George Marshall Research Materials on Oscar Ameringer
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
These research materials were compiled by Dr. George Marshall, a socialist sympathizer who served as treasurer of the Civil Rights Congress in the 1930s. Most of the material relates to Oscar Ameringer (1870-1943), a socialist politician, labor activist, writer, and editor. The collection contains clippings from the American Guardian and the American Miner, which contain articles by Ameringer. The collection also holds some miscellaneous research material on labor and other topics.
Historical/Biographical Note
These research materials were compiled by George Marshall, a socialist sympathizer who earned a PhD in labor economics at Columbia University in the 1930s. Marshall served as treasurer of the Civil Rights Congress, and served six months in prison for refusing to turn over Civil Rights Congress records to a Congressional investigation. This small selection of items from Marshall's research files relates mostly to U.S. Socialist Party activist Oscar Ameringer.
Oscar Ameringer was born in Achstetten, Germany on August 4, 1870 and immigrated to the United States in 1886. In the same year he became an organizer for the Knights of Labor. Ameringer joined the Socialist Party in 1901, and became a leader and activist in the socialist and labor movement. In addition to working on the campaign to elect Victor Berger to the U.S. House of Representatives, Ameringer also ran for office for mayor of Oklahoma City in 1911 and lost narrowly. After World War I, Oscar Ameringer helped form the Farmer-Labor Reconstruction League which won the Oklahoma governorship for John Walton. By the 1930s, Ameringer worked as an editor, publisher, and writer for Socialist publications, including the American Guardian and the Illinois Miner (later the American Miner). In addition to writing under his own name, Ameringer wrote articles under the pseudonym "Adam Coaldigger." In 1940, Ameringer wrote an autobiography, If You Don't Weaken. Ameringer died on November 5, 1943, in Oklahoma City.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains articles written by and about Oscar Ameringer and some miscellaneous research materials on labor and other topics. Most of the items are from publications that Ameringer edited and wrote for, including the American Guardian and the Illinois Miner (later the American Miner). Biographical articles on Ameringer are also contained in the collection. Examples of his writing include those published under his own name some published under the pseudonym "Adam Coaldigger." The collection also contains writings by others on labor and other topics, including an article about women in factories, a biography of economist Thorstein Veblen, a list of officers of the American Federation of Labor in 1928, a study on union membership in Great Britain and the United States from 1937, an issue of America for All containing an article by John M. Work, and an article on Jewish workers in New York City. Some outlines of courses offered at Brookwood Labor College by labor historian David Saposs are also included.
Subjects
Donors
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 George Marshall, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; George Marshall Research Materials on Oscar Ameringer; TAM 578; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Thomas Dublin in 2011. The accession number associated with this accession is 2011.046.
Custodial History
The collection was given to the Tamiment Library in 2011 by Professor Thomas Dublin, who received the materials from his uncle, George Marshall (1904-2000). The accession number 2011.046 is associated with this collection.
