The Milo Guthrie Papers consist mainly of periodicals and printed materials produced by American politically left organizations and document a range of issues including civil rights, feminism, environmental defense, nuclear freeze and disarmament, gay and lesbian rights, Latin American and Puerto Rican politics, labor issues, and various political parties and candidates, particularly the Socialist Party. Included is a small amount of original material, primarily correspondence with members of various organizations concerning support for issues and activities. Much of this is directly related to the political campaigns of independent party candidates as well as Guthrie's own political campaigns in Tennessee in 1982 and 1984.
While the collection provides a concentrated wealth of information on a wide range of political and social issues during a time of significant political activity from the left, there is relatively little documentation of Guthrie's involvement with most of the groups represented in the collection's periodicals and printed materials. Scattered notes on flyers and form letters show that he was involved in several groups to some extent. However, it is not clear at this point if the bulk of the materials in this collection contain examples of his graphics, demonstrate the range of his political activities, reflect a passive interest in various issues and organizations, or a combination of these.
Milo Guthrie is a long-time peace activist in Tennessee and North Carolina. A native of North Carolina, Guthrie lived in rural Cannon County, Tenn., for over ten years where he raised goats and was employed as a printer and commercial artist in Murfreesboro. Guthrie was an independent candidate for the Tennessee State House of Representatives in 1982 and a write-in candidate for Congress for Tennessee's Sixth Congressional District in 1984.
Guthrie has been an active supporter of the independent third party movement since the early 1970s. He served on the Executive Committee of the Peoples Party, as Parliamentarian of the California Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) State Convention, and on the PFP campaign of Gayle Justice in 1974. In 1980, Guthrie attended the founding convention of the Citizens Party as a delegate from Tennessee. He also served as state coordinator for the Presidential campaign of Socialist Party candidate David McReynolds.
Guthrie is a member of numerous political organizations including the Socialist Party, National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), and the War Resisters League. (Taken from biography written by Guthrie for congressional campaign.)
