This collection contains a small collection of papers relating to Silver's political activities (University of Chicago, Freedom Riders, testimony to State Legislature, campaigns, and writing). Documents include: correspondence, diary, essays, campaign literature, articles by or about Silver, pamphlets, testimony, and memorabilia. Of special interest are Silver's typescript "diary" of her Freedom Ride involvement from her arrival in the South in June 1961 through her trial in December 1961, and letters from Silver to her mother from the Jackson jail (1961). Other materials relate to her campaigns for Berkeley Auditor, District Attorney, San Francisco Supervisor and Congress. These include campaign literature, t-shirts, buttons, and stickers. Materials also relate to testimony before the California State Legislature. Also included in the collection is a straw hat with early 1960s political buttons and memorabilia from Silver's visit to Japan and Taiwan (including ceremonial keys to three cities).

Carol Ruth Silver is a lawyer and a former San Francisco Supervisor. She was raised in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts and was involved in student issues at the University of Chicago as an undergraduate in the late 1950s. In 1961 she joined the Freedom Riders, a group of mostly college age students, organized by CORE (Congress for Racial Equality), who went to the South to directly challenge segregation by ignoring the laws which set up separate waiting rooms at interstate bus stations. She was arrested with the Freedom Riders in Jackson, Mississippi in June 1961 and spent 40 days in jail. She then attended University of Chicago Law School graduating in 1964. Later she was a fellow at the John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics, Harvard University, and served on the faculties of Golden Gate University, Lone Mountain College, and San Francisco State. She served with the California Rural Legal Assistance program in Delano, Ca., in the late 1960s and ran for Berkeley City Auditor in 1970 before moving to San Francisco and running for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She served as a Supervisor from 1978-1989, ran for District Attorney in 1975, and for Congress in 1986. In 1973 Silver adopted Steven (Ah-Hwei), a 3 year old Taiwanese orphan. In 1976 Silver gave birth to a second son, Jefferson. Besides her political and legal activities Silver was a founder of the Chinese-American Bilingual School, which teaches pre-K through 8th grade in Mandarin and English.

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