Group Raises Money for NAACP Suit

A group of Harvard students plans to present $1000 to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) next week to help cover that organization's $110,000 bond needed to appeal a Mississippi lawsuit.

The NAACP is appealing a lawsuit it lost last September when a Mississippi court judge awarded $1.25 million to white merchants in Port Gibson, Miss. The shop owners had sued the NAACP for damages resulting from a 1966 boycott that protested discrimination against blacks.

The students contributing to the NAACP bond are members of an ad hoc committee that has raised approximately $900 since October 1976. The group raised money through collections in the Houses and the Freshman Union, and has sponsored a dance and a movie, Gary W. Martin '79, president of the Black Students Association and committee president, said yesterday.

The committee hopes to raise the additional $100 this week through collections at two more Houses and with contributions from other campus organizations, Martin said.

Had Wanted $2000

"We had hoped to raise $2000, but the basic problem with raising money has been that most people do not know about the ruling against the NAACP," Martin said. Students have responded well overall, he added.

Edward Redd, executive secretary of the Boston office of the NAACP, said yesterday. "The Harvard students have been helpful and have put in quite a bit of effort."

Even though the NAACP has covered the bond already and is showing a budget surplus for the first time in ten years, the NAACP has estimated that the appeal may take five years and cost $500,000.

The NAACP raised the money in a number of ways, including large loans and advance payment of 1977 membership fees by many members, Martin said.