid-1963 creation of CUCRL: first, a firm desire on the part of wealthy white movement supporters such as the Taconic Foundation President Stephen R. Currier to stabilize if not eliminate the increasing visible and hostile competition between civil rights groups for contributors' dollars; second, a wish to moderate the southern movement's increasingly aggressive and demanding tone by giving NAACP chief Wilkins and National Urban League head Whitney Young, a good friend of Currier's a regular and intimate forum for propounding their views to the more direct action-oriented leaders of SNCC, CORE, and SCLC; and, third, an intent to exert some control over SNCC's angriest inclinations by centralizing at least a part of movement fundraising and using the resulting allocation process as a carrot-and-stick inducement for SNCC to follow a "responsible" course.

Later accounts from participants also described the Council as competitive and harsh. Forman (of SNCC) wrote that the group felt like

a jungle of civil rights hyenas, each distrustful of the other, each with personal grievances against the other, each agreeing to curb some of his hostility so that he could get just a little more money for programs with which everyone else probably disagreed.

James Farmer of CORE wrote:

The United in CUCRL's name was more a posture than a reality. These were no joint chiefs of staff poring over maps to determine where and when the final assault was to be launched and by which branch of the forces. There was, instead, a jockeying for position to determine who would be first to march victoriously into the nations' heartland, and for whom the flags would be waved and the bugles sounded.

Farmer reports a dialogue between Wilkins and King: :Wilkins: One of these days, Martin, some bright reporter is going to take a good hard look at Montgomery and discover that despite all the hoopla, your boycott didn't desegregate a single city bus. (This was to help the sgregation of law) It was the quiet NAACP-type legal action that did it. :King: We're fully aware of that, Roy. And we in the SCLC believe that it's going to have to be a partnership between nonviolent direct action and legal action if we're going to get the job done. :Wilkins: In fact, Martin, if you have desegregated ''anything'' by your efforts, kindly enlighten me. :King: Well, I guess about the only thing I've desegregated so far is a few human hearts. :Wilkins ''(nodding)'': Yes, I'm sure you have done that, and that's important. So keep on doing it; I'm sure it will help the cause in the long run.

March on Washington

The announcement of the new group coincided with endorsements of the Kennedy Civil Rights Act (eventually the Civil Rights Act of 1964) and with public planning for the

. On 22 June 1963 (three days after the first Carlyle Hotel meeting) Currier, Young, Wilkins, King, Randolph, Farmer met at the White House with President John F. Kennedy, Vice President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, and Attorney General

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

. The meeting proceeded smoothly, and the CUCRL leaders agreed with the Kennedy administration that the main focus of the March would be support for new legislation. The group stated explicitly that the March on Washington would not involve civil disobedience.Peter Kihss, "7 Negro Groups Unite on Civil Rights Activities: Will Seek Joint 1.5 Million Fund for Desegregation Drives Across U.S.", ''New York Times'', 3 July 1963, p. 10; accesse
via ProQuest
22 May 2013. The ''Times'' reported that the group "said it was trying to improve control over current racial demonstrations and insure nonviolence." "We want to provide a cadre of experienced Negro leaders who will prevent things from getting out of hand and keep irresponsible elements from turning to violence," said a spokesperson for the Council. The organizers re-routed the march, so that instead of visiting Capitol Hill to petition Congress, it would travel directly from the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...

(at the center of the National Mall) to the Lincoln Memorial. Attendees would only be allowed to hold signs displaying one of five official statements. To co-chair the March, the CUCRL designated the " Big Six" leaders: Young, Wilkins, Randolph, Farmer, King, and Lewis. Dorothy Height experienced discrimination because of sexism, being constantly excluded and trivialized despite supposedly equal membership in the Council. She wrote that after the organization and execution of the March on Washington, "women became much more aware and much more aggressive in facing up to sexism in our dealings with the male leadership in the movement."

Malcolm X

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...

claimed in his November 1963 "

Message to the Grass Roots "Message to the Grass Roots" is a public speech delivered by black civil rights activist Malcolm X. The speech was delivered on November 10, 1963, at the Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference, which was held at King Solomon Baptist Ch ...

" speech that the White power structure created the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership specifically for the purpose of infiltrating and coopting a revolutionary march on Washington.

, "

", speech given 10 November 1963 at King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan. His account parallels those assembled later by historians, beginning with discord among moderate civil rights leaders: "As these Negroes of national stature began to attack each other, they began to lose their control of the Negro masses." X suggests that revolutionary actions became inevitable after the breakdown of nonviolence in Birmingham: He goes on to describe the meeting in the Carlyle Hotel: Once these leaders agreed to the CUCRL bargain, they gained access to the resources of the white power structure: As a result, the March did not threaten systemic racism:

Audio rights

King announced in October 1963 that he was assigning all rights to the recording of his "I Have a Dream" speech to the Council."King Assigns 'Dream' Disc", ''New Pittsburgh Courier'', 2 November 1963, p. 21; accesse
via ProQuest
22 May 2013. The Council subsequently released an official recording of speeches at the March, titled "We Shall Overcome". It includes speeches from King, Wilkins, Young, Rustin, Lewis, Randolph,

Walter Reuther Walter Philip Reuther (; September 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970) was an American leader of organized labor and civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history. He ...

, and

Joachim Prinz Joachim Prinz (May 10, 1902 – September 30, 1988) was a German-American rabbi who was outspoken against Nazism and became a Zionist leader. As a young rabbi in Berlin, he was forced to confront the rise of Nazism, and eventually emigrated t ...

, as well as music from

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...

Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United ...

, and Peter, Paul & Mary. This record sold for $3.00 by mail or $3.98 retail. Legal action was taken to halt sales of other recordings. Clarence Jones argued that Mr. Maestro, Inc., and

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

had infringed on the group's copyright. The defendants argued that King was a public figure and his words were in the public domain.

Christmas boycott

After the August March on Washington, Artists and Writers for Justice, a group including Ruby Dee,

Louis Lomax Louis Emanuel Lomax (August 16, 1922 – July 30, 1970) was an African-American journalist and author. He was also the first African-American television journalist. Early years Lomax was born in Valdosta, Georgia. His parents were Emanuel C. Smi ...

, and James Baldwin, proposed a mass boycott of

Christmas shopping The economics of Christmas are significant because Christmas is typically a high-volume selling season for goods suppliers around the world. Sales increase dramatically as people purchase gifts, decorations, and supplies to celebrate. In the ...

."Christmas Boycott On Deathbed Santa Claus Might Ride Again!", ''Chicago Daily Defender'', 7 October 1963, p. 4; accesse
via ProQuest
22 May 1963. King and the SCLC initially announced support for the boycott. But soon afterwards, the CUCRL announced its opposition. The ''New York Times'' reported that King "had had second thoughts on the proposal and had decided to go along with the thinking of the other civil rights leaders on the matter".Theodore Jones, "Negro Rights Leaders Decline To Sponsor Christmas Boycott", ''New York Times'', 5 October 1963, p. 10; accesse
via ProQuest
22 May 2013. Roy Wilkins said both that the boycott would be impossible to organize nationally and that it would be harmful to the interests of the civil rights movement. Wilkins argued instead for selective buying campaigns, and for Christmas donations to the CUCRL. The Council created a "Holiday Gift Fund", through which people could donate to the CUCRL in another person's name. Baldwin and others, including Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, maintained support for the boycott, saying the Council did not represent Black Americans.

Civil Rights legislation

After President Kennedy was killed in November 1963, the CUCRL described civil rights legislation as his "unfinished business" and pledged support to new President

. The group welcomed Civil Rights Act of 1964 and released a statement saying "we look forward to an end to the need for protest and contest". Currier resigned his position in September 1964.

Other activities

Farmer (CORE) reports that the group was generally reluctant to support unconventional actions. The Council opposed affirmative action laws even after Farmer discussed them with President Johnson, and dissuaded Farmer from appearing with Malcolm X in a televised debate. ("I think all of us should agree here in CUCRL that none of the top leaders will appear on a platform, radio, or TV with Malcolm X because we just give him an audience", said Young.) Forman (SNCC) writes that anti-communism created recurring problems for the group. He describes one episode in which Currier met with him alone and asked him to stop SNCC from using the

National Lawyers Guild The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States. The group was founded in 19 ...

. He says that Young and others constantly pressured the group to pass anti-communist ("

red-baiting Red-baiting, also known as ''reductio ad Stalinum'' () and red-tagging (in the Philippines), is an intention to discredit the validity of a political opponent and the opponent's logical argument by accusing, denouncing, attacking, or persecuting ...

") resolutions, opposed only by himself and King. Forman also says that in 1964, Wilkins used the group to push for a moratorium on demonstrations in order to assist with Johnson's election campaign. After the Civil Rights Act, the group lost momentum and power. Meetings became less frequent and money stopped coming in. (Forman writes: "By 1965 the Council on United Civil Rights Leadership was raising less and less money while trying to inflict more and more of its conservative positions on the movement.")Forman, ''Making of Black Revolutionaries'' (1972), p. 369. Division over U.S. warfare in Southeast Asia increased tension to the breaking point. "Johnson needs a consensus. If we are not with him on Vietnam then he is not going to be with us on civil rights", said Young. Leaders of SNCC and CORE (as well as King, though perhaps not the rest of the SCLC) disagreed strenuously. In February 1966, the Council had only $67,000, which it distributed among members. On the initiative of Jack Greenberg, the organization was dissolved in January 1967. Stephen Currier and his wife Audrey Bruce Currier also disappeared in January 1967 when their private airplane vanished into the Bermuda Triangle. Currier had recently donated $43,500 to the dying CUCRL. Two-thirds of the Currier fortune was left to the Taconic Foundation.Court Asked to Declare Couple Dead
, ''Park City Daily News'', 29 January 1967.

References

Sources

*Dickerson, Dennis C. ''Militant Mediator: Whitney M. Young, Jr.'' University Press of Kentucky, 2004. *Eagles, Charles W. ''The Civil Rights Movement in America''. University Press of Mississippi, 2012. * Farmer, James. ''Lay Bare the Heart: An Autobiography of the Civil Rights Movement''. TCU Press, 1985. * Forman, James. ''The Making of Black Revolutionaries.'' University of Washington Press, 1972/1997. * Garrow, David. ''Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.'' William Morrow and Company, 1986. *Kilpatrick, Judith. ''There When We Needed Him: Wiley Austin Branton, Civil Rights Warrior''. University of Arkansas Press, 2007. *Sitkoff, Harvard. ''King: Pilgrimage to the Mountaintop''. New York: Hill and Wang, 2009. *VanSertima, Ivan. ''Great black leaders: ancient and modern.'' Journal of African Civilizations, 1988. {{Authority control 1963 in the United States Civil rights organizations in the United States Civil rights movement Martin Luther King Jr. Non-profit corporations 1963 establishments in New York City Rockefeller Foundation

Formation

Organization

Conflict within the Council

March on Washington

Malcolm X

Audio rights

Christmas boycott

Civil Rights legislation

Other activities

See also

References

Sources