Harold Bailey Collection
Collection
Identifier: MSS-2022-07-08
Scope and Contents
The Dr. Harold Bailey Collection boasts a vast array of historical documentation and artifacts, including but not limited to correspondence, personal papers, photos, media (VHS/DVD), policy papers, lawsuit documentation, annual reports, conference programs, invitations, work products, periodical articles, awards, recognitions and speeches from Dr. Bailey’s public career as an advocate, academic and gubernatorial appointee in New Mexico. The collection documents significant moments in New Mexico history and Dr. Bailey’s career. Collection highlights include the University of New Mexico Athletic Boycott (1974), the inception of the Afro-Studies Program at UNM, the establishment of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance in New Mexico and a chronicling of the Albuquerque Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The ten boxes comprising the collection are arranged thematically by era covering Dr. Bailey’s active years from 1973 to the present.
This collection is currently unprocessed. Please consult with CSWR Reference Staff with any questions and for access.
This collection is currently unprocessed. Please consult with CSWR Reference Staff with any questions and for access.
Dates
- 1915 - 2023
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical
Harold Bailey was born on October 15, 1946 in McKinney, Texas to Dorothy L. and John Curtis Bailey, Sr. Raised by his mother, Ray E. Landrum, Bailey moved with his family to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1948. A product of Lowell Elementary School, John Marshall Elementary School, Lincoln Junior High School and Albuquerque High School; Bailey received a track scholarship to attend the University of New Mexico in 1964. There, he received his B.S. degree in health and physical education in 1969, his M.A. degree in special education in 1971, and his Ph.D. degree in American studies in 1975.
While pursuing his Ph.D., Bailey served as director of the Institute for Social Research and Development’s Child Development Program at the University of New Mexico. It was during this time that he joined the University’s Afro-American Studies Program staff as the assistant director. Bailey subsequently served as director of the Afro-American Studies Program from 1975 to 1980. In 1976, he was appointed chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee at the University of New Mexico. Bailey later served as a homebound teacher, a special education teacher, a community liaison, and a certified diversity trainer in Albuquerque Public Schools. In 2000, Bailey began his first term as president of the Albuquerque branch of the NAACP. He served in that role until being appointed (by Governor Bill Richardson) Executive Director of the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs in 2003. He held the position until 2012, when he was once again elected president of the Albuquerque branch of the NAACP.
More than a historian and history maker, Bailey has had a front row seat to history as his collection reflects. Bailey has served as a national executive board member of the National Council for Black Studies, state chairman of the New Mexico Black Studies Consortium, state education chairman of the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and state chairman of the New Mexico Dr. Martin Luther King Federal Holiday Commission (which established the statewide observance in 1986). However, Bailey is most widely known for his role in supporting students during the 1974 University of New Mexico Athletic Boycott demanding equitable treatment and recruitment of scholar athletes regardless of race.
Bailey has received many awards for his commitment to education and community service (some of which are included this collection). In 2007, he received the Community Service Award from the oldest historically Black church in New Mexico, Grant Chapel AME. In 2008, he received both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Legacy of Service Award and the AKA Albuquerque Legacy of Leaders Community Affairs Award. Bailey also received the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award in 2013.
Extent
11 boxes
Language of Materials
English
Physical Location
Shelved on B3-4A.
- Title
- Finding Aid of the
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Hakim Bellamy
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451