Collection Full View
Newark Rebellion Papers: Kerner Commission Material (1968)
Collection IDMG Nwk Rebellion
Size3 boxes
Collection Description
The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commission after its chair, Governor Otto Kerner, Jr. of Illinois, was an eleven-member commission established by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. The Commission investigated the causes of the 1967 race riots/rebellions in major cities, including Newark, and provided recommendations for the future.
Collection Contents
The collection contains photocopies of presentments, reports, and affidavits related to deaths and police abuse that occurred during the civil disturbances in Newark from July 13 through July 18, 1967. The photocopies are of original material held at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, Austin, TX
Box 1: presentment of Judge James R. Guiliano in riot/rebellion deaths and jury statement (April 1968); "Report to the Governor's Select Commission to Study Civil Disorder in New Jersey," Dickinson R. Debevoise, President, Board of Trustees, The Newark Legal Services Project; list of damage to businesses in riots and witness statements in riot/rebellion court case (1967); and "Newark's Poor and the Law," Newark Legal Services Project (1967)
Box 2: contains duplicate copies of the material in Box 1.
Box 3: contains a series of files on individual victims. All folders include signed and unsigned witness statements on the death of the person named, July-August 1967. Some also include authorization of representation statements. File names are: Ike Harrison, Tedock Bell, Rose Lee Abraham, Hatti Gainer, Raymond Gilmner, Jessie Mae Jones, Rufus Council, William Furr, Joey Bass (shown in the widely seen LIFE Magazine cover photo), Albert Mersier, Eddie Moss, Cornelius Murray, Michael Pugh, James Rutledge, James Saners, and Eloise Spellman (depositions of residents of 322 Hunterdon St.). The file on Rose Lee Abraham also includes a police report on her death and a typed timeline of all riot deaths (undated). File on Jesse May Jones also includes a photocopy of a book chapter entitled "The Black Killers." File on Albert Mersier includes copies of City of Newark death certificate, with cause of death; a photocopied page from a book with information on the shooting; and an authorization slip for the research project, "Race, Riot and Rebellion: Newark and Detroit in the Summer of 2004," signed by Ellen Johnson of Rutgers University.
NOTE: The file "Rebecca Brown" was not found.
Box 1: presentment of Judge James R. Guiliano in riot/rebellion deaths and jury statement (April 1968); "Report to the Governor's Select Commission to Study Civil Disorder in New Jersey," Dickinson R. Debevoise, President, Board of Trustees, The Newark Legal Services Project; list of damage to businesses in riots and witness statements in riot/rebellion court case (1967); and "Newark's Poor and the Law," Newark Legal Services Project (1967)
Box 2: contains duplicate copies of the material in Box 1.
Box 3: contains a series of files on individual victims. All folders include signed and unsigned witness statements on the death of the person named, July-August 1967. Some also include authorization of representation statements. File names are: Ike Harrison, Tedock Bell, Rose Lee Abraham, Hatti Gainer, Raymond Gilmner, Jessie Mae Jones, Rufus Council, William Furr, Joey Bass (shown in the widely seen LIFE Magazine cover photo), Albert Mersier, Eddie Moss, Cornelius Murray, Michael Pugh, James Rutledge, James Saners, and Eloise Spellman (depositions of residents of 322 Hunterdon St.). The file on Rose Lee Abraham also includes a police report on her death and a typed timeline of all riot deaths (undated). File on Jesse May Jones also includes a photocopy of a book chapter entitled "The Black Killers." File on Albert Mersier includes copies of City of Newark death certificate, with cause of death; a photocopied page from a book with information on the shooting; and an authorization slip for the research project, "Race, Riot and Rebellion: Newark and Detroit in the Summer of 2004," signed by Ellen Johnson of Rutgers University.
NOTE: The file "Rebecca Brown" was not found.
FormatTextual materials
SubjectsAfrican-American History / Civil Rights; Police / Crime / Law Enforcement; Politics and Government
Time Period20th Century
LanguageEnglish
Access policyOpen for research
ProcessedYes