Mark Solomon and Robert Kaufman Research Files on African Americans and Communism
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Abstract
The collection is comprised of research materials regarding African Americans and communism accumulated by two scholars: Mark Solomon and Robert Kaufman. It contains clippings, articles, printed ephemera, internal documents, published documents (principally from radical organizations), research notes, and government surveillance documents.
Biographical Note
Mark Solomon is the author of The Cry Was Unity: Communists and African Americans, 1917-1936(1988). He taught U.S. history at Simmons College from 1967 to 1997. The Robert Kaufman created/accumulated his portion of this collection during research at the University of California, Berkeley on his (never completed) doctoral thesis on African American labor and communism.
Arrangement
The files are grouped into two series: I, Mark Solomon Research Files; II, Robert Kaufman Research Files. Folders in original donation are arranged alphabetically. Materials from the 2019 accretion were added into Series I boxes five and six and have not been arranged by an archivist. The materials in the 2019 accretion are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Scope and Contents
The collection is comprised of research materials regarding African Americans and communism accumulated by two scholars: Mark Solomon and Robert Kaufman. In 1998, Solomon wrote The Cry Was Unity: Communists and African Americans, 1917-1936 and his research files for this book are included in this collection. Research files from Robert Kaufman's dissertation are also included in this collection. Materials include clippings, printed ephemera, internal and published documents, principally from radical organizations, research notes, and some government documents (surveillance of radicals).
Additionally, there are well-documented notes and correspondence between Mark Solomon and committee members of the Organization of American Historians such as Nell Painter.
Subjects
Organizations
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People
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (and related rights to publicity and privacy) to materials in this collection created by Mark Solomon and Robert Kaufman was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Mark Solomon and Robert Kaufman Research Files on African Americans and Communism; TAM 218; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Mark Solomon in 2000; an additional accession was donated by Mark Solomon in 2018. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 2000.008 and 2019.042.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2019 have not yet been recorded. In 2019, materials were placed in new acid-free boxes. Original folder titles were maintained when given, and loose materials were assigned titles by the archivist. Materials are in the order in which they were received from the donor.
