Henry Steele Commager
Although Commager was not deeply concerned with race in the early part of his career, he eventually became an advocate for civil rights for African-Americans, as he was for other groups. In 1949 he fought to allow the African-American historian John Hope Franklin to present a paper at the Southern Historical Association and agreed to introduce him to the group. In 1953 the NAACP Legal Defense Fund asked Commager for advice for their argument before the Supreme Court for the case of Brown vs Board of Education, but at the time he was not persuaded that this litigation would succeed on historical grounds, and so advised the lawyers. Declaration of Interdependence[edit] In 1975 Commager wrote a Declaration of Interdependence, and presented it to the World Affairs Councils of Philadelphia on October 24, 1975. It was signed in a ceremonial signing on January 30, 1976 at Congress Hall, Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia by several members of Congress. It was also "endorsed" by a number of Non-governmental organizations and UN United Nations specialized agencies. The document stressed the importance of international law, conservation of natural resources, disarmament, the worlds oceans and the peaceful exploration of outer space, among other things. When drafting the document Commager was assisted by an "Advisory Committee" including Raymond Aron, Herbert Agar, Leonard Woodcock, Archibald MacLeish and others.