Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women Newspaper and Pamphlet Collection
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Abstract
The Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women were founded in the mid-1960s in Seattle as revolutionary feminist organizations within the socialist movement. The two organizations formally affiliated in 1973. This collection consists of serials and pamphlets collected by the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. The subjects represented in the titles and content of the publications are socialism, feminism, lesbian and gay liberation, indigenous organizing, and prisoners' issues, among others. There are a limited number of international titles. The collection is an excellent source of information about the small presses of the revolutionary Left, as well as the history of the movements reflected in, and publishing, the newspapers and pamphlets.
Historical/Biographical Note
The Freedom Socialist Party (FSP) was founded in Seattle, Washington in 1966 after a split in the U.S. Socialist Workers Party. Radical Women was created the following year by FSP founder Clara Fraser, her friend Gloria Martin, and activists from Students for a Democratic Society. Both organizations were established in the political contexts of international liberation struggles, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War. The political programs of these organizations, heavily influenced by Trotskyism, attempt to situate racial justice, women's, and gay liberation movements within the Marxist framework. Therefore, the FSP and Radical Women look to these historically oppressed groups to provide revolutionary leadership. Radical Women provides trainings for women to assume leadership roles in social justice movements. Both organizations have been active in the anti-Vietnam war movement, union organizing, indigenous struggles and LGBTQ issues. The FSP and Radical Women formally affiliated in 1973.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into three series. The first two series are arranged in alphabetical order by title; Series III is arranged in alphabetical order by subject.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of newspapers and pamphlets collected by the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. The publications span the 1930s to the 2000s, with the bulk from the 1970s to the early 1980s. The collection includes over 300 titles, from primarily American publishers, with a small number of international titles. The serials often only include one or two issues from each title. This collection is particularly strong in the following subject areas: socialism, feminism, gay liberation, civil rights, indigenous organizing and prisoners' issues. A small number of pamphlets address similar topics, with an additional focus on international issues, including Angola, Ireland and South Africa. The collection also includes subject files, which are comprised of newspapers and pamphlets that were arranged topically by the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. The collection is an excellent source of information about the small presses of the revolutionary Left, as well as the history of the movements reflected in, and publishing, the newspapers and pamphlets.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items in the collection; these items are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from this collection.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women Newspaper and Pamphlet Collection; TAM 653; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Helen Gilbert on behalf of Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party in 2014. The accession number associated with this gift is 2014.138.
Separated Materials
Duplicate issues were removed from the collection.
About this Guide
Processing Information
At the time of acquistion, most of the materials were arranged loosely by title. During processing, all materials were placed in archival boxes and folders and arranged into alphabetical order by title of the serial or pamphlet. A small grouping of subject files was present within the collection (mixed into the alphabetical run of titles). These folders containing subject files were separated and placed in Series III. Folder titles in Series III are original to the FSP/Radical Women, except those in square brackets, which have been supplied by the archivist.
