Research Catalog
Frederick W. Wells papers
- Title
- Frederick W. Wells papers, 1924.
- Author
- Wells, Frederick W. (Frederick Wilson), 1896-1979.
Available Online
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2 Items
| Status | Container | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person. | Folder 2 | Mixed material | Use in library | Sc MG 203 Folder 2 | Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives |
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person. | Folder 1 | Mixed material | Use in library | Sc MG 203 Folder 1 | Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives |
Details
- Additional Authors
- Description
- 82 items (2 folders)
- Summary
- The Frederick W. Wells Papers consist of letters, telegrams and news clippings documenting a cross burning incident by the Ku Klux Klan as part of an effort by white students to have Wells, an African American Columbia University School of Law student, removed from his on-campus dormitory.
- Donor/Sponsor
- Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project.
- Subjects
- Columbia University > School of Law
- African American college students > New York (State) > New York
- Race discrimination > New York (State) > New York
- African Americans > Civil rights > New York (State) > New York
- Race relations in school management > New York (State) > New York
- Wells, Frederick W (Frederick Wilson), 1896-1979
- Ku Klux Klan (1915- )
- Source (note)
- Wells, Jennie A.
- Biography (note)
- Frederick W. Wells was an attorney and housing specialist in New York City.
- Processing Action (note)
- Processed
- Call Number
- Sc MG 203
- OCLC
- NYPW086000035-A
- Author
- Wells, Frederick W. (Frederick Wilson), 1896-1979.
- Title
- Frederick W. Wells papers, 1924.
- Biography
- Frederick W. Wells was an attorney and housing specialist in New York City. He was born in Tennessee, attended Wilberforce University, then Yale Law School, and later was a senior at Columbia University Law School. In 1924 he was assigned a dormitory room in Furnald Hall at Columbia University. Initially, white students assumed he was a janitor. When some white students from Kentucky associated with the Ku Klux Klan learned that Wells was a student, they circulated petitions for his removal from the dormitory. This was followed by death threats and a cross burning on the lawn outside Furnald Hall. Newspapers throughout the country headlined the story. The Dean of Columbia University's Law School, Herbert E. Hawkes supported Wells's residency on campus, as did many other Columbia University students.Upon completion of his law studies, Wells worked as Industrial Secretary for the Urban League in California and directed his attention to housing for the disadvantaged and the African American poor. He later organized his own real estate managing and consulting firm in New York City. Working with city agencies, his efforts were instrumental in the building of Lenox Terrace and Delano Village in Harlem and the Carnes McKinney Apartments, a cooperative building in the Bronx.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
- Ashby, William M. (William Mobile), 1889-Matthews, J. B. (Joseph Brown), 1894-Robinson, John W.Tingle, Jedediah.Hawkes, Herbert E.Wells, Charles W.
- Research Call Number
- Sc MG 203