Finding aid for the Neighborhood Adult Participation Project records
Table of Contents
Finding aid prepared by Sue Luftschein, 2011 August
Summary Information
- Repository
- USC Libraries Special Collections
- Creator
- Jones, Opal C., (Opal Christopher)
- Creator
- Neighborhood Adult Participation Project (Los Angeles, Calif.).
- Title
- Neighborhood Adult Participation Project records
- Collection no.
- 0488
- Date
- 1962-1976, undated
- Extent
- 1.25 Linear feet, 4 boxes
- Language
- English
- Abstract
- The Neighborhood Adult Participation Project (NAPP) records consist of correspondence, reports, and training materials, 1962-1976 and undated, that document the founding and activities of this Office of Economic Opportunity-funded project. Founded in April 1965, the project was initially funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity and originally overseen by the Los Angeles Economic and Youth Opportunities Agency; by 1976 it was the largest and oldest poverty program in Los Angeles County. NAPP began operations as a Community Action Program funded under Title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, with the primary purpose of providing training and employment opportunities for adults in ten poverty areas identified by the Los Angeles Welfare Planning Council. The bulk of the collection consists of booklets and manuals written by executive director Opal C. Jones that were used as orientation and training materials for NAPP employees. In addition to the training activities of NAPP, the records document some of the administrative and personnel difficulties that plagued the organization in its early years.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder# or item name], Neighborhood Adult Participation Project records, Collection no. 0488, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Historical note
The Neighborhood Adult Participation Project (NAPP) was founded in April 1965 at the Avalon Center in Watts; Opal C. Jones was the project's first executive director. Initially funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity and originally overseen by the Los Angeles Economic and Youth Opportunities Agency, NAPP had become by 1976 the largest and oldest poverty program in Los Angeles County, delivering services to over 50,000 residents each year at 14 community centers. NAPP began operations as a Community Action Program funded under Title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, with the primary purpose of providing training and employment opportunities for adults in ten poverty areas identified by the Los Angeles Welfare Planning Council. The project was one of the first and most ambitious "War On Poverty" programs in Los Angeles County. Apart from its employment component, NAPP was designed to conform with the federal edict of "maximum feasible participation" of the poor themselves by using thousands of previously unemployed "indigenous neighborhood residents," called NAPP aides, as trainee community workers in an effort to bootstrap up from poverty both aides and the communities they served.
Scope and Content
The Neighborhood Adult Participation Project (NAPP) records consist of correspondence, reports, and training materials, 1962-1976 and undated, that document the founding and activities of this Office of Economic Opportunity-funded project. The bulk of the collection consists of booklets and manuals written by executive director Opal C. Jones that were used as orientation and training materials for NAPP employees. In addition to the training activities of NAPP, the records document, in forms, memorandums, and reports, some of the dissatisfaction felt by the NAPP communities with the past performance of professional social workers; the organizational problems that this project, dispersed over a dozen or more "outposts" across the county, experienced; and the personnel difficulties it encountered, including conflicts between Mexican American and African American groups. Of particular interest is the file of correspondence and memorandums that document the termination of the Boyle Heights Outpost director, Gabriel Yanez.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
USC Libraries Special Collections
2011 August
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California, 90089-0189
213-740-5900
specol@usc.edu
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
The use of archival materials for on-site research does not constitute permission from the California Social Welfare Archives to publish them. Copyright has not been assigned to the California Social Welfare Archives, and the researcher is instructed to obtain permission to quote from or publish manuscripts in the CSWA's collections from the copyright holder.
Related Materials
Related Archival Materials
Economic and Youth Opportunities Agency of Greater Los Angeles records, Collection no. 0473, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Neighborhood Adult Participation Project (Los Angeles, Calif.). -- Archives
Genre(s)
- Clippings
- Correspondence
- Memorandums
- Minutes
Geographic Name(s)
- Los Angeles (Calif.)--Social conditions--Archival resources
Personal Name(s)
- Jones, Opal C., (Opal Christopher) -- Archives
Subject(s)
- Employees--Training of--California--Los Angeles County--Archival resources
- Nonprofit organizations--California--Los Angeles County--History--Archival resources
- Social group work--California--Los Angeles County--Archival resources
- Social workers--California--Los Angeles County--Archival resources
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Correspondence, anouncements 1965 |
1 | 1 | ||
|
First progress report 1965 Scope and ContentIssued by the Youth Opportunities Board. |
1 | 2 | ||
|
Correspondence, progress reports, minutes 1966 |
1 | 3-4 | ||
|
Correspondence re conflict between Hispanic/Latino and African American participants 1966 Scope and ContentPrimarily concerning termination of Boyle Heights Outpost director, Gabriel Yanez. |
1 | 5 | ||
|
Correspondence, reports, minutes 1967-1968 |
1 | 6 | ||
|
"The Politics of the War on Poverty in Los Angeles" by Francis M. Carney and John W. Reuss, UC Riverside 1967 June |
1 | 7 | ||
|
Training materials, reports 1967-1971 |
1 | 8 | ||
|
Reports from other organizations 1960s-1970s Scope and ContentSolomon Kobrin, Youth Studies Center, USC. "Patterns and Problems of Leadership in Neighborhood Action"; Harold H. Weissman and Henry Heifetz, "Changing Program Emphases of Settlement Houses". |
1 | 9 | ||
|
Application for funding, "College-School District Cooperative Program in Staff Training for Community Awareness and Problem_Solving: A Suburban Model," Center for Urban and Regional Studies, Claremont, CA 1971 January 29 Scope and ContentEdited draft. |
1 | 10 | ||
|
Reports, charts, agendas 1965-1974 |
2 | 1 | ||
|
Participant/employee training materials 1960s-1970s |
2 | 2 | ||
|
Politically oriented materials 1970-1976 |
2 | 3 | ||
| Box | ||||
|
Training materials, reports, proposals 1965-1970 |
3 | |||
|
Budgets, reports, studies 1962-1968, undated Scope and ContentCompilation of NAPP materials presented to Emita Armi, Los Angeles Area Federation of Settlement and Neighborhood Centers; draft of proposal for extension of project; compilation of NAPP materials; "The Mobility of NAPP Aides: A Research Study"; 1968 budget. Also includes "Study of Avalon-Slauson Area" produced by the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers and the Community Chest of Los Angeles Area (1962). |
4 | |||
|
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