Awards presented by Freedom House, 1963-1993

A) Organizational and legal records concerning the founding and management of Freedom House, including several folders from the Council on Community Affairs of Upper Roxbury (1947-1949), the predecessor to Freedom House.  Materials include records of the purchase of the Hebrew College at 14 Crawford St. and the building's renovation after the fire of 1960, financial statements, histories, newsletters, awards and public relations materials.  Records of the Freedom House Archives Committee and evaluations of Freedom House from 1986 and 1992 are also included.  

B) Board of Directors records consist of minutes and reports of regular meetings, annual meetings, retreats, and long-range planning meetings as well as biographical information about Board members.  Later records document the Board's efforts to reorganize Freedom House and plan for the retirement of the Snowdens and include interoffice memos, minutes from staff meetings, and personnel manuals.  

C) Schedules of Freedom House and its co-directors, Muriel and Otto Snowden, consist of calendars of daily, weekly, and monthly events.  

D) Correspondence is arranged in two sub-subseries: 1) General Correspondence is of a routine nature, but it clearly depicts the day-to-day activities of Freedom House and the community activism of its founders.  Correspondence to and from national and local politicians, dignitaries, celebrities and businesses indicates the degree of support received by the Snowdens for Freedom House. Correspondence from community members and organizations includes invitations to meetings, events and speaking engagements. Researchers should note that speeches by Muriel Snowden and correspondence relating to the Snowden's professional lives outside Freedom House, and correspondence from friends that may relate to Freedom House, are found in the Muriel S. and Otto P. Snowden Papers, M17.  Flyers, brochures and announcements are also included in this series, as well as hate mail received by Freedom House and primarily written during its involvement in school desegregation (Box 10, folders 375-376).  General Correspondence contains letters from outside organizations which are also represented in Series V, Outside Organizations. 2) Personal Assistance Correspondence consists of requests for personal assistance, and employment and scholarship referrals.  Of interest is a small quantity of correspondence concerning requests for assistance for emigrant domestics from the South during the early 1960s. 

E) Events that celebrated the dedication and rededication of the Freedom House building and various Freedom House anniversaries are documented in these files. Awards to community members were often presented at these meetings and are documented in this subseries.