Dorothy Gallagher Research Files on Carlo Tresca
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Abstract
Carlo Tresca (1897-1943), a charismatic Italian-born anarchist, labor agitator and newspaper editor, was one of the most fascinating figures of the American Left prior to World War II. Dorothy Gallagher, a New York City-based freelance writer is the author of All the Right Enemies: The Life and Murder of Carlo Tresca (Rutgers University Press, 1988). The collection consists of Gallagher's subject files, interview notes and research notes created in preparation for publication of her book.
Historical/Biographical Note
Dorothy Gallagher (nee Rosenbloom), was born in Brooklyn to immigrant parents from Ukraine who were devoted members of the Communist Party. A New York-based writer, Gallagher began her career as features editor for Redbook magazine. She then became a freelance writer, publishing in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, and Grand Street. She is the author of three books: Hannah's Daughters: Six Generations of an American Family, 1876-1976 (1976), All the Right Enemies: The Life and Murder of Carlo Tresca (1988), How I Came into My Inheritance: And Other True Stories (2001), and Strangers in the House: Life Stories (2006).
Often described as a "freelance revolutionary," Carlo Tresca (1879-1943) was one of the most compelling and colorful figures of the American left prior to World War II. A newspaper editor, labor organizer, civil libertarian, anarchist, anti-Fascist and anti-Stalinist, Tresca had absorbed his fiery socialist principles and had been active as a trade-unionist and editor in his native Abruzzi before immigrating to the United States in 1904.
After joining the International Workers of the World (IWW) in 1912, Tresca was involved in a number of strikes, including the Lawrence, Massachusetts textile strike (1912), the New York City hotel workers' strike (1913), the Paterson silk strike (1913), and the Mesabi Range, Minnesota, miners' strike (1916). He edited a newspaper called L'Avvenire (The Future), first in Pennsylvania and, from 1913, in New York City. Its successor, from 1917, was Il Martello (The Hammer). Tresca's uncompromising anarcho-syndicalist views resulted in frequent clashes with local and federal authorities, and repeated confiscation of his publications.
He devoted considerable energy to campaigning on behalf of Sacco and Vanzetti in the 1920s and also became preoccupied with the struggle against fascism. Pursued by the U. S. government at the behest of the Mussolini regime, he survived several assassination attempts by fascist supporters. The Spanish Civil War intensified his anti-Communist activity and propaganda, earning him more enemies on the American left.
On the evening of January 11, 1943, Tresca was shot to death on the sidewalk in front of his office at Fifth Avenue and 15th Street. Over the years there has been a lively debate about which of Tresca's many enemies might have been behind the murder. His murder was never prosecuted.
Sources:
Gallagher, Dorothy, All the Right Enemies: The Life and Murder of Carlo Tresca. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1988.Pernicone, Nunzio, Carlo Tresca: Portrait of a Rebel. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Organized into 1 series:
Missing Title
- 1. Subject Files, 1917-1988.
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the collection consists of Gallagher's subject files on persons, institutions and events relating to Tresca. These files are largely composed of Gallagher's handwritten notes, although some primary material, in particular newspaper clippings, is included. Items of interest include files on figures such as mobster Carmine Galante (believed by many to have murdered Tresca), labor organizer Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (romantically linked to Tresca), Italian-American Labor Council co-founder Vanni Montana, Italian model/actress/photographer Tina Modotti and American Communist Julia Stuart Poyntz, who disappeared in 1937.
In addition, the collection contains copies of files kept on Tresca by various governmental agencies. Most important of these are from the Casellario Politica Centrale, an agency under the aegis of the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs and devoted to surveillance of anarchists, socialists and other subversives. Other notable files are portions of Tresca's FBI file, as well as files from now-defunct U.S. government agencies, such as the Bureau of Narcotics, the Office of Strategic Services and the Office of War Information. Files from the U.S. Post Office document the suppression of circulation of Il Martello, Tresca's Italian-language newspaper.
Gallagher's handwritten notes from a number of her interviews are also included. Some are with significant figures in Tresca's life and others with relatives of these persons, for example, Harrison De Silver (Margaret De Silver's son), Jane Bobba (daughter of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn's sister Bina Flynn, one of Tresca's lovers), Peter Martin (the son of Bina Flynn and Carlo Tresca), and Len and Roma Giovannitti (children of Arturo Giovannitti).
The collection also contains copies of correspondence obtained by Gallagher from various archives and collections. Of special note are letters to and from Margaret De Silver, John Dos Passos, Herbert Solow, and Hannah Green, and correspondence between Harry Weinberger and Tresca, dating from 1938.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Dorothy Gallagher were transferred to New York University in 2004 by Dorothy Gallagher. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu, (212) 998-2630.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Dorothy Gallagher Research Files on Carlo Tresca; TAM 117; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Dorothy Gallagher, 2004. The accession number associated with this gift is 2004.017.