 Walter A. Lundy Files, Red and Black (Fall 1953) Integration Issue Papers
Collection DescriptionBiographical NoteWalter A. Lundy was born July 5, 1933. He earned an A. B. for the University of Georgia in geography where he also served as editor of the student newspaper, the Red and Black (see historical sketch above). He served in the United States Air force from 1954 to 1958 as a transport navigator. He was stationed in the Philippines from 1957 to 1958. Following his military service he earned a Master of Arts degree in international relations from Georgetown University, graduating in 1961. Even as he was completing his work at Georgetown he entered the Foreign Service in 1960. Lundy's career stretched over thirty years with the Foreign Service. He began his work with the Service as a political officer and consular officer at the American Embassy in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He held this post until 1963. Lundy then moved to a position in Saigon, Vietnam where he served from 1964 to 1966. He got the attention of many individuals in Washington from this post with reports that challenged the conventional wisdom vis a vis the Vietnam War. During 1966, he received Foreign Service Economic training. Following this training, Lundy was assigned for two years to the Treasury Department, Office of Under Secretary for Monetary Affairs. In 1968, he went abroad again to India to serve as Economic Officer for India, Department of State, NEA Bureau for one year. He remained in India after leaving his position with the NEA Bureau to work for the U.S. embassy as Economic/Commercial Officer, remaining in this position through 1973. In 1973 he moved to the American embassy in Teheran, Iran where he worked as a financial officer for two years. Lundy's time here coincided with the escalation of oil prices and it was evident to him that the combination of drastic economic change and political instability would lead to instability in Iran. In 1976 he returned to the United States to work in the Department of Commerce, Office of International Marketing (1976-1977). In 1977 accepted a position as an economic and commercial officer for Republic of China Affairs, EA Bureau for the State Department. In this position Lundy was responsible for constructing new mechanisms for maintaining economic ties between the U. S. and Taiwan He held this position through 1979. For two years he served as Deputy director of the East Asia Bureau Office of Economic Policy. In 1981 he assumed the position of Economic Counselor at the American Embassy in Seoul, Korea. In this position Lundy was the most senior U.S. embassy official responsible for economic relations with Korea and oversaw expansion of bilateral trade. He remained at this post until 1984 when he became division Chief, Economic Cone, Bureau of Personnel, Department of State. Lundy worked in this position until 1986 when he moved to a position as Office Director, Economic Policy Staff at the Bureau of African Affairs. In this position Lundy oversaw a $700 million annual U.S. aid program to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 1990 he became the senior Examiner on the Board of examiners for the Department of State. He remained in this position until 1992. For the next two years Lundy served as Director of the Office of Retirement and Career Transition, Bureau of Personnel, Department of State. Lundy retired from the State Department in 1995. Scope and ContentThe Walter A. Lundy Files, Red and Black (Fall 1953) Integration Issue Papers consist of correspondence, clippings and printed materials. The materials document the response on both local and national levels to the dispute between Walter Lundy and Bill Shipp, editor and managing editor of Red and Black, the student paper of the University of Georgia, and the Board of Regents of the University System led by Roy V. Harris over Lundy and Shipp's statements in two editorial columns advocating the end of racial segregation in Georgia's public schools. The majority of the correspondents support Lundy and Shipp for their position on segregation while others who do not favor the editors' proposals, decry efforts by Harris and the University of Georgia to proscribe the newspaper's control over its editorial content. Many of the letters and newsclipping come from other student newspapers across the country. In Series I. Subseries A. contains a copy of the letter written by Lundy and Shipp to John Drewry, head of the Publications Control Board resigning their editorships of The Red and Black. Copies of the original editorials written by Lundy and Shipp, which sparked the controversy, are available on microfilm at the University of Georgia Libraries. Of interest to scholars of the Civil Rights Movement and desegregation in Georgia are the letters and clippings from southern whites whose anger and frustration over their state's policies upholding racial segregation document dissenting perspectives that are in opposition to racist ideologies of the period. Also of interest are a small sample of pamphlets, placards, and other ephemera from groups such as National Citizens Protective Association with strong anti-integration, anticommunist content. Organization and ArrangementThe papers are divided into two series based on material type: I. Correspondence and II. Printed Materials. Printed Materials is organized into two subseries: A. Pamphlets and placards and B. News clippings. The materials cover a period of time from November 5, 1953 to May 14, 1954 with the bulk of the materials dated during December 1953. Series are arranged chronologically. Administrative InformationPreferred CitationThe Walter A. Lundy Files, Red and Black (Fall 1953) Integration Issue Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641. Processing InformationNewspaper clippings have been copied onto bond paper for protection of content. User RestrictionsLibrary acts as "fair use" reproduction agent. Copyright InformationBefore material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original. Finding Aid PublicationFinding Aid prepared by ;, 2000. General NotesAfter publishing an editorial on 8 November 1953 challenging the efficacy of racial segregation in Georgia's public schools, Walter A. Lundy (see biographical sketch) and Bill Shipp, editor and managing editor, respectively, for The Red and Black, the student newspaper at the University of Georgia, found themselves targeted for attack by University System Board of Regents' member, Roy V. Harris. In editorials published in his newspaper, The Augusta Courier, Harris, an ardent segregationist, attacked the editors' editorial position as well as their right to express such views. He also threatened to have the Board of Regents withhold appropriations for the school newspaper unless staff would "stop running editorials advocating the abolition of the segregation in schools." The Red and Black editors responded with a follow-up editorial on 12 November where they explained there position, "The issue involved is not whether we are right or wrong in our stand on segregation. It is simply a question of whether or not we continue as a free organ of independent thought or a propaganda sheet dominated by state political elements." Following this editorial, at Harris's behest, the University of Georgia placed The Red and Black under the strict control of the Publications Control Board which reviewed the content of all future editorials. This action led to the resignation of both Lundy and Shipp who refused to surrender a free and unfettered press. While this struggle between Walter Lundy and Bill Shipp and Roy V. Harris and his supporters attracted national attention to Georgia's system of racial segregation, it also highlighted the presence of dissent on this issue among southern whites to a national audience. Similarly, the struggle by Lundy and Shipp to preserve their right of free speech and a free press also resonated strongly throughout the South and the Nation. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this Repository
S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr. Papers Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection Aderhold Papers, Hargrett Library, University of Georgia Libraries John Drewry Papers, Hargrett Library, University of Georgia Libraries Hamilton Holmes Papers, 1953-1965, King Library and Archives, Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change | ||||||||||||||||||||