Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Syracuse Community Development Association.
Title:	Syracuse Community Development Association Records
Inclusive Dates:	1964-1968
Quantity:	5.5 linear ft.
Abstract:	Correspondence, clippings, and administrative, financial, and legal documents related to the anti-poverty organization in Syracuse, New York.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

The Syracuse Community Development Association (SCDA) was an anti-poverty group in Syracuse, NY that was active from 1965-1967. Its goal was to help people with lower incomes build their own organizations to support them in working their way out of poverty.

SCDA gained its initial funding as an offshoot of the Community Action Training Center (CATC). The CATC was founded by Syracuse University’s University College for the purpose of training community organizers and was funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) as part of President Johnson Administration’s War on Poverty. SCDA would hire CATC graduates to work as organizers in developing neighborhood action groups. In the year following its founding, the SCDA created a total of nine organizations, which worked to register new voters, get children school clothes through the Welfare Department, and improve the quality of life in public housing through updating appliances and hiring security, among other accomplishments.

Due to tensions with the city government over power dynamics, the OEO and Syracuse University pulled funding from SCDA in late 1965 and encouraged them to apply for support from the Crusade for Opportunity (CFO), another Syracuse-based anti-poverty agency with more ties to the local government. Due to ideological disagreements with the CFO, SCDA elected to remain independently operational on a reduced budget while making other plans. During this time, they ran on funding from local Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches, the Field Foundation, and individual community contributions.

In order to keep their neighborhood organizations in the hands of the people, SCDA devoted its remaining time to the creation of the Organization of Organizations (O of O). The O of O was an association of 53 community organizations, including neighborhood groups, churches, youth groups, civic action groups, and businesses. The Organization’s goal was to confront injustice towards people experiencing poverty in Syracuse and Onondaga County, and work on community problems through its ten action committees on issues such as employment, private and public housing, and medical services. SCDA intended to dissolve once the Organization of Organizations was fully incorporated and able to support itself. Both organizations are no longer operational today.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Syracuse Community Development Association Records includes administrative files, correspondence, financial material, legal material, printed material, and subject files.

Administrative files contains meeting minutes, equipment lists, memos, personnel records, proposals, and reports.

Correspondence contains communications among the members of SCDA’s Board of Directors, as well as general correspondence with politicians, church leaders, and community members.

Financial material contains account books, budget proposals, reports, funding requests and appeals, reimbursement records, pay requisitions, and receipts. It also includes bank statements and checks from the organization’s private and federal funds accounts.

Legal material consists of contracts, insurance policies, and SCDA’s constitution and incorporation certificate.

Printed material contains local newsletters and newspaper clippings relating to SCDA and other Syracuse anti-poverty organizations.

Subject files contains reports, agendas, and other documents about related anti-poverty groups including the Crusade for Opportunity, the Organization of Organizations, and the Community Action Training Center. It also includes drafts and essays by CATC founder Dr. Warren Haggstrom and SCDA employee Anna Mae Williams.

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Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is arranged alphabetically. Administrative files, financial material, legal material, and printed material series are arranged by type of material. Correspondence and subject files are arranged alphabetically by organization or person's last name.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

See also the Crusade for Opportunity Records.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Syracuse Community Development Association Records,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Unspecified, 1968.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: MRC
Date: 22 Nov 2010
Revision history: 16 Oct 2023 - collection processed (SAB)

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Inventory

	Administrative files
Box 1		Equipment inventory 1966
Box 1		Event promotion 1965-1066
Box 1		Information sheets 1965-1967
Box 1		Meeting minutes 1968 (7 folders)
Box 1		Membership 1965-1967
Box 1		Memos 1965-1966
		Personnel
Box 1			Bookkeeper position 1965
Box 1			Employee files 1965-1966
Box 2			Trainees 1966
Box 2			Roster 1965
Box 2		Policies and procedures 1966
Box 2		Project plans undated
		Proposals
Box 2			Founding 1964
Box 2			Project continuation 1965 (4 folders)
		Reports
Box 2			Annual 1966-1967 (2 folders)
Box 2			General undated
Box 2			Nominations committee 1966
Box 2			Platform and issues committee 1966
Box 2			Tenants' committee 1965
Box 2		Miscellaneous 1965-1967 - handwritten notes and a photograph of an unidentified man and child

	Correspondence
Box 2		Board of directors 1965-1967
Box 2		A-G 1965-1967
Box 2		H-M 1965-1967
Box 2		N-Z 1965-1967

	Financial material
Box 3		Account books 1965-1966 (3 folders)
Box 3		Accountant's report 1965
Box 3		Budget proposals 1965-1967
Box 3		Expenditures 1965
		Federal funds account
Box 3			Cancelled checks 1965-1966 (3 folders)
Box 4			Cancelled checks 1965-1966
Oversize 1			Pay and disbursements 1965-1966
Box 4			Statements 1965-1966
Box 4		Field Foundation funding request 1966
Box 4		Field mileage reimbursement 1965-1966 (3 folders)
Box 4		Funding, local 1966-1967
Box 4		Funding, miscellaneous undated
Box 4		Fundraising letters undated
Box 4		Grant conditions 1964
Box 4		Ledger 1965-1966
Box 4		Legal expenses 1965-1966
Box 4		Money received 1967
Box 4		Office of Economic Opportunity funding appeal 1966
Box 5		Payment requisitions 1965-1966 (2 folders)
Box 5		Payroll 1966-1967
		Private funds account
Box 5			Bank statements 1966-1968 (2 folders)
Box 5			Cancelled checks 1966-1967 (3 folders)
Box 5			Contributions 1966-1967
Box 5		Purchase orders 1965-1966
Box 5		Purchase warranties 1965
		Receipts
Box 5			Equipment 1965-1966
Box 5			Petty cash 1965-1966 (2 folders)
Box 6			Office supplies 1965-1966
Box 6			Services 1965-1967 (2 folders)
Box 6			Utilities 1965-1967
Box 6		Receipt book 1965-1967
Box 6		Reports - general 1965-1967
Box 6		Terminal financial report 1965-1966
Box 6		Travel reimbursements 1965-1966
Box 6		Unpaid bills 1967
Box 6		Miscellaneous undated

	Legal material
Box 6		By-laws 1965
Box 6		Certificate of incorporation 1965
Box 6		Contract, Syracuse University 1965
		Insurance
Box 6			Automobile 1965
Box 6			Bruns Co. 1965-1967
Box 6			Disability benefits 1965
Box 6			Multi-peril 1965
Box 6			State insurance fund 1966-1967
Box 7			New York State Department of Labor 1967
Box 7			Syracuse University plan 1965-1966
Box 7		Lease 1965
Box 7		Tax exemption status 1966-1967

	Printed material
		Clippings
Box 7			Crusade for Opportunity 1965-1968
Box 7			Delano grape boycott 1965
Box 7			Home town news 1966
Box 7			Organization of Organizations and Community Action Training Center 1966-1967
Box 7			Syracuse Community Development Association 1965-1967
Box 7		Newsletters 1964-1967

	Subject files
Box 7		Citizens' Crusade Against Poverty 1965-1966 - convention information and correspondence
		Community Action Training Center
Box 7			Field operation report 1965
Box 7			Grant reallocation 1965
Box 7			Progress profile 1965 (3 folders)
Box 7		Crusade for Opportunity 1966-1967 - proposals, meeting agendas, and fact sheets
Box 8		Episcopalian Diocese of Central New York 1966 - internal reports on community involvement and Syracuse Community Development Association funding
Box 8		Haggstrom, Warren 1966 - first draft of "Can the Poor Transform the World?"
Box 8		Office of Economic Opportunity funding loss 1965-1966 - correspondence, press releases, and newsletters
Box 8		Organization of Organizations 1966-1967 - meeting minutes, constitution, newsletters, event schedules, and information sheets (3 folders)
Box 8		People's Organization to Win Equal Rights undated - constitution
Box 8		People's War Council Against Poverty 1965 - press releases, telegrams, and resolutions
Box 8		Welfare 1965 - memorandums and welfare standards
Box 8		Williams, Anna Mae undated - essays on poverty and education

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