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Guide to the August Claessens Papers
TAM.021
Descriptive Summary
| Creator:
|
Claessens, August, 1885-1954 |
| Title: |
August Claessens Papers |
| Dates [inclusive]: |
1906-1963 |
| Abstract:
|
August Claessens was a leading educational and political figure in the Socialist Party.
In the fall of 1917, Claessens was elected to the New York State Assembly, as a representative
of one of Manhattan's Lower East Side assembly districts, and was one of five socialist
assemblymen who the Assembly refused to seat after their 1919 reelections. In 1922,
Claessens was allowed to take office after being re-elected for the third time. In
the mid-1930s Claessens withdrew from the Socialist Party and became the executive
secretary and, later, the national chairman of the Social Democratic Federation. Claessens
held the position of national chairman until his death in 1954, and also ran unsuccessfully
for a number of local and state offices. Claessens taught a variety of subjects at
the Rand School of Social Science from the mid-1920s until his death in 1954, including
public speaking, psychology, race relations, labor-management relations, socialist
theory, politics, anthropology, and sex and society. Claessens also served as an instructor
in several evening schools sponsored by various New York City labor unions. The collection
contains manuscripts, lecture notes, correspondence, photographs, clippings, and printed
ephemera.
|
| Quantity: |
2.25 linear feet in 5 manuscript boxes and 2 folders |
| Location note:
|
Materials are stored offsite. Advance notice is required for use of Box 5. Please
contact tamiment.wagner@library.nyu.edu at least two business days prior to research
visit.
|
| Language of Materials note:
|
Materials are in English. |
| Call Phrase: |
TAM.021 |
