Seeger, Pete, 1919-2014

Folklore Archive: Studies and Research Projects Records

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:26:58 -0500

The Folklore Archive, established in 1939, contains the oldest and largest record of urban folk traditions in the United States. To document these traditions, Wayne State University students conducted field research projects covering a broad range of topics. The archive is strong in modern industrial and occupational folklore, reflecting the rich ethnic diversity and work-oriented heritage of Detroit and southeastern Michigan. The Folklore Archive: Studies and Research Projects Records contain transcripts and research studies related to Greek-American family life, Southern upland migrant folk culture, traditional medical beliefs and American folk music.

Industrial Workers of the World Records

drice — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 16:44:51 -0400

The Industrial Workers of the World was founded in 1905 and is a member-run union for all workers. The IWW organizes all workers producing the same goods or services into one union instead of pooling them by skill or trade. Numbered among its members (known popularly as Wobblies) are lumberjacks, miners, farmhands (especially migrant workers), sailors, and workers in textile mills. Since their founding, the IWW has made significant contributions to labor struggles around the world. The union is proud of its long-standing tradition of fierce defense of the first amendment and breaking down barriers of race, ethnicity, and gender. Since it's founding in Chicago, the IWW has moved its headquarters around the country.

Part 1 includes minutes and proceedings, trial records and evidence, newspapers, pamphlets, poems, cartoons, songs, and correspondence. Subjects of interest include the Centralia Conspiracy; criminal syndicalism; the Everett Massacre; Free Speech fights; organization of farm workers; labor conditions; the controversy between craft and industrial unionism; government raids and seizures; trials of various members; foreign IWW administrations; political prisoners; GEB 1960's-1970's; conventions 1970's; Junior Wobblies; Houston Branch; and information on such figures as Vincent St. John. Correspondents include T.J. Bogard, Arthur Boose, Richard Brazier, Frank Cederval, A.S. Embree, William D. Haywood, Claude Irwin, Joyce Kornbluh, John A. Law, George Lucas, Albert Prashner, Rudolf Rocker, Vincent St. John, Nicolaas Steelink, Fred W. Thompson, William Unger, Walt Westman, and Claire Whitaker.

Part 2 of the Industrial Workers of the World Collection contains General Executive Board correspondence from the 1960s and 1970s and minutes, newsletters and correspondence from several branch locations and foreign administrations covering the same time period. Also included are Constitutional General Convention minutes from the 1970s, membership dues booklets, songs, cartoons, poetry, articles, legal case files, and a large assortment of English and foreign-language pamphlets and leaflets. Of particular interest are the reports of undercover private detectives posing as IWW members who investigated IWW organizing among Arizona miners in 1923.

Part 3 include mainly correspondence, reports, and photographs that document the union’s activities and goals primarily during the time they were headquartered in Ypsilanti. Since the organization is global, some reports come from places as far as Sweden and Germany. Of particular note are copies of Junior Wobblies cards dating from the 1930s.

Content of Box 158, Folder "Cigar Makers Meeting" is unavailable.

Miners For Democracy Records

drice — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:55:02 -0400

The MDC was a reform group within the United Mine Workers whose activities led to the ouster of former president Tony Boyle. Their records reflect the organization's concerns over issues central to the coal-mining industry and their attempts to make changes through court actions and elections.

Harold Norris Papers

abarker — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:02:49 -0400

Lawyer Harold Norris served as chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Detroit Branch and was a member of the National Lawyers Guild. Mr. Norris’ papers reflect his interest in issues of civil rights and civil liberties and document his career as a lawyer and advocate for the ACLU.

Harvey O'Connor Papers

drice — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:08:56 -0400

Mr. O'Connor is the author of numerous books, articles, and pamphlets of social and economic interest. He worked in the publishing business from the mid 1920s -1930s and late 1950s, including stints at Federated Press, the Peoples Press, Ken, and the Nation. Active in several civil liberties organizations, Mr. O'Connor became a controversial figure during the McCarthy investigations. His papers contain materials related to his writings; his interest in 1930s Pittsburgh and Chicago labor & politics, the steel, coal, & oil industries; and his involvement in civil liberties activities, including his House Un-American Activities Committee trial.

People's Song Library Records

drice — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:53:06 -0500

The People's Song Library is comprised of songs collected by the Almanac Singers (1941-43); People's Songs, Inc. (1946-49); People's Artists, Inc. (1950-57); and Sing Out, Inc. (1958-70). Scores, songbooks, and lyrics by Aaron Copland, Woody Guthrie, Joe Hill, "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, Alan Lomax, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Malvina Reynolds, Peggy and Pete Seeger, Josh White, and lesser-known and some anonymous authors dealing with civil rights, the Cuban Revolution, election songs of the 1940s, labor, pacifism, and war. Included are traditional folksongs and some of more recent vintage.

Sidney Rosen Papers

abarker — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:31:30 -0400

Sidney Rosen organized the first insurance union in the United States while working as an insurance salesman for John Hancock in Detroit, Michigan, and served as treasurer of the Progressive Partly of Michigan, as director of the Senior Citizens Department of the Coleman Young administration. Mr. Rosen’s papers document his work for the Progressive Party and his involvement in fundraising efforts for civil rights and civil liberties causes.

Irwin Silber Papers

drice — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:37:43 -0500

Mr. Silber was an early organizer and worker in Peoples' Songs, Inc. Mr. Silber's collection consists of a representative portion of the group's files, mostly early labor and social reform songs.

Blanding Sloan Papers

drice — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:47:36 -0500

Blanding Sloan (1886-1975) was a puppeteer, theater designer, playwright, printmaker and director who was involved with the marionette program of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), one of the cultural programs of the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. His papers reflect his involvement with the FTP in San Francisco and with the Unemployed Co-operative Distribution Association.

UFW Administration Department Records

drice — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:05:34 -0500

United Farm Workers grew out of several farm workers organizations of the 1960s and was led by Cesar Chavez for over thirty years. The Administration Department records reflect the wide range of people and groups with whom the UFW corresponded. The work of the union itself is well represented, including U.S., Canada, and Europe boycott files, El Malcriado files, and negotiations with southern California grape growers.

Part 3 of the records represent the second decade of the union’s progress toward the goals of improving wages and working conditions for farm workers. Included are major legal cases, including UFW vs. Teamsters, UFW vs. DiGeorgio, and the Blythe Massacre; boycotts, including the Lettuce Boycott and Grape Boycott; and correspondence, including Cesar Chavez personal correspondence.

Utah Phillips Papers

aorchard — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 12:19:57 -0400

Bruce Duncan Phillips (1935-2008), better known as Utah Phillips, was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 15, 1935. He became well known as a folk singer, performer, storyteller, and activist beginning in the late 1960s and continued to be a prominent figure in the American folk and labor communities for the following four decades.

The Utah Phillips Papers document the personal, professional, and political activities of Utah Phillips. The papers include correspondence, interviews, writings, notes, contracts, flyers, publications, articles, clippings, photographs, audiovisual recordings, and other materials.

James H. Williams Papers

abarker — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:41:06 -0400

A founder of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) Louisville branch, Students for Social Action, James Williams was active in various radical, student and labor organizations, such as the Southern Student Organizing Committee, the young People’s Socialist League, and Operation Freedom. Mr. Williams held positions on the staff of the IUE News, the West Virginia Federation of Labor, the American Newspaper Guild, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Workers Education Local 189, the National Education Association (NEA), and Labor Today.
Mr. Williams’ papers reflect his involvement in various student and radical organizations, and to a lesser degree, his participation in the NEA Staff Organization (NEASO). The Committee for Miners, selective service, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and SDS are among important subjects in the collection.

Box 3 is unavailable.

In Memoriam: Pete Seeger, 1919-2014

cwesterman — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 08:05:44 -0500

The folksinger and activist Pete Seeger died Monday, January 27, 2014 at the age of 94, bringing to an end a career that lasted from the Great Depression to the twenty-first century. His lifelong engagement with culture and politics, and his deep commitment to the labor movement, brought him into continual contact with the rank and file of unionized American workers. In 1939, when Seeger was 20 years old, he worked in the Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song as an assistant to the musicologist Alan Lomax, and it seems fitting that this onetime archivist is so well represented in the archives and manuscripts of the Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs. No fewer than twelve collections in the Reuther Library collections include correspondence, recordings, or other first-hand evidence of his career. read more »

(31453) Cesar Chavez, Pete Seeger in Washington DC, 1974

mwallace — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 11:45:26 -0500

Cesar Chavez with Pete Seeger. Cesar Chavez at the Washington DC premier of “Bound for Glory: the Woody Guthrie Story,” 1974.

Left to Right: Pete Seeger, unidenitified man, Cesar Chavez, Unidentified woman. Arlo Guthrie is standing behind Cesar.

(32383) Utah Phillips and Paul Seeger, Photograph Autographed by Seeger, February 11, 2000

aorchard — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 15:36:15 -0400

Utah Phillips and Pete Seeger holding open a book. Utah is pointing at one of the book's pages. Signed "For Utah! Pete Seeger."

(32384) Utah Phillips and Pete Seeger Performing, July 1978

aorchard — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 15:38:46 -0400

Utah Phillips and Pete Seeger performing together. Utah is sitting and clapping his hands while Pete Seeger is standing and playing guitar.

(32385) Utah Phillips and Pete Seeger, "Art About Work" Session, circa 2000

aorchard — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 15:41:45 -0400

Utah Phillips and Pete Seeger participating in an "Art About Work" session at the Western Workers Labor Heritage Festival. They are sitting in front of an International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 1781 sign and wearing badges reading "Ask Me About Local 1000." Pete Seeger is speaking into a microphone.

(32386) Pete Seeger, Utah Phillips Speaking, "Art About Work" Session, circa 2000

aorchard — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 15:43:53 -0400