National Office of Black Catholics

National Office for Black Catholics

Collection Description Collection Organization Publications in the Collection
University Archives and Special Collections Exhibitions St. Thomas University

Collection Description

In 1970, black Catholic laity, religious and clergy joined together and formed the National Office for Black Catholics headquartered in Washington D.C. Motivated by racial pride, and inpatient with the indifference of their Church to the rapidly changing social and political realities of the United States, this new group dedicated itself to bringing a genuine world vision to a church, that despite its claim to universality, was dominated by white European leadership and tradition. The NOBC promoted black clerical leadership, supported the development of more innovative and more African rooted liturgy and ministries, contributed to the revitalization of black parishes, and defended and strengthened black Catholic education. They did this through workshops, conferences, public forums, political networking and publishing.

While assuming leadership roles on vital social issues within the Church, NOBC carried the banner of Catholicism into the greater black community aligning the Church on the side of those who were struggling against attempts to dismantle the Civil Rights legislation of the sixties. Thanks to the efforts of this coalition of black clergy, religious and laity, the Catholic Church became a visible and powerful force in the racial justice movements of the era. During this era the NOBC became the Catholic focal point for Civil Rights activity, and a major force in the National struggle for civil and human rights.

The files and archives of the NOBC document not only the Black Catholic response to the Civil Rights struggles of the late sixties, seventies and eighties, but the response of the entire Catholic Church to the racial tensions of this era. Historic documents and studies which are included in this collection give it even great context and depth. It would be impossible to write a history of the Catholic Church in this era and more specifically black Catholics in this era without consulting this collection. The documents are divided into six categories: General Files, Liturgy, Civil and Human Rights, Conferences and Workshops, Education and Family and NOBC Newsfiles.

Collection Organization

1. GENERAL FILES
	I. By Laws of the NOBC,
	II. Minutes of meetings of Board of Directors
	III. General Administrative Files
		General Correspondence (also)
			1.Correspondence with major Social Justice groups
			2. Brother Joe Davis Correspondence
			3. James Conduit Correspondence
				a. Walter Hubbard Files
				b. Various Personnel files
				c. Directories 1971-1985
				d. Annual Activity Reports
				e. Financial Reports (also)
			4. Collection reports from parishes across the nation
			5. Files of Black Catholics Concerned, fund raising branch of the NOBC
			6. Records of Cash Transactions
	IV. News releases
	V. Opinion surveys
	VI. Files on Rome Synod on the Laity 1987
	VII. Numerous files on Black Catholic History
	VIII. National Black Lay Catholic Caucus
		A. All papers related to this movement including position papers, resolutions, letters etc.
2. LITURGY
	I. Magazine: Freeing the Spirit; Various pamphlets and books related to liturgy
	II. Papers related to annual conference and workshop on Culture and Worship
3. CIVIL RIGHTS HUMAN RIGHTS
	I. Voter registration
	II. Police brutality
	III. Reports on Human Rights by U.S. Catholic Conference, National Conference of Catholic Bishops
	IV. Correspondence with other Civil Rights and Human Rights groups
4. WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES, POSITION PAPERS, UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH PAPERS
	I. Conference Papers, Position papers on civil rights, education, police brutality.
	II. Lists of Participants and Attendees of various conferences
	III. Papers from annual conferences and workshops on Pastoral Ministry, Liturgy and Culture.
5. BLACK CATHOLIC EDUCATION and FAMILY LIFE
	I. Numerous reports and studies on Black Catholic education
	II. Reports on closings of black Catholic schools
	III. Youth programs
	IV. Church vocations
	V. National Black Catholic Youth Caucus on Family Life
	VI. Papers from Workshops on Education of Black Catholics.
	VII. Papers on Family Life
6. NOBC NEWSFILE
	I. Newspaper clippings, press releases
	II. Various issues of Impact, and other publications of NOBC
	III. Publications of NOBC affiliated organizations, and other civil rights groups
	IV. Photos
	V. Video tapes of various conferences
	VI. 1967 taped (audio) address of Martin Luther King to the Capitol Press Club
	VII. Audio tapes of workshops on Culture and Liturgy

Publications in the Collection

John Howard Griffin,The Church and the Black Man (Detroit: Pflaum Press, 1969)

National Association of Black Catholic Admiistrators Resource Manual

The Word in the World: ´76 Black Apostolate (Techny Illinois: Divine Word Missions, 1976)

Clarence Joseph Rivers Soulful Worship (Washington, D.C.: NOBC, 1974)

-----------------, The Spirit in Worship (Cincinnati, Ohio: Stimuli Inc., 1978)

This Far By Faith: African Black Worship and its African Roots (Washington D.C.:NOBC and The Liturgical Conferecne, 1977)

What Every Catholic Should Know About Evangelization (Washington, D.C.: NOBC, 1981)

National Office of Black Catholics, Final Report on the AdvancedStae of the Church to The 1987 World Synod of Bishops October 18, 198.

Casiano Floristan, Los Sacramentos Signos de Liberación (San Antonio: Mexican American Cultural Center, 1975)

James Henderson and Walter Hubbard, A Proposal for Organizational and lay Leadership Development (Washington, D.C: NOBC, 1979).

Giles Conwell, Can These Bones Live? An Overview of African American Catholic Culture and History.

Joseph Davis and Cyprian Rowe, "The Development of the National Office for Black Catholics," U.S: Catholic Historian, 7 (1988): 2656-289)

Black Perspectives on Evangelization in the Modern World (Washington D.C.: NOBC,1974 )

National Office of Black Catholics Action Agenda and Network (Washington D.C.:, NOBC, 1983)

David Spalding, "The Negro Catholic Congresses 1889-1894," The Catholic Historical Review, Vol.LV No. 3 (October, 1969) 337-357.(reprint).

Updated March 3, 2003