| Survey of the Cape Girardeau Negro Community |
| 1923-1924 |
| Extent: 36 items |
| Accession Number: 2003.006. |
| Abstract: Reports and correspondence resulting from a senior sociology seminar at Southeast Missouri Teachers College, intended to study race relations in Cape Girardeau. Included are the form given to students for interviews, the class final report, the report of a student, Alma Meyer, and her correspondence with local, state, and national organizations on the conditions of African-Americans throughout the nation. |
| Processed by: Amber McPherson, July 2007. |
|
Repository:
Special Collections and
Archives, Southeast Missouri State University Phone:(573) 651-2245 Fax: (573) 651-2666 Email: semoarchives@semo.edu |
| Provenance: Materials in the collection appear to have been collected by a Southeast Missouri State Teachers College student Alma Meyer in the course of completing a sociology project. How and when the collection came to Special Collections and archives is unknown. |
| Citation: Survey of Cape Girardeau Negro Community, Special Collections and Archives, Southeast Missouri State University |
| Restrictions: None |
| Historical Note |
|
In 1920, the YMCA Student Conference in Hollister,
Missouri, called for universities and colleges to organize a course and
curricula for the purpose of giving college men the opportunity of
studying and understanding the race problems and to create, thru this
study, a public opinion in favor of a better understanding between the
races
Southeast Missouri State Teachers College President W.S. Dearmont attended this meeting and requested that the sociology department conduct such a study. Dr. M.R. Thompson created a senior level semester long class on the study of racial characteristics, prejudices, attitudes, and tendencies. In the final two weeks of the semester the students went out into the community in order to collect data for the final project. |
| Scope and Content Note |
| Included in this collection are both the final report of sociology class entitled Summary of Findings of Survey of Negro Community of Cape Girardeau, MO, and a report by student Alma Meyer The Negro in Cape Girardeau: Investigation made by Miss Alma Meyer for Sociology Class. In addition, there is a copy of the survey form that students used to fill in information about the people whom they interviewed. There are also letters that Alma Meyer wrote to various local, state, and national organizations trying to "determine whether there is a real negro problem in Cape Girardeau, and if we are doing as much for the negro as other communities". These organizations replies relate to housing, health, community, and published literature on the issues affecting the African American communities. It must be noted that this collection reflects more about the white participants attitudes toward African Americans than it does about the actual conditions of African Americans in Cape Girardeau. |
| Rules or Conventions: Finding Aid prepared using DACS |
