Manuscript Group 1464, William M. Ashby (1889 – 1991) COLLECTION 1952-1981
Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs
MG
1464
WILLIAM
M. ASHBY (1889-1991)
COLLECTION
1952 – 1981
0.25
linear feet
FINDING
AID
New
Jersey Historical Society
Manuscript
Collection
Processed by: Robert Lasner
April, 1999
Introduction
This collection is a small sample of the
life and work of William M. Ashby, a prominent New Jersey civil
rights pioneer.
Provenance
Unfortunately, no deed of gift or donation
can be located for this collection.
Biographical
Sketch
William M. Ashby, an early civil rights
pioneer, was born on October 15, 1889, near Newport News,
Virginia, one of a dozen children. His father was a grain
elevator operator. He first came to Newark in 1904, and attended
Lincoln University, graduating in 1911. He then went to Yale
University, where he obtained a BA in Social Work. During the
summer of 1917, while working as a waiter in the Catskill
Mountains of upstate New York, the Urban League invited him to
set up its first New Jersey branch-only the sixth in the
country-in Newark. He was its leader for ten years. From
1927-1932, Ashby was involved in social casework and private
businesses. From 1932-1944, he directed the Urban League of
Springfield, and from 1944, until his retirement in 1953, he was
the director of the Elizabeth branch. Ashby also served in
various positions with the Newark NAACP, the Newark Human Rights
Commission, the Newark Senior Citizens Commission, and the New
Jersey Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. In
1973, at the age of 84, he helped found the Newark Preservation
and Landmarks Committee. In 1981, he published Tales
Without Hate, a 200 page memoir in which he recounts his
experiences as a boy growing in Virginia before the turn of the
century, and as the first black social worker in New Jersey. He
also describes his encounters with such notable celebrities as
Paul Robeson, Marion Anderson, Lillian Russell, Booker T.
Washington, and W.E.B. DuBois. He married his wife, Mary, in
1915, and they had one daughter, Kathryn, who died in 1944 while
expecting her first child. Ashby died in 1991, at the age of 101.
Scope
and Contents Note
This small collection consists of items by
and about Asbhy. There is a photocopy of an undated short
story by Ashby, titled More Tales Without Hate,
presumably a sequel of some sort to his published memoirs. There
is also a series of original newspaper articles written by Ashby
in 1970 and 1971 dealing with his reminiscences about different
events from the civil rights movement. The rest of the collection
consists of newspaper articles about Ashby, and awards and
diplomas that were given to him from the 1950s through the
1970s.
Series Title: Literary Productions
Folder
Description
Dates
1
Original newspaper articles written by
1970-1971
Ashby,
reminiscences about different
events from the civil rights movement.
2
Photocopied manuscript of a short story,
1980
More Tales Without Hate; photocopy
of a letter from the Newark Preservation
and Landmarks Committee about
publication of book Tales Without Hate.
Series Title: Printed Materials
3
Awards and Diplomas given to Ashby
1952-1971
4
Photocopies of biographical newspaper
1964-1981
clippings about Ashby.
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