The records in the Gilbert Porter Desegregation Files consist of Dade County school reports, and national school reports relating to integration and desegregation plans and procedures. There is also material on the Florida Conference of Social Welfare and the Florida Conference of Social Work. A large portion of the collection is newspaper clippings about race relations and integration in Dade County, and the State of Florida.
Inclusive subjects and descriptions of processing procedures provided by Kenneth D. Harris and M. Dawson circa 1999.
Dr. James L. Hudson was born in 1904 in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from the institution in 1926. After graduating, he was ordained as a minister and then enrolled in Colgate-Rochester School of religion, where he camed a divinity degree in 1931. Afterwards, he worked as a chaplain at Leland College in Louisiana until 1946. Later he was carned a doctoral degree from Boston College. Following this, he accepted a position as a chaplain and professor at Florida A&M University (FAMU). At FAMU he created the institution's Department of Religion and Philosophy and served as its first departmental chairperson. In Tallahassee, Hudson was a close friend with another Morehouse graduate, Rev. Charles K. Steele, pastor of the city's Bethel Baptist Church. The two religious leaders worked on numerous civil rights campaigns including the 1956 Tallahassee Bus Boycott.
Hudson was also president of the Tallahassee Ministerial Alliance, a co-founder and active member of the Inter-Civic Council. Even after retiring from FAMU in 1973, Rev. Hudson remained active in civil rights and social justice initiatives. He died in 1980.
This collection is comprised of printed records that document Davis' military career and his various recognitions for rendering service to the United States as a member of the historic Montford Point U.S. Marines. Included in the records are: cassette tapes (inaudible); correspondence; legislative recognitions from the U.S. Congress, State of Florida, and City of Quincy; news articles, photographs of medals, awards, and resolutions; and a copy of Davis' World War 2 service record.