The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change
Cotton, Dorothy
b. 1930 - d. 0000
Dorothy F. Cotton was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina. She graduated from Virginia State College and earned a master’s degree in speech therapy from Boston University. She came to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1960 as assistant to Wyatt Tee Walker. She later became Education Director of SCLC’s Citizenship Education Program, conducting workshops on political participation, voter registration and nonviolent protest. She was the only woman on Dr. King’s executive staff. After King’s death, she was Southeastern Regional Director for ACTION and worked at The King Center in Atlanta. In honor of her life achievements, Dorothy Cotton has received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of New England, Spelman College and the University of New Rochelle. Her book If Your Back’s Not Bent will be released in 2012.
Associated Archive Content : 57 results
Power for the Powerless - SCLC's Basic ChallengeThis report outlines the objectives of the SCLC, as well as programs and projects led by various departments. It also includes a staff listing and organizational chart. |
Progress Report from Robert L. Green to SCLC StaffMr. Green sends this report to the SCLC staff concerning the Chicago Adult Education Project (CAEP). He writes of the problems and difficulties concerning black communities such as Lawndale, Illinois. He then goes on to describe what the major objective is and how the CAEP can help communities, like those in Lawndale. He proposes "to develop basic, needed educational tools to improve reading, writing, consumer and personal budget skills, and to provide the project with job-seeking skills." |
Refinement By FireThis brochure provides an overview of the SCLC Citizenship Education Program held at the Dorchester Community Center in Georgia. |
SCLC Action Committee MeetingDr. King writes to members of the Action Committee informing them of the date, time, and duties required for the meeting. |
SCLC Agenda'sThis is the agenda set out to specific people within the SCLC. |
SCLC Board Meeting AgendaThis document is a proposed agenda for an SCLC board meeting, which includes Dr. King's notes of additional agenda items. |
SCLC Citizenship Education ProgramThe SCLC issues a notice for more teachers to assist with their Citizenship Education Program. The training held at the Dorchester Center in McIntosh, Georgia, teaches potential instructors on how to educate community individuals about utilizing their basic first-class citizenship rights. |
SCLC Citizenship Education ProgramThis pamphlet describes the SCLC's Citizenship Education Program. The SCLC provides information on the purpose of the school, first class citizen preparation and the characteristics of an ideal candidate for training. |
SCLC Citizenship Education ProgramThis pamphlet outlines the mission and objectives of SCLC's Citizenship Education Program. The program was designed to inform citizens about how to become full citizens in America. SCLC also addresses the recruitment of potential teachers to assist with the curriculum. |
SCLC Citizenship Education Program BrochureThis brochure, which describes the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Citizenship Education Program, states the purpose of the program and also explains how the community can "prepare for first-class citizenship." Included is a brief article by Dr. King entitled "What Makes A First Class Citizen." In the article, Dr. King lists characteristics that first class citizens possess, such as literacy, participation in the political process and an understanding of the Constitution. |
SCLC Citizenship WorkbookThis workbook is an extension of the SCLC Conference Citizenship program "designed to acquaint citizens with the way in which our government is run and to help them meet voting requirements." This resource tool features a number of vocabulary-building, arithmetic, reading comprehension, and spelling exercises to better equip voters with the knowledge to "fight against prejudice and loss of human rights in education." |
SCLC DutiesThis document outlines general responsibilities and specific duties of SCLC officers. Top level members listed include Dr. King, President, Wyatt Tee Walker, Executive Assistant to President, Andrew Young, Program Director, Mrs. Dorothy F. Cotton, Office Manager and Educational Consultant, and Ralph Abernathy, Financial Secretary-Treasurer. The document states that Dr. King's general responsibility as President is to "coordinate and interpret the total program of SCLC." |
SCLC Meeting AgendaThis agenda for the Southern Leadership Conference meeting held on June 12, 1967, outlines the various speakers and their respective topics to be discussed. |
SCLC News BulletinThis SCLC bulletin to supporters details the organization's progress in numerous locations, including its growing presence in northern cities such as Cleveland, Operation Breadbasket in Chicago, and the Citizenship Education Program. A "Fiscal Facts" section stresses that Dr. King receives no salary from SCLC, nor any other income from his work with the organization. |
SCLC News Bulletin for November 1967This November 1967 news bulletin published by the SCLC contains updates regarding progress of the Civil Rights Movement, excerpts from the President's Annual Report and financial facts for the organization's supporters. |
SCLC NewsletterThis SCLC Newsletter discusses topics such as anti-Semitism, progress in various parts of the country, and Operation Breadbasket. |
SCLC Newsletter: July 1963This SCLC newsletter features numerous articles written by members of the SCLC regarding Birmingham, Alabama. Also featured is a graphic story of the crisis in Birmingham. |
SCLC Newsletter: September 1962Dr. King discusses the terrible cost of securing voting rights for blacks, especially in Leesburg, Georgia, where the Shady Grove Baptist Church was bombed and burned following the SNCC's use of the space to register voters. |
SCLC Press Release About a Mississippi Political RallyThis press release describes a political rally of Negro voters in Clarksdale, Mississippi at which Dr. King spoke. It declares the need for voter registration and the possibility for Mississippi to have as many as five African-American congressmen in Washington. |
SCLC Report of the DirectorThis document contains a six month SCLC Semi-Annual Report. The SCLC reports on their accomplishments in the areas of social action, fundraising, education, legal defense, etc. This document discusses the Virginia Christian Leadership Conference, the SCLC Leadership Training Program, and the Citizens Voter Registration Drive. Also included is a list of recommendations for the SCLC staff. |
SCLC StaffThis is a list of the SCLC staff members, their positions, and their responsibilities. |
SCLC Tenth Anniversary Convention Banquet Featuring Sidney PoitierThis document contains speeches given at the SCLC's Tenth Anniversary Convention Banquet. Sidney Poitier, a Bahamian American actor, gives the keynote address. He makes a very compelling statement during his address asserting, "to change the world we must change men." Also featured are brief speeches by Dr. King, Andrew Young, and Dorothy Cotton. |
SCLC's People to People TourThe SCLC held their Alabama "People to People Tour" from December 5-8, 1962. This itinerary lists the SCLC staff that participated in addition to the locations of their meetings. |
The Citizenship Education ProgramThis newsletter serves as a platform for the Citizenship Education Program. The program is designed to help inform African Americans of their rights as citizens in the United States. |
The Student VoiceSNCC's Newsletter, The Student Voice, updates readers on the progress of the civil rights movement throughout the United States. This issue gives details on incidents of discrimination throughout the South, boycotts, "Stand-Ins," and education opportunities for African Americans. |
What Are We Fighting For?This outlines the sermon "What Are We Fighting For" into three components: the past, the present, and the future. |
Women's International League ConferenceThis pamphlet provides information regarding the upcoming Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Conference. |