Lincoln Filene Center (1961-1999)
Dates
- Existence: 1961 -- 1999 - 1999
Biography
Abstract:
The Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs (1961- 2002), now the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Affairs, was originally the Living Flame Memorial Foundation (1945-1951). In 1951,The Living Flame Memorial Foundation merged with the Civic Education Foundation (1948-1954). The Civic Education Foundation became affiliated with Tufts University in 1954 and was renamed the Tufts College Center for Civic Education (1954-1961). The Center merged fully with Tufts in 1989. Its mission was to promote active citizen participation.
The Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs was originally the Living Flame Memorial Foundation, founded in 1945 to provide civic education in the aftermath of World War II. In 1951 the Foundation changed its name to the Civic Education Foundation. Tufts University President Nils Yngve Wessell expressed an interest in the Foundation, and in 1954, the Civic Education Foundation began operating from Tuft’s campus, where it became the “Tufts College Center for Civic Education in cooperation with the Civic Education Foundation.” In 1955, the Lincoln and Therese Filene Foundation endowed the Lincoln Filene Professorship in Citizenship and Public Affairs, and in 1961 the center became known as the Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs. In 1989, the Center merged with Tufts University and was no longer a separate entity. The Board of the Civic Education Foundation became the Board of the Lincoln Filene Center.
The Center conducted workshops for teachers at disadvantaged schools, worked to improve the Boston area school system, held the annual Massachusetts Assemblies on State Government from 1959 to 1968, and conducted Black Awareness programs for Tufts staff members in the 1960s and 1970s. The Lincoln Filene Center was also responsible for publications on various topics related to citizenship, government, and public affairs. Broadly, the mission of the Lincoln Filene Center was to promote active citizen participation and the study of the components of citizen participation.
In 2002, the Lincoln Filene Center became a division of the Tufts University College of Citizenship and Public Service. This College became the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service in 2006.
Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:
Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life Records
This collection contains records created by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life as well as records created by related predecessor groups such as the Lincoln Filene Center.
Lincoln Filene Center Records
This collection contains brochures, budgets, correspondence, grant proposals, minutes, newsletters, programs, publications, and reports pertaining to the Lincoln Filene Center from 1944-1998. Significant people in this collection include Robert Hollister, the former director of the Lincoln Filene Center.
Some material was pulled by Russell Miller in preparation for his history of Tufts University, Light on the Hill.
New England Environmental Network News
This collection contains newsletters of the New England Environmental Network. It covers environmental issues in New England and publishes information about the New England Environmental Conference. It is published by Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship & Public Affairs.
The Lincoln Filene Center, LFC Report
This collection contains the LFC report which summarizes the activities of the Lincoln Filene Center for the previous year. The first year on file is 1990.
