Committees of Correspondence (U.S.) Records

Call Number

TAM.220

Date

1991-1997, inclusive

Creator

Committees of Correspondence (U.S.) (Role: Donor)

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet

in one record carton and two manuscript boxes.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The Committees on Correspondence was organized in 1992 after the 1991 Communist Party USA convention as a non-Leninist, democratic socialist organization to dispute the policies and leadership of CPUSA head, Gus Hall. The movement centered around the respected veteran communist and former leading CP official, Gil Green (1906-1997). The Committees on Correspondence sought to reach out to others on the left outside the Party, and held conferences in 1992 and 1994 to formally establish the new organization. Around 2000, the Committee on Correspondence changed its name to the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. The collection includes: letters, memos, statements, minutes, photographs, and emails that document formation of the organization and national leadership meeting minutes.

Historical/Biographical Note

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw, within the Communist Party of the USA (aka CP or CPUSA), the growth of an informal dissident reformist current, centered around the respected veteran communist and former leading CP official, Gil Green (1906-1997). Prepatory to the CP's November 1991 national convention in Cleveland, this group coalesced under the name "Initiative" to dispute the policies and leadership of CP head Gus Hall. After their defeat, which included an acrimonious credentials struggle that saw the Cleveland police called to enforce the rulings of the Gus Hall-dominated convention, the reformers withdrew from the CP and established the Committees of Correspondence in 1992 as a non-Leninist, democratic socialist organization. The new group, while composed principally of ex-Communists, sought to reach out to others on the left, and held a conference in San Francisco in July 1992, to formally establishing a new organization, which did not occur until the July 1994 convention in Chicago. The organization's name was changed, circa 2000, to the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

The content of this collection reflects the origins of the Committees of Correspondence. Since the split with the CPUSA was in large measure connected to different approaches towards democratic processes within the Party, these procedures take up a lot of room in the discussions. There is also discussion of the meaning and relevance of socialism and socialist ideas in light of the collapse of the Communist bloc. Discussions of the envisioned character of the new organization are in various forms: letters, memos, statements, executive committee and national coordinating committee meeting minutes, photographs of members, and emails. The national leadership discussions are documented in detailed minutes and, frequently, hand-written notes by participants; the same is true for the national conventions. Although the Committees of Correspondence consisted of many local branches, it is only the Northern Californians whose activities are reflected here. The correspondence is largely national with some contacts to the international leftist scene.

Subjects

Organizations

Committees of Correspondence (U.S.); Communist Party of the United States of America; Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism

Genres

Correspondence.; Electronic mail.; Minutes (administrative records)

People

Green, Gil, 1906-

Topics

Socialism -- United States.; Communism -- United States.

Donors

Committees of Correspondence (U.S.)

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 Committees of Correspondence was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Committees of Correspondence (U.S.) Records; TAM 220; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Materials were donated by the Committees of Correspondence in circa 2000. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 2000.010, 2000.011, and NPA.2005.071.

Custodial History

The archived website was migrated from the California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service to the Internet Archive's Archive-It Service in November 2015. The link to California Digital Library was removed in October 2017.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Due to technical or privacy issues, archived websites may not be exact copies of the original website at the time of the web crawl. Certain file types will not be captured dependent on how they are embedded in the site. Other parts of websites that the crawler has difficulty capturing includes Javascript, streaming content, database-driven content, and highly interactive content. Full-Text searches of archived websites are available at https://archive-it.org/organizations/567.

Related Materials

Gil Green Papers (TAM 095)

Collection processed by

Katja Vehlow, 2000

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:57:40 -0400.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: Description is in English.

Processing Information

Photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and were established as a separate collection, the Committees of Correspondence (U.S.) Photographs (PHOTOS 208). In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Committees of Correspondence (U.S.) Records.

In 2014, the archived websites were added as a series.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from CoC Guide.doc

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives