Series IV: Subject Files, 1911-2004, inclusive

The largest by far, this series provides an in-depth look at Morris Schappes' wide-ranging interests. It is composed of material he collected either as background for his many books, articles, reviews, editorials, letters to the editor, radio broadcasts and classroom teaching, or simply because the items were of interest to him. His annotations are found throughout the many newspaper clippings, articles, event programs, exhibit catalogs, reviews, obituaries and publications in the series.

Emma Lazarus was of particular interest to Schappes. Lazarus-related material includes manuscript drafts, typescript and galleys for his writings along with related notes, clippings, transcriptions of her letters, reviews, press releases, scripts, sheet music and a good amount of correspondence. Black-Jewish relations is another well-represented topic, as is antisemitism, particularly as depicted in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and Dickens' Oliver Twist. Other topics of interest include academic freedom, immigration, Communism, secularism, the Red Scare, reproductive rights and Israel. Among the many historical, political and literary figures in whom Schappes took an interest are Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Ilya Ehrenberg, Roy Cohn, Mario Cuomo, Ernestine Louise Rose, the Foner family (Eric, Henry, Jack, Moe and Philip), Sherwin Wine, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, Pete Seeger, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Organizations such as the Jewish People's Franternal Order and such topics as Holocaust history, the Bicentennial of the American Revolution and the Bakke Case are also represented.

A significant portion of the series is devoted to Schappes' research, much of it identified with either A Documentary History of the Jews in the United States, 1654-1877 or The Jews in the United States: A Pictorial History, 1954 to the Present. There is also general research material on Jewish history, Jewish identity and culture, and Jewish labor history.

A number of book, film and theater reviews are included, along with pamphlets, newsletters, reports and other publications. Of the newspaper clippings and journal articles scattered throughout the series, many are written in Yiddish and a few are in French or Spanish.