Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
The Reverend Richard Boone Collection |
Collection |
Reverend Richard Boone Collection |
Catalog Number |
2004.006 |
Object Name |
Papers, Personal |
Level of description |
Fonds/Coll |
Scope & Content |
Reverend Richard Boone Collection, 1974-2006 5 cubic boxes; 2 medium size boxes, 2 scrapbooks; 10 folder sleeves; 14 cubic feet. Reverend Richard Boone, 1937-2013 Richard Boone papers consist of newspaper clippings, personal papers, photographs, biographical information and correspondence. For almost half-a-century, beginning on the campus of Alabama State University, the Reverend Richard Boone has championed human rights, waging a relentless struggle against injustice, white supremacy, and racial discrimination. Reverend Boone beat back a common impulse to meet white supremacy with Black rage. Instead, he responded positively to young activists who were visiting Montgomery to organize for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). These idealists prompted Boone to seek change through the discipline of civil disobedience and non-violent resistance. Boone joined SNCC and began to agitate for change in and around the campus. By the mid-1960s Boone gravitated toward Reverends Jim Bevel, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As a Field Director for the SCLC, Boone worked to challenge discrimination throughout Alabama. Success around the state prompted the SCLC leadership to assign Reverend Boone to head up campaigns in places like New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. The dedicated minister also worked on housing issues, voting rights and economic development initiatives. When the SCLC decided to shift their focus away from Montgomery in the late 1960s, Reverend Boone organized the Alabama Action Committee (AAC) to continue the struggle locally. Through this organization Reverend Boone challenged area stores that would not hire African Americans, he organized picketers to target stores that refused to allow Black employees to handle money or assume managerial positions. While this campaign succeeded in toppling vestiges of racial discrimination, the AAC also waged a vigorous campaign against police brutality and judicial abuse. The AAC called for a "Blackout," a boycott of area stores to draw attention to police brutality in the case of Lige Richardson. Like so many civil rights activists, Reverend Boone sought to pursue fairness and justice through elective office, making an impressive but failed run for Congress in 1968. Boone worked with Huntsville dentist Dr. John Cashin, to harness the political power of Alabama's Black population by creating the National Democratic Party of Alabama. |
Search Terms |
Civil Rights Civil Rights in Alabama Civil Rights in Montgomery, AL Civil Rights in Montgomery, Alabama Selma to Montgomery March Boone, Reverend Richard Protest Alabama Politics and Government |
People |
Boone, Reverend Richard |
Child Records |
Box 01 - Articles & Documents Box 02 - Documents Box 03 - Articles, Booklets, Documents, Programs, etc Box 04 - Shoes Box 05 - Megaphone, Resolution: Reverend Richard Boone Box 06 - Sunglass, Kente Cloth, Button Box 07 - Plaque Box 08 - Plaque Box 09 - Denim Jacket Box 10 - Overalls Box 12 - Pictures/Poster Box 13 - Sweater Box 14 - Army Field Jacket Box 15 - White Shirt, Scarf, Caps Box 16 - Jacket Box 17 - T-Shirt Portrait of Reverend Richard Boone Box 18 - Newspaper Clippings of Reverend Richard Boone Box 19 - Newspaper Clippings of Reverend Richard Boone |