Council for United Civil Rights Leadership facts for kids

The Council for United Civil Rights Leadership (CUCRL) was an important group formed in June 1963. Its main goal was to help organize and guide the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. This council brought together leaders from different Black civil rights groups. It also connected them with white business owners and wealthy people who wanted to donate money.

One of the Council's biggest achievements was helping to plan the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963. They worked with the Kennedy administration to make this event happen. The CUCRL included groups with different ways of fighting for civil rights. These ranged from the more active Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to the older, more traditional National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

By collecting donations in one place, the Council helped reduce arguments over money and members. It also tried to guide the movement away from certain actions like civil disobedience (peaceful protests that break laws) and boycotts. They did this by controlling how funds were given out. However, disagreements quickly grew within the group. Its money and power slowly decreased until it officially ended in January 1967.

How the Council Started

The idea for the Council began in February 1963. Stephen Currier, who was the president of the Taconic Foundation, wanted to meet with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. of the SCLC. At this time, the Birmingham campaign was getting a lot of national attention. This made King even more important for raising money.

Leaders within the movement, especially King and NAACP chief Roy Wilkins, had some disagreements. Wilkins was concerned that King's group, the SCLC, was getting most of the new donations. This was happening even though the NAACP had been around for a long time.

On June 19, 1963, a special breakfast meeting was held at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. Representatives from 96 companies and foundations attended. They raised an amazing $800,000. Large donations came from groups like the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation. Most of these donors were not Black-owned businesses.

At this meeting, Stephen Currier suggested creating the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership (CUCRL). This new group would help share large donations among all the civil rights organizations. Everyone agreed to this plan. They hoped it would stop arguments and provide more money for each group. The Council officially announced itself on July 2, 1963. They told the New York Times they were looking for $1,500,000 in emergency funds. They also said they had already raised $800,000. These funds would help hire more staff, provide lawyers for court cases, and strengthen the member organizations.

Who Was Involved

The Council included several important civil rights organizations:

• The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), led by Martin Luther King Jr.
• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a legal group led by Roy Wilkins.
• The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), which separated from the NAACP in 1957. It was led by Jack Greenberg.
• The National Urban League, a community group led by Whitney Young.
• The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), led by Dorothy Height.
• The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), led by James Forman and later John Lewis.
• The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), led by James Farmer.

At first, SNCC was not part of the Council. However, SNCC's growing importance made it impossible to ignore. SNCC joined after the March on Washington. Soon after it formed, the Council announced that Whitney Young and Stephen Currier would be its co-chairs. Only invited people could attend meetings.

The Council also created a special fund called the Welfare, Education, and Legal Defense (WELD) Fund. This fund was managed by civil rights lawyer Wiley A. Branton. The WELD Fund received extra money from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In its first distribution of money, the Council gave funds to all its member groups.

Disagreements Within the Council

SNCC, which was one of the more active groups, was not happy to receive the smallest amount of money. However, they stayed in the Council. Having access to large amounts of money allowed the CUCRL to influence groups like SNCC, CORE, and the SCLC. These were seen as the more active groups.

Historians explain that the Council was formed for several reasons. One reason was to stop the competition among civil rights groups for donations. Another reason was to encourage the more active groups to follow a "responsible" path. This was done by controlling how funds were given out.

Some leaders described the Council as a place with a lot of competition. James Farmer of CORE said that the "United" in CUCRL's name was "more a posture than a reality." He felt that leaders were more focused on who would be first to achieve victory.

Roy Wilkins and Martin Luther King Jr. sometimes had different views. Wilkins once told King that his Montgomery boycott did not desegregate buses. He said it was the NAACP's legal actions that did it. King replied that he had "desegregated... a few human hearts." Wilkins agreed that this was important for the cause.

March on Washington

Civil rights, labor leaders, and politicians celebrate after the March.

The announcement of the CUCRL happened at the same time as plans for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. On June 22, 1963, leaders from the CUCRL met with President John F. Kennedy and other government officials at the White House. They agreed that the March would focus on supporting new civil rights laws.

The group clearly stated that the March on Washington would not involve civil disobedience. They wanted to make sure the event was peaceful. The New York Times reported that the group "said it was trying to improve control over current racial demonstrations and insure nonviolence." The organizers changed the march route. Instead of going to Capitol Hill, it would go from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. People attending could only carry signs with five official statements.

The CUCRL chose six main leaders, known as the "Big Six," to co-chair the March. These were Whitney Young, Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, James Farmer, Martin Luther King Jr., and John Lewis.

Dorothy Height, a female leader in the Council, faced unfair treatment because of her gender. She was often left out or not taken seriously. After the March, she wrote that women became more aware and active in fighting sexism within the movement.

Malcolm X's View

Malcolm X believed that the white power structure created the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership. He said it was made to control and weaken a revolutionary march on Washington. He felt that the disagreements among civil rights leaders caused them to lose control of the Black community.

Malcolm X suggested that strong actions became necessary after the violence in Birmingham. He said that Black people were ready to march on Washington and shut down the government. He called this a "black revolution" from the "grass roots."

He described the meeting at the Carlyle Hotel. He said Stephen Currier brought the leaders together. Currier told them their fighting was hurting the movement. He suggested forming the Council to raise funds. Malcolm X pointed out that Whitney Young became chairman, and Stephen Currier, a white millionaire, became co-chairman.

Malcolm X claimed that once the leaders agreed to the CUCRL, they gained access to the resources of the white power structure. He said they were given top public relations experts and access to the news media. These "Big Six" leaders were then presented as the main organizers of the March. Malcolm X believed that the March was tightly controlled. He said they were told when to arrive, where to stop, what signs to carry, and what speeches they could make. He felt that the March did not truly challenge systemic racism.

Audio Rights

In October 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. announced that he was giving all rights to the recording of his "I Have a Dream" speech to the Council. The Council then released an official recording of speeches from the March, called "We Shall Overcome." This record included speeches from King, Wilkins, Young, and others. It also featured music from artists like Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.

The Council took legal action to stop other companies from selling recordings of the speeches. They argued that their copyright was being violated. The other companies argued that King was a public figure and his words were public property.

Christmas Boycott

After the March on Washington, a group called Artists and Writers for Justice suggested a large-scale boycott of Christmas shopping. This group included famous people like Ruby Dee and James Baldwin.

King and the SCLC first supported the boycott. But soon after, the CUCRL announced that it was against it. The New York Times reported that King "had had second thoughts" and decided to agree with the other civil rights leaders.

Roy Wilkins said that a national boycott would be too hard to organize. He also felt it would hurt the civil rights movement. Instead, Wilkins suggested selective buying campaigns. He also encouraged people to donate to the CUCRL for Christmas. The Council created a "Holiday Gift Fund" for this purpose.

However, James Baldwin and others, including Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., continued to support the boycott. They felt that the Council did not truly represent Black Americans.

Civil Rights Laws

After President Kennedy was killed in November 1963, the CUCRL called civil rights laws his "unfinished business." They promised to support the new President, Lyndon B. Johnson.

The group welcomed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They released a statement saying they hoped for "an end to the need for protest and contest." Stephen Currier resigned from his position in September 1964.

Other Activities

James Farmer (CORE) said that the group usually did not support unusual actions. The Council was against affirmative action laws. They also discouraged Farmer from appearing in a TV debate with Malcolm X. Whitney Young reportedly said that no top leaders should appear with Malcolm X, to avoid giving him an audience.

James Forman (SNCC) wrote that anti-communism caused problems for the group. He said that Stephen Currier once asked him to stop SNCC from using the National Lawyers Guild. Forman also said that Young and others often pushed the group to pass anti-communist statements. Only he and King disagreed with this.

Forman also mentioned that in 1964, Roy Wilkins used the group to push for a pause in demonstrations. This was to help with Johnson's election campaign.

After the Civil Rights Act was passed, the group lost its energy and power. Meetings became less frequent, and less money came in. By 1965, the Council was raising less money. It also tried to make the movement more conservative. Disagreements over the Vietnam War increased tension. Whitney Young said that if they were not with Johnson on Vietnam, he would not be with them on civil rights. Leaders from SNCC and CORE, and King, strongly disagreed with this view.

In February 1966, the Council had only $67,000 left. They distributed this money among their members. The organization officially ended in January 1967, at the suggestion of Jack Greenberg.

Stephen Currier and his wife, Audrey Bruce Currier, disappeared in January 1967. Their private airplane vanished during a flight near Puerto Rico. Currier had recently donated $43,500 to the CUCRL. Two-thirds of the Currier family's wealth was left to the Taconic Foundation.

See also

• List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea