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Spanish-Speaking Organization for Community, Integrity and Opportunity (SOCIO) records

 Collection
Identifier: ACCN 1142

Scope and Contents

The Spanish-Speaking Organization for Community, Integrity and Opportunity (SOCIO) Records (1967-1986) document this organization's administration, social programs, and community activities. Included are office files, financial documents, conference and meeting minutes, and client records. Also included are SOCIO's correspondence files that include letters and memoranda relating to its activities with government agencies, private businesses, and other community organizations. These documents describe SOCIO and its activities as an organization representing Hispanic interests in the state of Utah.

SOCIO's administrative files are housed in boxes 1-48 and include organizational records, correspondence, and conference and financial records. General administrative records (boxes 1-3) include reports, board records, founding documentation, meeting minutes, and public relations materials. Personnel records, job description forms, and membership rosters are also present (boxes 4-8). Correspondence with private businesses and government agencies, as well as communications between SOCIO members and staff, are also in the administrative files (boxes 9-14). Included are the letters, memoranda, and communications of Robert Nieves, SOCIO's executive director from 1969-1984 (boxes 11-12). SOCIO's financial records contain documentation of government funding, such as the Comprehensive Education and Training Act, as well as contracts with private industries, non-governmental organi-zations, and the United Way (boxes 15-22). SOCIO's insurance records, tax records, invoices, and financial statements from 1972-1986 make up the remainder of the financial records (boxes 23-48).

Documents resulting from the social programs that SOCIO pursued from 1972-1986 are housed in boxes 49-130. Records of an emergency food bank that SOCIO operated from 1980-1986 are included (boxes 49-67), as well as the attendance rolls, student records, and course materials from SOCIO's adult education program (boxes 68-98). SOCIO's involve-ment with the Cuban Entrant Program is documented by written proposals, contracts, and participant records (boxes 99-104). Records of SOCIO's programs directed toward minorities and the criminal justice system are present (boxes 105-106), as is documentation of SOCIO's involvement with employment programs, job training programs, and low income housing (boxes 107-120). Files chronicling SOCIO's activities with other organi-zations representing minority interests, along with records and written proposals regarding SOCIO's activities with elderly minorities, are available (boxes 121-125). Correspondence, written proposals, and program descriptions that document SOCIO's promotion of civil rights and support of affirmative action policies are in boxes 126-129. Also included in these files are meeting minutes, correspondence, and program outlines from the Governor's Council on Hispanic Affairs (box 129). A variety of miscellaneous documents relevant to SOCIO's activities are gathered in box 130. DUE TO THE CONFIDENTIAL NATURE OF CLIENT RECORDS, THE MATERIALS IN BOXES 49-67, 73-98, 100-104, 112 AND 128 ARE RESTRICTED. ACCESS TO THESE DOCUMENTS REQUIRES PERMISSION OF THE MANUSCRIPTS DIVISION HEAD.

Dates

  • 1967-1986

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

DUE TO THE CONFIDENTIAL NATURE OF CLIENT RECORDS, THE MATERIALS IN BOXES 49-67, 73-98, 100-104, 112 AND 128 ARE RESTRICTED. ACCESS TO THESE DOCUMENTS REQUIRES PERMISSION OF THE MANUSCRIPTS DIVISION HEAD.

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Organizational History

SOCIO traces its beginnings to a meeting held at the Guadalupe Center in Salt Lake City on December 15, 1967. This meeting was organized by members of Utah's Hispanic community to discuss ways in which the social and economic status of Hispanics in Utah might be improved. During the next 20 years, SOCIO established chapters throughout Utah and became the largest organization of its kind in the state. The first chapter of SOCIO was formally organized in 1968 with offices located on the University of Utah campus. Through this office, SOCIO developed programs directed at Utah's Hispanic community. One of the first was a scholarship program to help minority students continue their education at institutions of higher learning. This scholarship fund grew from $67,000 to over $700,000 during the time of SOCIO's operations. In 1971, SOCIO negotiated the establishment of the Hispanic Affairs Office in Utah state government. This development was accompanied by SOCIO's sponsoring the organization of a Migrant Worker Council chapter in Utah. By 1973, the scope of SOCIO's activities had increased to include a corrections program in cooperation with state institutions. This program reduced recidivism in the Hispanic community by forty percent through training Hispanic parole officers to work with Hispanics in the Criminal Justice System. SOCIO moved its offices from the University of Utah to the Redwood Multipurpose Center in 1976 as its activities and membership increased. Throughout the rest of the 1970s and 1980s, SOCIO expanded its activities to include crisis relief, job training, community and juvenile corrections, minority employment programs, and outreach programs.

Extent

60.25 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Spanish Speaking Organization for Community, Integrity and Opportunity (SOCIO) records (1967-1986) document this organization's administration, social programs, and community activities. These documents describe SOCIO and its activities as an organization representing Hispanic interests in the state of Utah. Included are office files, financial documents, conference and meeting minutes, and client records. Also included are SOCIO's correspondence files that include letters and memoranda relating to its activities with government agencies, private businesses, and other community organizations. Information on SOCIO's education and employment programs, food bank, and Cuban entrant program is present. Portions of this collection are restricted.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Ricardo Barbero in 1989.

Separated Materials

Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0708).

Processing Information

Processed by Scott Springer, Diana Hooper, Jane Chesley and others in 1996.
Title
Inventory of the Spanish-Speaking Organization for Community, Integrity and Opportunity (SOCIO) records, 1967-1986
Author
Finding aid created by Scott Springer, Diana Hooper, Jane Chesley and others
Date
© 1996 (last modified: 2019)
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863