“Educating for Democratic Living”: The City-Wide Citizens’ Committee on Harlem (CWCCH), 1941 – 1947

Abstract

This historical case study focuses on the origins, educational goals, and school reform activities of the City-Wide Citizens’ Committee on Harlem (CWCCH), a political action group in Harlem in the 1940s. An interracial and interfaith civil rights organization with a broad reform agenda, CWCCH used democracy’s rhetoric as a vehicle for social change through an extensive public awareness campaign coupled with savvy organizing, ample organizational resources, and powerful political connections in both the White and African American communities. The article situates school reform work in Harlem during the 1940s in light of a larger citywide civil rights agenda and interracial activism.

Keywords

• Harlem schools
• community activism in school reform
• civic unity committees