Michael Zweig Papers
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Abstract
Michael Zweig was professor of economics at the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook whose research focused on labor and the working class. He was also involved social and labor activism including founding SUNY Stony Brook's Center for Study of Working Class Life (CSWCL), organizing in the United University Professions (AFT Local 2190), and was also serving as the chair of the Higher Education Chapter of the Socialist Party. His paper document his involvement with the Center for the Study of Working Class Life (CSWCL) and the founding of the Working Class Studies Association (WCSA). They also contain select documents related to Zweig's work documenting the Iran hostage crisis, his involvement with the formation of the Labor Party (operated 1996-2007), and participation in several 1989 Arab/Israeli peace demonstrations.
Biographical Note
Michael Zweig was a professor of economics at the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook. His research focused on class and labor. Zweig founded SUNY Stony Brook's Center for Study of Working Class Life (CSWCL) and the affiliated organization the Working Class Studies Association (WCSA). He was also active in the United University Professions (AFT Local 2190), and served as the chair of the Higher Education Chapter of the Labor Party, which operated between 1996 and 2007. Zweig retired from SUNY Stony Brook in 2016. Following Zweig's retirement, the CSWCL was renamed the Center for the Study of Inequality, Social Justice and Policy (CSISJP) to broaden its scope and focus.
In 1980, Zweig traveled to Iran with James Cockcroft and Eva Cockcroft on an eight-day fact finding trip to interview Iranian citizens about the hostage crisis at the United States embassy.
Arrangement
This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. Materials are in the order in which they were received by the donor.
Scope and Contents
The Michael Zweig Papers (dated 1980-2016) document several select periods during Zweig's career as a professor of economics at the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook. The bulk of the collection documents his involvement with the Center for the Study of Working Class Life (CSWCL) and the founding of the Working Class Studies Association (WCSA). Materials from the CSWCL include correspondence, project proposals, budgets, and conference schedules and programs, dated 2002-2016. Files from the WCSA include meeting minutes, drafts of by-laws, and internal correspondence.
The collection also contains select materials related to Zweig's work documenting the Iran hostage crisis; his involvement with the formation of the short-lived Labor Party (operated 1996-2007); and participation in several 1989 Arab/Israeli peace demonstrations. Records from Zweig's reporting in Iran include correspondence and a notebook documenting his eight-day fact finding trip in 1980, as well as reports and articles from the SUNY Stony Brook student newspaper detailing his experience. Materials documenting his Arab/Israeli peace demonstrations include schedules and information flyers for Passover Peace Coalition demonstrations and the Road to Peace Conference as well as newsletters from progressive Jewish organizations. The collection also contains Labor Party organizing materials. Zweig was a founding member of the Labor Party and his papers include correspondence, schedules, and agendas documenting early party conventions and party building activities.
Subjects
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Michael Zweig, the creator of this collection, were relinquished and transferred to the public domain in 2017 by Michael Zweig. 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; Michael Zweig Papers; TAM 734; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Michael Zweig in 2017. The accession number assoicated with this gift is 2018.028.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.
About this Guide
Processing Information
At the time of accessioning the collection was described at the collection-level with a brief inventory. One CD-R was forensically imaged and analyzed in Forensic Toolkit. New York University Libraries follows professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity of the content.
In February 2025, a new digital object for the processed electronic records was created to conform to current practices.
