Myra Tanner Weiss Papers
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Myra Tanner Weiss (1916-1997) was a socialist, feminist, and the Socialist Workers Party's vice-presidential candidate in 1952, 1956, and 1960. Together with her husband Murry she organized the School for Marxist Education in New York. The papers contain correspondence, speeches and writings and Socialist Workers Party internal documents.
Historical/Biographical Note
Myra Tanner Weiss was born May 17, 1916. She joined the Socialist Workers Party in 1935 while attending the University of Utah. She moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s, at which time she organized agricultural and cannery workers. She also helped establish the SWP in Los Angeles where she met another party organizer, Murry Weiss [born Morris, in Chicago, September 9, 1915, son of Joseph and Freida; died December 26, 1981] whom she later married. Tanner Weiss ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 1945 and 1949. The Weisses moved to New York City in 1953 where Murry Weiss edited the Socialist Workers Party's newspaper The Militant. Running with Presidential candidate Farrell Dobbs, Myra Tanner Weiss was the Socialist Workers Party's Vice Presidential candidate in 1952, 1956, and 1960. Together with her husband she organized the School for Marxist Education in New York. Tanner Weiss left the SWP in the early 1960's because she thought the party had undergone a 'gross bureaucratization'. According to records of the New York local branch of the SWP Myra Tanner Weiss would no longer be considered a member of the Party as of October 1966. She did however remain politically active and became involved with the New York Socialist Feminists and the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party (CRSP). Tanner Weiss received a masters degree in political science from New York University in 1972. She subsequently worked as a proof reader. She died on September 13, 1997.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into five series:
Series I: Personal
Series II: Correspondence
Series III: Socialist Workers Party
Series IV: Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party (CRSP)
Series V: Speeches and Writings
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists primarily of correspondence and Socialist Workers Party (SWP) internal documents, dating mostly from the 1940s-1970s. The correspondence is mostly by Tanner Weiss and her husband, Murry, related to the SWP and family correspondence. The collection contains a significant amount of SWP internal working materials, including draft resolutions, minutes, correspondence, articles, circulars, reports, flyers, convention materials, and other ephemera documenting the SWP's politics and activities, as well as the Party's responses to splits and the formation of factions. The collection also contains internal papers and correspondence which document Murry and Myra Tanner Weiss' involvement with the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party (CRSP). The collection also contains speeches and writings written by Murry and Myra Tanner Weiss. Important in the collection is the letter to Tanner Weiss from Natalie Sedova-Trotsky concerning a purported meeting between Leon Trotsky and Jack Soble in Turkey in 1931-1932.
Subjects
Organizations
People
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (and related rights to publicity and privacy) to materials in this collection created by Myra Tanner Weiss was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Myra Tanner Weiss Papers; TAM 158; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials were donated by Myra Tanner Weiss and her sister, Shirley Nagel, in 1994. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 1994.015, 1994.016 and NPA.1998.028.
Separated Materials
A set of Discussion Bulletins published by the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist from 1978-1980 were separated to the library collection.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and were established as a separate collection, the Myra Tanner Weiss Photographs (PHOTOS 085). In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Myra Tanner Weiss Papers.
Repository
Series I: Personal, 1912, 1981-1997
Scope and Content Note
This series contains obituaries, photographs, and other personal and biographical materials related to Tanner Weiss.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Biography, 1981-1997
Photographs, 1912, undated
Series II: Correspondence, 1933-1987
Scope and Content Note
This series contains correspondence by Myra Tanner Weiss and Murry Weiss, mostly to other correspondents. The bulk of the correspondence dates from the 1940s-1970s. There is also the correspondence of Myra Tanner Weiss' husband, Murry Weiss, much of which concerns his tenure as editor of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) newspaper, The Militant. Tanner Weiss' letters and correspondence concern her speaking tours and political campaigns as SWP Vice Presidential candidate in 1952, 1956, and 1960, as well as personal correspondence with her husband and family. Correspondents include: Shane Mage, Tim Wohlforth, James Cannon, Sam Marcy, Natalie [Natalia] Sedova-Trotsky (Leon Trotsky's widow), Bert Deck, Farrell Dobbs, William Warde, George Breitman, George Clarke, Arne Swabeck, Harry Braverman, Clara Fraser, James Robertson.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically and then chronologically.
Weiss Family Letters, 1959
Murry Weiss / Myra Tanner Weiss Correspondence, 1948-1958
Murry Weiss / Myra Tanner Weiss Correspondence, 1960-1980
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1933-1939
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1942
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1944
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1945
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1947
Correspondence: Murry Weiss/California Third Party Movement, 1947
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1948
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1949
Murry Weiss/Trotsky School Spring Mountain Camp - Correspondence, 1950
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1951
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1952
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1953
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1954
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1955
Murry Weiss - Letters, Jan-Jun 1956
Murry Weiss - Letters, Jul-Dec 1956
Murry Weiss - Letters, Jan-May 1957
Murry Weiss - Letters, Jun-Dec 1957
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1958
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1959
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1960
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1962
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1963-1964
Murry Weiss - Letters/Socialist Workers Party Membership, 1966
Murry Weiss - Letters, 1976 -1978
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1946-1949
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1951
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1952
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1953
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1954-1955
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, Jan-Jun 1956
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, Jul-Dec 1956
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1957
Correspondence: Myra Tanner Weiss/Natalie Sedova-Trotsky, 1957
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1958 -1959
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1960-1966
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters/Socialist Workers Party Membership, 1966
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1969-1975
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1977-1980
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters: An Open Letter to the Socialist Workers Party, 1980
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1981
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1982
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1983-1985
Myra Tanner Weiss - Letters, 1986-1987
Letters: individuals, 1939-1953
Letters: individuals, 1955
Letters: individuals, 1956-1985
Letters, undated
Series III: Socialist Workers Party, 1944-1983
Scope and Content Note
This series documents Weiss's activities within the Socialist Workers Party; the documents, correspondence, minutes, flyers, and other ephemera chronicle the Cochranite split, discussions and debates concerning Pabloism (Michael Pablo, Michael Raptis: head of the International Secretariat), the Party's response to the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party and its effect on the Communist Party USA, and consideration of the 1956 uprisings in Poland and Hungary. SWP policy and activity is also chronicled concerning the "regroupment campaign" of 1956-1958, as well as the Party's relationship to the Young Socialist League (YSL), the Young People's Socialist League (YPSL), the Young Socialist Alliance (YSA) and the Workers World Party. In addition, there is material and correspondence concerning the opposition group the Revolutionary Tendency (TR) and the expulsion from the SWP of Lynne Harper, Laurence Ireland, Shane Mage, James Robertson, and Geoffrey White in 1963.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Martin (Cannon): Comments on the Selection of the National Committee, 1944
Felix Morrow: Where I Stand, 1945
Myra Tanner Weiss v Los Angeles Broadcasting, Inc..., 1946
Socialist Workers Party Internal Documents, 1949
Natalia Trotsky: letter re break with Fourth International and Socialist Workers Party, 1951
Johnson-Forest: What We Are Leaving Behind, 1951
M. Pablo: The Building of the Revolutionary Party, 1952
Internal Documents, 1953
Internal Documents, 1954
Club Executive Minutes, 1954
Internal Documents, 1955
Peng: Pabloism Reviewed, 1955
Draft Resolutions: The Soviet Union Today [sect iv]; The Third Chinese Revolution and Its Aftermath [sect ii]; The Rise of the Colonial Bourgeoise [sect iii]; includes correspondence, 1955
Digest of 1949 U.S. White Paper on China, 1955
Club Executive Minutes, 1955
Internal Documents, 1956
Communications to National Committee Members, 1956
On the CPUSA, 1956
Joseph Hansen: Report on the Trotsky School, 1956
Draft Resolution: The World Today, 1956
Draft Resolution on Stalinism, 1956
Draft Resolution: The Crisis of Stalinism, 1956
Draft Resolution on Middle East, 1956
re slogan, Federal Troops to Mississippi, 1956
Internal Documents, 1957
Tentative Outline for Political Report to Convention, 1957
Young Socialist League (YSL): correspondence and reports, 1957
Draft Resolution: Towards a Revolutionary Party in Britain; Suez and its Aftermath, 1957
Club Executive Minutes, 1957
Internal Documents, 1958
Internal Documents, 1959
Club Executive Minutes, 1959
Revised Draft Political Resolution - regroupment, 1959
Internal Documents, 1960
James Cannon: letter with 1945 "On The Party Press", 1960
Raj Narain Arya: statements, 1960
Political Committee Minutes, 1960
Draft: Tasks and Perspectives Resolution; Tasks and Perspectives Resolution, 1960
Murry Weiss: Memorandum on the Principled Groundwork of Our Tactics and Slogans in the Struggle Against Imperialist War, 1960
Concerning Cuba, 1960
Internal Documents, 1961
Political Committee Minutes, 1961
Pre Convention and 19th National Convention Minutes, 1961
National Executive Committee Minutes (with attached correspondence), 1961
Monroe Defense Movement, 1961
Internal Documents, 1962
Political Committee Draft: Problems of the Fourth International And the Next Steps, 1962
Draft Resolution: The Chinese Revolution: Its Character and Development, 1962
Political Committee Minutes, 1962
Internal Documents, 1963
Political Committee Minutes, 1963
National Committee Plenum, 1963
Myra Tanner Weiss: Plenum Speech, 1963
Draft of Convention Resolution: Freedom Now, 1963
Draft Resolution on the Organizational Character of the SWP, 1963
Suspension of Robertson-Mage-White Minority Tendency: statements and correspondence, 1963
Statement of the Reorganized Minority Tendency: The Decline of American Imperialism and the Tasks of the SWP, 1963
Draft Resolution: Preparing for the Next Wave of Radicalism in the United States, 1963
Draft Resolution: The SWP Position on China (May); The SWP Position on China with Wohlforth amendment (June), 1963
Draft Resolution: The Sino-Soviet Dispute; Marxist Policy in the Sino-Soviet Dispute, 1963
Internal Documents, 1964
Political Committee Minutes, 1964
National Executive Committee Minutes, 1964
21st National Convention Minutes, 1965
Internal Documents, 1966
Internal Documents, circa 1967
Hildegarde Swabeck: resignation letter, circa 1967
Internal Documents, 1982-1983
Internal Documents, undated
Series IV: Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party (CRSP), 1978-1981
Scope and Content Note
This series documents Tanner Weiss's involvement with and the activities of the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party (CRSP) in 1978-1981. It consists of meeting minutes, articles, circulars, and conference proceedings. CRSP was dedicated to reinstituting American Trotskyism.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Internal Documents, 1978
Internal Documents, 1979
Internal Documents, 1980-1981
Series V: Speeches and Writings, undated, 1955-1978
Scope and Content Note
This series contains speeches and other writings by Murry Weiss and Myra Tanner Weiss. Murry's speeches are related to radical political upheaval in the 1950s-1970s and often include handwritten notes. Myra's speech is related to living under FBI surveillance.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
