Frederic Ewen Audiotape and Videotape Collection
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Frederic Ewen (1899-1988) was an author and English professor. He taught English at City College between 1923 and 1930 and then taught English at Brooklyn College from 1930 to 1952. The Frederic Ewen Audiotape and Videotape Collection consists of audio recordings of Frederic Ewen lectures and readings, as well as audio and video recordings and transcripts of oral histories with people affected by anti-Communist investigations in the 1940s and 1950s. The collection dates from 1954 to 1990.
Biographical Note
Frederic Ewen (1899-1988) was an author and English professor. He was born on October 11, 1899, in Lembert, Austria and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1912 and became a naturalized citizen that same year. Ewen graduated from City College of New York in Manhattan, New York in 1921. He attended Columbia University in Manhattan, where he received a Masters of Art in 1925 and a PhD in English and Comparative Literature in 1932. He taught English at City College between 1923 and 1930 and then taught English at Brooklyn College from 1930 to 1952. He married Miriam Gideon in 1949.
Ewen was active in many progressive causes in the 1930s and served as advisor to a student Marxist society and participated in the New York Teachers Union. In 1952, Ewen and Gideon refused to testify before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, also known as the McCarran Committee, and both were forced to resign their positions at Brooklyn College. In the 1950s and 1960s, Ewen organized lectures and theatrical presentations with Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and John Randolph in which Ewan lectured on a particular author or theme, and the actors read excerpts from relevant works. Ewen died on October 18, 1988, in Manhattan. In the 1990s, the Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Center was established with financial support from Ewen's nephew, Herbert Kurz. First based at Brooklyn College, the project was relocated as the Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Collection at New York University's Tamiment Library.
Arrangement
In Part 1, Series I and III are arranged alphabetically and Series II is arranged chronologically. In Part 2 materials are grouped into series by format, and within each series the tapes follow the sequence established in Part 1.
Part 1: Reference Copies. Series I: Interviews relating to Rapp-Coudert Committee Investigations and Blacklisting; Series II: Public Lectures and Performances; and Series III: Readings by Frederic Ewen. Part 2: Duplicate Copies and Archival Masters of Tapes in Part 1 (For Access Consult Archives Staff). Series I: Audiocassette Tapes; Series II: Reel-to-Reel Tapes; Series III: Digital Audiotapes (DAT); Series IV: Archival Masters (Reel-to-Reel Tapes).
Missing Title
- Part I: Series I: Interviews relating to Rapp-Coudert Committee Investigations and Blacklisting;
- Part I: Series II: Public Lectures and Performances
- Part I: Series III: Readings by Frederic Ewen.
- Part 2: Series I: Audiocassette Tapes
- Part 2: Series II: Reel-to-Reel Tapes
- Part 2: Series III: Digital Audiotapes (DAT)
- Part 2: Series IV: Archival Masters (Reel-to-Reel Tapes)
Scope and Contents
The Frederic Ewen Audiotape and Videotape Collection consists of audio recordings of Frederic Ewen lectures and readings, as well as audio and video recordings and transcripts of oral histories with people affected by anti-Communist investigations in the 1940s and 1950s. The collection dates from 1954 to 1990. The oral histories were conducted by members of the Frederic Ewen Center for Academic Freedom Oral History. The interviews focus on teachers affected by the Rapp-Coudert Committee's investigation and actors and performers affected by anti-Communist investigations. The collection also includes audio recordings made by Ewen of himself reading from books and his notes on the readings.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
People
Topics
Places
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restricitions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (and related rights to publicity and privacy) to materials in this collection, created by Frederic Ewen, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Frederic Ewen Audiotape and Videotape Collection; OH 052; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated with the Frederic Ewen Papers in 1999 by Alex Ewen. The accession number related to this donation is 1999.011.
Custodial History
The Frederic Ewen Audiotape and Videotape Collection was donated to the Tamiment Library with the Frederic Ewen Papers in 1999 by his grandson, Alex Ewen. Included were ten linear feet transferred from Brooklyn College, where they had been housed for some time. The donation of the collection marked the establishment of the Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Collection at the Tamiment Library, New York University with financial support from Ewen's nephew, Herbert Kurz.
An additional interview with Bernard Grebanier from 1974 was donated by Marvin Gettleman in 2009 and added to the collection.
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.
