Robert Duggan Communist Party Collection, 1952-1971

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Summary

Creators:
Duggan, Robert D.
Abstract:
The Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) was organized in 1919 by the left wing of the Socialist Party and other groups. Under the new communist international strategy of the united front, American Communists began to work through labor and other groups to spread the Party's influence. By the late 1930s, the party reached 65,000 members, providing leadership in many organizations and serving as the radical wedge of the New Deal. The Hitler-Stalin pact forced the party into an anti-war stance, and the Cold War after 1945 further weakened its influence, as did McCarthyism, the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Revolution, and the revelation of Stalin's crimes in 1956. As the Cold War eased and third world liberation struggles began, a new radical movement took shape in the 1960s, but the New Left groups rather than the Communist Party were the dominant forces. The continued inflexibility of the Party as well as the repression of Czechoslovakia in 1968 led to the resignation of West Coast leader Dorothy Healey in 1973 and the diffusion of many Party activists into other left groups. The collection consists of notes, documents, publications, and ephemera of the Communist Party of the United States and its Southern California district, the Southern California and national W.E.B. Du Bois clubs, and the new politics movement of the late 1960s.
Extent:
4 boxes (2 linear ft.) 1 oversize box

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of notes, documents, publications, and ephemera of the Communist Party of the United States and its Southern California district, the Southern California and national W.E.B. Du Bois clubs, and the new politics movement of the late 1960s. Also includes materials from the Communist Party of Mexico, 2nd Congress (1967), the new politics convention in Chicago (1967), and 6 posters and 4 drawings.

Biographical / historical:

The Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) was organized in 1919 by the left wing of the Socialist Party and other groups; internecine struggles persisted, with the Workers Party of America predominant by 1922, which changed its name to the Communist Party, USA in 1929; under the new communist international strategy of the united front, American Communists began to work through labor and other groups to spread the Party's influence; by the late 1930s, the party reached 65,000 members, providing leadership in many organizations and serving as the radical wedge of the New Deal; the Hitler-Stalin pact forced the party into an anti-war stance, and the Cold War after 1945 further weakened its influence, as did McCarthyism, the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Revolution, and the revelation of Stalin's crimes in 1956; as the Cold War eased and third world liberation struggles began, a new radical movement took shape in the 1960s, but the New Left groups rather than the Communist Party were the dominant forces; the continued inflexibility of the Party as well as the repression of Czechoslovakia in 1968 led to the resignation of West Coast leader Dorothy Healey in 1973 and the diffusion of many Party activists into other left groups.

Acquisition information:
Robert Duggan, purchase, 1972.
Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  1. Internal discussion documents of the Communist Party's 1966 national convention (Box 1).
  2. Political literature, Du Bois clubs, new politics movement, CPUSA youth conference, Communist Party of Mexico (Box 2).
  3. New politics 1968 convention, CPUSA documents (1967-68) national education in Marxism, ephemera and clippings (Boxes 3-4).
  4. Miscellaneous publications, 1952-71 (Box 4).
  5. Posters and drawings (Box 5).

Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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