John Vago Papers
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Date
Creator
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Language of Materials
Abstract
The John Vago Papers contain flyers, programs, photographs, slides, and video reels related to his work with the New York Marxist School and his travels to the Soviet Union, Mongolia, and Switzerland. John Vago worked for the Communist Party of the United States of America's New York School for Marxist Studies where he served as chairman of the Student Committee on Progressive Education. He also visited the Soviet Union where he participated in several youth festivals and was selected as a Communist Party delegate to the Mongolian People's Republic in 1975. Approximately half of the collection consists of New York School for Marxist Studies curriculum materials and flyers from 1959 to 1968. The remainder of the collection contains travel documents, notes, photographs, and memorabilia from Vago's travels in Europe and the USSR between 1959 and 1975.
Biographical / Historical
John Vago worked for the Communist Party of the United States of America's New York School for Marxist Studies where he served as chairman of the Student Committee on Progressive Education. He also visited the Soviet Union where he participated in several youth festivals and was selected as a Communist Party delegate to the Mongolian People's Republic in 1975. After his return from Mongolia, Vago held several lectures and slide shows about the Mongolian People's Republic and Mongolian culture.
Arrangement
This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor. The donor has grouped materials in rough categories by topic.
Scope and Contents
The John Vago Papers contain flyers, programs, photographs, slides, and video reels related to his work with the New York Marxist School and his travels to the Soviet Union, Mongolia, and Switzerland. Vago served as the chairman of the Student Committee on Progressive Education and approximately half of the collection consists of New York School for Marxist Studies curriculum materials and flyers. These materials include course schedules and mailings related to course registration, flyers for lectures and events, and notes and outlines related to lectures between 1959 and 1968. The collection also contains travel documents, notes, photographs, and memorabilia from Vago's travels in Europe and the USSR. They document his travels to the Helsinki Youth Festival in 1962, Vago's travels to the Vienna World Youth Festival and Hungary in 1959 and 1962, and his travels to Mongolia in 1975. These materials include 7 8mm film reels and several hundred slides from Vago's trips abroad. Slides document Vago's travels in Mongolia, which he used in lectures about the Mongolian People's Republic. Films in the collection document youth marches and festivals between 1958 and 1962. The collection also contains a railroad spike Vago acquired during his travels, although the origin of the spike is unclear.
Subjects
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by John Vago, the creator of this collection, were relinquished and transferred to the public domain in 2016 by John Vago. These materials are governed by a Creative Commons CC0 license, which permits publication and reproduction of materials accompanied by full attribution. See, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; John Vago Papers; TAM 695; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by John Vago in 2016. The accession number associated with this gift is 2016.064.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. 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
At the time of accessioning several envelopes from New York Marxist School mailings were removed from the collection. Envelopes were discarded because they showed evidence of mold damage and lacked sufficient contextual or informational value.
About this Guide
Processing Information
At the time of accessioning materials were moved into archival housing and described at the collection level.
Several items in this collection have been treated for mold. Additionally, mailings from the New York School for Marxist Studies contained numerous envelopes that showed traces of mold growing in the envelope adhesive. These envelopes held little contextual or informational value and were discarded.
