John Pittman Papers
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
John Pittman (1906-1993) was an African-American communist journalist and writer born in Atlanta. He graduated from Morehouse College, and received an M.A. in Economics (1930) from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1931, he founded and served as editor of the San Francisco Spokesman, renamed The Spokesman. Pittman became an editor of the (daily) People's World. Pittman traveled to Europe as a correspondent for the Communist Party's newspapers: Daily Worker (New York), People's World, and for the Chicago Defender. He married fellow communist Margrit Adler and together were Moscow correspondents for the CPUSA press. Pittman was also the founding co-editor of the Daily World in New York. The collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, writings, documentation of his political activities, photographs, graphics, and realia.
Historical/Biographical Note
John Pittman (1906-1993), an African-American communist journalist, was born in Atlanta, graduated from Morehouse College, and received an M.A. in Economics (1930) from the University of California at Berkeley, with a thesis titled "Railroads and Negro Labor." After a brief stint at Stanford Law School, and jobs as a waiter on the Southern Pacific Railroad and as secretary to art patron Noel Sullivan, in October, 1931 he founded and served as editor of the San Francisco Spokesman (a weekly newspaper for the Bay Area African American community), which by 1934 had been renamed The Spokesman, reflecting Pittman's broader ambitions and leftward political evolution. During that year's San Francisco general strike, he lent The Spokesman's printing presses to the fledgling Communist Party newspaper, the Western Worker, resulting in their destruction by right-wing vigilantes. Then Pittman went to work for the Western Worker, becoming by 1941 the editor of its successor, the (daily) People's World. In this capacity, he was a frequent guest on radio station KSAN (San Francisco) in 1941-1942.
In 1945 he covered the founding conference of the United Nations, and in 1946 received his divorce from his first wife Merle Nance Pittman. In 1947 Pittman traveled to Europe as a correspondent for the Communist Party's newspapers Daily Worker (New York) and People's World, and for the Chicago Defender, a trip made possible by progressive notables including Lena Horne, Paul Jarrico, Albert Maltz, and Dalton Trumbo, whose financial support was coordinated by Los Angeles attorney Leo Gallagher. After his return he married fellow communist Margrit Adler, a German-Jewish antifascist refugee and German-American political activist. They remained in New York until 1955, when they moved to San Francisco with their two children, Carol and John Peter. There Pittman again worked for the People's World. From 1959-1961 the Pittmans were Moscow correspondents for the CPUSA press. In 1968 Pittman came to New York to become the founding co-editor of the Daily World (the result of the merger of the Party's West and East Coast weekly newspapers). In the late 1970s Pittman went to Prague as the Party's representative on the editorial board of the World Marxist Review, returning to New York in 1987. In addition to his newspaper writings, Pittman contributed some two dozen articles to the Party's monthly journal Political Affairs, and wrote Africa Calling, Isolate the Racists: The Liberation Struggle in Southern Africa(1973), and (with Margrit Pittman) Sense and Nonsense About Berlin(1962) and Peaceful Coexistence: Its Theory and Practice in the Soviet Union(1964).
Selected Bibliography (arranged chronologically):
Railroads and Negro Labor.Thesis (M.A. in Economics)--University of California, Berkeley, Dec 1930. 92 leaves.
"A Perspective for Forging Negro-White Unity." Communist23 (Jan, Feb 1944): 86-91, 174-181.
"The Negro People Spark the Fight for Peace." Political Affairs25 (Aug 1946): 724-733.
"War on Korea: Point IV in Action." Political Affairs29 (Aug 1950): 40-50.
"Africa and the United States." Political Affairs37(Feb 1958): 48-52.
"Books in Review: The Diplomacy of World War II." Political Affairs37 (Apr 1958): 46-53.
"The October Revolution and National Liberation." Political Affairs46 (Nov 1967): 27-38.
"Book Reviews: Toward Eradication of Colonialism." Political Affairs47 (Feb 1968): 90-97.
"Laos: Testing Ground of the Nixon Doctrine." Political Affairs49 (Oct 1970): 11-19.
"Indochina's 25 Year Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism." Political Affairs50 (Feb 1971): 1-13.
Africa Calling, Isolate the Racists: The Liberation Struggle in Southern Africa.New York: New Outlook Publishers, 1973. 31 pp.
"Arena of Class Struggle: The United Nations, Part I." Political Affairs52 (Mar 1973): 18-29.
"Arena of Class Struggle: The United Nations, Part II." Political Affairs52 (Apr 1973): 31-40.
"A Guiding Ideology for Anti-Racist, Anti-Monopoly Struggle." Political Affairs52 (Aug 1973) 18-30.
"The United Nations and the Struggle for Détente." Political Affairs53 (Oct 1974): 44-54.
"Building the Communist Press." Political Affairs54 (Mar 1975): 24-37.
"What's New in Soviet Agriculture." Political Affairs54 (Jul 1975): 3-20.
"Book Reviews: A Man of Heroic Mold." Political Affairs55 (Feb 1976): 54-64.
"The Bonn Congress of the German Communist Party." Political Affairs55 (Jun 1976): 24-34.
"From Cradle of Bourgeois Freedom to State Monopoly Capitalism." Political Affairs55 (Jul 1976): 7-9.
"Racism and War." Political Affairs57 (May 1978): 22-27.
"Afro-American Struggle Today - A Framework." Political Affairs58 (Feb 1979): 14-22.
"Bulgarian Theoretical Conference: Agreement on Basic Principles." Political Affairs58 (Mar 1979): 2-7.
"Is Socialism Applicable to the U.S?" Political Affairs59 (Sep 1980): 12-18.
"Détente: The Only Sane Option." Political Affairs61 (May 1982): 2-8.
"The Class Role of Affirmative Action." Political Affairs62 (Mar 1983): 18-24.
"The American Heritage of Karl Marx." Political Affairs62 (Oct 1983): 15-23.
"Restructuring the World Economy." Political Affairs64 (Nov 1985): 18-24.
Pittman, John and Margrit.
Sense and Nonsense About Berlin.New York: New Century Publishers, 1962. 60 pp.
Peaceful Coexistence: Its Theory and Practice in the Soviet Union.New York: International Publishers, 1964. 156 pp.
Pittman, Margrit
"The San Francisco Peace Referendum." Political Affairs47 (1968): 58-63.
"25 Years of the German Democratic Republic." Political Affairs53 (Oct 1974): 55-62.
"Democracy in Czechoslovakia." Political Affairs56 (Mar 1977): 13-18.
"Women, Children, Marriage - the Experience of Socialism." Political Affairs61 (Mar 1982): 10-14.
"Women's Equality in the German Democratic Republic." Political Affairs66 (Mar 1987): 14-18.
Arrangement
The papers are organized into five series:
I. Biographical
II. Correspondence
III. Political Activities
IV. Writings
V. Photographs, Graphics, Realia
Folders are generally arranged alphabetically within each series.
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the collection is comprised of John Pittman's writings and correspondence. The writings deal with the struggles of African Americans and people of color worldwide, the strategy and tactics of the communist movement and its relationship to the capitalist powers and developing countries; they consist mainly of typescripts, clippings, and photocopies of Pittman's columns and newspaper articles, pamphlets, papers and radio addresses. Correspondence includes letters from family members, friends, U.S. and foreign Communist cadre, and African American journalists, writers, activists, and public figures.
The collection also contains a small amount of biographical and visual materials, as well as materials documenting Pittman's political activities. Biographical materials include documents that pertain to Pittman's mother, Carrie Badger Pittman, and the Badger family, school records, and press credentials; materials on political activities include internal Communist Party documents and some of Pittman's notes on meetings, materials related to a course taught at the Jefferson School of Social Science (an adult education institution of the Communist Party USA located in New York City), and a file of documents relating to the Democratic Party of California in the elections of 1932. Visual materials include photographs--of Pittman, his family and friends-- documenting both personal and professional activities, and a handful of graphics and printing plates for Communist Party publications.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
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 John Pittman was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; John Pittman Papers; TAM 188; 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 Margrit Pittman 1997. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 1997.021, 1997.042, and NPA.2003.039.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Photographs, graphics, and realia from this collection were separated from the Papers and established as a separate collection: the John Pittman Photographs (PHOTOS 179). In January 2014, this photograph collection was reincorporated into the John Pittman Papers.
Edition of this Guide
Repository
Series I. Biographical
Scope and Content Note
This small series (arranged alphabetically) contains a Badger family genealogy, documents relating to Carrie Badger Pittman, school records, phone books, press cards and credentials, invitations, a Paul Robeson autograph, various personal and legal documents (including re his 1945-46 divorce from Merle Nance), ephemera, and memorabilia.
Badger, Robert H. (father of Carrie Badger): Last Will & Testament, 1905, inclusive
Biographical Materials - Chronological, undated, inclusive
Biographical Materials - Chronological, 1925-1977, inclusive
Daily WorldTribute for John Pittman and Carl Winter , 1981, inclusive
Family Bible Genealogy, undated, inclusive
Invitations, 1931-1979, inclusive
Phone Books (4), undated, inclusive
Pittman, Carrie Badger: Divorce from John Pittman, Sr.; Commitment to New York State Hospital, 1917 , 1952, inclusive
Pittman, John: Divorce from Merle Nance Pittman, 1945-1946, inclusive
Pittman, John: Medical, 1947-1983, inclusive
Press Cards and Credentials, 1926-1958, inclusive
Robeson, Paul - Autograph, 1966, inclusive
Robeson, Paul - Program for Concert in Oakland, California, with William Duncan Allen, 1957, inclusive
School Records, 1914-1966, inclusive
Series II. Correspondence
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence (most incoming), comprising one quarter of the collection, is organized into two subseries, Chronological (1925-1959) and Alphabetical (bulk 1960-1983) and contains letters from family members, friends (including fellow Morehouse alumni), U.S. and foreign Communist cadre, and African American journalists and activists, including numerous letters received in Pittman's capacity as editor of the Spokesman.Correspondents include the African American communists Marvel Cooke, Ben Davis Jr., Ishmael Flory (a lifelong friend), cartoonist Oliver Harrington, Angelo Herndon, James Jackson, William Patterson, Doxey Wilkerson, and Henry Winston; communists Herbert Aptheker, Phil Bart, Morris Childs, Eugene Dennis, Betty Gannett, Gus Hall, V.J. Jerome, Al Richmond, Art Shields, and Jessica Smith; African American newspaper editor Charlotta A. Bass and Max Yergan, both of the Council on African Affairs; Ben Burns and Metz T.P. Lochard (respectively, editor and publisher) of the Chicago Defender; Pittman's parents Carrie Badger Pittman and John Pittman Sr., cousin Claybert Robinson, and other relatives; friends D.D. Richardson, Mason and Doris Roberson, C.V. Roman, Robert "Red" Saxon, and George A. Towns; letters from Cedric Belfrage, Frederick Vanderbilt Field, Lionel Feuchtwanger, attorneys Leo Gallagher and John T. McTernan, Benjamin E. Mays (President, Morehouse College), A. Philip Randolph, Noel Sullivan, Roy Wilkins; and, from Langston Hughes, a 1934 letter ("Dear Johnny") praising Communist-led unions for not discriminating against Negroes. Note that letters from the highlighted correspondents found in Subseries A (Chronological) may also appear in adjacent and/or other folders within this series.
Subseries A: Chronological
Correspondence, undated, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letter s from A. Philip Randolph, D.D. Richardson, C.V. Roman (M.D.), Robert "Red" Saxon; various relatives), 1926-1929, inclusive
Correspondence, ca.1930s, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from D.D. Richardson, John Pittman Sr., Ishmael Flory), 1930, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes San Francisco Spokesman), 1931, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes San Francisco Spokesman), 1932, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes San Francisco Spokesman), 1933, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes San Francisco Spokesman; letters from Roy Wilkins & Langston Hughes), 1934, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from Ben Davis Jr. & A. Philip Randolph), 1935, inclusive
Correspondence, 1936-1940, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from V.J. Jerome & Al Richmond), 1942, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from Angelo Herndon, V.J. Jerome, Eugene Dennis), 1943, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from Lion Feuchtwanger, Marvel Cooke, Charlotta Bass, Max Yergan, Art Shields), 1944, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from Doxey Wilkerson, Claude Barnett ( Associated Negro Press)), 1945, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from Morris Childs, William Patterson, John T. McTernan), 1946, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from Doxey Wilkerson & Morris Childs), 1947, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from Doxey Wilkerson & Charlotta Bass), 1948-1949, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from Cedric Belfrage, Charlotta Bass, Karl Nathan (Soviet Anti-Semitism)), Al Richmond, Claybert Robinson, 1950-1955, inclusive
Correspondence (Includes letters from Ben Davis, Ishmael Flory, James Jackson, Herbert Aptheker), 1956-1959, inclusive
Subseries B: Alphabetical
Correspondence - Unidentified, 1971-1983, inclusive
Correspondence - A, 1962-1983, inclusive
Correspondence - Aptheker, Herbert and Bettina, 1968-1975, inclusive
Correspondence - Attorneys, 1953-1956, inclusive
Correspondence - B, 1964-1983, inclusive
Correspondence - Bart, Phil, 1974-1978, inclusive
Correspondence - C, 1965-1979, inclusive
Correspondence - Chicago Defender(Ben Burns, Metz T.P. Lochard), 1942-1947, inclusive
Correspondence - D, 1967-1979, inclusive
Correspondence- Diskin, Lou, 1973-1977, inclusive
Correspondence - E, 1964-1983, inclusive
Correspondence - F, 1964-1982, inclusive
Correspondence - Field, Frederick, 1946, inclusive
Flory, Ishmael, ca.1940-1980, inclusive
Correspondence - G, 1967-1982, inclusive
Correspondence - Gannett, Betty ( Political Affairs), 1967-1969, inclusive
Correspondence - H, 1963-1979, inclusive
Correspondence - Hall, Gus, 1966-1979, inclusive
Correspondence - Harrington, Oliver, 1968-1982, inclusive
Correspondence - Herndon, Angelo, 1943, inclusive
Correspondence - Hughes, Langston, 1934 , ca.1953, inclusive
Correspondence - I, 1968-1981, inclusive
Correspondence - J, 1969-1983, inclusive
Correspondence - K, 1965-1978, inclusive
Correspondence - L, 1968-1983, inclusive
Correspondence - Literary Rejections, undated , 1925, inclusive
Correspondence - Lumer, Hyman, 1963-1976, inclusive
Correspondence - M, 1963-1982, inclusive
Correspondence - Mays, Benjamin E. (President, Morehouse College), 1943-1947, inclusive
Correspondence - Meyers, George, 1967-1976, inclusive
Correspondence - Morton, Charlie and Goldee, 1967-1977, inclusive
Correspondence - N, 1963-1982, inclusive
Correspondence - O, 1968-1975, inclusive
Correspondence - P, 1967-1982, inclusive
Correspondence - Passport, 1954, inclusive
Correspondence - Pittman, Carol, 1968-1979, inclusive
Correspondence: Pittman, Carrie - letters to John Pittman, 1920s-early 1930s, inclusive
Correspondence - Pittman, Carrie - Death of, 1958, inclusive
Correspondence - re: Pittman, Carrie, ca.1930-1934 , 1950-1954, inclusive
Correspondence - Pittman Family, 1968 , 1971, inclusive
Correspondence - Pittman, John Jr., 1968 , 1979, inclusive
Correspondence - Pittman, John Sr., 1930 , 1931 , 1934, inclusive
Correspondence - Pittman, Margrit, 1968-1982, inclusive
Correspondence - Postcards, 1935-1955, inclusive
Correspondence - R, 1963-1979, inclusive
Correspondence - Richmond, Al, 1968, inclusive
Correspondence - Roberson, Mason (Moke) and Doris (Dobby), 1968-1983, inclusive
Correspondence -Paul Robeson Archives of (Berlin, East Germany), 1967, inclusive
Correspondence - Robinson, Claybert ("Clay") - cousin., 1956 , 1970 , 1983, inclusive
Correspondence - S, 1963-1981, inclusive
Correspondence - Shields, Art, 1967-1979, inclusive
Correspondence - Smith, Jessica ( New World Review), 1975-1977, inclusive
Correspondence - Stone, I.F., ca.1940s, inclusive
Correspondence - T, 1963-1983, inclusive
Correspondence - Towns, George Alexander, 1926-1931, inclusive
Correspondence - U-V, 1968-1979, inclusive
Correspondence - W-Z, 1966-1983, inclusive
Correspondence - Winston, Henry, 1969-1983, inclusive
Correspondence - Winter, Carl and Family, 1967-1979, inclusive
Series III: Political Activities
Scope and Content Note
This series (arranged alphabetically, bulk 1960-) contains Communist Party internal documents primarily re: the "Negro Question" (1930s-1980s), notes taken at several 1983 meetings of the Party's Political Bureau, Central Committee, and African-American Commission, a notebook from a 1961 trip to the USSR, materials related to a course taught at the Jefferson School of Social Science, a file of Democratic Party of California documents re the 1932 mobilization of African American voters (Pittman was an advocate of realigning the African American vote from its traditional Republican Party orientation), and clippings and ephemera relating to various events and topics.
ABU Membership List [Bay Area Black University students??], undated, inclusive
African Liberation Struggles Today (Course Outline) - Jefferson School of Social Science, undated, inclusive
The African Peoples and their Struggle for Liberation (Course Evaluation) - Jefferson School of Social Science, 1954, inclusive
American - European March, undated, inclusive
Asian - African Liberation Struggles (Winter Term Syllabus) - Jefferson School of Social Science, undated, inclusive
China, Trip to - Journal, undated, inclusive
CIO - Texas, 1952, inclusive
Clipping File - Scheme of Classification, 1972, inclusive
Communist Party Internal Documents (Negro Question), 1930s-1960s, inclusive
Communist Party Internal Documents, 1979-1983, inclusive
Communist Party Meeting Notes (Central Committee, Political Bureau, African-American Commission), 1983, inclusive
Communist Party - Twenty-first National Convention, 1975, inclusive
Communist Party of the Soviet Union - Twenty-fifth Congress, 1974, inclusive
The Daily World- Job Applications , 1968, inclusive
Democratic Party of California - Internal Documents re: Mobilization of Negroes, ca.1932, inclusive
Hall, Gus, undated, inclusive
Hinds, Lennox - Speech by (International Conference of Solidarity with the Struggle of African and Arab Peoples against Imperialism and Reaction), 1978, inclusive
"Hymn to the Rising Sun - A Short Play about an African-American Soldier," by Paul Green, undated, inclusive
International Commission of Inquiry into US Crimes in Indochina, 1971, inclusive
International Contacts List, undated, inclusive
Jackson, Maurice - Afro-American Peoples Struggles (Seminar - Havana, Cuba), 1981, inclusive
Leon, Gilbert (First Lieutenant) vs. United States (Brief Amicus Curiae) - Korean War, 1950, inclusive
Maran, Rene M. - Interview with, 1946, inclusive
May Day: Rallies and Speech, 1953, inclusive
McCarran Act Protests Reported in Press, ca.1962, inclusive
Murdock, Steve - Death of, 1976, inclusive
National Lawyer's Conference, 1981, inclusive
National Question - Jefferson School Typescripts, undated, inclusive
Nationalities Question - Worldwide, 1979, inclusive
Negro Candidates for Election on New Party Ticket, undated, inclusive
Negro Press Circulation Figures, 1943, inclusive
Nikolai Miklukho-Maclay: Fighter Against Racism - By Y.Y. Roginsky, 1971, inclusive
North Korea, Trip To, undated, inclusive
Philip Alexander Bell and the San Francisco Elevator,By John H. Telfer (San Francisco Negro and Cultural Society, California History Series, Monograph # 9) , 1966, inclusive
Pittman, John and Margarit - List of Articles Approved for The Daily Workerand People's World, 1959-1962, inclusive
Pittman, John - Work Record of (1974-1979), undated, inclusive
Pittman's Books - Prague to New York, 1979, inclusive
Polan, Lou: Statement Before the House Un-American Activities Committee, undated, inclusive
Prague / World Marxist Review- Activities, 1974, inclusive
Racism and Racial Discrimination, World Conference for Education of, 1978, inclusive
Racism - World Marxist Review- Symposium, 1976, inclusive
The Railroad Workers Link, undated, inclusive
Real Estate Career, 1954-1958, inclusive
Record of Work Done - Time Copy, undated, inclusive
Republican Convention - By Richard Walker, 1952, inclusive
Rubin, Daniel - "On the Life of Henry Winston, National Chairman, C.P.U.S.A.", undated, inclusive
San Francisco Workers School, 1934, inclusive
Soviet Discussion - Letter to the Editor ( People's World), undated, inclusive
Soviet Press Agency Translations, 1970-1978, inclusive
Soviet Union, Trip to - Notebook / Journal, 1961, inclusive
Speaking Engagements, undated, inclusive
The Spokesman :Articles of Co-Partnership, etc. , 1931 , 1934, inclusive
United Nations Correspondents Association (Application for Membership), 1953, inclusive
United Nations Founding Conference - San Francisco, 1945, inclusive
Western Negro Statesman, undated, inclusive
Series IV. Writings
Scope and Content Note
This series is arranged alphabetically, and the bulk of it is from 1960-83. It comprises somewhat more than half of the collection and contains typescripts of radio speeches given on KSAN, journalism dispatches, newspaper column typescripts and clippings, press telegrams from Moscow, photocopies of his articles in Political Affairs, notebooks, typescripts for numerous unpublished and published articles and for several pamphlets and for papers given at conferences sponsored by World Marxist Reviewand other communist fora. Pittman's writings were largely concerned with the problems and struggles of African Americans and of people of color worldwide, the strategy and tactics of the communist movement, and with its relationship to the capitalist powers and the developing countries.
Africa Against the Axis, ca.1943, inclusive
Africa Calling: Isolate the Racists, 1973, inclusive
"Aid to Africa" - Incomplete, undated, inclusive
"American Communists" - Komsomolskaya Pravda, 1961, inclusive
"American Motion Pictures - A Weapon of Imperialism", 1947, inclusive
"Banning Nuclear War Propaganda", 1984, inclusive
"Behind the Iron Curtain" - 4 Part Series ( The Daily Workerand People's World), 1946, inclusive
Book Reviews, 1973-1977, inclusive
"Building the Communist Press", 1975, inclusive
"Capitalism USA, As Catholic Bishops See It", undated, inclusive
"Capitalist Integration in the Western Hemisphere", undated, inclusive
Colloquium - Julius Lips Institute, Karl Marx University, Berlin, 1977, inclusive
"Color Blindness - A Ploy to Derail Affirmative Action" (for Black Liberation Journal), 1982, inclusive
"Combating Crisis Consequences", 1984, inclusive
"Combating Effects of the Worst Crisis", undated, inclusive
"Coming Battle for a Military Détente", undated, inclusive
"Communists by the Minute", 1950, inclusive
"Concerning Native Americans and Peoples from the Caribbean and Central American Areas", undated, inclusive
Conferences and Symposia (held in the) USSR - Pittman typescripts, 1979, inclusive
Conferences and Symposia ( World Marxist Review) - Pittman typescripts, 1974-1979, inclusive
Conferences and Symposia, Miscellaneous ( WMR?) - Pittman typescripts, 1974-1976, inclusive
"The C.P.U.S.A. and U.S. Public Opinion", 1979, inclusive
"C.P.U.S.A: Origins and Sources of the C.P.U.S.A.", 1979, inclusive
"The C.P.U.S.A's 65 Year Fight for Peace", 1984, inclusive
Daily Review of Soviet Press, 1961, inclusive
"The Daily Workerand Freedom of the Press" , 1952, inclusive
The Daily World, Content of - (For Party Affairs) , undated, inclusive
"The Daily World, In the Struggle for the Masses" , 1974, inclusive
"Davis, Angela" - Untitled ts, 1975, inclusive
"DeGaulle and U.S., Mandate System, Wallace's View", 1944, inclusive
"Economic Planning" (Note cards and ts), undated, inclusive
"Equality for Afro-Americans: The Communist View" (Drafts), undated, inclusive
"The Equality of Nations - Notes on", undated, inclusive
"Existing Socialism: Its Meaning for the USA", 1979, inclusive
Fictional Writings Notebook, ca.1963, inclusive
"Focus on Racism" - (3 ts), 1973, inclusive
"For Peace, Jobs, and Equality", undated, inclusive
"From Cradle of Bourgeois Freedom to State Monopoly Capitalism", undated, inclusive
Ganbatte- Book Review , undated, inclusive
German Communist Party Conference (Bonn), Reports from, 1976, inclusive
"Government by the People" (60th Anniversary of Russian Revolution), 1973, inclusive
"The Great October Revolution and the United States of America" (For the International Conference of World Marxist Review), 1977, inclusive
"Grim Future for Native Americans", 1981, inclusive
"How People's Democracies Emerged", 1985, inclusive
"How Polish Government is Liquidating Bigotry", undated, inclusive
"How Socialist States Help Africa and Why" ts - New Quarterly, 1960, inclusive
"The Ideology of U.S. Messianism", undated, inclusive
"Imperialism's Main War Party - Then and Now", undated, inclusive
"An Impression of John Hope" (President, Morehouse College), undated, inclusive
"Impressions of Socialist Korea", undated, inclusive
"Inevitability of War in the Capitalist World", undated, inclusive
"Information for Changing the World", 1981, inclusive
"Inter-American Relations and the Export of Capital", undated, inclusive
"Jewish-Negro Relations", undated, inclusive
Journalism Dispatches, 1940s
Journalism Dispatches, 1942, inclusive
Journalism Dispatches ( Daily Worker), 1945, inclusive
Journalism Dispatches ( Daily Worker, People's World, Chicago Defender), 1946, inclusive
Journalism Dispatches ( Daily Worker, People's World, Chicago Defender), 1947, inclusive
Journalism Dispatches, 1948, inclusive
"Ku Klux Klan" by John Badger (aka John Pittman), undated, inclusive
"The Logic of a Life" ( Soviet Foreign Literature), 1961, inclusive
Lovejoy, E.P. - "N.S. Khrushchev's Visit Opens Way to a Significant Improvement in US - USSR Relations", 1959, inclusive
"Mandate System and World Peace" (Germany/Africa), 1936, inclusive
"Marxist - Leninist Party in the Soviet Union", 1976, inclusive
"Marxist Philosophy", undated, inclusive
"May Day Centenary", undated, inclusive
"May First: Its Origin and Significance", 1978, inclusive
Miscellaneous Writings, undated, inclusive
"Morehouse College Football Dope for 1925", 1925, inclusive
"Multi-National State Development", 1982, inclusive
"Nate Shaw: Man of the Heroic Mold (An Anatomy of the Survivals of Slavery: a Damning Indictment of Racism)", 1976, inclusive
"National Issues Before Congress Now in Session" - ( The Spokesman) By John Pierpont (aka John Pittman), 1937, inclusive
"National Questions in the USA in the 1970s", 1979, inclusive
Newspaper Columns (Clippings and Typescripts) Most by Robert Badger, undated , 1942-1945, inclusive
Newspaper Columns- The Daily Worker(Clippings), 1950, inclusive
Newspaper Columns (Typescripts), undated , 1946-1947, inclusive
Newspaper Columns- The Daily Worker(Clippings) "Of Things to Come", 1949-1953, inclusive
Newspaper Columns (Typescripts and Clippings), 1970-1980, inclusive
Newspaper Columns (Typescripts and Clippings), 1981, inclusive
Newspaper Columns (Typescripts and Clippings), 1982-1983, inclusive
North Korea, Trip to, 1969, inclusive
Notebooks (14), ca.1931 , ca.1968-1970s, inclusive
Notebooks: International Conference on the October Revolution and the Contemporary Scene, 1977, inclusive
Notebooks on Race (4), undated, inclusive
"Oriental Labor in California" (Bibliography), undated, inclusive
"Party Theoretical Work: Basis of Political and Ideological Struggle", undated, inclusive
"Peaceful Coexistence" Book Review, undated, inclusive
"Permanent Commissions of the Soviets", 1978, inclusive
Pittman, Margrit, Writings re: Soviet Union, 1959-1962, inclusive
Playwriting, Notes on, undated, inclusive
"Point Four - New Name for the Old Imperialism", 1950, inclusive
Political Affairs- Articles (ts) , 1973 , 1983, inclusive
Political Affairs- articles (photocopies) , 1958-1985, inclusive
Political Affairs- Margrit Pittman articles (photocopies) , 1968-1987, inclusive
Press Telegrams from Moscow, undated, inclusive
Press Telegrams from Moscow, 1959, inclusive
Press Telegrams from Moscow, Jan 1960-Jun 1960
Press Telegrams from Moscow, Jul 1960-Dec 1960
Press Telegrams from Moscow, Jan 1961-Jun 1961
Press Telegrams from Moscow, Jul 1961-Dec 1961
Press Telegrams from Moscow, 1962, inclusive
"Problem of the Subjective Lag", 1979, inclusive
"Problems of an Unemployed American", ca.1961, inclusive
"Proletarian Internationalism and the Revolutionary Process", undated, inclusive
"Race and the Pacific", 1942, inclusive
"Racism and War" (Parts I And II.), 1976, inclusive
"Racism, Class Roots of", 1976, inclusive
"Racism, Current Problems of the Struggle Against", undated, inclusive
"Racism: The Death Sentence for/A Death Sentence for/Is Sentenced to Death", 1970s, inclusive
Radio Broadcasts: KSAN (San Francisco), 1941, inclusive
Radio Broadcasts: KSAN (San Francisco), 1942, inclusive
"Readings from the Marxist - Leninist Classics", undated, inclusive
"Red Heels", 1925, inclusive
"A Report on the Soviet Theory and Practice of Peaceful Coexistence", undated, inclusive
"Robeson and the Soviet People" ( New World Review), 1961, inclusive
"The Rout of the Fascist Axis Bloc and the USA", 1985, inclusive
"Scientific and Technological Progress and the Position of the Working Class in Capitalist Countries", 1986, inclusive
"Similarities, Differences", 1979, inclusive
"Sixty Years of the Soviet Multinational State" ( The New World Review), 1982, inclusive
"Smog - How Socialism Deals with it", 1959, inclusive
"Socialism and Communism - Theory and Practice", 1981, inclusive
"Socialist Integration", 1979, inclusive
"Socialist Poland's Heroic Example", 1986, inclusive
"Some Aspects of the Life and Work of Karl Marx of Particular Significance to the People of the USA", 1978, inclusive
"Some Features of the Present Stage of the General Crisis of Capitalism in the USA", 1975, inclusive
Soviet Agriculture, Corrections of Article on, 1975, inclusive
"Soviet Armenia and the Forbidden Truth", 1961, inclusive
"Soviet Foreign Policy", 1941, inclusive
"Soviet Jazz: Another Challenge" ( Mainstream), 1961, inclusive
The Soviet Path to Peace, undated, inclusive
The Soviet Path to Peace- Two Reviews of (Hy Lumer and Irene Paull) , undated, inclusive
"The Struggle for Military Détente", 1977, inclusive
"The Struggle in the USA for the Second Front", 1975, inclusive
"Third World Non-Socialist Countries Winning Political Independence and Statehood During and After World War II" (List), undated, inclusive
"Three Levels of Peace Activity in the USA", 1930s, inclusive
"Towards a United, Independent, Sovereign Ireland", 1979, inclusive
"Trilateralism, US Imperialism's New Scenario", undated, inclusive
"Two Paths for America", 1953, inclusive
"Two Systems Competition", 1974, inclusive
"The United Nations and the Struggle for Détente", 1974, inclusive
Unpublished Writings, undated , 1967, inclusive
Untitled Typescript - "The Going in France is Tough, but not so Tough as Goebbels…", ca.1944-1945, inclusive
Untitled Typescript - "Hard, Bitter Fighting Awaits our European Invasion Armies…", ca.1943-1944, inclusive
Untitled Typescript - "We Live in an Epoch of World Revolution…", ca.1930s, inclusive
Untitled Writings, undated, inclusive
"Upturn in US Labor's Internationalism", 1980s, inclusive
"US Communists in the Struggle Against Unemployment", 1983, inclusive
"US Constitution: A Record of Unfulfilled Promises", ca.1987, inclusive
"USSR, An Introduction to Socialist Democracy in the", 1977, inclusive
"US Supreme Court and American Working Class Movement", 1931, inclusive
"US Workers and Latin America", 1980s, inclusive
"US Worker's Struggle", 1985, inclusive
"US Youth and the Nuclear War Threat", 1985, inclusive
"Victory and National Liberation", 1975, inclusive
"Victory and National Liberation: An Addendum" ( New World Review), 1975, inclusive
"The Victory of Poland's Trade Unions", 1986, inclusive
"Victory the Hard Way", 1942, inclusive
"The View from Soviet Estonia" ( Mainstream), 1961, inclusive
"Watergate and After", 1974, inclusive
"Watergate and Détente", undated, inclusive
"What is America to Me?", undated, inclusive
"What the CIA, FBI Exposés Disclose", undated, inclusive
"Why New Economic and Information Orders?", 1985, inclusive
World Marxist Review/ Prague - Misc. Pittman Typescripts , 1975-1979, inclusive
"World Politics and Global Problems", undated, inclusive
"The World This Week - GOP Platform, China's Celebration, South African Trends", 1944, inclusive
"World War II" [re: National Question, Colonial Issues], ca.1942-1944, inclusive
"A Year Long Emergency for the CPUSA", 1984, inclusive
"Zionism, The True Face of", 1976, inclusive
Series V. Photographs, Graphics, Realia, ca.1890s, 1960s-1970s, inclusive; 1960-1975, bulk
Scope and Content Note
These visual materials and artifacts (arranged alphabetically by folder title) mostly relate to John Pittman's friends, family, professional work and travels. Most of the materials in it are photographs (mainly black and white), unless otherwise indicated. Among the photographic portraits of Pittman and his relatives and friends are a late nineteenth/early twentieth century group photograph that includes his mother, Carrie Badger Pittman, and an early twentieth-century portrait of a man with a close resemblance to Pittman, who may be Pittman's father. Images shot in the Soviet Union (including Pittman at Red Square in front of Lenin's tomb with other dignitaries, and commercial photographs of various tourist spots in Moscow at night, such as the Kremlin lit by floodlights) and in Prague were probably shot at the same time as John and Margrit Pittman's stint as Moscow correspondents for the People's World and John Pittman's time on the editorial board of World Marxist Review. On the other hand, the small number of images from Mexico (shot by People's World photographer Elmer Allen) do not seem to have come from any journey that Pittman himself took; similarly there are a handful of photographic images of various persons with whom (with the likely exception of Angela Davis) Pittman was not personally acquainted, ranging from Lyndon Baines Johnson to an image of Le Quang Vinh (leader of the independent Hòa Hảo army of Vietnam that fought against the Viet Minh and who was imprisoned and executed by the government of South Vietnam). Graphics and realia include a small print of a New Masses logo, and plates and mat molds for the title and accompanying photograph of Pittman for his weekly column in the People's World, "The World This Week."
