Radical and Labor Pamphlets collection, 1896-1967, bulk 1911-1954 14.5 Linear Feet — 720 items
The Radical and Labor Pamphlets Collection spans the years from 1896 to 1967, with the bulk of the dates falling between 1911 and 1954, and is made up of publications relating to communism, socialism and other left-wing movements as well as to labor parties and trade unions. Subjects represented are: the Communist Party in the U.S. and Great Britain; socialism in the U.S. and other countries; radical youth organizations; political trials and persecutions of radical activists; labor organizations; anti-fascist and pacifist movements; anarchist organizations; anti-Communist propaganda; Soviet propaganda; and Soviet-Western relations. Other significant topics include economic justice, electoral campaigns, human rights issues, the role of women and youth in activist movements, unemployment, housing, fascism in Spain and other contemporary war issues.
There are many important individual authors represented in this collection, including Israel Amter, Arthur Clegg, Georgi Dimitrov, Emma Goldman, Gilbert Green, Grace Hutchins, Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin, Corliss Lamont, Clare Booth Luce, Philip Murray, Harry Pollitt, Karl Radek, Iosif Stalin, Lev Trotskii, and many others. Many pamphlets were produced anonymously under the aegis of institutions: these include the Communist Party, USA, Socialist Labor Party, Young Communist League, International Labor Defense, Civil Rights Congress, Communist International, Congress of Industrial Organizations, Farmer's Labor Unions, American Federation of Labor, Friends of the Soviet Union, and many more.
The pamphlets are arranged by subject categories, with the largest groups relating to the activities and membership of the Communist and Socialist parties. There is a small group of pamphlets chiefly made up of radical and labor song collections from 1912 to 1950. The majority of the pamphlets were produced in the United States and Great Britain, but there are also smaller groups of materials from Russia, India, Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, Italy, Brazil, the Philippines, and Mexico.
Many of these publications are ephemeral, that is, focused on urgent contemporary issues and generally intended for immediate consumption or short-term use. For this and for other reasons, they were often printed on poor quality paper which now shows signs of severe deterioration. The results are that few of these publications remain in circulation, and researchers may find many of them difficult to locate in library collections.