Joel Blau Collection of New American Movement Records
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Abstract
The New American Movement (NAM) was established in 1971 by veterans of the New Left movement who wanted to move beyond the activism of the 1960s and rejected a Communist "vanguard party" approach to organizing. NAM's overarching goal was to create a democratic socialist society, characterized by racial, sexual and economic equality. In 1982, the organization joined with the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee to form the Democratic Socialists of America. This collection consists of police reports on the New American Movement, which was under investigation by the New York City Police Department as a radical group.
Historical Note
The New American Movement (NAM) was established in 1971 by members of the New Left movement, the anti-war movement, and the socialist feminist women's movement. The founders wanted to form an explicitly democratic socialist and socialist feminist organization that rejected all forms of authoritarianism. NAM was committed to internal democracy and required that women make up at least 50% of all leadership bodies; members did not want to have a single, long-term, male leader. NAM's overarching goal was to build a mass movement for a democratic socialist society. NAM saw this movement in opposition to oppression based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and class.
NAM was an activist organization with over forty chapters, primarily based in the Midwest and the West Coast. NAM emphasized political education for all its members on the chapter and national levels. Several chapters organized evening Socialist Schools with classes on both practical and theoretical topics. Members worked in unions, community organizations, and local political campaigns, and were active in movements or reproductive justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, Nixon's impeachment, an end to the war in Southeast Asia, and South African and Central American solidarity. NAM chapters also held outreach forums and cultural events. NAM published a newspaper, New American Movement, and Moving On magazine. NAM also produced the internal newsletter Discussion Bulletin, and topical outreach pamphlets.
In the late 1970s, NAM began merger negotiations with the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) to build a democratic socialist organization combining the different generations and geographical locations represented by the two organizations. In March 1982, negotiations concluded, and DSOC and NAM joined to form the Democratic Socialists of America.
Biographical Note
Joel Blau (1945-) is a Professor of Social Policy in the School of Social Welfare at Stony Brook University. His research and publications focus on the history and political economy of social welfare, economic precarity and inequality, and homelessness.
Arrangement
The collection consists of one folder.
Scope and Contents
The Joel Blau Collection of New American Movement Records (1972) consists of photocopied police reports on NAM dated February-July 1972. NAM was being investigated by the New York City Police Department as a "radical group to watch". The reports include background information on the organization, a list of members on the National Interim Committee, a list of local New York City members, and correspondence between officers in different cities. Also included are published articles about NAM and a report on the founding convention, all from 1972. The conclusion of the report is that NAM will become "just another point of fragmentation within the miniscule American Left." NAM was formed during FBI investigations into such groups as the Communist Party USA and the Black Panthers, and this report reflects the general distrust and surveillance of leftist groups by law enforcement at the time.
Subjects
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Tamiment Library has no information about copyright ownership for this collection and is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from it. Materials in this collection, which were created in 1972, are expected to enter the public domain in 2103.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Joel Blau Collection of New American Movement Records; TAM 051; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
A copy of a police report on the New American Movement was donated by Joel Blau in 1998; its associated accession number is 2014.077.
About this Guide
Processing Information
In August 2024, the majority of the collection was transferred to the Democratic Socialists of America Records (TAM 105) as boxes 292-340. This material was described as a separate, open archival collection; please go here, https://github.com/NYULibraries/findingaids_eads_v2/commits/master/tamwag/tam_051.xml, for previous description.
Also in 2024, the collection title was changed from New American Movement Records to the Joel Blau Collection of New American Movement Records to more accurately reflect the contents and provenance of the materials. At this time the historical note was enhanced and a biographical note was added to include information about the collector, Joel Blau.
