Research at the National Archives

Electronic Records Relating to Civil Rights

Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division Reference Report

Introduction

Record Group 12: Records of the Office of Education

Record Group 29: Records of the Bureau of the Census

Record Group 47: Records of the Social Security Administration

Record Group 235: General Records of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Record Group 330: Records of the Secretary of Defense

Record Group 403: Records of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Record Group 441: General Records of the Department of Education

Record Group 453: Records of the United States Commission on Civil Rights

Record Group 479: Records of the Merit Systems Protection Board

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Introduction

This reference report provides an overview of some of the electronic data records in the custody of the Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division that pertain to civil rights in the United States, including data related to affirmative action, discriminatory practices, sexual harassment, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Researchers may order copies of these computerized data files on removable media for a cost-recovery fee and analyze the records directly, using whatever hardware and software available to them. For more information see: Ordering Information for Electronic Records. In addition to the raw data, the Division may have also received Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) control cards, export, save, or system electronic files for some of the records. Contact the reference staff about the availability of SPSS files.

Descriptions of the series and data files listed in this report are in NARA's Archival Research Catalog (ARC), which can be searched by title, ARC identification number (ARC ID), type of archival material, or keyword.


Record Group 12: Records of the Office of Education

  • Equality of Educational Opportunity Survey, 1966
    ARC ID: 610073
    Data Files: 7
    Technical Documentation: 307 pages

    Also known as the Coleman Study, this series contains information obtained from test scores and questionnaire responses from 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th grade students and from questionnaire responses of teachers and principals. The information was collected from public schools within the United States and the District of Columbia, involving 568,743 students, 66,826 teachers, and 4,081 principals.

Record Group 29: Records of the Bureau of the Census

  • Summary Statistic Data Files from the 20th Census of Population and Housing
    • Census of Population and Housing, 1980: Equal Employment Opportunity Special File
      ARC ID: 602285
      Data Files: 52 (one per state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico)
      Technical Documentation: 186 pages for U.S.; 91 pages for Puerto Rico; both also available in electronic format

      These data files contains information on occupation (514 categories) and on years of school completed by sex, race and Spanish-origin, and/or age.

  • Summary Statistic Data Files from the 21st Census of Population and Housing
    • Census of Population and Housing, 1990: Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Files
      ARC ID: 609357
      Data Files: 54 (one for the U.S.; one per state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands of the United States)
      Technical Documentation: for the U.S. and state files: 313 pages of documentation and 45 page data dictionary printout (also available in electronic format); for the Puerto Rico file: 156 pages of documentation and 26 page data dictionary printout (also available in electronic format); and for the Virgin Islands of the United States: 228 pages of documentation and 46 page data dictionary printout (also available in electronic format)

      These data files contain detailed occupational (including long term unemployed) and educational attainment data cross-tabulated by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and/or age.

    • Census of Population and Housing, 1990: Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Supplemental Tabulation Files
      ARC ID: 623497
      Data Files: 105
      Technical Documentation: 171 pages

      These data files contain occupational data, released separately to private sector users and to Federal government users, by various categories such as education, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and/or industry.

  • Summary Statistic Data Files from the 22nd Census of Population and Housing
    • Census of Population and Housing, 2000: Special Equal Employment Opportunity Tabulation Files
      ARC ID: 657376
      Data Files: 47
      Technical Documentation: 402 pages and 17 electronic documentation files

      This file contains data for Census detailed occupations / Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Federal workforce occupational groups for various levels of geography and cross-classified by selected characteristics.

    • Census of Population and Housing, 2000: Voting Rights Data Files
      ARC ID: 657168
      Data Files: 2
      Technical Documentation: 14 pages

      This file contains population counts for all persons and all persons 18 years and over cross-tabulated by citizenship, literacy, and English proficiency.

Record Group 47: Records of the Social Security Administration

  • Survey of Demographic and Economic Characteristics of the Aged, 1968
    ARC ID: 610068
    Data Files: 1
    Technical Documentation: 127 pages

    This series contains data from a survey population consisting of married couples with at least one spouse of age 65 or older and other individuals in that age group.

Record Group 235: General Records of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

  • Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Survey Files, 1968-1976
    ARC ID: 627717
    Data Files: 4
    Technical Documentation: 83 pages for the 1968, 1970, & 1972 surveys; 285 pages for the 1976 survey

    This series contains data from surveys administered to a selected sample of school districts in 1968, 1970, 1972, and 1976, to monitor compliance by school systems with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Some of the data in these files may overlap with the Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Survey, 1968-1998: School District Time Series Data File in Record Group 441.

  • Higher Education Civil Rights Survey Files (HECRS), 1968-1974
    ARC ID: 627715
    Data Files: 2
    Technical Documentation: 56 pages

    This series contains data from surveys of institutions of higher education that receive Federal financial assistance to verify compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Record Group 330: Records of the Secretary of Defense

  • American Soldier in World War II Surveys, 1942-1945
    ARC ID: 620483

    There are 84 surveys in this series, including some with responses of Army nurses and Women Army Corps (WACs). The surveys most directly related to Civil Rights issues are:

    • Survey Responses of Enlisted Men About Race Relations in the U.S. Army
      ARC ID: 854569; 854571; 854573
      Data Files: 3
      Technical Documentation: 118 pages and 2 electronic documentation files

      These data files contain responses of two separate surveys of both black and white Army soldiers in World War II. One survey, conducted in March 1943, includes the responses of 7,442 black troops and 4,793 white troops stationed in the U.S. regarding such issues as adjustment to Army life, equality, segregation, integration, relations with officers, attitudes towards blacks, and post-war race relations. Another survey, administered in September and October 1944, includes the responses of 981 blacks in quartermaster companies in stationed in Hawaii to questions about attitudes toward the leadership, relations with local civilians, relations with military police, and other issues.

Record Group 403: Records of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

  • Integrated Mission System (IMS) Files, 1976-2004
    ARC ID: 609248
    Data Files: 8
    Technical Documentation: 11 pages and 2 electronic documentation files

    This series contains information on charges of employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and other bases in hiring, firing, wages, training, apprenticeship and other conditions of employment.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces the laws prohibiting job discrimination. In particular, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination by private employers, employment agencies, or labor unions and, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, Title VII was amended to also include public educational systems and institutions, and local and state governments. As part of enforcing Title VII, employers submit employment/membership profile reports to the EEOC. Information from these reports make up the records in the series listed below. The records are restricted under Section 709(e) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but Title 44 U.S.C. 2108 limits the restriction to thirty years after the date of data collection. Therefore, except for the Employer Information Report Files (EEO-1) from less than thirty years ago, the remaining Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) files are available. The series of EEOC electronic records in NARA's custody include:

  • Employer Information Report Files (EEO-1), 1966-2002
    ARC ID: 600965
    Data Files: 29
    Technical Documentation: 151 pages for files dated 1966-1974; 61 pages for files dated 1975-1988; 82 pages for files dated 1990-2000; 32 pages for files dated 2001-2002

    This series contains the workforce profile data for private employers.

  • Apprenticeship Information Report Files (EEO-2, EEO-2E), 1967-1972
    ARC ID: 610170
    Data Files: 10 (6 for EEO-2, 4 for EEO-2E)
    Technical Documentation: 124 pages for EEO-2; 49 pages for EEO-2E

    This series consists of the Joint Labor-Management Committee Report (EEO-2), which contains the reports of joint labor-management apprenticeship committees on minority employment, and the Employer-Operated Apprenticeship Program Report (EEO-2E), which contains the membership profiles of local union apprenticeship programs.

  • Local Union Report Files (EEO-3), 1967-1972
    ARC ID: 610172
    Data Files: 5
    Technical Documentation: 94 pages

    This series contains data from reports filed by labor union locals.

  • State and Local Government Information Files (EEO-4), 1973-1974
    ARC ID: 610169
    Data Files: 3
    Technical Documentation: 19 pages

    These files contain data from reports filed by functional activities of individual local and state governments.

  • Elementary and Secondary Staff Information Report Files (EEO-5), 1973-1974
    ARC ID: 610171
    Data Files: 4
    Technical Documentation: 29 pages

    This series contains data from reports filed by school districts and by individual public elementary and secondary schools.

Record Group 441: General Records of the Department of Education

  • School District Time Series Data Files
    ARC ID: 1436514
    Data Files: 1
    Technical Documentation: 81 pages and 4 electronic documentation files

    This file contains detailed statistics on the composition of educational programs and activities for school districts for the years 1968 through 1998. Some of the data may overlap with the Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Survey Files in Record Group 235.

  • Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Survey, 1998-2006
    ARC ID: 1695526
    Data Files: 40
    Technical Documentation: 27 pages for the 1998 file; 56 pages for the 2000 file (also in electronic format); 68 pages for the 2002 file (also in electronic format); 54 pages for the 2004 file; 83 pages for the 2006 file

    This file contains detailed statistics on the composition of educational programs and activities for school districts (starting in 2000) and for individual schools. Detailed data for school districts compiled prior to 2000 are included in the School District Time Series Data File (see above). Detailed data for individual schools for 1968, 1970, 1972, and 1976 are included in the Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Survey Files in Record Group 235.

Record Group 453: Records of the United States Commission on Civil Rights

  • County Group Public Use Sample Puerto Rican and Southwestern Spanish Surname Extract Files from the 19th Census of Population and Housing
    ARC ID: 607070
    Data Files: 4
    Technical Documentation: 256 pages

    This series contains responses from all households/persons in the 1/100 Public Use Sample whose head was of Puerto Rican birth or parentage, or whose head had both a Spanish surname and lived in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, or Texas. The data, extracted from the 15% sample of the 1970 Census, includes household and population characteristics.

  • School Superintendents Survey, 1976-1977
    ARC ID: 606508
    Data Files: 1
    Technical Documentation: 35 pages (also available as 1 microfiche)

    This series consists of data from a representative sample of 1,292 school districts and response data from 996 school superintendents in order to asses school desegregation in the United States. No data was collected from either the District of Columbia or Hawaii. The United State Commission on Civil Rights published its conclusions from this and other data in Reviewing a Decade of School Desegregation 1966-1975: Report of a National Survey of School Superintendents (January 1977).

  • Social Indicators of Equality for Minorities and Women Files
    ARC ID: 599800
    Data Files: 4
    Technical Documentation: 282 pages

    This series consists of samples of 56,265 individuals from the Public Use Sample of the 1960 Census of Population and Housing; 153,715 individuals from the State 5% Public Use Sample of the 1970 Census of Population and Housing; 77,702 individuals from the State 15% Public Use Sample of the 1970 Census; and 110,545 individuals from the Public Use Sample of the 1976 Survey of Income and Education.

Record Group 479: Records of the Merit Systems Protection Board

  • Targeted Surveys of Federal Employees
    ARC ID: 569653
    • Career Development Survey [A Question of Equity, Women and the Glass Ceiling], 1991-1992
      ARC ID: 578655
      Data Files: 1
      Technical Documentation: 40 pages and supplemental documentation

      This file contains survey responses about factors that affect the career advancement of Federal employees and whether barriers exist that restrict the movement of women in the civil service into management positions. The Division received a SPSS export file.

    • Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace, 1979-1980
      ARC ID: 578670
      Data Files: 1
      Technical Documentation: 58 pages (1 microfiche); supplemental paper documentation; and SPSS control cards file (ARC ID: 578673)

      This file consists of survey responses of 20,083 respondents out of a disproportionately stratified random sample of 23,964 civilian executive branch Federal employees.

    • Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace, 1987
      ARC ID: 578672
      Data Files: 1
      Technical Documentation: 32 pages and supplemental documentation

      This file contains survey responses from 8,523 respondents our of disproportionate stratified random sample of approximately 13,000 full-time, executive branch Federal employees. The Division received a SPSS export file.

    • Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace [Trends, Progress, Continuing Challenges], 1994
      ARC ID: 578675
      Data Files: 1
      Technical Documentation: 26 pages and supplemental documentation

      This file consists of survey responses from 8,081 respondents out of a disproportionate stratified random sample of full-time, executive branch Federal employees all over the country. The Division received a SPSS export file.

    • Survey on Career Advancement and Workforce Diversity in the Federal Civil Service, Files 1 and 2, 1993
      ARC ID: 578761; 578762
      Data Files: 2
      Technical Documentation: 103 pages and supplemental documentation

      These files contain survey responses about the factors affecting the employment and career advancement of minorities in the Federal workplace. The Division received a SPSS export file.


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Reference Services
Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division (NWME)
National Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
(301) 837-0470
email: cer@nara.gov

May 2008
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