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CITY OF LAWRENCE, KANSAS
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LAWRENCE FAIR HOUSING ORDINANCE
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50th ANNIVERSARY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
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Interview of Dorothy Harvey
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November 11, 2016
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(10:42:53)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Today is November 11th, 2016.
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am local historian Tom Arnold interviewing
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Mrs. Dorothy Harvey via telephone in Lawrence,
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Kansas, for the City of Lawrence Fair Housing
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Ordinance 50th Anniversary Oral History Project.
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I
At the time the ordinance passed in July,
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1967, Mrs. Harvey was serving as the president of
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the Church Women United of Lawrence, and,
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Mrs. Harvey, I just want to tell you that I am
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recording our conversation and confirm I have your
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permission to do that.
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MRS. HARVEY:
You do.
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MR. ARNOLD:
Thank you.
To start off, tell
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me a little bit about your background.
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grow up in Lawrence and were you a lifelong
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resident?
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MRS. HARVEY:
Kansas.
MR. ARNOLD:
Okay.
What year was that, do
you recall?
MRS. HARVEY:
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MR. ARNOLD:
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I grew up in Kansas City,
I came to Lawrence to go to K.U.
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No.
Did you
1943.
All right.
And then did you
stay in Lawrence after that?
MRS. HARVEY:
I married and I moved to
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Lawrence in 1945.
MR. ARNOLD:
All right.
And then you have
lived here continuously since then?
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MRS. HARVEY:
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MR. ARNOLD:
Right.
To start off how about
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describing for me what Lawrence was like for an
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African-American in the 1950s and 1960s.
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MRS. HARVEY:
For me Lawrence was something I
had to adjust to, a city I had to adjust to,
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because I had grown up in Kansas City, Kansas,
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where we had swimming pools and recreational
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centers where we could go.
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Lawrence there was nothing like that here and in
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the '50s and '60s it had not progressed to any
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degree.
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When I came to
I joined the AME Church, St. Luke AME Church,
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when I moved here because I had grown up in the
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AME Church in Kansas City, Kansas.
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didn't offer African-Americans very much at that
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point.
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the housing when I came to K.U., we lived at the
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base of the hill in private housing.
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K.U. didn't offer much.
Lawrence
We didn't live in
I don't know what else I can tell you except
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that people wanted to move into other areas of
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Lawrence now.
When I married I moved into the
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rural area of Lawrence and I've lived out here
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ever since, but people could not buy anywhere in
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Lawrence.
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Lawrence and East Lawrence.
They were locked in to Old West
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(10:45:57)
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MR. ARNOLD:
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was definite very strict housing discrimination --
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MRS. HARVEY:
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MR. ARNOLD:
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Right.
-- in terms of your
opportunities?
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MRS. HARVEY:
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MR. ARNOLD:
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swimming pool.
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frustration.
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children, or --
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So for African-Americans there
That's right.
And you also mentioned the
I know that was an issue of
Did that affect you personally, your
MRS. HARVEY:
Yes.
I took my children either
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back to Kansas City or to Topeka and there were a
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number of us young mothers in St. Luke who wanted
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our children to learn to swim so we would get
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together after church on Sunday and take them to
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Topeka and they were taught there how to swim.
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All this happened, even this continued for quite
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awhile in Lawrence.
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the pools opened up.
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(10:46:51)
I don't really remember when
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MR. ARNOLD:
Right.
I think the new pool was
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built, they approved it in 1967, the municipal
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pool, and I think it was opened in 1968 or '69, so
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before that definitely there was limited
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opportunity for African-Americans, maybe none at
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all.
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MRS. HARVEY:
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(10:47:09)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Yes.
Now, what would you say were the
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primary impediments to bringing about change in
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some of those discriminatory practices?
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MRS. HARVEY:
Well, it amounted to the
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churches organizing and the people in their
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frustrations began to demand some things.
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did walks.
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particularly, but they did a lot of marching here
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in Lawrence.
They
I don't really remember sit-ins
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(10:47:44)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Right.
And who would you say
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was trying to prevent change?
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groups that --
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MRS. HARVEY:
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MR. ARNOLD:
Do you remember any
Not by name, no.
Okay.
Now, there were many
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groups that included both white and
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African-American people fighting for change and
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Church Women United was one of those groups.
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would you describe the composition of that group,
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the types of people, what churches were involved?
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MRS. HARVEY:
How
Church Women United was
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organized in 1941, I believe it was, in December,
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in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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the auspices of the ministerial alliances and
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there were 70 denominations, as I remember.
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Sometimes you just had two or three churches of
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the same denomination, but at that juncture we
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were United Church Women and we met monthly
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locally and then there was a state organization
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which met once a year, but we were organized with
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the various groups of the various churches coming
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together.
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one representative from the women's group of that
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particular church.
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It was under the
Ministers' wives were included and then
I'm not sure I can name all of the churches,
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but as I remember there were, course at that point
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there was just Methodist Church, they were not
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United Methodists at that point, but there were at
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least three of them in Lawrence.
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Baptist Church, Presbyterian Church, Plymouth
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Congregational, and all of these churches were
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downtown at that point and we met from church to
There was the
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church.
There were two African Methodist
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Episcopal churches, there were two [indationary]
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Baptist churches, which were black churches.
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MR. ARNOLD:
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MRS. HARVEY:
Okay.
First Church.
Let me see.
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Well, we call it the Christian Church.
Is it the
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First Church?
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[Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen],
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First Christian Church, but most of the larger
It's where they serve LINK
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white churches were involved, and there weren't a
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whole lot of the black churches.
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churches that I mentioned.
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(10:50:58)
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MR. ARNOLD:
The four
Okay, so all the
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African-American churches were involved but it was
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a small number --
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MRS. HARVEY:
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MR. ARNOLD:
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MRS. HARVEY:
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Oh, not all?
Okay.
There were smaller African
Methodist churches.
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MR. ARNOLD:
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MRS. HARVEY:
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Not all, no.
Okay.
I mean, smaller, yes, black
churches, but they were not all involved.
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(10:51:13)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Okay.
I understand.
Now, what
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got the United Church Women interested in the
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housing issue, do you recall?
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MRS. HARVEY:
It came from the national.
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Most of our directives came through the national
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program, then we would work on the local level,
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but we could also choose a local project if we so
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desired, but at that point, of course, we went
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with the national program to work on fair housing.
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(10:51:45)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Okay.
And in 1964, according to
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some records I've seen, the United Church Women
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conducted a housing study or a housing survey and
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they also gathered signatures from members of
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various churches and I think got 845 signatures in
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favor of fair housing.
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MRS. HARVEY:
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mention it, yes.
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MR. ARNOLD:
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MRS. HARVEY:
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(10:52:17)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Do you recall that study?
Yes, I recall, now that you
Were you involved in that?
If it was in the '60s, yes.
And do you recall what the group
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was hoping to accomplish by that study and by
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gathering those signatures?
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MRS. HARVEY:
Basically what we wanted to do
was just open the housing up to anybody who wanted
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to look at housing.
You weren't even shown
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housing in that day.
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looking for homes, we were just trying to look
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toward the future as to what our own families
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would want.
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can remember that.
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Go ahead.
And most of us were not
It amounted to a lot of meetings, I
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(10:53:04)
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MR. ARNOLD:
A lot of time was involved.
Were you surprised that you got
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845 signatures?
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number of signatures in favor of fair housing.
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Was that an encouraging sign for you?
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I mean, that's a fairly large
MRS. HARVEY:
Yes, it was an encouraging
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sign.
I'm not sure that we were surprised because
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there were a lot of people who were behind the
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movement, but they just didn't come forward when
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we would have public meetings and so, if I
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remember right, we sent these petitions to all the
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churches and people signed, and then we probably
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took them in to count it.
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(10:53:49)
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MR. ARNOLD:
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And why do you think some people
were supportive but would not come forward?
MRS. HARVEY:
their jobs.
A lot of them were afraid of
A lot of them were just people who
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did not come forward, they just, they stayed at
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home.
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didn't come forward.
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(10:54:10)
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MR. ARNOLD:
They talked in the background but they
Right.
And who were the people
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who were mostly opposed to changing fair housing?
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Was it mostly the real estate industry or --
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MRS. HARVEY:
I don't know.
I think the real
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estate people had a little to do with it but also
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it depended on the person who owned the home, and
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a lot of those homes were owned by, we found, by
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professors on the hill, and people with money who
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had, and then didn't want to open their
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neighborhoods.
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(10:54:50)
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MR. ARNOLD:
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MRS. HARVEY:
Right.
It --
(indiscernible) such families
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had a fear of opening the neighborhood to other
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minority groups.
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(10:54:59)
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MR. ARNOLD:
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And was that because they were
afraid that property values might decline or -MRS. HARVEY:
Yes, that was one of the things
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they would say, and then of course they would say
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that they weren't educated, as well educated as
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they thought they should be, and they were afraid
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that their girls would be violated.
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(10:55:22)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Right.
And it's interesting you
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mention the people up on the hill, because some of
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the things that we have seen indicate that many of
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the members of the white community that fought in
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favor of fair housing were university people, but
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obviously that wasn't all of them.
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MRS. HARVEY:
Yes, they were out there, but
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we found in checking that a lot of the housing
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which was substandard was owned by, like I said,
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people on the hill and people of wealth.
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didn't keep them up.
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(10:55:58)
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MR. ARNOLD:
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So did you personally ever experience
They
Yes, that's interesting.
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discrimination in housing or did your family just
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remain living --
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MRS. HARVEY:
No.
I married a local farmer,
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Harvey.
I married into the Harvey family, which
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is a well-documented family here, Rebecca Harvey.
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MR. ARNOLD:
Okay.
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MRS. HARVEY:
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here since 1863, so --
And they've always lived out
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MR. ARNOLD:
Wow.
That's an old Lawrence
family.
MRS. HARVEY:
Yes, the farm was always here
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and we never, as I said, we were not looking for
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housing, but we did have children and we didn't
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know what they would want.
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(10:56:41)
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MR. ARNOLD:
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Right, exactly.
So after your
study was completed, and I know I remember reading
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in the newspaper that some of the information
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about your study was published in the
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Journal-World and the mention that 845 people had
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supported it, but did you see any immediate change
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in attitudes as a result of the United Church
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Women's effort?
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MRS. HARVEY:
Not immediate.
It was probably
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two or three years before we began to see people
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moving into other areas.
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(10:57:18)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Right.
And then in 1967 the
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Lawrence Fair Housing Coordinating Committee -- do
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you recall that organization?
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MRS. HARVEY:
No, I don't.
I'm sure it was
there but I don't remember who.
MR. ARNOLD:
Right.
It was a group that came
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together, kind of an umbrella group with, I think
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United Church Women were a part of it, the NAACP,
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a number of other organizations kind of came
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together and formed this umbrella and in January,
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1967, they took the proposal to the Lawrence Human
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Relations Commission to draft a fair housing
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ordinance and then that went to the Lawrence City
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Commission, who approved it, passed it in July of
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1967, and at one of the meetings we actually have
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the minutes that you spoke on behalf of
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representing the United Church Women in support of
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fair housing.
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Commission was willing to pass that ordinance in
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1967 or do you feel like by then there was enough
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support across the community that the issue's time
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had finally come?
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MRS. HARVEY:
Were you surprised that the City
I think it was just time, and
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there were enough people behind the issue that
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they were willing to pass that ordinance, and some
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of them probably had been on the committee, you
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know, with us.
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MR. ARNOLD:
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MRS. HARVEY:
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Right.
I just can't go back 50 years
and think of -- I can -(10:58:54)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Right, yes.
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MRS. HARVEY:
-- remember some of the women,
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but -- and some of the ministers, but otherwise I
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can't really call their names.
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(10:59:06)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Sure.
I understand it's been 50
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years and it's difficult to remember specifics.
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Do you feel like the role of the churches,
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both individually and then through groups like the
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United Church Women, played an important role in
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bringing about the passage of the Fair Housing
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Ordinance that --
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MRS. HARVEY:
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Oh yes, we played a big role in
that.
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(10:59:29)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Yes, it's interesting, as I've
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talked to people many people got involved because
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of, you know, through their churches.
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know whether you remember a Reverend Richard Dulin
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but he was the chairman of the Fair Housing
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Coordinating Committee.
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Congregational Church, but it definitely seems
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that the churches played a very important role.
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MRS. HARVEY:
important role.
I don't
He was from Plymouth
Yes, the churches played an
Like I said, there were 70
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denominations and of course you doesn't have all
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of those in one city, but those churches were, the
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ministers were involved and the Ecumenical
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Ministerial Alliance, they pushed it very hard and
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they pushed, well, they'd tell their women when
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you go you take this message from our church, and
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then that was the way we would get the message
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out.
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When we met our goal was to be united and
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that's what I was going to say.
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in the late '50s or the early '60s that we changed
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the name to Church Women United to put the
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emphasis on united.
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(11:00:53)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Very good.
It was somewhere
Were you involved in
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any other organizations, any other groups that
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were fighting for social change or was your
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primary efforts through Church Women United?
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MRS. HARVEY:
At that point it was probably
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primarily through Church Women United.
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became active by being appointed to various
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organizations by the county commission.
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(11:01:23)
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MR. ARNOLD:
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Okay.
Later I
And do you recall Church
Women United being involved in other issues
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besides fair housing?
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educational opportunities in the schools and did
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they fight for the swimming pool, do you remember?
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MRS. HARVEY:
Were they trying to improve
Oh yes, yes, they fought for
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the swimming pool and anything that was of
6
interest.
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give us a concert at one point when Dr. King was
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so active.
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but it also had to been in the '60s, I think.
We had Mrs. Martin Luther King come and
I can't remember what year that was
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(11:02:07)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Okay.
That's interesting.
I'll
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have to see if I can do a little research and find
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out from the newspapers maybe mentions that.
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So it sounds like the Church Women United was
a very active group and -MRS. HARVEY:
It was a very active group and
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it remained active until the churches began to --
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the women began to go out to work, let me put it
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that way, and then the churches did not maintain
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women's groups per se, so that was when we
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disband.
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(11:02:43)
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MR. ARNOLD:
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frame?
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remember?
Okay.
Do you remember what time
Was that the 1970s, 1980s, do you
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MRS. HARVEY:
2
MR. ARNOLD:
Probably in the '80s, I think.
Okay.
Do you remember from that
3
time frame any particular individuals who stand
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out in your mind who played an important
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leadership role in trying to push for civil rights
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and changes in Lawrence?
One name that comes to
7
my mind was Jesse Milan.
Did you know Jesse?
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MRS. HARVEY:
Spearman.
Yes, I knew Jesse Milan.
At that point he was Reverend Benton
Anderson that was a pastor here in Lawrence.
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I'm trying to think of the pastors in the
12
larger white churches.
13
me.
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(11:03:51)
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MR. ARNOLD:
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John
Okay.
The names aren't coming to
Well, as we said, it's
been 50 years so that's quite a long time ago.
MRS. HARVEY:
Yes, but if we can get any
18
information from those churches of who their
19
pastors were, if they were in the larger churches,
20
like I said, the Presbyterian churches, the
21
Baptist Church and all of the Methodist churches,
22
you will be able to get some information there,
23
because they were very active and through their
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women's organizations they pressed us to do a lot
25
of things.
We sponsored a World Day of Prayer
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every year, I remember it was on a Friday and I
2
can't remember whether it was the first Friday or
3
the last Friday in March, but that was something
4
that we did as Church Women United.
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(11:04:49)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Great.
Would you say -- you
7
know, you had mentioned earlier that one of the
8
goals of yourself and others who were involved in
9
this group wasn't necessarily to bring about
10
change for yourselves but to bring about changes
11
that would benefit and provide opportunities for
12
your children.
13
children stayed in Lawrence, but by the time they
14
were out in the working world and out going out
15
looking for housing would you say things had
16
improved for the better based on your efforts?
17
I don't know whether any of your
MRS. HARVEY:
Yes, it had improved to some
18
degree.
My youngest daughter, Deborah Green,
19
taught at Lawrence High School for over 30 years.
20
My older daughter worked here in Lawrence.
21
reared three grandsons through the school system
22
here.
23
(11:05:44)
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MR. ARNOLD:
25
We
Okay, and would you say that
they enjoyed much better opportunities in finding
�19
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2
housing than the generation before them?
MRS. HARVEY:
Let me explain it this way as I
3
see it.
They could go look at the housing but the
4
money was not there.
5
you have to have a job so that they can afford the
6
housing.
7
housing open and they have no jobs to pay for the
8
housing.
It doesn't do any good to have the
9
(11:06:20)
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MR. ARNOLD:
11
Now, I've always felt that
Right.
It's really a much more
complicated issue sometimes than just saying, --
12
MRS. HARVEY:
13
MR. ARNOLD:
14
MRS. HARVEY:
Yes, it is, --- just saying you can --- and I see it today is still
15
the same thing, we don't have the jobs that pay
16
the kind of money that they need, and we always
17
told our children if you get an education, then
18
you can do whatever you want, but it turns out
19
that even though we get them educated there are
20
not always jobs available for them.
21
(11:06:54)
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MR. ARNOLD:
23
MRS. HARVEY:
Right.
Such as the school situation.
24
You never had enough minority teachers in the
25
school system here.
When I came there were only,
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as far as I know, the two teachers who were in
2
North Lawrence in the little black school that
3
they had.
4
MR. ARNOLD:
5
MRS. HARVEY:
Right.
And it's not much better today.
6
In the 70 years that I have been here I don't see
7
a whole lot of progress.
8
(11:07:33)
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MR. ARNOLD:
So there may be some progress on
10
paper in that the rules have changed but the
11
actual opportunities are not necessarily there?
12
MRS. HARVEY:
13
(11:07:47)
14
MR. ARNOLD:
Right.
That's true.
What would you say, if you were
15
going to give some advice to young people today
16
who might be interested in fighting for social
17
change as you did in the 1960s what advice would
18
you give them as far as encouraging them how to
19
approach trying to bring about change?
20
MRS. HARVEY:
Well, first I would tell them
21
to be sure that you have all the information that
22
you can gather so when you go you can present it
23
and know what you're talking about.
24
25
Secondly, I would encourage our young people
to continue to work toward getting educated and
�21
1
preparing themselves for a life.
2
And then I would tell them to unite with
3
people of like mind, those who are also willing to
4
get out and band together, work for improvement in
5
the community.
6
(11:08:52)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Yes, that's a very good point,
8
and one of the things that I have found most
9
impressive as I have done my research for this
10
project is that what really brought about the Fair
11
Housing Ordinance in Lawrence was the fact that a
12
very diverse group of members of the community
13
banded together in local organizations, grassroots
14
organizations, like Church Women United and the
15
NAACP and others, and they brought about social
16
change.
It took awhile but they brought about
17
change.
Now they didn't necessarily solve every
18
problem but they at least made progress.
19
MRS. HARVEY:
Yes.
It took a lot of doing
20
and I imagine -- back in that day, which most of
21
us belonged to the NAACP and worked through that
22
project, which also worked through the churches.
23
In that day our ministers were very vocal and a
24
lot of help.
25
(11:09:52)
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MR. ARNOLD:
Do you think that has changed,
2
that the churches are not as active as they used
3
to be in trying to bring about change?
4
MRS. HARVEY:
Yes, very much so.
I don't see
5
them out in the forefront like they were back in
6
the '60s, '50s and '60s.
7
MR. ARNOLD:
8
MRS. HARVEY:
9
Right.
I don't know what has brought
about the change but they seem to be, well, people
10
are not going to church, just let me put it that
11
way, people are not going to church like they did
12
back in that day.
13
(11:10:29)
14
MR. ARNOLD:
Right, and, you know, I've heard
15
some people say that younger people today are not
16
joiners like they were back in your generation.
17
They don't necessarily join organizations, whether
18
it's churches or groups like the NAACP, they just
19
don't tend to get as involved and maybe that's
20
taken away some opportunities for people to come
21
together and fight for issues.
22
MRS. HARVEY:
Well, some of the people that I
23
talk to in that younger age group, they don't see
24
any progress and they see no reason to get out
25
there and walk and talk and try to improve the
�23
1
situation.
They just seem to feel like they're
2
not going anywhere and so why should they bother.
3
MR. ARNOLD:
4
MRS. HARVEY:
Right.
Yes, --
And I don't know how to help
5
them in that sense.
6
to tell them what we did, and of course they think
7
a lot of that was just old fogeyism, is a term
8
that they use, so I don't know how to help them
9
with that, but they are going to have to wake up
10
one day and see that the progress that has been
11
made is slowly being eroded and if they don't get
12
out and do something about it they're going to
13
find themselves back in the same situation that we
14
did back in the '50s and '60s.
15
(11:12:13)
16
MR. ARNOLD:
Except listen to them and try
Right.
I think you make a very
17
good point in that and we are hoping that projects
18
like this which help capture kind of the memories
19
of those of you who were involved in that movement
20
back in those days will help encourage younger
21
people today to realize they can bring about
22
change if they work together and try to make the
23
system work even though sometimes the system seems
24
like it's hard to change.
25
MRS. HARVEY:
Yes, it's hard to change, and
�24
1
sometimes you don't really see the change that you
2
thought you would see.
3
people have not gone through some of the things
4
that my generation went through so therefore they
5
don't understand what we're talking about how
6
times have changed and how things were and you
7
couldn't do things openly in Lawrence; well, just
8
openly period.
9
where they expected minorities to remain, but
It's there but our young
You had a back seat and that's
10
there was always a group that was discouraged by
11
the failures that were going on.
12
do better, they wanted to have homes that
13
represented them.
14
that were beautiful.
15
progress to some degree but not to the degree that
16
I thought it would be by now.
17
(11:13:49)
18
MR. ARNOLD:
They wanted to
They wanted to move into areas
But I think there's been
Right.
Well, Mrs. Harvey, I
19
just have one last question and that is as you
20
reflect back on what you were involved in in the
21
1960s what do you feel like you are most proud of
22
in the things that you worked on and what you
23
accomplished?
24
25
MRS. HARVEY:
Well, I guess I'd have to be
proud of the fact that we did stand up for what we
�25
1
thought were our rights, that we did not falter
2
when things did not go our way, we continued to
3
push to get our people on the boards, like the
4
school board and the hospital board and so many
5
things that were not open to minorities in the
6
'50s and '60s.
7
And I was proud of the fact that my daughter,
8
who went to Lawrence High School, came back and
9
was able to teach there for that many years, that
10
we were able to get our children educated and help
11
them to see that there was a future but that you
12
have to be a part of that future, you can't sit
13
back and rest on your laurels.
14
got one thing open doesn't mean that there wasn't
15
another door that needed to be opened.
16
(11:15:32)
17
MR. ARNOLD:
Right.
Just because we
Well, I think those are
18
very good thoughts and I appreciate you giving me
19
the time to interview you and capture some of your
20
memories and your reflections on that time period.
21
Before we end the interview is there anything
22
else, any other subjects I haven't touched on that
23
you would like to share?
24
25
MRS. HARVEY:
No.
I think we've touched on
all of them, and I appreciate you calling me and
�26
1
allowing me to do this interview by phone.
2
sorry I didn't meet you in person, but I certainly
3
wish you the best in this project.
4
MR. ARNOLD:
I'm
Well, thank you very much, and
5
thank you for your time and thank you for what you
6
contributed to fair housing.
7
city still believes it is a very important topic
8
and they wanted to take advantage of the 50th
9
anniversary to try and capture some memories of
As you can tell, the
10
the people who helped to put it in place and then
11
also use this information to promote fair housing,
12
because I think, as you have noted earlier, even
13
though you bring about change, things can start
14
slipping back the other way if you don't
15
reemphasize it and keep it fresh in people's minds
16
and keep fighting for it.
17
MRS. HARVEY:
Well, thank you for
18
interviewing me and allowing me to share.
19
thoughts are not as clear as I had hoped they
20
would be but I certainly hope I have helped you in
21
some way.
22
MR. ARNOLD:
My
Well, you certainly have, and
23
thank you again, Mrs. Harvey, and I really
24
appreciate you giving me the time.
25
nice to talk to you.
It was very
�27
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
MRS. HARVEY:
Thank you.
*****
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
City of Lawrence Fair Housing Ordinance 50th Anniversary Oral History Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Discrimination in housing -- Kansas -- Lawrence -- History
African Americans -- Segregation -- Kansas -- Lawrence -- History
Lawrence (Kan.) -- Race relations -- History
Description
An account of the resource
<p>On July 18, 1967, Lawrence mayor Richard Raney signed into law Ordinance 3749, which provided fair housing protections to the citizens of Lawrence and predated the passage of the federal fair housing ordinance by almost a year. The purpose of this oral history project, sponsored by the City of Lawrence to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ordinance, is to document and capture the memories, roles and issues surrounding the passage of Ordinance 3749.</p>
<p>In May 1961 the Lawrence City Commission established an interracial Lawrence Human Relations Commission (LHRC) to “further amicable [race] relations” and “investigate…practices of discrimination” within the city. Separately, in 1964 various community organizations, including the NAACP and church groups, formed the Lawrence Fair Housing Coordinating Committee (LFHCC). Working together, the LHRC and the LFHCC submitted a proposed fair housing ordinance to the Lawrence City Commission in April 1967 seeking to address discriminatory practices in the sale and rental of homes in the city that effectively perpetuated patterns of racial segregation. Although strongly opposed by the Lawrence Real Estate Board representing local agents, the Fair Housing Ordinance passed the city commission on July 18, 1967. As its stated purpose the ordinance aimed “to provide for the general welfare of the citizens of Lawrence by declaring discriminatory practices in the rental, leasing, sale, financing or showing and advertising of dwelling units, commercial units or real property to be against public policy, and to provide for enforcement thereof.”</p>
<p>Approval of Lawrence’s Fair Housing Ordinance predated the signing of the Federal Fair Housing Act by nine months and preceded passage of the Kansas Fair Housing Act by nearly three years. This landmark piece of civic legislation, promoted by a diverse group of concerned residents of a university town that viewed itself as an example of American values to outsiders, including foreign students, and aspired to embody the ideals of its Free-State legacy, addressed discriminatory practices in housing, providing means for victims to seek redress and imposing penalties on violators. The origins, development and importance of this citizen-inspired movement warrants examination and interpretation as the city approaches the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Ordinance of 1967. <br /><br />Interviews for this project were conducted by Thomas Arnold in the summer and fall of 2016.</p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
City of Lawrence (Lawrence, Kan.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016
Relation
A related resource
<p>Click <a href="https://soundcloud.com/lawrenceksaudio/sets/50-years-of-fair-housing-in">here</a> to access the audio recordings of the interviews in this collection.</p>
<p>A selection of the interviews were also recorded on video. Click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzt8e_efB6wWS-BHMpGWKW46fyHPtfKPZ">here</a> to access the video recordings of the interviews in this collection.</p>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Arnold, Tom
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Harvey, Dorothy
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
0:34:22
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview of Dorothy Harvey
Subject
The topic of the resource
Discrimination in housing -- Kansas -- Lawrence -- History
Segregation -- Kansas -- Lawrence -- History
Lawrence (Kan.) -- Race relations -- History
Ordinance 3749 (Lawrence, Kan.)
Jayhawk Plunge (Lawrence, Kan.)
Protest movements -- Kansas -- Lawrence
United Church Women of Lawrence (Lawrence, Kan.)
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Dorothy Harvey, who was serving as the president of the United Church Women of Lawrence at the time that Lawrence's fair housing ordinance was passed in July 1967. This interview was conducted by Tom Arnold on November 11, 2016, as part of the Lawrence Fair Housing Ordinance 50th Anniversary Oral History Project.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harvey, Dorothy
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Lawrence Fair Housing Ordinance 50th Anniversary Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
City of Lawrence, Human Relations Division (Lawrence, Kan.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
11/11/2016
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Arnold, Tom
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. The public may freely copy, modify, and share this Item for noncommercial purposes if they include the original source information. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Relation
A related resource
<p>Click <a href="https://soundcloud.com/lawrenceksaudio/dorothy-harvey-11nov2016?in=lawrenceksaudio/sets/50-years-of-fair-housing-in">here</a> to listen to the audio recording of this interview.</p>
<p>The Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas is the official repository for this collection of oral histories.</p>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
HarveyInterview111116.pdf (transcript)
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Lawrence (Kan.)
1940s - 2010s