Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on Subjects
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Abstract
The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on Subjects (1871-2017), an artificial collection of vertical files, was accumulated gradually over the years as staff set aside ephemera that was relevant to Tamiment Library's collecting focus but did not belong in discreet collections. This collection consists of brochures, bulletins, catalogs, flyers, clippings, leaflets, manifestoes, maps, pamphlets, press releases, programs, and other printed ephemera related to subjects connected with the labor movement, trade unionism, radical politics, feminism, civil rights, and other movements.
Historical Note
The Tamiment Library, New York University, a special collection documenting the history of United States radicalism, labor, and progressive social action, accumulated this artificial collection of printed ephemera gradually over the years through purchases, donations, standing orders with publishers, organizations, and bookstores, and through exchanges with other libraries via the Collectors' Network, which was organized by Russell Benedict at the University of Nevada in the 1970s and promoted through his newsletter Top Secret. Tamiment Library staff added materials to this collection on a regular basis.
Arrangement
Collection is organized into 26 series; one for each letter of the alphabet. Files are arranged alphabetically by file title.
Series are arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Content Note
The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection of Subjects (1871-2017) is composed of printed ephemera related to the primary collecting areas of the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives: Leftist politics and labor history. This collection includes files on events, places, and demographic groups that were of interest to members of the political Left in the United States. Files in this collection relate to broad topics such as organized labor, radical politics, protest movements, and political systems, and include materials on collective bargaining, Marxism, protest movements against the Vietnam War, United States elections, the Civil Rights movement, Women's Liberation, and the Iranian Revolution, for example. These subjects are documented by broadsides, brochures, bulletins, catalogs, clippings, flyers, leaflets, manifestoes, newsletters, pamphlets, press releases, reports, and other documents.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
People
Topics
Places
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. The Tamiment Library is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from this collection.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on Subjects; PE 029; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials in this collection have been compiled by the Tamiment Library.
Various materials were found in the repository and added to this collection. The accession numbers associated with this material are: 2014.021, 2014.030, 2014.050, 2014.053, 2014.055, 2014.078, 2014.090, and 2019.056.
The accession numbers 2000.264, NPA.2000.339, NPA.2001.031, NPA.2001.094, NPA.2002.013, and NPA.2005.066 are also associated with this collection.
In March 2023, Interference Archive deaccessioned duplicate ephemera and publications on Occupy Wall Street from their collections and transferred these materials to the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives; the accession number associated with this transfer is 2023.095.
Custodial History
The provenance of the materials is varied. Items were obtained through purchases, donations, standing orders with publishers, arrangements with labor unions and other organizations, exchanges with other libraries, and through ongoing collecting by Tamiment staff.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2024 are unknown. In the winter of 2024, materials in accession 2019.056 were sorted by subject and placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. File titles were assigned by an archivist and the materials were physically arranged in alphabetical order by file title. New files were integrated into the collection's existing alphabetical file list.
