National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus Records

Fonds

Identifier: NBC

Staff Only

Scope and Content

Records of the NBCCC dating from 1964 to 2023; with files from board meetings and general meetings, chronological files, membership lists, files organized by Rev. Cyprian Davis, OSB, newsletters, printed ephemera, correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, clippings, and other documents concerning the activities and interests of the organization. Also included are materials of allied organizations including the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association, the National Office for Black Catholics, and the National Black Sisters’ Conference. Collection includes audio recordings, photographs of Black bishops and clergy, and photos representing activities of the NBCCC.

Dates

Creation: 1964-2023

Creator

National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (Organization)

Language of Materials

English.

Conditions Governing Access

Governed by contract. The following materials are restricted from access: CNBC 13/1-5, CNBC 12/51-56, and CNBC 16/8.

Biographical / Historical

The National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC) is an organization made up of African-American clergy, religious, and seminarians of the Roman Catholic Church. The NBCCC was founded in 1968, the outgrowth of a meeting of 75 Black Clergy members at the 1968 Catholic Clergy Conference on the Interracial Apostolate. At the group’s inception, they produced a direct though hopeful statement which called out the racist nature of the contemporary Catholic Church, and proposed changes which would allow the Church to become more viable in the Black community. This meeting became the genesis for the organization, and sparked the development of other Black Catholic groups and publications. Source: “About” page, website of the CNBCC, accessed May 2024.

Extent

29.6 cubic feet (20 Paige boxes, 6 document cases, 1 wide document case, 2 oversize boxes, and 3 oversize folders)

Additional Description

Arrangement

Finding aid arranged chronologically by organization. Records of the NBCCC comprise the bulk of the collection. These are followed by miscellaneous records of the National Black Catholic Seminarians, the National Office for Black Catholics, the National Black Sisters’ Conference, and the Black Lay Catholic Caucus.

Materials from the 2019-2023 accessions arrived mostly unfoldered with no apparent system of organization. These materials were left unarranged and foldered in the order received.

Related Material

Legal Status

Private

Processing Information

Collection was preliminarily made available on transfer inventory starting in 2016. The Manuscripts series was fully processed and arranged between 2023 and 2024. Researchers who consulted the collection prior to June 2024 are advised that folder numbers have been reassigned, though previous numbering is indexed within folder-level processing notes. Material is largely foldered as received. Manuscript folder titles were revised during processing to fully indicate the ranges of materials found within individual files. A number of empty membership file folders were removed from the collection; a list names which appeared on empty membership files can be found in box 1, folder 0.