Archives of Labor History and Urban Affairs

Resources (8)

• Edward J. Falkowski

  Papers, 1916–39. 2.5 linear feet. The Edward J. Falkowski collection contains diaries and papers relating Mr. Falkowski’s experiences as a mineworker, reporter, a student at Brookwood Labor College and as an instructor at Commonwealth Labor College. Finding aid available: https://reuther.wayne.edu/files/LP000718.pdf

• Frances D. and G. Lyman Pain (1953-1976)

  Papers. 2 boxes (2 linear ft.). Contains papers of Frances D. and George Lyman Paine who met in 1934 and who were longtime members of the Johnson-Forest Tendency. The collection includes primarily letters (G.L. Boogs, M. Glaberman, C.L.R. James et al.), papers related to their radical interests and various material related to the newspaper Correspondence which was issued by the Johnson-Forest Tendency. Finding aid available: https://reuther.wayne.edu/files/LP001439.pdf

• Geoge Lavan Weissman (1935-1985)

  3 storage boxes (3 linear ft.). The George Lavan Weissman Collection consists of correspondence (both his and Connie Weissman’s), the manuscript for volume two of Trotsky’s war correspondence, on which Weissman was working at the time of his death, and numerous pamphlets and other publications put out by the SWP and a variety of civil rights and civil libertarian organizations to which he belonged. Finding aid available: https://reuther.wayne.edu/files/LP001347.pdf

• Helen Schiff (1940-1967)

  1 manuscript box (0.5 linear ft.). Contains reports, correspondence, bulletins and other items relating to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and to the founding of the Young Socialist Alliance (YSA). Correspondents include M. Abern, F. Dobbs, A. Goldman, and L. Trotsky. The collection was deposited by Ms. Schiff in 1970 and is open for research. Finding aid available: https://reuther.wayne.edu/files/LP001172.pdf

• John Nicholas Beffel (b. ca. 1895)

  Papers, 1943–54, ca. 14 ft. Freelance editor and officer of the League for Mutual Aid (New York). Includes manuscripts about Russia written by various individuals. Nearly all of these manuscripts appear to have been published in some form. They include: Voline [Vsevolod Mikhailovitch Eichenbaum], "1917: Russian Revolution Betrayed"; Joseph Cohen, "From My Left-Hand Pocket" (incomplete); "Mariam Freed" (unattributed and incomplete); and fragments of Rose Pesotta's autobiographical writings. All of these last 3 items include accounts of childhood and youth in Russia by American immigrants. (NUCMC 77–1302)

• Nemmy Sparks (Nehemiah Kishor) (1899-1973)

  Papers, 1942–73, ca. 5 ft. Labor organizer and official in the Communist Party of the U.S.A. He went to Siberia in 1922 on the Kuzbas project. Boxes 8–10 contain manuscripts, letters, clippings, and other items on Kuzbas from the early 1970s; articles and excerpts from his 2 books Common Sense About Communism and The Nation and Revolution; and his autobiography, in 2 parts, entitled Prelude and Epilog. Some of the Kuzbas correspondence is with American communist "survivors" still there at the time of writing. Note: 4 reels of tape recordings (partly blank or inaudible) of Sparks's Critical History of the CPUSA are on file with the archives' collection of magnetic tapes. A detailed finding aid is available for the collection (Accession No. 617).

• Raya Dunayevskaya

  Papers, (1941-1969), 3 ft. Marxist author. Correspondence and literary manuscripts. Dunayevskaya, quondam secretary of Leon Trotskii, has written several books (Philosophy and Revolution, Marxism and Freedom, etc.). She was a founder of the Johnson-Forest tendency; J. R. Johnson was C. L. R. James, and Dunayevskaya was Freddie Forest. She has also been chairman of the News and Letters Committee (Detroit), which puts out various newspapers. Approximately two-thirds of the collection consists of analyses of the Russian (Soviet) economy. There are also photostatic copies of letters to Dunayevskaya from Trotskii, 1937–39. Other materials include articles by her and James, her translations of Russian works, printed items, and manuscript writings. The entire collection is available on 2 microfilm reels from the archives. For the collection and the microfilm there is a guide written by Dunayevskaya herself, 17 pp. (NUCMC 73–274). Finding aid available: https://reuther.wayne.edu/files/LP000363.pdf

• Workers Defense League Collection

  Ca. 3.5 ft. of materials on the Committee of Inquiry into Forced Labor. Information is on Soviet gulags and similar forced labor camps. Many of the studies are by escapees; some are statistical.