Descriptive Summary
| Title: | Grace and Max Granich Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1929-1998 |
| Abstract: | Grace Granich was the secretary for Earl Browder, the head of the Communist Party, USA. In the 1930s, She traveled to the Soviet Union and to Shanghai, China, where she served as a liaison to Chinese radicals, notably Agnes Smedley. She also edited The Voice of China(her husband Max Granich was its publisher), the organ of the League for National Salvation, headed by Mme. Sun Yat Sen. During World War II she headed Intercontinent News, a Communist Party news agency. Max (Manny) Granich was the younger brother of writer Michael Gold and served as chauffeur to Earl Browder. Following World War II, the Graniches distanced themselves from the CP and in 1946 founded Camp Higley Hill (Wilmington, Vermont), a left-wing summer camp for children, which they ran until 1964. |
| Quantity: | 1.0 linear feet (1 box) |
| Call Phrase: | TAM 255 |
Historical/Biographical Note
Grace (b. Maul) Granich (1895-1971) was a key administrative figure in the national office of the Communist Party, USA from 1930 to 1945, serving as secretary to CP General Secretary Earl Browder and as a member of the Organization Department. On behalf of the CP and the Communist International (Comintern), she traveled to the Soviet Union in 1930-1931, and in 1935-1937, to Shanghai, China, where she served as a liaison to Chinese radicals, notably Agnes Smedley. She also edited The Voice of China(her husband Max Granich was its publisher), the organ of the League for National Salvation, headed by Mme. Sun Yat Sen. During World War II she headed Intercontinent News, a CP news agency, and served as a foreign agent for Service Universel de Presse (Moscow).
Max (Manny) Granich (1896-1987) was the younger brother of writer Michael Gold (b. Itzok Granich). He joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917, participating in several agricultural organizing campaigns in California. He joined the Communist Party sometime in the late 1920s, married Grace and accompanied her to Soviet Union, where he did engineering work, and to China. Upon their return, he served as chauffeur and bodyguard for Earl Browder, and (through 1942) as Managing Editor of China Today. Following the postwar expulsion of Earl Browder the Graniches distanced themselves from the CP and in 1946 founded Camp Higley Hill (Wilmington, Vermont), a left-wing summer camp for children, which they ran until 1964. Grace Granich died in an automobile accident in 1971. In the 1970s Max Granich was active in the Chinese-American Friendship Association, and led tours of Communist China. In the early 1980s he recorded a lengthy oral history, and began work on a memoir. He died in 1987.
Return to topScope and Content Note
The collection is organized alphabetically and contains typescripts, oral history transcripts, correspondence, clippings, government reports, and some ephemera and research notes and materials. There is an autobiographical typescript by Grace Granich, approximately 100 pp., largely concerned with her experiences in China (along with a three-page outline of a planned autobiography covering her entire life). There is also a transcript of an oral history interview with Max Granich (607 pp.), covering his life through the 1970s, and a combined typescript-transcript, apparently the beginnings of a memoir. Shanghai police and U.S. Consular and State Department reports document the Graniches China activities. The correspondence principally covers GG's WWII press work, much of it concerned with her registration as a foreign agent for Service Universel de Presse (Moscow), including numerous telegrams to/from Moscow, their time at and the administration of Camp Higley Hill (including letters from Herbert Aptheker and Pete Seeger), and their trips to Mexico. Other Higley Hill materials include research notes and correspondence by HH alum Gina Luria Walker for a proposed autobiographical memoir, ephemera and memorabilia.
Return to topArrangement
The folders are arranged alphabetically.
The files are grouped into one series:
Return to topRestrictions
Access Restrictions
Open for research without restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2630
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: peter.filardo@nyu.edu
Access Points
People
Browder, Earl, 1891-1973.Granich, Grace, 1895-1971.
Granich, Max, 1896-1987
Smedley, Agnes, 1892-1950
Subjects
Communism |z China.Communism |z United States.
Women communists |z United States
Organizations
Communist Party of the United States of America.Russian News Agency.
Service Universel de Presse (Moscow, Soviet Union).
Type
Clippings (information artifacts)Correspondence.
Ephemera.
Notes.
Oral histories (document genre)
Reports.
Telegrams.
Transcripts.
Typescripts.
Return to top
Administrative Information
Provenance
Gift of John McDermott, 1991. Mailing list (1998), alumni newsletter, and letter (1971) donated by Marion Nestle, 2008.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Collection name; Collection number; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.