National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Reno-Sparks Branch Records

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Reno-Sparks Branch Records includes typical administrative records such as minutes, financial documents, and membership rolls. In addition the series documents the status of racial discrimination in the Reno-Sparks area through the varied surveys and reports on housing, education, public dining and sleeping accommodations, and enfranchisement. One file is of special interest, as it documents the Mary Rucker case, in which Miss Rucker was asked by security at the Primadonna Club to leave because "her kind" was not wanted in that club. There are also some reports from the Nevada Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, documenting civil rights violations and discrimination in Nevada. The clipping files also constitute a substantial source of information on civil rights in Reno and Sparks.

Just as the activities of SURE paralleled those of the NAACP, so too, did their records. There are some minutes and a set of bylaws and constitution (unfortunately, undated), as well as a substantial number of public accommodation survey forms and report. SURE sponsored several rallies and meetings in 1960 and 1961, which are chronicled through letters and flyers in Series 2, and clippings in Series 1.

Series 3, the national material from NAACP, also documents west coast civil rights concerns through annual reports of the West Coast Region. In addition, this series contains general material about the civil rights movement and the efforts to end discrimination throughout the U.S.