HOWARD ANDERSON KESTER PAPERS, #3834, 1923-1978
Correspondence, reports, printed materials, writings, photographs, and other items of
Howard A. Kester, theologian, educator and administrator active in Christian movements
relating to race relations, pacifism, and economic reform in the South. The collection
documents his activities in various organizations including the YMCA; the Student Christian
Movement; the Southern Tenant Farmers Union; the NAACP, for whom he investigated lynchings;
the Committee on Economic and Racial Justice; and the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, for
whom he investigated opinions on and problems with desegregation (1955-1959). The collection
also contains material reflecting Kester's duties as Principal of the Penn Normal Industrial
and Agricultural School, St. Helena Island (1943-1948). Additional materials include his
writings, such as his reports on lynching and farm tenancy; his financial records while he
was employed by the Committee on Economic and Racial Justice; and conference programs for the
Commission on Interracial Cooperation, Conference on Education and Race Relations, and the
Southern Commission on the Study of Lynching.