Daniel Rubin Papers
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Abstract
Mortimer Daniel Rubin (1931-2015) was a prominent member of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). He held many leadership positions in the Communist Party including National Youth Secretary, National Organizational Secretary, Head of the Department of Economic and Social Rights, and Education Secretary. His papers provide a broad view of Rubin's political life and his work within the Communist Party, documenting how his personal and intellectual life were heavily intertwined with his political activism. They consist of national Communist Party administrative files documenting his leadership position within the Party, including correspondence, meeting minutes, memoranda, bulletins, notes, drafts of essays and official Party statements, educational course outlines, and collected articles and pamphlets. The collection also contains files related to Rubin's split from the CPUSA in 1991 and his involvement in the creation of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. Other files document Rubin's work after he renewed his Communist Party membership in 2000.
Biographical Note
Mortimer Daniel Rubin (1931-2015) was a prominent member of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). Rubin was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1931. Better known as Daniel Rubin, he was raised in a Jewish, communist household and involved in progressive and communist activism from an early age. In 1947 he joined the Progressive Citizens of America and was founding member of the Young Progressives of America. He attended Swarthmore College where he joined Citizens for a Free City College, as well as American Youth for Democracy, a Communist Party affiliated youth organization. He began law school at University of Pennsylvania in 1953 and in that year became one of three members in the Eastern-Pennsylvania Labor Youth League. Rubin attended his first CPUSA convention in 1956 as a delegate to the 16th National Convention. In that year, he became a board member of the CPUSA's Philadelphia district and the district's Youth Secretary. In 1959 Rubin was elected to the National Committee of the CPUSA and invited to move to New York to become the organization's National Youth Secretary, a position he held until 1964. Rubin became the Party's National Organizational Secretary in 1964, a position he held until 1974. Rubin was deeply involved in CPUSA national work until 1991, serving as head of the Department of Economic and Social Rights from 1974 to 1980, and Educational Director from 1981 to 1992. Following the 1991 National Convention, Rubin and several other prominent members split from the Party and formed the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. Rubin renewed his membership with CPUSA in 2000 and remained an active member until his death in 2015. During these years his work focused primarily on club and district organizing in Brooklyn and New York State.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into five series, which reflect Daniel Rubin's work and leadership roles within the Communist Party of the United States. Materials in Series I-IV are arranged by Communist Party departments: Series I: National Organizational Department, Series II: Youth Commission, Series III: Economic and Social Rights Commission, and Series IV: Education Department, which Rubin led at different times during his membership. Inclusion of materials in these series, however, is not exclusively limited to the years he directed these departments as he contributed to efforts of various departments even when he was not in a leadership position. Series I: National Organizational Department has been further divided into subseries to reflect major functions of the national Party work: Subseries I.A: General Files, Subseries I.B: Clubs and Districts, Subseries I.C: Conventions, Subseries I.D: Elections, and Subseries I.E: National Council and National Committee Meetings. Series V: Post 1991 Spilt, documents Rubin's political work in the years following the major rupture in the Communist Party at the 1991 National Convention.
Scope and Content Note
The Daniel Rubin Papers (dated 1940s-2015) provide a broad view of Daniel Rubin's political life and his work within the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). Daniel Rubin's papers document how his personal and intellectual life were heavily intertwined with his political activism, and in particular his work for the Party. Most well represented among his papers are files from Rubin's work as National Organizational Secretary and his work with national organizational bodies of the Party such as the National Committee and the National Board. Also well represented in his papers are correspondence, reports, and organizing files related to his leadership of the Youth Commission, the Economic and Social Rights Commission, and the Education Department. The collection also contains files related to Rubin's split from the CPUSA in 1991 and his involvement in the creation of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. Other files document Rubin's work after he renewed his Communist Party membership in 2000. During that time, Rubin worked to strengthen the CPUSA's Brooklyn Club and served as a member of the New York District Executive Committee and the CPUSA National Committee. These materials consist of National Party correspondence, minutes, memoranda, bulletins, notes, drafts of essays and official Party statements, educational course outlines, and collected articles and pamphlets. Rubin was deeply also interested in the history of Judaism and communism, and his papers dated after 1991 include extensive research files on international Jewish issues and the role of Jews in Communist Party.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions with the exception of box 241, folders 1-3, and box 242, folders 2-8. Access to these folders are restricted until 2068.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by Daniel Rubin, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Daniel Rubin Papers; TAM 657; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Daniel Rubin in 2014; additional materials were purchased from Dorothoy Rubin in 2016. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 2014.168 and 2015.010.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted. Born-digital materials have not been transferred and may not be available to researchers. Researchers may request access copies. To request that material be transferred, or if you are unsure if material has been transferred, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Access to audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Appraisal
Approximately 12 boxes of newspaper clippings files, periodicals, and collected articles were removed from the collection. Clippings were largely from trade publications and held little research value, while publications included copies of Communist Party produced periodicals and publications from related organizations that are already included in the Tamiment Library's serials collections. An additional 14 boxes of books and pamphlets that duplicated materials already in Tamiment's holding were also deaccessioned.
A small amount of financial records and receipts were also removed from the collection. These items contained personal financial information and contained limited research value.
Additionally, several boxes containing printed out emails and online articles related to local New York City politics from the early 2000s were weeded by the archivist and bulk emails from political campaigns and progressive listservs were deaccessioned. Only the emails that documented Rubin's direct involvement with these campaigns were retained. These included emails directly addressed to Rubin, or discussion list conversations in which Rubin participated.
Other materials removed from the collection include duplicate buttons, lapel pins, duplicates audio tapes of the Gus Hall program Update, and an off-air recording of an episode of NPR's All Things Considered.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Materials in the collection have been rehoused and arranged by the archivist. The bulk of the collection was originally housed in folders created by Rubin. All original folders have been replaced, and many folders with vague or general titles have been modified by the archivist to provide clarity and specificity. Original folder titles have been retained where possible. The collection has been arranged by the archivist to reflect Rubin's involvement with the Communist Party and his leadership roles within the organization.
A portion of this collection was damaged by mold and pests. Several boxes of the mold damaged materials were appraised by the curator and deaccessioned. Records of higher value have been retained, and cleaned by the archivist or a vendor. Cleaned materials that were exposed to pests and mold have been clearly labeled to notify researchers of any potential health hazards.
