Cynthia Brown Office for Civil Rights collection
Scope and Contents
This collection contains correspondence, reports, legal documents, clippings, and briefing books produced and collected by Cynthia Brown during the course of her work between 1975 and 1982, first as the principal deputy of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare’s Office for Civil Rights, and subsequently as the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education. It also includes a draft of her memoir, "Twenty Years On: Equity in Education and Civil Rights Enforcement," written in 1986.
Major topics covered in this collection include bilingual education -- particularly the Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court case and its policy implications -- as well as enforcement of laws against discrimination in education by race and gender.
Dates
- Creation: 1975-1986
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.
Biographical / Historical
Cynthia G. Brown was the first Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education, appointed in 1980 by President Carter. Prior to that position, she served as principal deputy of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare’s Office for Civil Rights in the 1970s.
After leaving government service, Brown was a co-director of the nonprofit Equality Center, and a director of the Resource Center on Educational Equity of the Council of Chief State School Officers. Brown is currently Vice President for Education Policy at the Center for American Progress, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
Extent
3.5 Linear Feet (7 document boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection contains correspondence, reports, legal documents, clippings, and briefing books produced and collected by Cynthia Brown during the course of her work between 1975 and 1982, first as the principal deputy of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare’s Office for Civil Rights, and subsequently as the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education. It also includes a draft of her memoir, "Twenty Years On: Equity in Education and Civil Rights Enforcement," written in 1986.
Arrangement
Organized into three series: Bilingual education; Office for Civil Rights, Department of Education; and Memoir.
Physical Location
Materials are stored off-site, and will require additional retrieval time. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Cynthia Brown, 2012 (2012.083)
Source
- Brown, Cynthia G. (Donor, Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Cynthia Brown papers, 1975-1986
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University
- Date
- 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University Repository
George Washington University Gelman Library
2130 H Street NW
Washington DC 20052 United States of America
speccoll@gwu.edu
