Guide to the Alice Wexler Research Files on Emma Goldman TAM 620
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
10th Floor
New York, NY 10012
(212) 998-2630
tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Collection processed by Rachel Schimke
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on June 28, 2018
Finding aid written in English. using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Edited by Heather Mulliner to include correspondence from 2014 accretion. , February 2016
Descriptive Summary
| Creator: | Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Alice Wexler Research Files on Emma Goldman |
| Dates [inclusive]: | 1912-1985 |
| Dates [bulk]: | 1912-1940 |
| Abstract: | Alice Wexler (1942-) is the author of two biographies on Emma Goldman: Emma Goldman in America (1984), which tracks Goldman's political career in the United States up to her deportation, and Emma Goldman in Exile (1989), which cover's Goldman's life from 1919 until her death in 1940. The collection is mostly comprised of copies of primary materials related to Emma Goldman (correspondence, news articles, etc.), collected and often annotated by Wexler in the course of conducting her research. |
| Quantity: | 2 Linear Feet in 2 record cartons |
| Language: | Most materials are in English. Some correspondence is in Russian. |
| Mixed Materials [31142054857381] [Box]: | 1 |
| Mixed Materials [31142054857373] [Box]: | 2 |
| Call Phrase: | TAM 620 |
Historical/Biographical Note
Alice Wexler (1942-) received a Ph.D. in history from Indiana University in 1972. She has taught at UC Riverside, the California Institute of Technology, Claremont Graduate School, Occidental College and UCLA. Wexler is the author of two biographies on Emma Goldman: Emma Goldman in America (1984), which tracks Goldman's political career in the United States up to her deportation, and Emma Goldman in Exile (1989), which cover's Goldman's life from 1919 until her death in 1940. Wexler's other books include Mapping Fate: A Memoir of Family, Risk, and Genetic Research (1996) and The Woman Who Walked Into the Sea: Huntington's the Making of a Genetic Disease (2008). She has been a Research Scholar at UCLA's Center for the Study of Women since 1994.
Scope and Content Note
The collection is mostly comprised of photocopies of materials related to Emma Goldman generated during Goldman's lifetime. These primary materials were collected and often annotated by Alice Wexler in the course of conducting her research and include news articles, correspondence written to or by Goldman, and flyers. Wexler's notes on sources she consulted and her transcriptions of primary materials also make up a large portion of the collection. The collection also includes correspondence to Alice Wexler from people who knew Emma Goldman (including members of Goldman's extended family, like Miriam Berman and Ian Ballantine), as well as from scholars who have also written about Emma Goldman, drafts of lectures by Wexler on Goldman, and about 150 photographs (mainly copy photographs of originals in other repositories) of Goldman taken throughout her life as well as photographs of her family and other well-known anarchists like her friend Alexander Berkman. In addition, the collection contains a VHS tape labeled "Emma Goldman," two cassette tapes labeled "Ahrne Thorne" from 1982, and two microcassette tapes containing interviews with anarchist newspaper editor Ahrne Thorne, anarcho-syndaclists Sam and Esther Dolgoff, and others from 1983 and 1984, and two annotated books, The Tragedy of Spain by Rudolf Rocker (1986) and Emma Goldman: Anarquista de ambos mundos by Jose Peirats (1978).
A set of correspondendence donated in 2014 includes letters to Wexler (dated 1974-1985) relating to her research on Emma Goldman and the publication of her work. Correspondents include Ahrne Thorne, Richard Drinnon, Federico Arcos, Kay Boyle, Paul Avrich, and Daniel Malmed.
Arrangement
This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor. Most papers were arranged and labeled by Wexler according to the year in which the primary materials were generated.
Access Points
Subject Names
- Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940
- Thorne, Ahrne, 1904-1985
- Berkman, Alexander, 1870-1936
Document Type
- Black-and-white photographs.
- Research notes.
- Correspondence.
Subject Topics
- Feminism -- United States.
- Anarchism -- United States.
- Women -- Political activity -- United States.
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Alice Wexler were transferred to New York University in 2012 by Alice Wexler. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Alice Wexler Research Files on Emma Goldman; TAM 620; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Separated Materials
Several unannotated books, dissertations, and journals were separated for cataloging by the Tamiment Library.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Alice Wexler in 2012; additional materials were donated in 2014. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 2012.052, 2014.171, 2014.083.
Processing Information
This collection is unprocessed. Materials remain in the order in which they were received from the donor. Some materials have been rehoused into archival quality folders, but any original folders with annotations were retained.
In 2017, correspondence from a 2014 donation was added to the collection in box 2. These materials were described at the collection level, and have not been arranged by an archivist.
Existence and Location of Originals
Many of the primary materials in the Alice Wexler Research Files on Emma Goldman are copies from the microfilm of the Emma Goldman Papers at Yale University, a collection which itself is a copy of a portion of the Goldman materials at the New York Public Library. These materials are on microfilm at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library and the Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library.
Other Goldman materials from Alice Wexler's research files are from the International Institute of Social History in Holland (a published guide to this microfilm collection is available at the Tamiment Library, call number REF HX843.G6 E42 1989).