Victor Riesel Papers
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Victor Riesel (1917-1995) was born in New York and was a nationally syndicated labor journalist and an advisor to labor leaders and politicians. In 1946, he began his syndicated daily labor column, which appeared in hundreds of newspapers over the next three decades. Riesel traveled widely and in later years his politics became more conservative. By the early 1970s, he had become an advisor to the Nixon administration on labor matters. The collection includes scrapbooks, clippings, photographs and correspondence with labor leaders, political leaders and government officials, fellow journalists, and his friends and political associates. Prominent individuals include: Allen Dulles, Sidney Hook, J. Edgar Hoover, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, and Budd Schulberg among others.
Biographical / Historical
Victor Riesel (1917-1995) was a nationally syndicated labor journalist, and an advisor to labor leaders and politicians. A product of New York's Lower East Side Jewish community, Riesel graduated from City College, and from its progressive political milieu to become a knowledgeable and militantly anti-communist social democrat. After work for a news service and writing for various publications, including a stint as managing editor of the New Leader (a social democratic weekly), in 1946 he began his syndicated daily labor column, which appeared in hundreds of newspapers over the next three decades. He also appeared regularly on radio and television. His exposure of labor racketeers is thought to have led to his blinding in 1956, by a man who flung acid into his eyes. Riesel traveled to some fifty countries, interviewing their labor and political leaders. Riesel's politics became more conservative, and in the early 1970s he became an unofficial, but important advisor to the Nixon administration on labor matters and on Republican outreach to the labor community and to white working class voters, meeting with cabinet level officials.
Arrangement
Organized into four series, further arranged into subseries:
Series I: Biographical
Subseries A: Diaries
Subseries B: Other Autobiographical Material
Series II: Correspondence
Subseries A: General
Subseries B: Addendum
Subseries C: Friendlies
Subseries D: Correspondence-Government
Subseries E: Correspondence-Journalism Career
Subseries F: Correspondence-Guest Columnists
Subseries G: Correspondence-Syndicated Column
Series III: Writings, Topical Files, and Research Materials
Subseries A: Scrapbooks (Riesel articles and columns)
Subseries B: Newspaper Clippings (by and about Riesel)
Subseries C: Other Writings by Riesel
Subseries D: Communism in Hollywood
Subseries E: Topical Files
Series IV: Photographs and Nonprint Materials
Folders are arranged alphabetically by subject/author heading within each series.
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains personal and professional materials documenting the life of Victor Riesel. The collection contains diaries, scrapbooks, and other materials regarding personal matters and trips taken by Riesel, as well as a significant amount of materials relating to the acid attack. The majority of the collection is made up of the correspondence with colleagues of Riesel, labor leaders, journalists, government officials, and other individuals, often on his articles and columns. The rest of the collection contains clippings and articles of his writings, as well as two unpublished manuscripts. It also contains photographs of Riesel with individuals and other labor groups and leaders.
Subjects
Genres
People
Topics
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Coyright (and related rights to publicity and privacy) to materials in this collection created by Victor Riesel was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Victor Riesel Papers; TAM 170; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Evelyn Riesel in 1995. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 1995.001 and 1995.017.
Separated Material
The collection included audiocassettes which were separated to OH 500.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and were established as a separate collection, the Victor Riesel Photographs (PHOTOS 111). In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Victor Riesel Papers.
In 2013, photographs in frames were removed and put into folders.
Edition of this Guide
Repository
Series I: Biographical, 1929-1981, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Series I contains Riesel's high school yearbook, his diaries, clippings, telegrams regarding his blinding, materials from his various travels, biographical notes, presidential inauguration invitations, and other memorabilia.
Subseries A: Diaries, 1929-1981, inclusive
Morris High School Senior Book, 1929
Diary, 1958
Diary, 1959
Diary, 1960
Diary, 1961
Diary, 1962
Diary, 1963
Diary, 1964
Diary, 1965
Diary, 1966
Diary, 1967
Diary, 1968
Diary, 1969
Diary, 1970
Diary, 1971
Diary, 1972
Diary, 1973
Diary, 1974
Diary, 1975
Diary, 1976
Diary, 1977
Diary, 1981
Subseries B: Other Autobiographical Material, 1940-1974, inclusive
(Auto-) biographical fact sheets, circa 1969-1970
Brother's account of the arson Attack, circa 1956
Letters and cards after acid attack, April 5-6, 1956
Letters and cards after acid attack, April 7-30, 1956
Letters and cards after acid attack, May-Sept, 1956
Mail regarding eye operation, 1973
Newspaper clippings - mostly acid attack, April - June, 1956
Newspaper clippings - mostly acid attack, July - August, 1956
Newspaper clippings - mostly acid attack, October - Nov., 1956
Newspaper clippings - mostly acid attack, 1957
Transcript of ITV-Interview and Newspaper Clippings of Trip to England, 1957
Travel Correspondence, May-June, 1961
Trip to Austria, 1955
Trip to Austria-Hungary-Poland-Great Britain-Portugal, 1974
Trip to France, 1960
Trip to France-Italy-Germany, June-Aug, 1953
Trip to Germany, 1972
Trip to Germany-Great Britain-Northern Ireland-Iceland, 1971
Trip to Germany-Italy-France, 1957
Trip to Great Britain-Romania-Greece-Italy, 1969
Trip to Great Britain-Sweden-Finland-Austria-Czechoslovakia, 1966
Trip to Italy-Israel-Spain-London, 1968
Trip to Jamaica-British Guiana-Brazil-Venezuela-Panama-Honduras-Mexico, 1965
Trip to Johannesburg-Tanzania-Congo, 1959
Trip to Miami-London-Germany-Switzerland, 1975
Trip to Norway-Germany-France, 1967
Trip to Portugal-London, 1976
Trip to Spain-Israel-Ceylon [Sri Lanka]-Taiwan-Japan-Hawaii, 1970
University diploma and journalism awards, 1940-1973
Series II: Correspondence, 1937-1994, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Series II contains Riesel's correspondence with labor leaders, political leaders and government officials, fellow journalists, and his friends and political associates. Prominent individuals include Allen Dulles, Max Eastman, Arthur Goldberg, Sidney Hook, J. Edgar Hoover, Hubert Humphrey, Jay Lovestone, George Meany, Richard Nixon, Bertrand Russell, Budd Schulberg, and Norman Thomas.
Subseries A: General, 1937-1994, inclusive
Correspondence, undated
Correspondence, 1937-1945
Correspondence, 1946-1958
Correspondence, 1959-1963
Correspondence, 1964
Correspondence, 1965
Correspondence, 1966
Correspondence, 1967
Correspondence, 1968
Correspondence, 1969
Correspondence, 1970
Correspondence, 1971
Correspondence, 1972
Correspondence, 1973
Correspondence, 1974
Correspondence, 1975
Correspondence, 1976
Correspondence, 1977-1980
Correspondence, 1981-1994
Subseries B: Addendum, 1946-1991, inclusive
Correspondence, 1946-1950
Correspondence, 1951-1953
Correspondence, 1954
Correspondence, 1955
Correspondence, 1956-1957
Correspondence, 1958-1962
Correspondence, 1963-1965
Correspondence, 1966-1968
Correspondence, 1969-1970
Correspondence, 1971-1972
Correspondence, 1973-1974
Correspondence, 1975-1976
Correspondence, 1977-1978
Correspondence, 1979-1981
Correspondence, 1982-1983
Correspondence, 1984-1985
Correspondence, 1986-1991
Correspondence, additional, 1975-1979
Correspondence, additional, 1980-1983
Correspondence, WNEW TV, 1970-1978
Subseries C: Friendlies, 1950-1983, inclusive
"Friendlies", undated
"Friendlies", 1950-1951
"Friendlies", 1952
"Friendlies", 1953
"Friendlies", 1954-1966
"Friendlies", 1967-1970
"Friendlies", 1971-1973
"Friendlies", 1974-1983
Subseries D: Correspondence - Government, 1945-1984, inclusive
Dulles, Allen, 1959
FBI, 1945-1964
FBI, 1965-1973
FBI, 1974-1982
White House, 1954-1984
Subseries E: Correspondence - Journalism Career, 1943-1985, inclusive
ABC Radio/TV, 1968-1969
Address book, 1950s -1980s
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, 1967-1978
Association of Radio-TV News Analysts, 1964-1976
Barrows, Jim, 1980-1983
Channel 5, 1971-1978
Contact lists New York and Washington, undated
Dow Chemical Magazine, 1973-1976
Publishers, 1967-1973
Publishers, 1974-1976
Publishers, 1977-1985
Publishing contracts, 1956-1981
Radio, 1943-1951
Radio/TV, 1957-1968
Radio Broadcasts, 1968-1972
Trip to Africa: Newsletter and Correspondence, 1959-1960
Trip to Europe: Newsletter and Correspondence, 1961
Weiss (Public Relations), 1961-1971
WEVD Radio, 1965-1981
Subseries F: Correspondence - Guest Columnists, 1960-1979, inclusive
Guest Columnists and Travel Correspondence, 1960-1962
Guest Columnists and Travel Correspondence, 1963
Guest Columnists, 1968
Guest Columnists, 1969
Guest Columnists, 1970
Guest Columnists, 1971-1972
Guest Columnists, 1973
Guest Columnists, 1974-1976
Guest Columnists, 1977-1979
Subseries G: Correspondence - Syndicated Column, 1958-1986, inclusive
Syndicated column, 1958-1972
Syndicated column, 1968-1974
Syndicated column, 1973-1974
Syndicated column, Correspondence, 1975-1977
Syndicated column, Correspondence, 1978-1986
Syndicated column, typescripts, 1966-1982
Syndicated column, typescripts, 1983-1986
Series III: Writings, Topical Files and Research Materials
Scope and Content Note
Series III contains scrapbooks of Riesel's columns, other writings, including two unpublished typescripts, Farmer and Labor Third Parties, and Communism in the Motion Picture Industry, a file of notes and memoranda related to Riesel's Nixon Administration activity, which document confidential White House staff and cabinet-level discussions, and the transcript of a 1959 meeting between U.S. labor leaders and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
Subseries A: Scrapbooks (Riesel articles and columns), 1934-1948
New Leader etc., 1934-1936
Various Newspapers, Jan 1941-Feb 1948
New York Post, Nov 1941-Apr 1942, inclusive
New York Post, Apr 1942-Nov 1943
New York Post, Nov 1943-Jul 1944
New York Post, Jul 1944-Oct 1945
Subseries B: Newspaper Clippings (by and about Riesel), 1933-1988
New York Post, Nov 1945-Apr 1947
Newspaper Clippings, undated
Newspaper Clippings, 1933-1959
Newspaper Clippings, 1960-1969
Newspaper Clippings, 1970-1977
Newspaper Clippings, 1978-1988
Newspaper Columns ("Inside Labor") (I), Feb 1976-Apr 1976
Newspaper Columns ("Inside Labor") (II), Feb 1976-Apr 1976
Subseries C: Other Writings by Riesel, 1939-1984, inclusive
Adenauer, Konrad - Interview, 1957
Attacks on the State Department (typescript), 1951
CBC-Interview with Riesel, 1958
Conversations - Transcripts?, 1958
Farmer and Labor 3rd Parties (typescript), 1940
Files Indices, circa 1975-1984
Gorman of the Amalgamated (typescript), 1957
"Inside Labor" typescripts, 1980-1986
Memos and Notes, 1939-1969
Memos and Notes, 1970-1976
Memos and Notes, 1977-1986
Miscellaneous, 1940-1949
"My War with the Mob" Pulitzer prize nomination, 1956
Notebook, 1959
Notes for Jewish Lectures, 1969-1971
Press Conference with General Electric, 1978
Riesel Speech to Associated Equipment Distributors, 1972
"Ten Men Can Defeat America" - typescript, circa 1956
Subseries D: Communism in Hollywood, 1951-1960, inclusive
Communism in Hollywood (notes and research materials), 1951-1952
Communism in Hollywood (notes and research materials), 1952
Communism in Hollywood (notes and research materials), 1952
Communism in Hollywood (notes and research materials), 1953
Communism in the Motion Picture Industry (typescript), 1960
Subseries E: Topical Files, 1945-1988, inclusive
Anti-Semitism issues, 1968-1969
Carpenters, circa 1960, inclusive
Bonitati, Robert, 1981-1983
Conference on Technological Change and Human Development, Jerusalem, 1969
Council on Foreign Relations, 1967-1981
Court Case: Anthony Anastasio v. Victor Riesel, 1952
Democratic Convention, 1976
Examination and Comparison of Signatures: Richard/Dick Pastor, 1958
Hall, Paul, 1960-1980
Hoffa, James, 1958-1975
Khrushchev and Mikoyan meetings with Reuther et al., 1959
Korshak, Sidney, 1976
Labor and the Cater Administration, 1976-1980
Labor Critique of McGovern, 1972
Labor News - Miscellaneous, 1986-1988
Labor Organization Annual Reports, 1964-1971
Meat Packing Union, 1967
Meir, Golda article, 1970
Mine, Mill Workers Prosecution, 1956-1962
National Health Insurance, 1979
National Labor Management Conference, 1945
Nixon File - Memos, 1960-1969
Nixon File - Memos, 1970-1972
Nixon File - Memos, 1973-1978
Notes: Communism, 1948-1977
Organized crime, 1963-1981
Pegler, Westbrook David, 1947-1963
Posner, Herman, 1959-1960
President's Committee on Employment for the Handicapped, 1970-1978
Reagan and American Labor - Interview with Riesel, undated
Reagan - White House Memos, 1983-1985
Rockefeller File, 1968-1975
Ruby, Jack, 1976-1983
Scotto, Anthony, 1966-1979
Scotto, Anthony, 1979-1982
Screen Actors Guild, 1980-1985
"Show business tribute to Harold G. Gibbons", 1969
Sokolsky, George, 1953-1957
Steel Industry, 1983
United Nations, San Francisco, 1945
"The International Jewelry Workers Union - A History of Betrayal", 1958
"Trade Unionism in the United States" by John A. Fitch, 1945
Transcript of Hearings before the Committee to investigate charges against International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers., 1950
Series IV: Photographs and Nonprint Materials, 1945-1979, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
This series contains photographs and other nonprint materials. It includes many photographs of Riesel with labor leaders and other well known individuals. Many of these photographs are contained in scrapbooks, sometimes accompanied with clippings or captions. There are also some images of Riesel directly after the acid attack. The series also contains audographs, posters, booklets, a scapular, a press pass, and a map of Israel.
Victor Riesel Portraits, undated
Riesel with Charlton Heston, Mike Quill, Bruno Kreisky, and George Meany, 1961-1974, inclusive
Dennis the Menace Comics, 1976, inclusive
Monitored Pictures and Script of Interview with American Journalist-Victor Riesel on ITV's Special News Magazine Programme "This Week", Aug 23, 1957, inclusive
Photographs of Riesel with Steelworkers Union organizers, Luggage Workers, and others, 1957-1958, inclusive
FBI Visit Photographs, 1975, inclusive
Portraits of Riesel, David Basnett, Lord Alec Douglas Home, Jimmy Carter, George Meany, and others, 1967-1977, inclusive
Press Pass, Green Scapular, Map of Israel, 1968, inclusive
Three Audographs, undated
Photographs of Riesel and other individuals, including Chief Albert Luthuli, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, President of Taiwan Chiang Ching-Kuo, Prime Minister Harold Wilson at the Automation House Dinner, Harry Van Arsdale (President of the Central Labor Council), Al Shanker (President of the Teachers Union), Willy Brandt of Germany at a Waldorf Dinner, and Evelyn Riesel. There is also a photograph of Riesel at the Berlin Wall., 1959-1978, inclusive
Nobel Peace Prize booklet, Solidarnosc Poster, National Employ the Handicapped Week Proclamation, 1969, 1973, inclusive
Brown Album, 1954-1963, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
The album contains loose photographs of Venice, Victor Riesel, Pat Touchae, Labor Secretary Arthur Goldberg, Harry Van Arsdale, Institute of Management Executive Seminar, 1963 Newspaper Strike, Associated General Contractors of America, Riesel in the hospital after the acid attack, assorted newspaper editors, other unlabelled group and individual photographs. There is also a certificate of appointment and clippings.
Red Album, 1951-1960, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
This album contains photographs of Riesel in Nairobi, Kenya airport; in Omaha, Nebraska; and with many different individuals and organizations including Dr. C.C. Humphreys and his wife; Dr. O.W. Hyman; A.E. Hohenberg; Louis Catapane; Alexander Cashin; George M. Barker; American Heart Association; Binghamton University lecture; Theatrical Square Club; Raymond Hilliard; Meet the Press with Charles Sawyer (Secretary of Commerce); Samuel and Martha Downes Fuller; National Council of Industrial Management Clubs; Greater Lawrence (Massachusetts) Junior Chamber of Commerce; G.E. Security Conference; and the 10th Anniversary of Israel cocktail party.
Many photographs were taken by Daniel Nilva.
Blue Album, 1945-1968, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
This album contains photographs of Riesel's visit to the US Naval Training Center and Israel. It also contains photographs of Riesel with individuals and organizations, including David Dubinsky, the Jewish Labor Committee, Burt Ross, Dave Siegel, Harry Quinn, Meet the Press, Hess E. Fritz, and Admiral M. Martin.
