Swarthmore College Race Relations Club surveys

Swarthmore College had a Race Relations Club, or Race Relations Committee, as early as the 1930s and as late as the 1980s. After the group succeeded in 1940 in agitating to remove the barrier against admitting African American students to the College, the Club continued to work toward increasing the number of African Americans in the student population. Activities toward this goal included working with the Negro Scholarship Fund and visiting high schools to encourage African American students to apply to Swarthmore. The Club also rallied against discrimination observed in the town of Swarthmore.

In response to an incident in which an African-American resident of the town of Swarthmore was denied service at a local barber shop, the Swarthmore College Race Relations Club decided to undertake a community race relations survey. Carol Creedon of the College Psychology Department served as advisor. The Club put a notice in the local Swarthmore newspaper and trained students in interviewing techniques. In the 1950-1951 school year, approximately 120 community members and approximatly 90 college students were interviewed.