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Black Americans

President Clinton at the former site of Mt. Zion AME Church

Tuskegee Syphilis Study Apology Ceremony

Presidents Advisory Board on Race Event with Historian John Hope Franklin

President Clinton delivers remarks concerning racial and ethnic disparities related to HIV-AIDS

President Clinton and Alexis Herman

This topical research guide contains links to Finding Aids on open record collections related to Black Americans during the Clinton administration. Material on the folder or document level can be found by searching the Clinton Digital Library. Additional resources will be added as more collections are processed and released. Language used in this research guide attempts to follow guidelines from the Archivist’s Task Force on Racism. Many of the Finding Aids listed in this research guide were created before these guidelines were issued.  This guide uses the terminology “African American” (in quotes) when Finding Aids used this same terminology.

Black Appointees

When compared to earlier presidential administrations, the Clinton administration appointed the most diverse cabinet and administration in American history; Black appointees included:

• Jocelyn Elders 

• First Black Surgeon General (1993-1994) 

• Topics of interest may include: civil rights.

• Hazel O’Leary 

• First Black Secretary of Energy (1993-1997)

• Alexis Herman

• First Black Secretary of Labor (1997-2001)

• Eric Holder

• First Black Deputy Attorney General in the Department of Justice (1997-2001)

• Topics of interest may include: Presidential Call to Action and Racial Justice and Diversity, the President’s Race Initiative, the President’s appointment of a more diverse body of federal judges and attorneys, and equality.

Black Staffers

Collections created by some of the Black staffers that worked in the Clinton White House include the records of Alexis Herman, Ben Johnson, Maggie Williams, Terry Edmonds, and Minyon Moore. 

• Alexis Herman

• Director of the Office of Public Liaison (1993-1997)

• Topics of interest may include: affirmative action, Black leadership, Black organizations and outreach, Black business, civil rights, holidays honoring Blacks, and Black women.

• Robert B. “Ben” Johnson 

• Associate Director in the Office of Public Liaison and Special Assistant to the President for Outreach to the African-American Community (1993-1998 ) 

• Director of the White House Office on the President's Initiative for One America (1999-2000) 

• Topics of interest may include: racial disparities in the criminal justice system and crack cocaine.

• Maggie Williams 

• First Black Chief of Staff in the First Lady’s Office (1993-1997)

• Topics of interest may include: Black organizations, “African Americans”, affirmative action, Black church burnings, and Black history. 

• Terry Edmonds 

• First Black Chief Speechwriter in a presidential administration

• Presidential Speechwriter (1995-1997)

• Deputy Director of Speechwriting (1997-1999)

• Director of Speechwriting (1999-2001)

• Speech topics of interest may include: race relations, Black organizations and outreach, civil rights, One America, Black church burnings, and hate crimes.

• Minyon Moore 

• Deputy Director of Political Affairs (1997-1998) 

• Director of Public Liaison (1998-1999) 

• Director of Political Affairs (1999-2001) 

• Topics of interest may include affirmative action, “African-Americans”, civil rights, hate crimes, the President’s Initiative on Race, and Black organizations and outreach. 

The “Additional Information” section of this guide links to more material on Black appointees during the Clinton administration.

Topics related to Black Americans

Finding Aids and digitized collections on topics related to Black Americans, race, or issues that affected marginalized communities during the Clinton administration include:

•  Advisory Board to the President's Initiative on Race

• Topics of interest may include: correspondence and meetings with Black groups and organizations, “African-American” empowerment, and slavery.

• Affirmative action

• Topics of interest may include: the Affirmative Action Review Team, civil rights, the Adarand decision, affirmative action and women, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC, and federal agency review.

• Association of 2,221 Negro Volunteers

• Topics of interest may include: recognition of Black soldiers’ integration of the American armed forces during World War II.

• Civil Rights Series of Stephen Warnath 

• Topics of interest may include: the Civil Rights Working Group, affirmative action, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC, discrimination, and church burnings.

• Crime Legislation

• Topics of interest may include: equality, racial justice, the Racial Justice Act, and the Congressional Black Caucus.

• Fair housing

• Topics of interest may include: the enforcement of fair housing laws, equity in housing, and housing discrimination.

• Human rights

• Topics of interest may include: "African-Americans" and discrimination.

• Kendra Brooks, Assistant Director of Domestic Policy for Education

• Topics of interest in these collections may include: funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), affirmative action, civil rights, and “African Americans”.

• Lani Guinier

• Topics may include: the withdrawn nomination of Lani Guinier as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

• National Church Arson Task Force or NCATF

• Topics of interest may include: arson attacks on Black churches in the South.

• One America 

• Topics of interest may include: the President’s Initiative on Race, correspondence with Black organizations, slavery, Black poverty, hate crimes, and women’s outreach.

• Proposition 209

• Topics of interest may include: affirmative action and this 1996 proposition to prohibit "preferential treatment...on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin" in California's public sector.

• Sandra Thurman,  Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy Office

• Topics of interest may include: racial and ethnic disparities related to HIV/AIDS, "African-Americans", and Black organizations.  

• Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

• Topics of interest may include: presidential apology to the Black survivors of this experiment. 

Additional Information

• Archived audio and video

• Archived video at clintonlibrary42 YouTube Channel

• President’s Radio Address on Church Burnings, June 8, 1996 

• President’s Radio Address on Hate Crimes, March 29, 1997

• President’s Radio Address on Hate Crimes, June 7, 1997

• President’s Radio Address on Racial Disparities in Health, February 21, 1998

• President’s Radio Address on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 15, 2000

• President’s Radio Address on Black History Month, February 19, 2000

• Archived websites

• Clinton-Gore Accomplishments: Working on Behalf of African Americans 

• The Clinton Presidency: Building One America 

• Statement by the President on African-American Farmers

• The White House Conference on Hate Crimes 

• Clinton Administration History Project

• Jesse Brown

• First Black Secretary of Veteran Affairs (1993-1997)

• Lee Brown

• Black Director for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (1993-1996)

• Ron Brown

• First Black Secretary of Commerce (1993-1996)

• Mike Espy

• First Black Secretary of Agriculture (1993-1994)

• Rodney E. Slater

• First Black Director of the Federal Highway Administration (1993-1997)

• Second Black Secretary of Transportation (1997-2001)  

• Togo D. West Jr. 

• Second Black Secretary of the Army (1993-1998)

• Second Black Secretary of Veteran Affairs (1998-2000)