| | Abstract: | The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 by Roger Baldwin and a group of associates formerly of the National Civil Liberties Bureau. The Cleveland, Ohio, chapter of the union was founded in 1922 and remained active throughout the 1920s and 1930s focusing on cases concerning unionization, Communism, and religious freedom. The chapter closed during World War II, but was revived in 1950 with the advent of McCarthyism. In 1954, the national ACLU recognized the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio as the official affiliate responsible for helping local Ohio chapters coordinate more easily on larger statewide cases and issues. The Cleveland chapter continued to struggle with budget woes and lack of membership following its revival. In the 1950s and 1960s the chapter focused its efforts on political rights; in the 1960s and 1970s the group became concerned with the rights of educators, students, prisoners, the mentally ill, and women. Among other initiatives, the Cleveland chapter completed an extensive court observation project of the Cuyahoga County justice system and helped to raise money for the legal defense funds of those indicted in the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970. The collection consists of advertisements, agendas, bills, case briefs and notes, contracts, correspondence, fundraising records, membership lists, minutes, newspaper clippings, notices, original research, press releases, programs, and proposed legislation. | |
