Gregory Smulewicz-Zucker Collection on the Socialist Scholars Conference
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Abstract
This collection consists of video and audio recordings of Socialist Scholars Conference (SSC) panels and lectures from 1992 to 2003. The Socialists Scholars Conference (SSC) was an annual conference created in 1981 as a forum for presenting theoretical and historical work of new left academics. Recordings of panels were created by organizations and individuals associated with the SSC and complied by conference co-coordinator Gregory Smulewicz-Zucker. Panel discussions are recorded on VHS, cassette, and Mini-DV tape and feature a number of activists, politicians, and intellectuals on the left who attended the annual conferences. The collection also contains a small set of papers and ephemera related to scheduling and programming from 1991 to 2002.
Historical/Biographical Note
The Socialists Scholars Conference (SSC) was an annual conference created as a forum for presenting theoretical and historical work by a number of new left academics. The SSC, which had briefly existed in the late 1960s, was re-founded by leading figures of the Democratic Socialists of America and the New American Movement in 1981. For much of its existence the SSC shared a close affiliation with City University of New York, (CUNY), and held many of its events and annual conferences at CUNY's Borough of Manhattan Community College. During the 1980s and 1990s CUNY Chancellor Joseph A. Murphy offered support for the conference and provided organizers with nearly unlimited space. This allowed the SSC to grow participation to nearly 1500-2000 people per year. By 2000 the SSC faced increasing costs to rent space at Borough of Manhattan Community College and decided to move the conference to Cooper Union. At Cooper Union organizers faced drastically reduced space and had to cut the number of panels from close to 200 per year to 60-70. In 2004 organizers associated with Democratic Socialists split from the newer members of the board, and the conference reorganized and became the Left Forum.
Gregory Smulewicz-Zucker served for several years as co-coordinator and worked to create and compile recordings of the conferences. Smulewicz-Zucker created many of the conference recordings between 2000 and 2004 and gathered earlier recordings from a variety of other sources including Radio Free Maine.
Arrangement
Audio and video recordings are grouped by creator, which is largely reflected by the media on which the records are stored.
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of video and audio recordings of Socialist Scholars Conference (SSC) panels and lectures from 1992 to 2003. Recordings of panels were created by organizations and individuals associated with the SSC and complied by conference co-coordinator Gregory Smulewicz-Zucker. Panel discussions are recorded on VHS, cassette, and Mini-DV tape and feature a number of activists, politicians, and intellectuals on the left who attended the annual conferences. Conference participants included notable individuals such as: CUNY Sociology professor and conference founder Bogdan Denitch, Columbia University professor Manning Marable, Cornel West, Katha Pollitt, Noam Chomsky, New York congressman Major Owens, Amy Goodman, and filmmaker Michael Moore.
A large number of panel presentations recorded in this collection date from 2001-2003 and were recorded by Smulewicz-Zucker. These tapes are not clearly labeled and it is difficult to discern which specific panels they document. The collection also contains a large number of conference panels recorded by Radio Free Maine on VHS from 1995-2003. Radio Free Maine also recorded a number of panels on cassette tape in 1996 and 1999. These recordings contain audio or video of select panels but may not document the entirety of these conferences. The collection also includes audio cassette recordings created by created by the Socialist Scholars Fund of the 1992 SSC. These tapes appear to contain a complete recording of all panels presented at the 1992 conference.
Additionally, the collection contains a small number of papers and ephemera related to scheduling and programming from 1991 to 2002. These materials include conference programs, flyers, agendas, participant questionnaires, and press outreach materials.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker, the creator of this collection, were relinquished and transferred to the public domain in 2014 by Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker. These materials are governed by a Creative Commons CC0 license, which permits publication and reproduction of materials accompanied by full attribution. See, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Gregory Smulewicz-Zucker Collection of Socialist Scholars Conference Recordings and Records; TAM 652; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by the Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker in 2014. The accession number associated with this gift is 2014.152.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
