National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case Records

Call Number

TAM.174

Dates

1944-2005, inclusive

; 1974-1997, bulk

Creator

National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case

Hittner, Daniel

National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case

Extent

19 Linear Feet in 17 record cartons, 1 tall manuscript box, 1 card box, and 3 oversize folders in shared housing.

4 film reels

2 websites in 2 archived websites.

2 audiocassettes

3 sound discs (cd)

1 sound discs (vinyl)

Language of Materials

Materials are primarily in English, with a portion of materials in French and Hebrew. To a lesser extent, there are also materials in German, Danish, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, Dutch, and Italian.

Abstract

A number of national organizations were created in response to the Rosenberg and Sobell espionage cases in which Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted and sentenced to death and Morton Sobell was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Following the conviction of the Rosenbergs in 1951, the National Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case (NCSJRC) was formed. In the early 1970s Michael and Robert Meeropol, the Rosenberg's sons, sued the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act, and won the release of hundreds of thousands of previously secret documents pertaining to their parents' case. The National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case (NCRRC) was formed in conjunction with the proceedings of the suit. The NCRRC sought to exonerate the Rosenbergs, prove their innocence, and push for acknowledgement from the United States government that there had been a miscarriage of justice in the trial proceedings. The collection contains materials spanning the years 1944-2005, with the bulk of material dating from 1974-1997. The majority of materials in the collection were created in the process of the outreach and publicity work that the organization did, and include correspondence and promotional materials. Promotional materials consist of research files (e.g. court transcripts, FOIA documents, newspaper clippings, and promotional materials from other organizations), article and newsletter drafts, newsletters, newsletter mock-ups, press releases, flyers, event programs and planning materials, pamphlets, booklets, photographic prints and negatives, and ads. Related to these promotional materials and research files are works and publications created in response to, or inspired by, the Rosenberg case. These include plays, an opera, music, manuscripts, theses, and books from writers, researchers, and students. These artistic and academic creations include manuscripts, bound materials, cassette tapes, audio CDs, vinyl records, and a VHS tape. To a lesser extent, there are administrative records such as meeting minutes, agendas, memos, event planning documents, fundraising reports, local committee finances, and financial reports.

Historical Note

A number of national and local organizations were created in response to the Rosenberg and Sobell espionage cases in which Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted and sentenced to death, and Morton Sobell was sentenced to 30 years in prison. These national and local organizations engaged in community and political activism to defend, save, secure justice for, and secure clemency for the Rosenbergs. Following the conviction of the Rosenbergs and Sobell in 1951, the journalist William A. Reuben wrote a series of investigative articles for the National Guardian, and was involved in the formation of the National Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case (NCSJRC) with David and Emily Alman. Their grassroots campaign focused on preventing the couple's execution. They organized mass protests, letter campaigns, clemency petitions, fundraisers for legal fees and child care for the Rosenberg's two young sons, and the creation and distribution of publications to present new evidence to raise questions about the legitimacy of the Rosenberg trial and death sentence.

The controversy surrounding the Rosenbergs' sentencing continued after their executions, and the grassroots campaigns of the 1950s underwent several transformations. Some groups shifted their focus to Morton Sobell, the other defendant in the case. In 1973, the Rosenbergs' two sons, Michael and Robert Meeropol, continued the work of the NCSJRC, forming the National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case (NCRRC). A major initial focus of the organization was the release, under the Freedom of Information Act, of the FBI files on the Rosenbergs. The Meeropols sued the FBI and in 1975 won the release of hundreds of thousands of previously secret documents pertaining to their parents' case. The NCRRC sought to exonerate Julius and Ethel from the charge of atomic espionage and prove their innocence, and push for recognition from the United States government that the judicial system had not given the Rosenbergs due process. From the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, the NCRRC continued to seek an official review of the Rosenberg case and the exoneration of the couple through outreach and publicity campaigns and events.

Arrangement

The National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case Records is arranged into four series:

Series I. Administrative and Financial Records

Series II. Correspondence

Series III. Promotional Materials

Series IV. Archived Website

Regarding the arrangement of the collection, it should also be noted that the types of materials generated during the Committee's work are somewhat blurred across their activities. While there is a correspondence series with letters between the NCRRC and their supporters, sponsors and donors, committee members, local committees, institutions, and news outlets, correspondence is also a part of the the promotional materials series. Letter exchanges between the Committee and various stakeholders or political or social figures may be distributed through the NCRRC's newsletter. Some folders between series are also titled similarly, but contain different types of material and were grouped by the Committee differently. A folder called "Jewish Currents" may exist in both Series II and Series III due to the different types of materials they contain and the different ways the NCRRC used that information. Local committees are similarly represented in the collection in both Series I and Series III due to the varying purposes of the materials collected by the organization - in Series I, to document the work that local committees are doing, and in Series III, to collect the instances of publicity that the local committees are getting in newspapers.

Scope and Contents

The collection contains materials spanning the years 1944-2005, with the bulk of material dating from 1974-1997. The vast majority of materials in the collection were created in the process of outreach and publicity work, and include correspondence and promotional materials. To a lesser extent, there are administrative records such as meeting minutes, agendas, and memos; event planning documents; fundraising reports; local committee materials (including finance reports, correspondence, and promotional material); donor cards; and financial reports. A large chunk of the administrative materials pertain to the Carnegie Hall events coordinated by the Committee, primarily the 1974 event which kickstarted the efforts of the Committee.

Of the promotional materials, there are materials related to distributable printed matter such as newsletters, press releases, news bulletins, pamphlets and booklets, posters, buttons, event flyers and programs, advertisements, invitations, book reviews, speeches, a sermon, correspondence, and their respective drafts, mock-ups, and notes. There are also research files or collected materials used for the process of creating promotional materials. These include materials such as court transcripts, FOIA documents, newspaper clippings, correspondence, newsletters and promotional materials from other organizations, transcripts of public appearances, interview transcripts, photographic prints, photographic negatives, and copies of website text. Related to these promotional materials and research files are works and publications created in response to, or inspired by, the Rosenberg case. These include plays, an opera, music, manuscripts, theses, poems, and books from writers, researchers, and students. These artistic and academic creations include manuscripts, bound materials, cassette tapes, audio CDs, vinyl records, and a VHS tape.

Subjects

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case were transferred to New York University in 2006 by Daniel Hittner. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from repository. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case Records; TAM 174; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

For archived websites: "Page Title." Archived month/day/year. National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case Records; TAM 174; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University. Archival URL. (Accessed month/day/year).

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to your research visit to coordinate access.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by the National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case in 1995; additional materials were donated by Daniel Hittner, Director, in 2006. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 1991.014 and NPA 2006.010.

Websites were initially selected by curators and captured through the use of The California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service in 2009 as part of the Communism, Socialism, Trotskyism Web Archive. In 2014, crawling of the website was discontinued. In 2015, these websites were migrated to Archive-It. Archive-It uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy, from the resulting WARC file, of the website.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Due to technical or privacy issues, archived websites may not be exact copies of the original website at the time of the web crawl. Certain file types will not be captured dependent on how they are embedded in the site. Other parts of websites that the crawler has difficulty capturing includes Javascript, streaming content, database-driven content, and highly interactive content. Full-Text searches of archived websites are available at https://archive-it.org/organizations/567.

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.

Appraisal

Appraisal decisions made prior to 2019 are not documented. During processing in 2019, duplicates of newsletters, articles, newspaper clipping photocopies, and other distributable material were deaccessioned. Out-of-scope materials were also deaccessioned, such as the personal papers of the NCRRC's long-time director, Aaron Katz. Committee materials such as contribution and donation forms, tax documents, receipts and invoices, office lease documentation, job applications, and post office forms were deaccessioned. Extensive duplicates of Committee materials were also discarded.

Related Archival Materials

Related collections documenting the work of the Committee to Re-open the Rosenberg Case and its various renditions include:
The Register of the Ethel and Julius Rosenberg Papers, 1952-1979 (MSS 008) at the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
The Robert Altman Archive: Business and Financial Records, Legal Series and Chronological Files, 1969-2007 at the Special Collections Research Center at the University of Michigan Library
The Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Archive, the David and Emily Almon Collection, and the Committee to Secure Justice for Morton Sobell Collection, all at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University

Collection processed by

Maggie Schreiner and Amy C. Vo

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:55:31 -0400.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

In 2014, the archived website was added as a series. Between 2010 and 2011, the NCRRC changed their website URL. The first website was captured sporadically between 2009 and 2010, and the second website was captured semi-regularly between 2011 and 2014. Both websites are now defunct, and there are no longer any site crawls being run.

Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to processing in 2019 have not been recorded.

A survey was conducted of the collection materials prior to processing. There was some original order to the collection as a whole, as the larger half of the collection was foldered, labeled to some extent, and generally grouped in various and inconsistent ways. Some files were ordered by year, person, groups/organizations, topic, state, country, or event. With the types of documents and materials there are, several natural series emerged and include administrative materials, correspondence, and promotional materials.

During processing, original folders were retained when possible. Where appropriate, materials were rehoused in archival folders and boxes. If present, original folder titles were used, with any descriptive enhancements by the archivist as necessary. Loose paper materials were placed in archival folders with descriptive titles by the archivist. Empty folders were discarded. An audiocassette tape was rehoused in an archival case. Preservation photocopies were made of original folders and kept with materials if the folders were not retained. Preservation photocopies were made of mold-damaged materials if they were reproduced documents such as photocopies and newspaper clippings or duplicated elsewhere in the collection. If the original folder was kept, loose labels were stapled to ensure accurate titling and prevent loss of information.

Revisions to this Guide

May 2019: Processed and updated by Amy C. Vo

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives