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David Thoreau Wieck and Diva Agnostinelli Papers

Call Number

TAM.227

Dates

1913-1996, inclusive
; 1943-1994, bulk

Creator

Agostinelli, Diva, 1921-2007
Wieck, David Thoreau, 1921-
Agostinelli, Diva, 1921-2007

Extent

7.75 Linear Feet in 6 record cartons, 3 manuscript boxes and 1 oversize folder.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English

Abstract

David Thoreau Wieck was the son of Agnes Burns Wieck who wrote for the Illinois Miner and worked as an organizer for the Progressive Miners of America. Moving to New York, Wieck graduated from Columbia University and was briefly a member of the Young Communist League (circa 1935-36), but became more sympathetic to anarchism. In July 1943, he began serving a three-year sentence for being a conscientious objector. After his release, he received a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University. He began teaching philosophy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1960 and retired as Professor Emeritus in 1987. During his tenure he published numerous articles and was the author of a biography of his mother, Woman from Spillertown: A Memoir of Agnes Burns Wieck (Southern Illinois Press, 1992). Wieck died on July 1, 1997. These papers include some of his correspondence, clippings, memorabilia, journals (1986-93), manuscripts and notes.

Historical/Biographical Note

David Thoreau Wieck was born in St. Louis, Missouri on December 13, 1921. Named after David Henry Thoreau, he was the son of Edward A. and Agnes Burns Wieck. His mother, known as the Mother Jones of Illinois, was the daughter of a miner. She was a writer in the middle and late 1920s for the weekly journal Illinois Miner, and after training with the Women's Trade Union League, she worked as an organizer for the Progressive Miners of America. His father was a self-educated coal miner and writer. In 1934 the Wiecks moved to New York City when Edward Wieck was hired as a research associate for the Russell Sage Foundation's Industrial Studies Department. David Wieck joined the Young Communist League in 1935, but by 1936 had become, in his own words, a "dissident bolshevik," much more enamored of the anarcho-syndicalists then fighting in Spain.

He enrolled at Columbia University in 1937 and graduated in 1941. He subsequently did post-graduate work toward a masters degree with Leo Wolman, writing an unpublished study of the process of centralization in the United Mine Workers of America. Registering as a conscientious objector following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he left New York City in early 1943 pending his appeal and was arrested in New Orleans for not notifying his draft board of his "change of address." In July 1943 Wieck began serving a three-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut for refusing induction into the United States Armed Services. As prisoner #2674 Wieck was involved in numerous actions protesting racial segregation in the federal prison system.

He was released from prison in 1946 and began a life-long marriage/life-partnership with Diva Agostinelli, herself the daughter of an anarchist coal miner from Pennsylvania. In the late 1940s and early 1950s Wieck wrote for the anarchist publications Why?, Liberation, and Resistance. He enrolled again at Columbia University in 1956 and received a Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1961, apparently concentrating on aesthetics. He began teaching philosophy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1960, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1987. During his tenure he published numerous articles and reviews in professional journals and the radical press both in the United States and abroad. He was the author of a biography of his mother, Woman from Spillertown: A Memoir of Agnes Burns Wieck (Southern Illinois Press, 1992). Afflicted with Alzheimers Disease, Wieck died on July 1, 1997.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into six series:

Series I: Biography, undated

Series II: Correspondence, 1943-1996

Series III: Diaries and Journals, 1932-1993

Series IV: Writings, 1916-1993

Series V: Graphics and Photographs, 1934-1992

Series VI: Unprocessed Material, 1952-2007.

Material is arranged alphabetically, with the exception of Series III which is arranged chronologically and Series VI which has not been arranged by an archivist.

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains clippings, memorabilia, correspondence, writings and other personal materials. The bulk of the correspondence dates from between 1965 and 1992, although some letters sent to Wieck during his incarceration at Danbury Federal Correctional Institution are included here. Wieck's writings are well-represented in this collection, including his diaries and journals, as well as notes, drafts, reviews and manuscripts of published and unpublished works. These writings include drafts for the "Woman from Spillertown," "Comic as an Aesthetic Concept," "The United Mineworkers of America: A Study in Centralization," and Wieck's Masters thesis and PhD dissertation. The writings and correspondence of Wieck's parents, Agnes Burns Wieck and Edward Wieck, and his life-partner Diva Agostinelli are also included. There are a small number of photographs of Wieck's family and friends, as well as drawings produced by Wieck and others.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials open without restriction with the exception of ten folders of restricted correspondence in Box 7. Materials are restricted until 2020.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (and related rights to publicity and privacy) to materials in this collection created by David Thoreau Wieck and Diva Agnostinelli 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; David Thoreau Wieck and Diva Agnostinelli Papers; TAM 227; 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.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Provenance unknown but the collection was likely donated by Diva Agnostinelli in 1998. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 1998.006, 1998.007, and NPA.2000.287.

Related Material

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection holds the bulk of Wieck's Danbury prison correspondence (Collection CDG-A., David Thoreau Wieck). Wayne State University's Walter P. Reuther Library holds the papers of Wieck's parents, Edward A. and Agnes Wieck.

Collection processed by

Natasha Simon

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:57:54 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid is in English

Processing Information

Photographs separated from this collection during processing were established as a separate collection, the David Thoreau Wieck Photographs (PHOTOS 149). In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the David Thoreau Wieck and Diva Agnostinelli Papers (TAM 227).

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from wieck01cb.xml

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