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Michael Letwin Papers

Call Number

TAM.464

Date

1957-2010, inclusive

Creator

Letwin, Michael

Extent

41 Linear Feet in 43 boxes

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

Michael Letwin was involved with the International Socialists (IS) and later with the International Socialist Organization (ISO), founded by expelled members of the IS in 1977. For three decades Letwin was also active in the peace movement. Letwin was also president of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys in New York City for 13 years until he lost re-election in 2002, in part because of his opposition to the war in Afghanistan. The first series (1 linear ft., processed), along with documentation of his own activities, the collection also contains a variety of materials regarding cooperative living at Morningside Gardens, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. The second series (31.5 linear ft., unprocessed), contains subject files (1978-2007) on the Afghan and Iraq Wars; Criminal Justice, principally in New York City and New York State; Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of New York City, 1990-2001; Labor; New York City Police Department; Racism; Racist Violence.

Historical/Biographical Note

Michael Letwin was involved with the International Socialists (IS) at the time of a split between the majority of the party and a group known as the Left Faction. After the Left Faction split from the main body of the IS, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) was formed by Left Faction leaders Calvin and Barbara Winslow. In 1983 the ISO underwent a crisis when the leadership of the Winslows was called into question, and the Winslows stepped down from their leadership positions. Letwin was also president of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys in New York City for 13 years until he lost re-election in 2002, in part because of his opposition to the war in Afghanistan.

As of August 2020, Michael Letwin's personal website contains a more full biography. It can be accessed here: https://michaelletwin.wordpress.com/

Arrangement

Folders are arranged alphabetically in the first two series. Files in Series III have not been arranged by an archivist. These materials are in the order in which they were received by the donor.

Missing Title

  1. Series I: Subject Files, 1957-1992.
  2. Series II: Subject Files, 2010 Accession (Containing the subseries: Afghan and Iraq Wars; Criminal Justice; Giuliani, Rudy; Labor; New York City Police Department; Racism; Racist Violence)

Scope and Content Note

The first series, Subject Files, 1957-1992, contains documentation of the International Socialists (IS) from July 1976 to March 1977, when a group of dissenters called the Left Faction was expelled. The collection has minutes of meetings from this time period, presentations given by members of the Left Faction, resolutions from both sides and correspondence between members of the IS, the International Socialists Great Britain (ISGB), the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the International Socialists Canada. The collection also contains information from Michael Letwin's grandmother, Manya Zurow, about the co-operative housing development Morningside Gardens. Included are meeting minutes from a variety of organizations managing the property, information about various services offered by Morningside Gardens, and items of ephemera from day-to-day living in the co-op. There are also files of Letwin's friend and collaborator Alina Tugend. The collection also contains a variety of flyers from peace movement activities from the 1960s through the early 1990s. The bulk of the material is from activities in New York City, but there is also information on activities in Los Angeles in the early 1970s. Most of the NYC material is from the Riverside Church Disarmament Program, but many organizations are represented in the collection. The second series, Subject Files, 2010 Accession (29 linear ft., unprocessed), contains subject files (1978-2007) on the Afghan and Iraq Wars, (6.5 linear ft.); Criminal Justice, principally in New York City and New York State (10 linear ft.); Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of New York City, 1990-2001 (2 linear ft.); Labor (1 linear ft.); New York City Police Department (10 linear ft.); Racism (6 linear ft.); Racist Violence (1 linear ft.). Each box in Series II is labeled with a list of contents (see box-level scope and contents below, in the container list).

Material added to the collection in 2018 consist of printed email correspondence, memorandum, committee reports and research materials such as news articles and other literature documenting Letwin's involvement with the union organization Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) and non-profit organization Legal Aid Society (LAS) stationed in New York City. Selected news articles and emails between members of the ALAA chronicle the history of the organization from 1967 to the late 2000s. Other emails document Letwin's tenure as President of the ALAA (1990-2002) and illustrate Letwin's continued involvement with the ALAA and LAS in the 2000s.

Conditions Governing Access

There is no deed to this collection. Donor verbally communicated access restrictions to the Tamiment curator but these restrictions were not documented.

Use Restrictions

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

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Michael Letwin Papers; TAM 464; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Materials donated by Michael Letwin in circa 1977; Michael Letwin donated additional materials in 1990 and 2010. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 1977.004 and 2010.042. Letwin donated an additional 9 boxes in 2018. The accession number associated with this gift is 2018.079.

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

International Socialists (U.S.) Records (TAM 088)

Collection processed by

Greg Stahl

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:34:13 -0400.
Language: English

Processing Information

Processing decisions made prior to 2018 have not been recorded. A donation of 9 boxes received in 2018 was added to the collection as Series III: Subject Files, 2018 Accession. At the time of accessioning materials were described at the series level with a brief box list. Documents that were housed in overstuffed or damaged folders were rehoused in archival folders, and original titles were maintained. Original titles were maintained where possible. Materials remain in the order in which they were received by the donor.

Revisions to this Guide

March 2019: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2018 accretions

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