Brief Description: This collecton consists of the records of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) Greater Miami Section, collected by Eunice Liberty from 1961 to 1991 while working for the organization. It consists of flyers, certificates, correspondence, pamphlets, meeting minutes, newsletters, photographs, programs, reports, directories, and newspaper and magazine clippings. The collection contains an extensive news clippings file, predominantly from Ebony magazine and black owned newspaper, The Miami Times, documenting events impacting civil rights in South Florida and throughout the United States in the 1970s. The collection also documents the activities of the NCNW's Youth Program, such as the Mary McLeod Bethune essay contest, which attracted students from throughout the Miami Dade Public School system, and the Woman of the Year contest. Of note, the collection contains photographs of Sidney Poitier and many studio quality, formal portraits of the selectees for the Woman of the Year contest. It also contains correspondence to Ms. Liberty from Dorothy Height, an American Administrator, Educator, Social Activist, president of the NCNW for forty years, and honored at her funeral by an eulogy from United States President Barack Obama.

Record Series Number: 01/BAF MS_00170

Created by: Liberty, Eunice W.

Volume: 9.0 Linear Feet

Biographical Note for Liberty, Eunice W. :

Mrs. Eunice W. "Liberty Bell" Liberty (1904-2001) was born in Kissimmee, Florida to Carrie Gilbert and Pope Watson. When she was 12, she left home to attend high school in Daytona Beach, Florida. In 8th grade, she attended the Mary McLeod Bethune Normal Industrial Institute for Negro Girls (which later became Bethune-Cookman College). She graduated from Edward Waters High School in Jacksonville. She received a teaching certificate from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU, Florida A&M) in 1927. She earned a Masters degree from Columbia University in New York in 1950.

Around 1930, she moved to Miami to take a teaching position. She worked for Miami Dade Public Schools for nearly 40 years and retired in 1969. She taught at Douglas Elementary School in Overtown for 23 years. In 1970, she argued successfully for formally adding African-American History to Miami Dade Public Schools curriculum.

In 1935, Ms. Liberty married King Liberty. They were married for 31 years. They had no children. Begninning in 1950, they lived in the Liberty City area of Miami.

Ms. Liberty joined the National Council of Negro Women in the late 1950s and was President of the Greater Miami Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women from 1970 to 1980. In 1967 she was appointed to the Governors Committee on Education. Starting in 1968, she became active in the Model City Administering Board, at one time serving as Second Vice Chair Person. In 1981, she was involved with the Save the Children Project and Community Outreach Service Summer Program. She was also Project Director for the James E. Scott Liberty Square Project and the Debtors Anonymous Program (organized in 1977), and was active in the Bicentennial Commission of Florida. She was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc..

In 1990, Ms. Liberty was recognized as a pioneer of the Miami community by In the Company of Women and is profiled in their publication, "In the Company of Women: The First Six Years." In 1996, the Miami Commission on the Status of Women inducted Ms. Liberty into the Miami Centennial 1996 Women's Hall of Fame. In 1997, The Community Coalition for Women's History honored her accomplishments as part of their Women's Hisotry Month celebration. Shortly before passing, she received the Drum Major for Justice Award from Miami-Dade Community College.

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