Identity elements
Cote
Name and location of repository
Niveau de description
Titre
Date(s)
- 1890 - 2009 (predominant 1940-2008) (Production)
Extent
100.00 cubic feet
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
Claude William Black, Jr. (November 28, 1916- March 13, 2009) was one of San Antonio’s most indefatigable advocates for the equal rights of African Americans. He graduated in 1937 from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, and earned a Master Of Divinity degree at Andover Newton Theological School, Newton, MA, in 1943. He attended Trinity University in the early 1970s in order to complete graduate coursework in the Urban Studies department. Records documenting the following aspects of Reverend Black's life are included in the collection.
Ministry: In 1949, Reverend Black became pastor of the Mount Zion First Baptist Church, and served there for 49 years until 1998, after which he continued as Pastor Emeritus. He returned as interim pastor from 2005-2008. He created service organizations for the elderly, the poor, and the hungry, and started the first African American, church-owned credit union, Mount Zion Federal Credit Union. In the 1950s and 1960s, Reverend Black and other African American community members staged peaceful, civil rights protests that led to integration of lunch counters at local motels and at Joske's Department Store, theaters, parks and other public spaces. Reverend Black belonged to multiple religious organizations, such as the San Antonio Council of Churches and the San Antonio Ministers Association. One of these, the Baptist Ministers Union, was very active in church-related civil rights actions, one of which the scrapbook about the Billy Graham Evangelistic Rally (July 25, 1958) fully documents.
Politics: From 1973—1977, Black was elected City Councilman for the City of San Antonio and was appointed as the first African American Mayor Pro Tem. He was invited by President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1966 to participate in the White House Conference on Civil Rights and by President William Jefferson Clinton in 1995 to participate in the White House Conference on Aging. The scrapbooks in the collection are especially focused on Reverend Black's political campaigns and concerns.
Community: Black served on boards and committees with numerous community organizations, particularly those that would benefit the traditionally African American East side of the city. He was often invited to speak at civic and ceremonial events, as can be seen through the letters of invitation in the correspondence and letters section. Reverend Black received certificates and proclamations in his honor throughout his life that acknowledge his prolific activity.
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
ZerNona Stewart Black (February 7, 1906-January 24, 2005) worked extensively with service organizations, with her husband in civil rights activities, and fulfilled the many duties of a pastor’s wife. Originally from Muskogee, Oklahoma, a YWCA assignment in 1943 brought her to San Antonio to run the local Negro USO Club. She met Reverend Black shortly after her arrival, and they married in 1946. She was an educator, teaching college courses and Mount Zion First Baptist Church bible school programs. Mrs. Black received a speech and education degree from Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts and later pursued graduate courses at various universities, including Trinity University. She taught at Langston College in Langston, OK, and at St. Philip’s College in San Antonio.
She co-founded Health, Inc., an elder daycare agency, as well as a local chapter of Jack and Jill, Inc., promoting programs for African American youth. She was Executive Director of the Eastside Senior Citizens Project, and helped to run Project F.R.E.E. (she kept the records of Project F.R.E.E. and Health, Inc., two church-affiliated organizations). She headed the church drama ministry and numerous church councils. She worked as a YWCA Chairman and as a volunteer and youth supervisor with the Guadalupe District Baptist Association. She received many honors and awards for her generous service to the church, seniors, women and mothers, children, and to the community at large.
Content and structure elements
Portée et contenu
The personal papers of the Reverend Claude William Black, Jr. and his wife, ZerNona Stewart Black document their civil rights, community activism, and Baptist ministry activities, predominantly from the 1940s through 2008, in San Antonio, TX.
The collection spans the early 1900s through 2009 (the year of Reverend Black’s death). The bulk of the papers are relevant to Reverend Black’s activities, with approximately one-fifth related to ZerNona Black’s endeavors. Included are: audiocassettes, reel tape, videocassettes and movie film of events, sermons, and addresses; handwritten sermons and accompanying notes; annotated periodicals, including rare and specialized journals such The Crisis (NAACP), African Forum, and other African American publications; scrapbooks of memorabilia, ephemera and news clippings, about San Antonio and national events; communications with local and national leaders, including A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King, Jr.; photographs and slides of community and personal events; awards, certificates and governmental proclamations; appointment books and daybooks; extensive records related to activities of Mount Zion First Baptist Church and additional organizations.
Series 1: Mount Zion First Baptist Church Records, 1940-2007
The collection includes detailed records of the Mount Zion First Baptist Church kept over 50 years of Reverend Black's ministry there. These records include financial, annual meeting notes and reports, details on mission activities, event brochures, funeral programs, Sunday service pamphlets, The Messenger newsletter, scrapbooks, photographs, and published histories of the church.
Series 2: Personal and Family Records
Personal files primarily include records about family members and friends, assorted family letters and correspondences, and daily planners and notes.
Series 3: Local Government Materials
The local government records contain the campaign and city council-related materials of Reverend Black from 1965 through 1977. The overall range of materials spans 1950 through 2008, and includes documents that originate from local government offices, including the City of San Antonio and Bexar County; documents that pertain to the the years of 1973-1977, when Reverend Black served as a member of City Council, and as the city's first African American Mayor Pro Tem; documents that relate to issues of local government that originate from a variety of sources, such as neighborhood organizations and coalitions; information from individual politicians; and documents from bodies with close local government affiliation, such as the City Public Service Board. The documents reveal Reverend Black's long interaction with government as an individual and as a minister.
Series 4: Organizations
Extensive files by and about organizations reflect the Blacks' participation and interest in local and national programs. Included are the records of the Mount Zion First Baptist Church-affiliated organizations of Project F.R.E.E., Health, Inc, and New Community Builders, Inc..; records related to organizations and conferences such as the Baptist Minsters Union, San Antonio Mothers Organization, Economic Opportunities Development Corporation (EODC), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), The American Baptist Convention, and the 1966 White House civil rights conference, To Fulfill These Rights.
Series 5: Writings
The writings are primarily dated and undated sermons, sermon notes, talks and editorials by Reverend Black, with a small quantity of talks and notes by ZerNona Stewart Black.
Series 6: Correspondence and Letters
The records include extensive electronic correspondence with Morris T. Johnson from 1966 through 2007, carried out mostly via email or fax. The conversations cover issues of the day and scriptural topics, most often in the tone of lively debate. Mr. Johnson has resided in Los Angeles, California for many years, served in World War II as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, and graduated from Harvard University Law School.
The series also includes letters from Maury Maverick, Jr., Apolonio "Arnold" Flores, and extensive personal, professional and political communications.
Series 7: Printed Materials
The series includes extensive subject files that include reports, newlsetters, newsclippings from local (many documenting the Blacks' activities) and national newspapers; magazines and journals, many of which are annotated or rare; books; awards, proclamations, and certificates; and ephemera, such as local event brochures, directories, and calendars, The topics covered by the files reflect Reverend Black's research interests throughout the years: education, poverty, housing, class relations, race relations, politics and political figures, aging, the health system, the economy, jobs, homosexuality, human relationships, religion, theology, scriptural interpretation, incarceration, the death penalty, the Middle East, and the African American experience.
The newspapers included in the series are primarily local African American issues, such as the San Antonio Register, SNAP News, the San Antonio Informer, and the San Antonio Observer.
Series 8: Scrapbooks
The series includes eleven scrapbooks, the bulk of which document the local government activity and interests of Reverend Black from the 1960s to the 1970s.
Series 9: Visual Materials
The series include photographs, slides, photographic albums and scrapbooks, and guestbooks, primarily created by ZerNona Stewart Black.
Series 10: Audio Recordings
The series includes twenty-two open reel tapes of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) radio broadcast series, Martin Luther King Speaks. It also includes sermons, talks, radio talks, and church and community events and conferences recorded on open reel tape and audiocassettes, many of which include Reverend Black as a participant.
Series 11: Audiovisual Recordings
The series contains videocassettes of talks and recorded church and community events, many of which include Reverend Black as a participant. Also included are three reels of 16mm movie film (no soundtrack), in the "home movie" genre, which document the Blacks' travels through the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, as well as local family and community occasions. One movie film includes a brief appearance by the civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph.
Series 12: Computer Disks
The series includes one hundred and fifty 3.5-inch floppy disks, unprocessed; eighty 5.25-inch floppy disks, unprocessed.
Series 13: Realia
The series includes a Grundig Niki portable open reel tape recorder (two track, 3 3/4 ips recording) and assorted personal and political memorabilia.
System of arrangement
Series 1: Mount Zion First Baptist Church Records, 1940-2007
Sub-series 1: Administrative Records; Sub-series 2: Printed Materials; Sub-series 3: Scrapbooks and Photo Albums; Sub-series 4: Blueprints
Series 2: Personal and Family Records
Sub-series 1: ZerNona Stewart Black; Sub-series 2: Claude W. Black, Jr.; Sub-series 3: Daily Agenda and Personal Directories; Sub-series 4: Travel Records; Sub-series 5: Family Members
Series 3: Local Government Materials
Series 4: Organizations
Sub-series 1: Organizations Affiliated with Mount Zion First Baptist Church; Sub-series 2: Educational Organizations and Institutions; Sub-series 3: Local and Texas Religious Organizations; Sub-series 4: National and Regional Religious Organizations; Sub-series 5: Churches; Sub-series 6: Assorted Organizations, Conferences, and Meetings
Series 5: Writings
Sub-series 1: Writings by Claude W. Black, Jr.: Sermons; Sub-series 2: Writings by Claude W. Black, Jr.: Talks, Editorials, and Commentary; Sub-series 3: Writings by ZerNona Stewart Black
Series 6: Correspondence and Letters
Sub-series 1: Correspondence: Morris T. Johnson; Sub-series 2: Assorted Letters and Correspondence
Series 7: Printed Materials
Sub-series 1: [deaccessioned]; Sub-series 2: Reports, Papers, and Newsletters; Sub-series 3: Magazines and Journals; Sub-series 4: Newsclippings; Sub-series 5: Books; Sub-series 6: Music, Plays, and Educational Materials; Sub-series 7: Awards, Proclamations, and Certificates; Sub-series 8: Ephemera; Sub-series 9: Newspapers; Sub-series 10: Prints, Drawings, and Posters
Series 8: Scrapbooks
Series 9: Visual Materials
Sub-series 1: Photographs; Sub-series 2: Slides and Negatives; Sub-series 3: Photographic Albums, Scrapbooks and Guest Books
Series 10: Audio Recordings
Sub-series 1: Martin Luther King Speaks; Sub-series 2: Audio Recordings with Reverend Black - Open reel tapes; Sub-Series 3: Audio Recordings with Reverend Black - Audiocassettes; Sub-series 4: Mount Zion First Baptist Church Audio Recordings; Sub-series 5: Convention and Meeting Recordings - Audiocassettes; Sub-series 6: Convention and Meeting Recordings - Open reel tapes; Sub-Series 7: Assorted Recordings; Sub-Series 8: Industrial Area Foundation Recordings; Sub-Series 9: Fourth International Congress on Religion, the [Visual] Arts, Architecture, and the Environment Recordings;
Series 11: Video Recordings
Sub-series 1: Videocassettes; Sub-series 2: Movie Film, circa 1950-1969; Sub-Series 3: Digital Optical Media
Series 12: Computer Disks
Series 13: Realia
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions d’accès
Access: The collection is housed in Special Collections and Archives, Elizabeth Huth Coates Library and is open for research during open hours or by appointment.
Accès physique
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright: Trinity University holds the intellectual property rights for the original materials in the collection. It is the responsibility of researchers to comply with federal copyright regulations and laws for fair use and in the cases of third party copyright. Please contact Special Collections and Archives or the third party copyright holder for permission to publish, quote, or reproduce materials from the collection.
Use Restrictions: Publication of biographical research obtained from this collection is restricted for five (5) years from October 2011, or three (3) years from the availability of the finding aid, whichever comes first. During the time of restriction, however, the collection may be used by anyone, following initial accessioning and processing.
Languages of the material
- anglais
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Générer l'instrument de recherche
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Historique de la conservation
Source immédiate d'acquisition
Acquired: 10/01/2011.
Source: Taj I. Matthews, grandson to Reverend and Mrs. Claude W. Black, Jr..
Gift
Évaluation, élimination et calendrier de conservation
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Many items from this collection are available online through the Coates Library Digital Collections: https://cdm16264.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16264coll1
Related publications:
Black, Claude W., Jr., & Matthews, Taj I. (2007). Grandpa was a preacher: a letter to my grandson. Bloomington, IN : Author House.
In the Coates Library catalog at http://mill.trinity.edu/record=b2177585~S14
Descriptions associées
Notes element
Specialized notes
- Citation: [item identification], Claude and ZerNona Black Papers, 1890-2009, Elizabeth Huth Coates Library, Trinity University.
Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)
Description control element
Règles ou conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Collection processed and finding aid created by Donna Morales Guerra, Project Archivist, 2012. Collection was reprocessed by Colleen Hoelscher in 2020 to remove non-archival materials. A copy of the original finding aid is available upon request.
Mots-clés
Mots-clés - Sujets
- African Americans » African Americans -- Civil rights
- African Americans » African Americans -- Texas -- San Antonio
- Civil rights movements » Civil rights movements -- Texas -- History -- 20th century
- Civil rights movements » Civil rights movements -- Texas -- San Antonio
- Municipal government » Municipal government -- Texas -- San Antonio
- Public health » Public health -- Texas -- San Antonio.
- African Americans
- Civil rights movements