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Syracuse Community Development Association Records

An inventory of their records at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 22 Nov 2010

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.

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.

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.

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.

Related Material

See also the Crusade for Opportunity Records.

Subject Headings

Persons

Haggstrom, Warren C., 1925-1986.
Javits, Jacob K. (Jacob Koppel), 1904-1986.
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973.
Shriver, Sargent, 1915-2011.

Corporate Bodies

Crusade for Opportunity (Syracuse, N.Y.)
Field Foundation (New York, N.Y.)
New York (State). -- State Office of Economic Opportunity.
Organization of Organizations (Syracuse, N.Y.)
Syracuse Community Development Association (Syracuse, N.Y.)

Subjects

Economic assistance, Domestic -- United States.
African Americans -- Civil rights -- 20th century.
Civil rights movements -- New York (State) -- Syracuse.
Community organization -- United States.
Poverty -- New York (State)
Public housing -- United States.
Public welfare -- United States.

Places

Syracuse (N.Y.) -- History.

Genres and Forms

Clippings (information artifacts)
Contracts.
Corporation records.
Correspondence.
Financial records.
Insurance policies.
Legal documents.
Memorandums.
Newsletters.
Payrolls.
Personnel records.
Proposals.
Reports.

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.

Table of Contents

Administrative files

Correspondence

Financial material

Legal material

Printed material

Subject files

Inventory