MG-306. ERNEST P. KLINE PAPERS, 1965-1978.
Ernest Paul Kline (b.1929), was elected to the senate from the 47th District in 1965 and re-elected in 1966 and 1968; was Democratic floor leader from 1967 to 1969; and was elected as lieutenant governor to Governor Milton Shapp in 1970. He was re-elected with Shapp in 1974. His papers consist mainly of the correspondence and general files covering Kline’s tenure as a state senator and lieutenant governor.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR’S PAPERS, 1971-1972
Departmental File, 1971-1975. The following topics relate to African American issues:
• Governor’s Office: Terry Dellmuth-Special Assistant for Human Services, 1971. Includes NAACP items concerning Shapp’s Task Force to Combat Discrimination.
• Human Relations, 1971. Includes correspondence dealing with desegregation problems in the Aliquippa and Chester School Districts, statistics on state government employees, and lists of African Americans and women currently in Pennsylvania state government positions.
• Governor’s Office (General), 1972. Among the items present are materials relating to charges from the NAACP alleging discriminatory hiring practices by the Capitol Police, and correspondence noting the creation of an Affirmative Action Council with Kline as chairman.
• Human Relations Commission, 1972. Provides statistics on desegregation-induced bussing, correspondence, recommendations and appointments to the commission, information on the contract compliance regulations created to insure non-discrimination and equal employment opportunities, and discrimination complaints.
• Governor’s Office: Terry Dellmuth-Special Assistant for Human Services, 1973. Contains information on affirmative action, the desegregation of juvenile offender homes, African American enrollment in state-supported colleges, and changes in the employment practices of the state.
• Human Relations Commission, 1973. Includes a letter by Ida Belle Minnie of the Commonwealth Association of Student Government protesting the possible abolishment of the Human Relations Commission, correspondence dealing with the discriminatory height requirements for applicants to the State Police, and the legislative recommendations of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
• Governor’s Office: Terry Dellmuth-Special Assistant for Human Services, 1974. Includes correspondence dealing with contract compliance.
• Human Relations Commission, 1974. Includes a resolution from the Erie NAACP supporting affirmative action, a plan to change the lack of minority employment in New Castle, community attitudes towards forced racial quota systems, a petition from the Harrisburg Jaycees protesting Senate Bill 653 and 1306 which would weaken the commission, information on contract Compliance, and observations of the commission on Senate Bill 1400 regarding the assignments of students.
• Affirmative Action Council, 1975. Contains the affirmative action plans and progress reports filed by various counties, information concerning reorganization of the council, performance evaluations, meetings and minutes, information on contract compliance, concern over summer employment for minority students, and information on the Bureau of Minority Business Development that was concerned with the need to encourage state procurement of services by minority-owned business, and the need for state assistance in community development programs.
• Human Relations Commission, 1975. Contains materials relating to the twentieth anniversary of the Fair Employment Practice Act (now known as the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act).
• Affirmative Action, 1976. Provides information about the appointment of the director of the council, the creation of an advisory council, and meetings; and an annual report of the Human Relations Commission.
Subject File, 1972-1976. The following subject files are relevant:
• Affirmative Action Council, 1972. Contains newspaper articles detailing discriminatory employment practices, appointments and recommendations, training seminars, minutes of meetings, statements by Shapp about the council, progress reports and council objectives, affirmative action plans accepted by the council, correspondence about discriminatory hiring practices by the State Police and the Department of Military Affairs, and correspondence with C. DeLores Tucker about the employment of African American women.
• Task Force on Equal Rights, 1972. Provides historical background and list of accomplishments, memoranda from meetings, information concerning discrimination within the task force itself and physical altercations at a task force workshop, and information on workshop on recruitment practices.
• Affirmative Action Council, 1973. Correspondence, minutes, agendas, recommendations, statistics, progress reports, training programs, grievance procedures, directives, reports, information on the Congress for Affirmative Action, and reports on minorities hired by the State Police; and Project Equality, concerning equal employment opportunities, and containing a directory of minority contractors, tradesmen, and related professionals.
• Affirmative Action Council, 1974. Meeting agendas, requests for assistance, complaints, statistics, training session materials, management guides, and correspondence relating to the council’s budget, minority business contractors, affirmative action in higher education and labor and industry, and hiring practices of the Department of Education; Affirmative Action-Vacancy, concerning the appointment of Leonard Black as executive director of the Affirmative Action Council, applications and resumes for the position, and interviewing processes; and the Bureau of Minority Business Development, including requests for the Directory of Minority Businesses in Pennsylvania, and support for House Bill 1386 which would support minority businesses.
• Bureau of Minority Business Development, 1976. Includes copies of legislation from California dealing with small businesses and amendments to the Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Act.
Roy Hansard, Staff Assistant to the Lt. Gov. Files. Files exist on the following topics.
• Affirmative Action, 1974-77. Includes a budget proposal, job description, structural organization of the Philadelphia Office of Minority Affairs, articles about minority contractors, and information on NAACP discontent that women and Hispanics seemed to be getting more attention than African Americans. Also present are meeting minutes, material relating to training sessions, statistical information about racial discrimination, and articles about affirmative action and the Equal Opportunity Employment Office.
• Black Bicentennial Steering Committee, 1975. Includes a letter of thanks to a participant from K. Leroy Irvis, and plans to publish and discuss the meeting at a conference of Black elected officials.
• Civil Tension Task Force, 1976. Includes plans for outbreak of civil tension, an outline of services, a list of members of the task force, and "move-in" procedures.
• Human Relations Commission, 1976. Includes a guide for complaints, a letter from the commission defending its progress, individual complaints, hearings of particular cases, pamphlets of laws introduced by the Human Relations Commission, and annual reports.
• Minority Contractors, 1976. Includes materials relating to a program to expand the volume of state-solicited minority contracts, and a list of qualified minority contractors.
• United Negro College Fund, 1976. Pamphlets, fact booklets, and information on the Pennsylvania State Employees’ United Negro College Fund Campaign.
• Urban League of Pittsburgh, 1976. A report of a Housing Counseling Service Program which details clients’ race (over 50 percent African Americans).