Pitcher, W. Alvin. Papers

Scope Note

The Alvin Pitcher papers span the years 1946 to 1993 and include his years teaching at Denison University in Ohio and the University of Chicago, his involvement in the civil rights movement, and his participation in a range of community groups, professional and civic organizations, and churches in Chicago and Hyde Park. Included are manuscripts, correspondence, press clippings, records from organizations with which Pitcher was involved, publications, and other documents. Pitcher maintained files on a variety of subjects, which have been left as he organized them; thus, there are some files with similar titles or contents, particularly in Series I. Materials from the later years of the collection, particularly the 1970s and 1980s, were not clearly identified or arranged; when these materials could be identified, they were filed according to the type of record (e.g. University Church Staff Meetings) or subject (e.g. Research on Sanctuary Movement). Some materials could not be identified, thus they have been included in “Miscellaneous” folders named for the subject or organization (e.g. Central America; Covenant Development Corporation) with which they appeared to be associated.

Series I: CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

This section contains records, notes, and research from Pitcher's longtime involvement in key organizations of the civil rights movement in Chicago. As a staff member of the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, Pitcher served on the committee formed by the CCCO and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to plan Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1965 trip to Chicago. Pitcher then served on the Agenda Committee of the Chicago Freedom Movement, the group formed by the CCCO and SCLC to campaign against inequalities in housing, education, and economic opportunities for African-Americans. This series contains records of meetings as well as memos, correspondence, and press releases from these organizations. Included are plans and schedules for the 1966 Freedom Rally at Soldier Field as well as for other demonstrations and marches throughout the city. This series contains numerous records from the Open City campaign to combat discrimination and inequalities in housing, including reports from real estate “testers” who would attempt to rent or purchase homes in white communities, revealing that many real estate agencies were openly or subtly defying the Chicago City Council's 1963 ordinance against racial discrimination in housing. Pitcher was also involved in the campaign against Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Benjamin Willis during this period, in which a number of civil rights and community organizations fought to have Willis removed from his post, charging that his refusal to engage in desegregation efforts violated the terms of federal education aid to Chicago schools and restricted black students to overcrowded, poorly-maintained schools and provided them with inadequate education. In this section are a number of documents concerning demonstrations against Willis and petitions for federal investigation of Chicago Public Schools. In 1968 Pitcher helped form the Committee for One Society, a group sponsored by the Urban Training Center for Christian Mission to focus on racism and social justice in Chicago. This series contains records of campaigns undertaken by the COS as well as its correspondence, meetings notes, and reports.

The majority of items in this series relate to Pitcher's work with Operation Breadbasket, the economic arm of the SCLC headed by Jesse Jackson, in the later 1960s and early 1970s. Partnering with area ministers and their congregations, Breadbasket worked to secure employment and other economic opportunities for African-Americans with a number of companies, especially supermarkets and grocers operating in black communities. This section includes records of numerous such campaigns, accounts of meetings and planning efforts, and many internal memos and reports regarding the organization's function and structure. Pitcher eventually served as the coordinator the Construction Spoke of the Breadbasket Commercial Association, a group dedicated to supporting and advancing black contractors and tradesmen. Pitcher's weekly reports on the Construction Spoke are included in this section, as well as correspondence regarding various construction projects in Chicago and information about the members of the Spoke.

Pitcher remained a supporter of Jackson after the latter broke from the SCLC to form People United to Save Humanity, or Operation PUSH. The end of this series contains some documents from Pitcher's work with PUSH in the 1980s. Information about other organizations involved in the civil rights movement in Chicago, with which Pitcher was involved or supported, is also included in this section. This series also contains a number of press clippings from the 1960s and early 1970s as well as Pitcher's research files on various subjects involving race, urban issues, economics, and politics.

Series II: CIVIC AND CHURCH INVOLVEMENT

Items in this series range from the 1950s to the 1990s and include documents from the Church Federation of Greater Chicago, Hyde Park Baptist Church (later renamed Hyde Park Union Church), University Church, and the Woodlawn Ministerial Alliance. Pitcher served on the Board of the Church Federation, an interdenominational organization promoting social justice and community improvement in Chicago; included in this section are internal reports, minutes, and correspondence of the Federation as well as records of its research and activism around issues of race relations, schools, and employment. Pitcher was very active at Hyde Park Baptist Church throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and this section contains newsletters, financial statements, and annual reports from the church. Also included are documents from its Board of Deacons and Community Outreach Committee, both of which Pitcher served on. There are extensive notes and correspondence from two “Call Committees,” (committees leading the church's search for new ministers) that Pitcher headed in the 1950s.

In the 1970s Pitcher joined University Church in Hyde Park and was involved in a variety of activities within the church in addition to serving as its Minister for Christian Community Development. Included in this series are notes from a number of church committees, minutes from church staff meetings, financial statements, correspondence, and annual reports. University Church sponsored study groups on a number of national and international issues, including nuclear weapons, U.S. foreign policy, and poverty; this series contains research and notes from these groups. Additional research and notes on some of these subjects are also located in Series V, General Research and Writing.

In the late 1970s Pitcher and other members of University Church began to research and discuss intentional communities and decided to form the Covenantal Community of University Church. With financial support from its denomination's Board for Church Extension, University Church purchased an apartment building in Woodlawn and the Covenantal Community organized a housing cooperative there. Extensive information about the Covenantal Community and the housing cooperative can be found in this series, including its history, members, and community-building projects. Minutes of Board and residents' meetings, financial reports, correspondence, and building rehabilitation and maintenance records are included in this series. Pitcher joined the Woodlawn Ministerial Alliance after moving to Woodlawn, and this section includes meeting minutes, correspondence, and records of that group's programs. Pitcher later served on the Board of the Covenant Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization supporting community development in Woodlawn. Included in this series are meeting minutes, correspondence, and information about programs and partnerships of the CDC.

Series III: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO AND DIVINITY SCHOOL

This small series contains records from the Divinity School and Pitcher's program in Ethics and Society. Also included are correspondence and narratives pertaining to student demonstrations at the University of Chicago in the second half of the 1960s. Other documents pertaining to the University can be found Series I and Series IV.

Series IV: THEOLOGICAL AND MINISTERIAL WRITING

This section contains research, notes, and manuscript drafts of Pitcher's theological writing as well as copies of sermons and notes for religious education programs. The manuscripts from the 1940s and early 1950s are primarily weekly talks given by Pitcher at Denison University in Ohio, where he directed the Christian Emphasis Program. Also included are notes for courses taught by Pitcher at Denison, the University of Chicago, and Hyde Park Baptist Church. Pitcher's writings cover a range of topics that he links to religion and spirituality, from prayer and personal relationships to business ethics, foreign policy and the environment. This section also contains news clippings, manuscripts and articles by others, and research notes on many of these subjects. Several published articles of Pitcher's are found in this series.

Series V: GENERAL RESEARCH AND WRITING

This series includes Pitcher's research, notes, and writing from the 1970s to 1990s on a variety of social and political issues. Additional research and information about many of these subjects can be found in Series III, Civic and Church Involvement, in the University Church files. Much of the material in this series is related to United States foreign policy in Central America and the church sanctuary movement for Central American refugees; documents from Pitcher's involvement with the Chicago Religious Task Force on Central America are located in this section.

Series VI: PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE AND FILES

This series contains correspondence from the 1940s through 1990s. Much of the early correspondence is from Pitcher's first wife, Emma (“Bickie”), to whom he was married from 1938 to 1971. Also included is correspondence between Pitcher and his longtime colleagues Gibson Winter and Douglas Sturm, as well as between Pitcher and Harold Fey, editor of the ecumenical journal The Christian Century from 1955 to 1964. Also included are various speaking invitations and Pitcher's responses to them, exchanges with colleagues from various institutions, and letters from friends and family. At the end of this series are miscellaneous notes and other items not included in other series, as well as several calendars and appointment books, Pitcher's curriculum vitae, and a short autobiographical essay. Additional correspondence can be found in Series I, II, III, and IV.

Series VII: STUDENT FILES, 1953-1982

This series contains several letters of recommendation as well as correspondence regarding students' grades. Student evaluative material is restricted for eighty years.

Series VIII: OVERSIZE

This series contains oversize press clippings, publications, and other documents from Series I, Civil Rights Movement. It also contains additional press clippings, chiefly from the 1960s and 1970s, collected by Pitcher that are not located in other series.