Charles Laverty Papers
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Abstract
Charles A. Laverty (1930-2015) was a journalist and historian who was active in Irish republican organizations. His research interests included the participation of the Irish in American wars, particularly the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. He was a founding member of the Irish Brigade Association, an organization devoted to the history of the United States Army 69th Infantry Regiment, an historically Irish regiment created in 1849. The Charles Laverty Papers date from 1767 to 2015, with the bulk of the material dating between 1960 and 2010. The collection documents Laverty's research interests, his working life, his participation in Irish republican organizations, his family history, and his membership in historical organizations. The bulk of the collection consists of Laverty's research files on Irish soldiers in American wars, members of the United Irishmen and the Fenian Brotherhood who emigrated to the United States, and members of religious orders who served as medical personnel on battlefields. The collection also contains correspondence, clippings, photographs, paper and born-digital administrative documents, publications of Irish historical and republican organizations with which Laverty was associated, and a video recording of members of the Irish Brigade Association. Laverty's work as a journalist is documented mainly through his publication Automotive Week, a weekly newsletter on the automobile aftermarket. The collection also includes the papers of William V. Kennedy, an author and historian with an interest in the American Civil War.
Biographical Note
Charles A. Laverty (1930-2015) was a journalist and historian who was active in Irish republican organizations. His research interests included the participation of the Irish in American wars, particularly the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. He was a founding member of the Irish Brigade Association, an organization devoted to the history of the United States Army 69th Infantry Regiment, an historically Irish regiment created in 1849. Laverty was born in Moy, County Tyrone, Ireland in 1930 and immigrated to the United States in 1948. He worked in journalism and in the publishing industry for over 50 years, writing for the New York Journal-American and working as an editor for automotive magazines and for the Department of Defense before acquiring and publishing the newsletter Automotive Week between 1975 and 2000s. He served in the United States Army between 1951 and 1953 and was a member of the Army Reserves's Special Forces from 1957 to 1970. Laverty served as the national secretary for Clan na Gael in the 1960s, the chairman of the Irish Brigade Committee in the 1960s and 1970s, and president of the New York Irish History Roundtable in the early 2000s. He was an active member of a number of other Irish-American history organizations and Irish political organizations.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into six series, as follows.
Series I. Biographical Material Series II. Business Records Series III. Irish Brigade, 69th Regiment Material Series IV. Research Files Series V. Historical and Political Organizations Files Series VI. William V. Kennedy Papers
Series II. Business Records and Series V. Historical and Political Organizations Files are arranged in alphabetical order by type of material or organization title. Series I. Biographical Material; Series III. Irish Brigade, 69th Regiment Material; Series IV. Research Files; and Series VI. William V. Kennedy Papers are arranged in alphabetical order by topic.
Scope and Contents
The Charles Laverty Papers date from 1767 to 2015, with the bulk of the material dating between 1960 and 2010. The collection documents Laverty's research interests, his working life, his participation in Irish republican organizations, his family history, and his membership in historical organizations. The bulk of the collection consists of Laverty's research files on Irish soldiers in American wars, members of the United Irishmen and the Fenian Brotherhood who emigrated to the United States, and members of religious orders who served as medical personnel on battlefields. The research files contain photocopies from 19th and 20th century books, periodicals, and maps, as well as photographs, correspondence, pamphlets, and notes collected and created by Laverty. He used these files to create a website containing biographies of Irish people who settled in the American colonies and the United States between the 17th century through the 19th century. Laverty's membership in the Irish Brigade Association and the New York Irish History Roundtable is well documented in this collection through correspondence with members, paper and born-digital business records, clippings and photographs documenting activities of both organizations, and publications of both organizations. Laverty's work as a journalist is documented mainly through his publication Automotive Week, a weekly newsletter on the automobile aftermarket, with a small amount of material documenting his work at McGraw-Hill in the 1950s. The collection includes correspondence between Laverty and his family, photographs of his parents and siblings, and clippings about his family's horse breeding business and his brother's soccer career. Laverty's interest and participation in Irish republican organizations is documented through letters to Laverty from Brian O'Higgins, founding member and president of Sinn Féin; correspondence, publications, and administrative documents from Laverty's participation in Clan na Gael, Irish Republican Publicity Bureau, and Irish Prisoners Aid Committee. The collection also includes the papers of William V. Kennedy, an author and historian with an interest in the American Civil War. These include articles by Kennedy on the military and Catholicism, his work with the Thompson Battalion Memorial Project Committee, his military career, and his lawsuits brought against the Army War College.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Charles Laverty, the creator of this collection, were relinquished and transferred to the public domain in March 2015 by Charles Laverty. 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; Charles Laverty Papers; AIA 074; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Charles Laverty, 2015. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 2015.007, 2015.071, and 2016.004.
Custodial History
Donated by Charles Laverty, 2015. In 2011, Laverty was hospitalized and his papers were moved, without his supervision, from his office. In 2014, the collection was partly housed in a storage facility and in Laverty's room at a senior living facility, both in New Jersey. Prior to and following Laverty's death in October 2015, the collection was transferred to New York University in January, April, and October of 2015. It is not known who packed the collection prior to its transfer to NYU.
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 Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Electronic Records Policies and Procedures
Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted.
An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Series were created according to six broad topics extant in the collection: Laverty's family life, his career, his interests in Irish and Irish American history and Irish republican politics, his activity in organizations related to these topics, and the William V. Kennedy Papers. The majority of these materials were not housed in folders and were mixed together with unrelated material. During the initial survey of the collection in 2018, roughly 50% of the collection was non-archival material with little value, including photocopies from secondary sources and printouts of internet searches. These materials were identified for deaccessioning. During the survey, material in each box was identified as belonging to a particular series. The collection was processed by an archivist between October 2019 and February 2020. During this time, materials selected for deaccessioning were removed from the collection and materials for each series were brought together physically and housed in archival folders and boxes.
Floppy disks and optical media were forensically imaged, analyzed, and arranged in Forensic Toolkit.
New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.
In February 2025, new digital objects for processed electronic records were created to conform to current practices. Related files in the inventory were reorganized so that individual formats were listed separately.
