Biography/History:

Ernst Borinski was born on November 26, 1901, the son of Jewish parents, Max and Martha Borinski, in Kattowitz, a town near the border of Germany and Poland. The control of the town fluctuated between Germany and Poland, and when Borinski was born, Kattowitz was under Polish control. It was a racially diverse community of many religions. His parents were the owners of a small department store, and Borinski and his sister spent time conversing with the patrons in German, Polish, Russian, and Yiddish. Borinski attended academic high schools in Germany and the universities of Halle, Berlin, and Munich. Educated as a lawyer, he became a magistrate for the town of Kelbra in lower Saxony, and taught in universities.

Borinski escaped from Nazi-controlled Germany in 1938, made his way to the United States, and settled in Rochester, N. Y. He held various factory jobs in the Rochester area until he was inducted into army after the United States entered the war in 1941. In the army, Borinski served in North Africa, primarily as an interpreter. He returned to the United States in 1944 and was posted at Fort Dix in New Jersey and continued his work as an interpreter until his honorable discharge in 1945.

Following his discharge, Borinski enrolled in graduate study in sociology at the University of Chicago, receiving his Masters in Sociology in 1947. In that same year, he accepted a position as a teacher of sociology at Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Madison County, Mississippi. While teaching at Tougaloo, he completed his doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) in 1953. In his dissertation, Sociology of Judge Made Laws in Civil Rights Cases, he explored the ideas of United States Supreme Court Justices who had been involved in Civil Rights cases since Reconstruction.

A year after his arrival he established the Social Science Laboratory, in which students connected their classroom learning to social problems they faced in their daily lives. This technique allowed students to see beyond the rigidly segregated walls of the Mississippi community. With this approach, Borinski inspired a host of students, including Donald Cunnigen, Joyce Ladner, K. C. Morrison, and Jerry Ward, to excel and to overcome the racial situations that faced them. Borinski’s impact was felt as well in the Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, community. Borinski had developed a close relationship with many academics of the white colleges in the Jackson community. To further this relationship, he had developed in 1956 the Social Science Forum. With the help of funds from the Field Foundation in Chicago, Illinois, speakers, knowledgeable in their fields, were brought to Tougaloo campus for enlightening discussions on race, society, and democracy. Invitations were sent to persons in the community to attend these forums without regard to race. The Social Science Forum was popular with many white citizens within the community, particularly those associated with Millsaps College in Jackson.

The Social Science Forum helped strengthen the relationship between Tougaloo and Millsaps, but it ran afoul of the rigid code of segregation in Mississippi. The press attacked the forums in general and Borinski in particular for breaking the laws and customs of the state. In a speech given at Millsaps in the spring of 1958, Borinski referred to the unchristian nature of segregation. This statement, and the demands by the White Citizens Council for Millsaps to take a stand on the issue, forced the Board of Trustees of Millsaps to issue a statement that segregation was still the policy of the college. After the speech at Millsaps, the attacks against Borinski grew in intensity. His foes linked him to Communism and called for his deportation. He came under the close scrutiny of the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission.

In the 1960s during his summer vacations, Borinski began to teach in the Department of Sociology at Duke University in Raleigh, North Carolina. He continued this teaching activity at Duke well into the 1970s. Beginning in 1971, he taught in the department of Sociology and Anthropology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. His courses there focused on the sociology of race relations in the framework of political sociology, the sociology of knowledge, and the sociology of law. In addition to his work at Duke and Vanderbilt, Borinski taught at Hampshire College in New York and was involved in that institution’s early development. He served as well as a consultant and teacher at Antioch Graduate School in Keene, New Hampshire.

Borinski developed a close association with many prominent academicians throughout the world and received many awards for his teaching and educational activities. He was the first recipient of the Spivak Fellow Award from the American Sociological Association and was the third inductee into the Southern Sociological Society Hall of Fame. Ernst Borinski died on May 26, 1983, and was interred at the Tougaloo College campus.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of the following series: personal papers; correspondence; career; organizational affiliations; philanthropic affiliations; written works; photographs; books and printed material; news clippings, newspapers, pamphlets, and newsletters; magazines, journals, and oversized items; and restricted material.

Series Identification:

1. Series 1: Personal Papers. 1922-1984; n.d. 4 boxes.

   Sub-series 1: Biographical and Personal Data. 1922-1984; n.d. 2 boxes.

   This sub-series consists of academic documents, interviews of Borinski, wills, and correspondence. The academic documents are from American and German institutions. The personal interviews were done for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History as well as for a biographical project at Tougaloo College. Much of the correspondence following Borinski’s death is from George Owens, the president of Tougaloo at that time and the executor of Borinski’s will.

   Boxes 1 and 2

   Sub-series 2: Personal Diaries. 1964-1983; n.d. 1 box.

   This sub-series consists of personal diaries of Ernst Borinski written during the period 1964-1983. There are a significant number of pages that are bound, yet undated. Some pages are written in German and may be difficult to read. The diaries are both handwritten and typed. Some of the typed pages are difficult to read and understand. In these diaries, Borinski reflects on his life, his work at Tougaloo and other academic institutions, and the status of race relations in America in general and at Tougaloo in particular.

   Box 3

   Sub-series 3: Address Books and Guest Books. 1949-1983; n.d. 1 box.

   This sub-series contains address and appointment books, desk calendars, and guest books of Borinski’s from 1949-1983.

   Box 4

2. Series 2. Correspondence. 1946-1983; n.d. 3 boxes.

   Sub-series 1: General Correspondence. 1946-1983; n.d. 1 box.

   This sub-series contains chronologically-arranged correspondence documenting Borinski’s life from 1946-1983. In the correspondence from 1970 to 1980, Borinski utilized a dictation and reply schedule.

   Box 5

   Sub-series 2: Specific Correspondence, 1952-1983; n.d. 2 boxes.

   This sub-series contains frequent correspondence from individuals who had an impact on Borinski’s life and work. Some of the correspondents, like David Riesmann, held important positions in the field of sociology; others, like Leslie Dunbar and James Loewen, were actively involved in fostering social change in Mississippi; and still others, like David Cunnigen, Joyce Ladner and K. C. Morrison, were his former students and were actively making changes in the field of sociology. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically and there under chronologically.

   Boxes 6 and 7

3. Series 3. Career. 1947-1983; n.d. 7 boxes.

   Sub-series 1: Tougaloo College. 1947-1983; n.d. 5 boxes.

   This series consists of materials from Borinski’s work as a sociology professor at Tougaloo College. In addition to classroom materials associated with his work as a professor, there are other correspondence, documents, minutes, and directives that pertain to his role as a senior faculty member and an administrator of the Social Science Division at Tougaloo. Of note are materials pertaining to the cooperative program between Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Tougaloo. Some of the classroom material in this sub-series focus on Borinski’s teaching of constitutional law, particularly the actions of the United States Supreme Court in dealing with school desegregation and Affirmative Action cases such as the Bakke case, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke.

   Boxes 8-12

   Sub-series 2: Criminal Justice Symposiums and Social Science Forums. 1964-1983; n.d. 1 box.

   This sub-series contains correspondence and documents of the Criminal Justice Symposiums and Social Science forums. The forums and symposiums were an important part of Borinski’s community involvement at Tougaloo. The correspondence in this sub-series highlights the nature of that involvement and the importance of the people involved.

   Box 13

   Sub-series 3: Summer Teaching Experience. 1960-1983; n.d. 44 folders.

   This sub-series contains correspondence and classroom materials for Borinski’s teaching experiences at major colleges and universities during his summer vacation from Tougaloo. His primary assignments were at Duke University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. His classes at these institutions, and others, mainly focused on the sociology of race relations.

   Box 14

   Sub-series 4: Other College Relationships, 1964-1978; n.d. 11 folders.

   This sub-series contains correspondence, bulletins and other materials from colleges and universities with whom Borinski had active contact, including Millsaps College in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. Borinski had developed a close relationship with the faculty at Millsaps, was a frequent speaker there, and incurred the wrath of civil authorities for comments made at forums. Some of the forum material is found in this sub-series.

   Box 14

4. Series 4: Organizational Affiliations. 1952-1983; n.d. 2 boxes.

   This series contains materials that relate to Borinski’s relationship with state and national associations. Most of the material deals with professional associations, particularly in the field of sociology, yet there are correspondence, documents, memoranda, minutes, programs, and schedules of other organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Included in this series as well are materials from the Southern Sociological Society, a group that presented Borinski with its highest award in 1980.

   Boxes 15 and 16

5. Series 5: Philanthropic Affiliations. 1952-1983; n.d. 1 box.

   This series contain correspondence, proposals, reports, newsletters, and grant information that document Borinski’s relationship with philanthropic agencies. The materials offer examples of Borinski’s methods of soliciting funds to finance his different programs at Tougaloo College. The most significant relationship was that between Borinski and the Field Foundation, and the Foundation’s director, Leslie W. Dunbar.

   Box 17

6. Series 6: Written Works. 1936-1983; n.d. 4 boxes.

   Sub-series 1: Works by Borinski. 1948-1982; n.d.

   This sub-series contains written works and speeches of Borinski. Topics of the works include the legal ramifications of segregation and race relations. One of the works is a commentary on the writings of Christopher Jenks and David Riesmann on the plight of “the Negro College” (f. 33).

   Box 18

   Sub-series 2: Published Works by Others. 1936-1983; n.d.

   This sub-series, arranged alphabetically by author, contains articles written by others during the period 1936-1983, with the bulk of the writings done between 1960 and 1980. These works are found in political and sociological journals and focus primarily on the issues of race and the problems of the poor and working class.

   Box 19

   Sub-series 3: Unpublished Works by Others. 1959-1983; n.d.This sub-series, arranged alphabetically by author, contains copies of speeches, papers, dissertation abstracts, and drafts of written works collected by Borinski.

   Boxes 20 and 21

7. Series 7: Photographs. 1932-1982; n.d. 2 boxes.

   This series contains photographs that touch on all phases of Borinski’s life. Aside from photographs from his personal life there are photographs that cover his work at Tougaloo, both in the classroom and the Social Science forum. Borinski is pictured with such notables as Ralph Bunche and Julian Bond. Scrapbooks that contain photographs of Borinski’s travels through various parts of Europe are also included in this series.

   Boxes 22 and 23

8. Series 8: Books and Printed Material. 1853-1983; n.d. 7 boxes.

   Sub-series 1: Books and College Catalogs. 1853-1983; n.d.

   This sub-series contains books and catalogs that were used by Borinski in many different phases of his work. Many of the works are in German or French.

   Boxes 24-28 and Box 44

   Sub-series 2: Travel and International Information. 1952-1983; n.d.

   This sub-series contains articles, maps and other materials related to those countries that were topics of Borinski’s lectures or the forums.

   Box 29

9. Series 9: News Clippings, Newspapers, Pamphlets and Newsletters. 1949-1983; n.d. 6 boxes.

   Sub-series 1: Reference Copies of News Clippings and Newspapers. 1955-1983; n.d.

   This sub-series contains originals and copies of news clipping and newspapers collected by Borinski. They are from local, national, and international publications and cover a number of topics, particularly Civil Rights, from the death of Emmett Till to the problems of Watergate. The articles are arranged chronologically and identified by principal subjects.

   Box 30

   Sub-series 2: Newsclippings and Newspapers. 1952-1983; n.d.

   This sub-series contains originals noted in the above sub-series.

   Boxes 31-33

   Sub-series 3: Pamphlets and Newsletters. 1949-1983; n.d.

   This sub-series contains a variety of pamphlets and newsletters: prominent among them are a number of issues of the Tougaloo News from 1973-1978.

   Boxes 34 and 35

10. Series 10: Magazines, Journals, and Oversized Items. 1935-1983; n.d. 4 boxes.

    This series contains a variety of magazines and journals. Some of the magazines are regular subscription issues, while others are issues for a special occasion, such as Life: John F. Kennedy Memorial Edition, 1963. Of note in this series is a July 1935 issue of the Journal of Negro Education, a valuable study of the courts and separate schools.

    Boxes 36-39

11. Series 11: Restricted Material. 1945-1983; n.d. 5 boxes.

    Sub-series 1: Artifacts. n.d. 2 boxes.

    This sub-series contains 226 objects, primarily owls, belonging to Borinski. Access to this sub-series is by permission of curator only.

    Boxes 40-41

    Sub-series 2: Duplicate Photographs and Cassette Tapes. 1974-1982; n.d. 1 box.

    This sub-series contains duplicate birthday party photographs found in series 7 and audio tapes. Due to their fragility, access to the tapes is restricted.

    Box 42

    Sub-series 3: Duplicate and Restricted Documents. 1945-1983; n.d. 2 boxes.

    This sub-series contains duplicate materials found in other series and materials that contain privacy-sensitive information. Access to this sub-series is restricted.

    Boxes 43 and 45

Box List