BEYOND CIVIL RIGHTS

This is ""the record of a small venture that has made itself one of the most potent forces in the world of race."" It is the story of Karamu (which is Swahili for a place of Joyful meeting) House, established in 1915 by Russell and Rowena Jelliffe in Cleveland's ""Roaring Third,"" where 15,000 Negroes, nearly the total Negro population, live. The Jelliffes' aim was to help any individual make the most of his own capacity; they believed that creative activity rather than athletics were the most effective method to attain this. They started in two ram-shackle buildings; when they retired in 1963 they left behind them a million-and-a-half dollar plant, a permanent staff of thirty-five, and a paid membership of 3900. Throughout the years, they have operated beyond civil rights, in an acceptant atmosphere where opportunity for all finds Negroes and whites working together on plays, in dances, in art. Many of their people have proceeded to fill artistic careers of importance; many have remained nearby, strengthened to live happily. Today they are recognized throughout the country for their vanguard concepts and activities. This is the story John Selby tells; it is a quiet story, which somehow lacks the drama on which Karamu thrived, and it will mainly reach an institutional and regional market.