| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Bielen, Casimir |
| Title: | Casimir Bielen Papers, Series II |
| Dates: | 1973-1979 |
| Extent: | 1.40 linear feet (2 containers and 2 rolls of microfilm) |
| Abstract: | Casimir Bielen was active in various political, ethnic, and community action groups in Cleveland, Ohio. In his position as a leader of the Nationalities Services Center Polish American Conference, he was nominated in 1975 to represent that organization as a member of the Study Group on Racial Isolation in the Public Schools. The Study Group was a citizens' committee formed to provide community leadership and assure peaceful implementation of court ordered desegregation of Cleveland's public schools. The Group consisted of a loose coalition of 15 organizations. Study Group members used its reports and discussions as the basis for planning by their own organizations for response to the decision, program activities, and constituent education. The collection consists of materials collected by Bielen related to groups with interest in public school desegregation and busing in Cleveland, Ohio. These include minutes, agendas, memoranda, correspondence, reports, legal briefs, circulars, newsletters, and newspaper clippings. The largest group of materials relates to the Study Group on Racial Isolation in the Public Schools. Also represented are the Nationalities Services Center, the Greater Cleveland Project, and the Citizens' Council for Ohio Schools. |
| MS Number | MS 4680 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
Casimer Bielen (1925-1992) a resident of Cleveland, Ohio's southeast side, was active in various political concerns, including smoke abatement, during the 1950s through 1970s. He was a member of the Southeast Community Council and the executive secretary of their Air Pollution Committee. After the Committee was disbanded in 1960, he helped organize the Ohio Pure Air Association and also served as their executive secretary. Mr. Bielen was also active in the Ward 13 Democratic Club.
Casimir Bielen was active in various political, ethnic, and community action groups in Cleveland, Ohio. In his capacity as a leader of the Nationalities Services Center Polish American Conference, he was nominated in 1975 to represent that organization as a member of the Study Group on Racial Isolation in the Public Schools. The Study Group on Racial Isolation in the Public Schools (1975-1978) was an outgrowth of the Greater Cleveland Project, instituted in 1975 under a two-year grant from the Greater Cleveland Interchurch Council to assure quality public education and peaceful integration of public schools. Ultimately these efforts led to the establishment of the Office on School Monitoring and Community Relations to oversee compliance with court ordered desegregation of Cleveland Public Schools. The Study Group was a citizens' committee formed to provide community leadership and assure peaceful implementation of court ordered desegregation of Cleveland's public schools. The group, supported by a grant from the Cleveland Foundation, was a loose coalition of 15 organizations convened in July 1975, just before the case, Reed vs. Gilligan (later Reed vs. Rhodes), went to trial in November 1975. Study group members used its reports and discussions as the basis for planning by their own organizations for response to the decision, program activities, and constituent education.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Casimir Bielen
The Casimir Bielen Papers, Series II, 1973-1979, consist of materials collected by Bielen related to groups with interest in public schools, desegregation, and busing in Cleveland, Ohio, public schools. These include minutes, agendas, memoranda, correspondence, reports, and legal briefs, circulars, newsletters, and newspaper clippings. The largest group of materials relates to the Study Group on Racial Isolation in the Public Schools, but also represented are the Nationalities Services Center, Greater Cleveland Project, and the Citizens' Council for Ohio Schools.
This collection is of value to researchers studying the Cleveland, Ohio, school desegregation decision (Reed v. Rhodes) and sheds light on community perceptions and reactions to this issue and related problems faced by the public schools in Cleveland and Ohio in the 1970s. It contains materials related to the Study Group on Racial Isolation in the Public Schools, the Greater Cleveland Project of the Greater Cleveland Interchurch Council, the Nationalities Services Center, and the Citizens' Council for Ohio Schools.
None.
Related MaterialResearchers should also consult MS 4074 Casimir Bielen Papers; MS 4999 Stella Walsh Papers; MS 4668 Businessmen's Interracial Committee Records; MS 4720 Greater Cleveland Project Records; and MS 4489 Office on School Monitoring and Community Relations Records.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4680 Casimir Bielen Papers, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Casimir Bielen, 1979.
Processed by Ann B. Ameling in 1994
Series I: Casimir Bielen Papers 1975-1979 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Casimir Bielen, correspondence, miscellaneous 1975-1978 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Citizen's Council for Ohio Schools, newsletters, fact sheets 1978-1979 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Citizen's Council for Ohio Schools, report "Beyond the Courts: State Policies for School Desegregation" 1978 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Citizen's Council for Ohio Schools, "Desegregation Update" newsletters 1976-1979 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Cleveland Public Schools, background, fact sheets 1975-1978 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Cleveland Public Schools, Board of Education, minutes 1976-1977 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Cleveland Public Schools, Citizen's Advisory Committee on Integration, agendas, memoranda 1976 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Cleveland Public Schools, Ethnic Heritage Studies Advisory Council, proposal, memoranda, report 1975-1976 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Ferguson, Thomas E., auditor of the state of Ohio, memoranda, news releases, newsletter 1975 1978 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Greater Cleveland Project of the Greater Cleveland Interchurch Council, grant proposal 1975 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Greater Cleveland Project of the Greater Cleveland Interchurch Council, ad-hoc coordinating council membership list 1976 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Greater Cleveland Project of the Greater Cleveland Interchurch Council, background, fact sheets, resumes, action plan, agendas, "Action Memo" newsletters, reports, and commentary by Leonard B. Stevens 1975-1978 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Nationalities Services Center, Polish American Conference, correspondence, memoranda, newspaper clippings and reports 1975-1978 | |||||||||
Series II: Study Group on Racial Isolation in the Public Schools 1973-1979 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 11-16 | Minutes, memoranda, and addenda including reports, briefs, newspaper clippings 1975-1977 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Minutes addenda, brief, Reed vs. Gilligan (Reed vs. Rhodes), transcripts, timetable 1973-1976 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Minutes addenda, brief, Reed vs. Rhodes, case number C73-1300, memorandum opinion and order 1976 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 19 | Minutes addenda, brief, Reed vs. Rhodes, case number C73-1300, proposed second desegregation plan of the defendants Cleveland Board of Education and Dr. Paul W. Briggs 1977 | |||||||||
| 2 | 20 | Minutes addenda, brief, Morgan vs. Kerrigan (Boston), report of the masters 1975 | |||||||||
| 2 | 21 | Minutes addenda, brief, Johnson vs. Board of Education (Cincinnati) 1976 | |||||||||
| 2 | 22 | Minutes addenda, legal update on Reed vs. Rhodes 1976-1977 | |||||||||
| 2 | 23 | Minutes addenda, newspaper clippings on school desegregation, busing, and education 1973-1976 | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | Minutes addenda, newspaper clippings on school desegregation, busing, and education 1977-1979 | |||||||||
| 2 | 25 | Minutes addenda, pamphlet, Twenty Years After Brown: Equality of Educational Opportunity, U. S. Commission on Civil Rights 1976 | |||||||||
| 2 | 26 | Minutes addenda, site visit, Boston, Massachusetts, memoranda, agenda, reports 1975 | |||||||||
| 2 | 27 | Minutes addenda, site visit, Denver, Colorado 1975 | |||||||||
| 2 | 28 | Minutes addenda, site visit, Detroit, Michigan 1975 | |||||||||