Jean Graham Alinsky papers, 1908-1984

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Alinsky, Jean Graham, 1916- and Alinsky, Saul David, 1909-1972
Abstract:
Memoirs, correspondence, legal and financial papers, memoranda, press releases and printed matter, relating to the career of Saul Alinsky as a radical and organizer of impoverished communities in the United States. Includes published writings and a few papers of Saul Alinsky.
Extent:
6 manuscript boxes (2.4 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jean Graham Alinsky papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The papers contain Jean Graham Alinsky's memoirs of her marriage to Saul Alinsky. Correspondence, legal papers, memoranda, reports, and printed matter relate to the career of Saul Alinsky as an organizer of impoverished communities in the United States. Organizational records from the Industrial Areas Foundation as well as a few personal papers of Saul Alinsky are also included.

In a 1983 letter, Jean Graham Alinsky wrote that she was "determined to write a biography" of her second husband Saul Alinsky (Box 1, Folder 28). The bulk of the Jean Graham Alinsky file consists of Jean's research materials for her Saul Alinsky biography, including extensive clippings, as well as her personal memoirs and biographical writings on Saul Alinsky (Box 2). These writings, compiled from 1980-1984, are in fragments with several sections and pages missing. Except for two letters received from Saul Alinsky, the correspondence file consists mainly of holiday cards, personal letters from unidentified friends, and a few pieces of legal correspondence.

The Saul Alinsky file contains a few writings of Saul Alinsky as well as some records from the Industrial Areas Foundation, a Chicago-based organization founded by Alinsky in 1940.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1916 May 17
Born Jean La Verne Graham, New York
Date Event
1938
B.A., Vassar College
Date Event
1942 January
Married Frederick Schick
Date Event
1948
Divorced Frederick Schick
Date Event
Circa 1951
Assistant, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Date Event
1952 May 15
Married Saul Alinsky in Spartanburg, South Carolina
Date Event
1956
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Date Event
Circa 1964
Moved to Carmel, CA
Date Event
1967
Honorary Chair, Help the Children Committee
Date Event
1969
Divorced Saul Alinsky
Date Event
1999
Died, Monterey, CA
Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1992.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two series: Jean Graham Alinsky file and Saul Alinsky file.

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jean Graham Alinsky papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
Website