Maurice Isserman Oral History Interviews
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Abstract
Maurice Isserman is a historian, professor of history at Hamilton College, and author. This group of interviews was donated to the Tamiment Library by historian Maurice Isserman following the publication of If I Had a Hammer. . .The Death of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left (Basic Books, Inc.: New York, 1987). Isserman conducted the interviews between 1983 and 1986. Some time between 2002 and 2012, he also donated a transcript for an interview he conducted with Jeff Jones and Eleanor Stein for a separate project he intended to pursue --the history of the Weathermen-- but never followed up on.
Biographical Note
Maurice Isserman is a historian and author of The Other American: The Life of Michael Harrington (2000), and of Which Side Are You On?: The American Communist Party during the Second World War, and If I Had a Hammer: The Death of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left (1993). Isserman is also a professor of history at Hamilton College.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into two series:
Series I: If I Had a Hammer. . .
Series II: History of the Weathermen.
Materials in Series I are arranged in alphabetical order by last name.
Scope and Contents
Maurice Isserman sought the roots of 1960s radicalism in the American Communist Party, the various groups led by Max Shachtman, the journal Dissent, and the Committee for Non-Violent Action. He conducted interviews with intellectuals and political partisans active in the 1950s and the 1960s, among them, Stanley Aronowitz, David Dellinger, Ralph DiGia, Hal Draper, Harry and Vera Fleischman, Manny Geltman, Todd Gitlin, Abraham (Al) Glotzer, Gordon Haskell, Richard Healy, Michael Walzer, Irving Howe, Julius and Phyllis Jacobson, David McReynolds, Debbie Meier, Juanita and Wally Nelson, Ronald Radosh, and Andre Schiffrin.
An index for this collection is available. For more information, please contact the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number.
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items in the collection; these items are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. Repository is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from this collection.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Maurice Isserman Oral History Interviews; OH.036; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Maurice Isserman and later found in repository, dates unknown. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 2000.023 and 2015.033.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Access to audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room. 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.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Processing and arrangement decisions made prior to 2025 were not recorded.
In 2025, individual listings for original recording, transcript, and access copy were added to each interview subject in the inventory. Paper transcripts housed in boxes 1 and 6 were consolidated into Box 1.
