Series 3 makes up approximately one third of the collection. The series consists of alphabetically arranged subject files representing many of Bond's personal and professional interests and affiliations. While several files include routine papers such as financial material (3:167-208) and correspondence regarding speaking engagements (3:147-165), the bulk of Series 3 provides substantial information on Bond's activities throughout his lifetime. Subject files pertaining to Africa and education predominate; these topics and others covered in Series 3 are discussed in detail in the following description.
AFRICA - Organizations
Bond participated as member or officer in numerous organizations representing African business and cultural interests.
Especially in the early 1960s, he was active in facilitating cooperation between Liberian, United States and Swedish mining interests in Liberia, primarily under the auspices of the International African American Corporation (IAAC). The IAAC file (3:229-253) documents the concession agreement which granted rights to explore, develop and mine minerals in Liberia, and which required the formation of a development company, the Liberian American Minerals Company (LAMCO). Materials in the file include correspondence; annual and quarterly reports; geological maps; stock quotations and stockholder notices; and minutes. Also included are papers relating to W. V. S. Tubman, president of the Republic of Liberia.
Bond was on the board of directors of the Council on Race and Caste in World Affairs (CORAC) and one of its representatives to the first Congress of Black Writers and Artists in Paris in 1956. The CORAC file (3:111-113) contains correspondence relating to Bond's participation in the 1956 Congress and to other activities with which it was associated, working papers for meetings, financial and progress reports. Correspondence, press releases, agenda and informal notes associated with the Summit Meetings of Negro Leaders held in 1958 and 1959 are also included in the file. Bond attended the first of these Summit meetings as a representative of CORAC and the American Society of African Culture.
The American Society of African Culture (AMSAC) was organized after the 1956 Congress, under the sponsorship of CORAC. AMSAC was affiliated with an international Society of African Culture, which originated in France. Its purpose was to broaden cross-cultural understanding between Africa and the United States. Bond served as the organization's first president and on its executive council. The AMSAC file (3:78-91) contains extensive correspondence, often with executive director John A. Davis, concerning operating principles, African students and visitors, and ideas for research. Also included are newsletters, agenda, annual reports, bibliographies, programs and applications to AMSAC for jobs and fellowship grants.
The AMSAC Second Congress of Black Writers and Artists file (3:92) consists of materials for the international meeting of the Society of African Culture. Bond was part of the AMSAC delegation to this meeting. Materials include correspondence, memoranda dealing with the conference theme, the responsibility of black leaders towards unity and solidarity of black culture-, delegate lists and publicity for the meeting; and miscellaneous notes.
The Africa-America Institute was founded in 1953 to foster closer relations between the peoples of the United States and Africa through a variety of projects and continuing programs. The Institute administered scholarships for African students in the United States and Africa, placed United States teachers in schools and colleges in African nations where requested, disseminated information about Africa in the United States, and brought about exchanges of leaders between the United States and Africa. Bond served on the board of trustees and held the positions of president and director of the Institute.
The Institute file (3:49-61) consists primarily of minutes, reports, copies of the African-American Bulletin and other printed material.
The African Studies Association was founded in 1957 to promote scholarship in African topics. The materials in the file (3:63-64) include programs and notes of annual meetings, newsletters, rosters of American scholars studying African issues, and an abstract of Bond's "African-American Relations Through Colleges for Negroes."
The All African Student Union of the Americas was organized to increase communication among African students in North America and to discuss and publicize theories and actions for African self--sufficiency and solidarity. Bond served on its advisory board. Materials in the file (3:66-68) include newsletters; programs, minutes, reports, address transcriptions and working papers for annual meetings and conferences; and limited correspondence.
AFRICA - Trips
From 1949 to 1963, Bond made at least sixteen trips to Africa. Materials documenting these travels are arranged chronologically by trip date and consist of correspondence, invitations, programs,, itineraries, clippings and other printed material. Photographs relating to Bond's African visits are filed separately in Series 7.
The most fully documented trip is Bond's first, in 1949 (3:25-28). The invitation to visit Africa was issued by Lincoln University alumni of West Africa; the main purpose of the trip was for Bond to inspect and make recommendations about the school system of West Africa. Bond's extravagant welcome from the people of West Africa is evidenced by newspaper clippings and correspondence. Other materials include Bond's written statements about the significance of the trip to him as an African-American, press releases, and welcome addresses. A film of this trip is in 7:73 in videotape copy.
Several Africa trips in the early 1950s dealt primarily with Bond's role in negotiations towards United States investment in the development of natural resources in Africa. The July 1957 trip (3:35) related to the involvement of American corporate interests in a Volta River and Liberian mineral project (see also 3:217).
Trips of December 1958 (3:36-38), December 1961 (3:44), and September 1963 (3:46-47) relate primarily to activities of the American Society of African Culture.
In December 1958, Bond participated in the AMSAC-sponsored All-African People's Conference in Ghana as president of AMSAC. Bond attended the ceremonies of the opening of the organization's offices in Lagos in December of 1961 (3:44). He also represented AMSAC in September 1963 at inaugural ceremonies for the William Leo Hansberry College of African Studies in Nigeria.
Most other trips were in response to invitations to attend celebrations and meetings. In June 1960 (3:39-40) Horace and Julia Bond attended ceremonies commemorating Ghana's new status as a Republic of the British Commonwealth. The trip of October 1960 (3:41) was in response to an invitation issued by the Eastern Region of Nigeria during the period of the Nigerian Independence Celebrations. The trip of November 1961 (3:43) resulted from an invitation to attend the ceremony of the formal inauguration of the University of Ghana. In December 1962 (3:45), Bond chaired a panel discussion at the First International Congress of Africanists in Ghana.
AFRICA - Correspondence
An extensive correspondence file (3:2-14) spans over twenty-five years of Bond's personal, academic and business associations relating to Africa. Bond's acknowledgements of hospitality received during visits to Africa and retrospective descriptions of various aspects of those visits make up much of the file. Also included is considerable correspondence, largely personal, from Africans and appeals from Bond to various organizations for financial assistance for African students in the United States. Other correspondence includes exchanges with Africans in liaison offices, United States State Department personnel, and such organizations as the African Students Association, the American Committee on Africa, the American Friends Service Committee and the University of Liberia. Press releases and memoranda pertaining to Africa are also contained in the file.
AFRICA - Printed Material
The Africa printed material file (3:17-24) consists of miscellaneous printed materials from a variety of sources including both popular and scholarly United States publishers, African embassies, United States governmental departments, private organizations with African interests, and, to a lesser extent, publications of African origin. Oversize African newspapers are filed separately in Series 9.
EDUCATION - Organizations
Horace Bond was associated with numerous educational organizations, many of which are represented in Series 3. Subject files dealing with educational organizations generally include correspondence, printed material, programs for meetings and conferences and other printed matter, copies of addresses and working papers, miscellaneous notes taken by Bond during various meetings, and travel and hotel receipts. Bond's most extensive work with educational organizations was during the 1950s and 1960s. Several of the more prominent or substantively represented organizations are described below.
Most of the materials in the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools file (3:97) relate to work of that organization toward improved educational opportunities for students in black institutions of higher learning, including programs and correspondence dealing with annual meetings in 1935 and 1954, and minutes and correspondence dealing with activities of the organization's research committee in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Bond served the organization as speaker and as a member of the research committee.
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools file (3:266) relates primarily to observation teams on which Bond served in 1952, for evaluations of the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia and the Maryland State College and Princess Ann branches of the University of Maryland. Materials include magazines and catalogues about the institutions.
In 1948, Bond initiated a campaign to the National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students for a definition of integrated education that would be sensible of the non-segregated nature of predominantly black institutions as well as of predominantly white institutions. By 1952 that organization introduced a program for what was called "two-way integration." Most of the correspondence of the National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students file (3:276-277) pertains to that issue.
The years best represented in the United Negro College Fund file (3:378-381) are the mid-1950s, while Bond served on its budget committee during his presidency at Lincoln University. Materials include press releases and radio scripts, in addition to extensive correspondence and printed material.
Among other educational organizations represented primarily by correspondence relating to Bond's speaking engagements and/or printed material are the Georgia Committee on Teacher Education (3:214); the Board for Fundamental Education (3:105); the American Council on Education (3:70); the National Education Association (3:274); and various institutions, including North Carolina College (3:295), Tuskegee Institute (3:372) and Harvard University (3:220).
EDUCATION - Government Agencies
Several education related subject files pertain to Bond's work in conjunction with United States government agencies. The President's Committee on Education Beyond the High School (3:299-303) considered such general problems as federal aid to and changing national needs in higher education. Bond served subcommittees via participation in meetings and correspondence containing recommendations for activities. The file includes correspondence, minutes, reports and printed material.
The United States State Department file (3:386) consists primarily of correspondence concerning educational needs and programs, such as the Department of State Intern Program Training Division, recruitment for foreign service, the "executive reserve," and the Conference on Africa South of the Sahara.
Bond was also active with the Subcommittee on Education of the Joint Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation, the latter a division of the United States War Department (3:387-388). The bulk of the file consists of chapters from Bond's "Military History of the Negro in Africa and the New World"; other materials include correspondence and printed materials.
The White House Conference on Children and Youth file (3:391) describes preparations for the conference and contains correspondence, including that related to Bond's background paper, "Wasted Talent", copies of the "Conference Reporter" and other printed material.
Bond was also involved in the United Nations work. The UNESCO general file (3:374) includes correspondence, programs, agendas, and conference objectives and evaluation of the United States National Commission for UNESCO activities. The file also contains correspondence relevant to Bond's nomination for the directorship of the UNESCO department of education in 1962.
During the summer of 1948, Bond served as chairman of the Committee on Social Understanding for the UNESCO Seminar on Teacher Training at Ashridge College in Berkhamsted, England. The UNESCO Ashridge seminar file (3:375-377) includes correspondence, notes, biographical sketches of staff and delegates, reports, relevant journals and memorabilia.
EDUCATION - Research
From the mid-1920s through the 1930s, Bond's work was frequently related to the educational research projects of the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The Rosenwald Fund file (3:312-314) contains business and personal correspondence, including that with the Fund's president, Edwin Embree; Alabama building agent reports; and forms for applications and recommendations for Rosenwald scholarships and fellowships. Other materials in the file refer to projects in which Bond actively participated, including an outline of data to be obtained in the 1929-1931 survey of southern schools, the planning and development of Dillard University, and chronicle descriptions and reports of the 1937-1938 Special Study of Rural Elementary Schools of the South (see also Series 4 and 5).
The Rosenwald Fund Star Creek project file (3:315-318) consists of materials relevant to Bond's work for the Fund in Star Creek (Franklinton), Louisiana in 1934. Materials include correspondence, an outline of the research activities Horace and Julia Bond were to perform, a diary kept during their residence in Star Creek, recommendations for the improvement of the schools, and a description of the parish in which Star Creek was located.
The bulk of the file consists of a narrative titled "Forty Acres and a Mule" and several versions of "The First Lynching of 1935". The file concludes with numerous genealogical materials.
The Southeastern Education Laboratory was founded in June 1966, funded primarily by the federal government. Bond was a participant in the early planning stages of the research organization, a contributor to the original proposal, and served on its board of directors until June of 1969.
The Southeastern Education Laboratory's purposes were the research, development and dissemination of educational ideas concerned with such topics as better utilization of human resources, desegregation, curriculum, and teacher education. The file (3:325-359) consists primarily of printed and mimeographed materials pertaining to the organization itself and to many specific research topics pursued through its funding and organizational support. Also included are correspondence, proposals, minutes, by-laws, memoranda, vitae and research reports.
EDUCATION - Other
In addition to the activities mentioned above, Bond taught a sociology course on "The Negro in American Life" at Garrett Biblical Institute in the summer of 1944 (3:212); and wrote a script titled "Public Education after the Civil War" for the 1969 Columbia University Black Heritage television series (3:110). Materials in the Hampton Institute file (3:219) relate to Bond's preparation of an historical analysis of that institution in 1944. He also participated in meetings of the Cleveland Conference (3:107-109) and the Spring Conference on Education (3:367) -- both informal gatherings of educators and other interested persons assembled annually to discuss educational issues. Several other conferences relating to education are documented in the Ford Foundation file (3:209).
RACE RELATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES
A number of subject files relate to organizations dealing with African-American issues and specifically addressing civil rights and race relations concerns. Materials in these files date from 1931 to 1972.
The American Foundation for Negro Affairs was organized in 1967 to act as a national body for the purpose of cataloging African--American progress and subsequently of charting ten-year goals.
Bond served as vice president and the chairman and director of the organization's national research commission. Materials documenting the Foundation (3:72-74) include research position papers, minutes and correspondence.
The Associated Negro Press file (3:94) consists primarily of correspondence with Claude A. Barnett, the director of the national news service. The correspondence refers to articles Bond contributed to the A.N.P., as well as to land grant colleges and universities, state appropriations for black institutions of higher education, and Africa. The articles themselves are in 6:50.
In 1944 and 1945 Bond served on a committee with the purpose of producing educational films dealing with race relations. The American Missionary Association and the American Film Center participated in the committee, which was headed by Charles S. Johnson. Materials of the Film Committee (Committee for Mass Education on Race Relations) file (3:166) include correspondence, scenarios for proposed scripts including those by Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes, minutes and agenda.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People file (3:269-272) documents some of the mutual concerns of the NAACP and Bond over a period of thirty years. These include the issues of federal aid to education in the 1930s, the commissioning of black military officers during the 1940s, the Supreme Court "Brown vs. the Board of Education" suit of the 1950s, and desegregation issues during the 1960s. About one quarter of the file deals with Bond's historical research into the original interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment for the Supreme Court case.
Materials in the file consist primarily of correspondence, frequently with Clarence Mitchell of the Washington D.C. Bureau and John W. Davis of the Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Additional correspondence concerns the Lincoln University student chapter, and the Philadelphia and Atlanta chapters.
The Race Relations Institute (3:307) is an annual forum of lectures and workshops for bringing the social sciences to people concerned with the improvement of intergroup relations. The Institute began in 1944 and was co-sponsored by divisions of the American Missionary Association and Fisk University. Bond was a lecturer for the Institute on several occasions. Materials in the file include correspondence, programs and brochures.
The Southern Conference on Race Relations (3:361) was an October 1942 meeting of black Southern leaders in Durham, North Carolina to develop a definitive statement regarding race relations issues (partly in order to maintain advances that were assumed would be made by black servicemen during World War 2). Bond was a participant in the conference and a part of the related 1943 subcommittee on agriculture. Materials include correspondence, recommendations for the agricultural subcommittee, and editorial statements.
Materials of the United States Commission on Civil Rights file (3:382) include correspondence, programs, notes, and printed materials relevant especially to Bond's 1962 paper to the Commission and to his leadership role in the 1967 national conference on race and education. Printed materials also include operational school integration plans in various United States cities.
INDIVIDUALS
Included in Series 3 are subject files relating to specific people. These files are significant in terms of the individual's personal prominence or long-term relationship with Bond, or both. The files consist primarily of correspondence, frequently of a personal nature, biographical information, newspaper clippings and other printed material.
Material relating to W. E. B. Du Bois (3:114-116)--Afro-American educator, author, and early leader of the black civil rights movement--includes correspondence between Bond and Du Bois concerning Crisis articles and the development of the Encyclopedia Africana. Also included are papers about Du Bois written by Bond and others, as well as correspondence and printed material pertaining to memorials to Du Bois after his death in 1963.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (3:257-259), civil rights leader, is represented by a file consisting primarily of information about the organization of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center in Atlanta. Bond served on the Center's initial Advisory Council as well as on the advisory council for a secondary element of the Center, the Institute for Afro-American Studies/the Institute of the Black World. Materials include memoranda, minutes, pamphlets describing various phases of the Center and proposals for Center projects.
Lincoln University alumni with whom Bond maintained some contact include Nnamdi Azikiwe (3:98-99), president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Kwame Nkrumah (3:289-294), prime minister of Ghana; Thurgood Marshall (3:262), Supreme Court Justice; Langston Hughes (3:224), writer and public speaker; and Lawrence Reddick (3:308-309), curator of the New York Public Library's Schomburg Collection and longtime friend of Bond.
Historian and sociologist Charles S. Johnson (3:255) corresponded with Bond especially regarding educational research projects and administrative issues.
Other individuals represented in Series 3 include Albert Barnes (3:100-101), philanthropist and benefactor of Lincoln University; and Mary McLeod Bethune (3:102), founder and president of Bethune-Cookman College.
MISCELLANEOUS ORGANIZATIONS
Numerous organizations are represented in Series 3. Many of these files consist of correspondence and other papers relating to Bond's membership and/or speaking engagements with the organization. Files of particular interest are noted below.
In 1943, Bond established Civicle, a Georgia state organization of black civic leagues, for the purpose of encouraging larger scale planning and stimulating local clubs. The Civicle file (3:106) contains proposed national constitutions, correspondence, agenda, and a proposition for post-World War 2 community facilities.
The United Nations file (3:373) contains materials relevant to Bond's 1963 appearance as a representative of the American Society of African Culture before a United Nations subcommittee considering policies of apartheid in South Africa. These materials consist primarily of correspondence and printed material of the United Nations, including a summary report of Bond's statement and discussion (see also 6:14).
The United States Congress file (3:383-384) refers to issues of each decade from 1932 to 1968. Materials include correspondence, especially with Georgia representative Charles L. Weltner in 1964; and copies of various bills, most of which relate to education.
The American Missionary Association file (3:76-77) contains information about the association's race relations program and Talladega College, an institution the AMA was instrumental in organizing and supporting. Materials include a 1943 report on "Race and Race Relations" by Charles S. Johnson and correspondence dealing with the 1961 observations of the AMA centennial.
Bond's long-term memberships in several organizations are documented in the files of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity (3:256); the Masons (3:264-265); the Sigma Pi Phi fraternity (3:320-322); the Southern Sociological Society (3:365-366); and the Alpha Kappa Mu honor society (3:69).