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League for Industrial Democracy Records

Call Number

TAM.049

Date

1920-1996, inclusive

Creator

League for Industrial Democracy
League for Industrial Democracy (Role: Donor)

Extent

46.25 Linear Feet in 40 manuscript boxes, 25 record cartons, 1 half manuscript box, and 1 oversize flat box.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The League for Industrial Democracy (LID) was founded in 1905 as the Intercollegiate Socialist Society by democratic socialist intellectuals to bring "education for the new social order" to the nation's campuses, but its name was changed in 1920 to broaden appeal and better reflect aims of social ownership and democratic control of industry. This collection contains the LID's records from the 1920s-1990s, including financial and membership records, correspondence, meeting minutes, conference and lecture materials, and other materials related to the activities and operation of the League for Industrial Democracy.

Historical/Biographical Note

The League for Industrial Democracy (LID) was founded in 1905 as the Intercollegiate Socialist Society by democratic socialist intellectuals to bring "education for the new social order" to the nation's campuses, but its name was changed in 1920 to broaden appeal and better reflect aims of social ownership and democratic control of industry. In 1922, Norman Thomas (1884-1968; later the Socialist Party's head and presidential candidate) joined Harry W. Laidler as Co-Director. LID campaigned throughout 1920s and 1930s for public power development through the Committee on Coal and Giant Power, a spin off group established in conjunction with American Civil Liberties Union and chaired by H. S. Rauschenbush. The LID also sought to preserve civil liberties through the Emergency Committee for Strikers Relief (chaired by John Herling) which aided strikers across the nation with direct relief, organization, and the formation of defense committees for persecutred activists. Laidler's retirement as Director in 1957 led to the succession of Sidney Hertzberg, who aimed to make LID a forum for liberal study. Later leader, Michael Harrington (1928-1989), sought to build constituency of labor, intellectuals, and Black civil rights activists. By the later 1970s, the LID had become politically associated with Social Democrats USA (a grouping of union officials and others with roots in the socialist and Trotskyist movements, whose posture is militantly anti-communist but also retains a commitment to aspects of liberalism), and although still extant as of 2010, it appears to be inactive.

The LID led the defense of Athos Terzani, Italian antifascist framed (in 1933) for murder by (pro-fascist group) Khaki Shirt leader Art Smith, which resulted in Smith's own indictment for perjury. During the Great Depression the LID sought to alleviate plight of unemployed by campaigning for national unemployment insurance, organizing unions of the unemployed by campaigning for national unemployment insurance, opening "recreation huts" (which resembled settlement houses), and publishing The Unemployed, a magazine to bring the socialist vision to the jobless. During Socialist Party schisms of 1930s, Norman Thomas used his LID position to secure leadership of the Militant faction to battle Old Guard. During World War II, the LID supported nation's war effort while defending the social advances of 1930s. Its post-war posture was anti communist.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into three series. Files in Series I: Processed Records arranged alphabetically by topic. Series II: Addendum has not been arranged by an archivist. Series III: Photographs is arranged alphabetically by name of featured individual and by subject. The series arrangement of the records is as follows:

Series I: Processed Records
Series II: Addendum
Series III: Photographs

Scope and Contents

The League for Industrial Democracy Records (dated 1920-1996) contain minutes, correspondence, photographs, pamphlets, financial documents, and membership records created by the League for Industrial Democracy (LID). The first portion of this collection is fully processed, and consists of meeting minutes of the Board of Directors, 1920-1970; committee correspondence, including the Committee on Coal and Giant Power and the Emergency Committee for Strikers Relief; membership lists; schedules for lecture tours; information relating to the work of the Chicago Workers' Committee for the Unemployed Chairman Karl Borders; transcripts of annual conferences; press clippings; material on the defense of Athos Terzane; a scrapbook of photos from southern labor Chautauquas; funding requests; and a collection of labor songs.

The second portion of collection is partially processed and includes box-level descriptions. These materials contain administrative and financial records from the 1960s to the 1990s, which include articles, pamphlets, fundraising records, correspondence, research files, Board of Directors and Executive Committee minutes, and membership files. There is a significant amount of material documenting LID's annual conferences and institutes, including material related to their United States-wide Student-Labor Institutes.

Additionally, the collection contains black-and-white photographs of individuals and events between the 1950s and 1970s. Included among these materials are negatives and photographs from a disassembled scrapbook.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by the League for Industrial Democracy, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; League for Industrial Democracy Records; TAM 049; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu at least two business days prior to research visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The records may have been initially donated by the League for Industrial Democracy in the early 1970s. Additional accessions were donated by the League for Industrial Democracy in 1993 and 2001. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 2001.192, 2001.193, and NPA 2008.016

Separated Materials

In 1987, sound recordings were separated from the collection to OH 500.

Related Material at the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

League for Industrial Democracy Printed Ephemera Collection (PE 033)

League for Industrial Democracy by-laws, clippings, and publications can be found on microfilm reel R-7914.

Harry Laidler Papers (TAM 047)

Harry Laidler Photographs (PHOTOS 009)

Collection processed by

Tamiment staff; Cynthia Swank, 1977; Nicole Greenhouse, 2013

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:47:56 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information

Photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and were established as a separate collection, the League for Industrial Democracy Photographs (PHOTOS 253). In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the League for Industrial Democracy Records.

In 2013, the unprocessed portion of materials (Series II) were inventoried. Loose materials were foldered and labelled. In 2017 several materials in Series II: Addendum were rehoused and two boxes were added to the collection. Box numbers and extensts were updated to reflect the addition of these boxes.

Revisions to this Guide

February 2017: Edited by Heather Mulliner to reflect updated extents and box numbers

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012