The papers are comprised of materials relating to the Greater St. Louis Committee for Freedom of Residence and programs and certificates relating to the posthumous awarding of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Spirit Award to Margaret “Maggie” Dagen by the University City Board of Education. The papers are arranged alphabetically by topic and date from 1961 to 2006 with date gaps from 1967 to 1995 and from 1998 to 2005. Items documenting the Greater St. Louis Committee for Freedom of Residence include memos and correspondence, brochures, meeting announcements and synopses, newsletters, and newspaper clippings. The earliest item in the collection, presumably used by the Committee for Freedom of Residence (the Committee) and dated approximately 1961, is a street map entitled “Areas of Non-White Occupancy,” which shows the areas of the city occupied by non-whites in 1940, 1950, and 1960. The first newsletter also has a map, “Negro Family Dispersion in the St. Louis County Areas during the Last Three Years” (f.2), which is also used in the brochure “A New Era in Housing” (f.1). The Committee’s objectives are clear on the “Freedom of Residence Pledge” card dated circa 1962. In a letter to the Anti-Defamation League dated June 18, 1961, chairman Rev. William G. Lorenz offered a member of the Committee’s Speakers Bureau to present its ideal goal of “placing…one negro family in every elementary school district in the St. Louis metropolitan area.” In November 1962, the Committee sponsored a panel discussion on the use of straw parties, which refers to white individuals who purchased real estate and then transferred the titles to non-white individuals. It did not have a policy on utilizing straw parties to meet its integration goal, and it hosted a public meeting with four speakers on both sides of the issue (f.1). The Committee received press coverage for the event, which generated discussion about integration, the policies of local real estate boards, and the use of straw parties (f.3). The Committee worked with other organizations. For example, the Committee on Human Rights of the Missouri Association of Social Welfare had a subcommittee on housing. On March 29, 1962, the subcommittee hosted the Greater St. Louis Conference on Discrimination in Housing at Pilgrim Congregational Church during which it hoped to foster alliances to achieve fair housing goals. It then sent the minutes to interested groups. The Committee also worked with the Human Relations Commission of University City (f.1). Ruth Porter (1915-1967) was a co-founder of the Committee for Freedom of Residence and served as the first executive secretary until her death. In 1997, some of the founding members of the Committee and the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council held an event to celebrate Porter’s work in fair housing. There is a brochure and program for the event. In 1996, the Northside Preservation Commission announced the Maple Acres Development home models. The development is located on about 14 acres between Interstates 64 and 70 (Cabanne Ave. on the south, Belt Ave. on the east, and Maple Ave. on the north) in St. Louis’ West End Neighborhood. The development’s publicity material provides floor plans, which reveal one model named “The Porter” for Ruth Porter. It also includes a one-page biography of Porter and her civic accomplishments (f.3). Margaret “Maggie” Dagen (1919-2002) was a social activist and a co-founder of St. Louis CORE. In January 2006, at the 20th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration sponsored by the University City Board of Education, Dagan received the Spirit Award posthumously. In addition, U.S. Congressman Russ Carnahan issued a proclamation honoring Dagen as a recipient of the Spirit Award. These certificates are present, along with the celebration’s program and commemorative booklet containing contributions to King’s memory by students in University City schools.