Aaron Leonard Collection of FOIA Files
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Abstract
Aaron Leonard is a writer and historian whose primary focus is the history of radicalism and state suppression of radicalism. Leonard is the author of Heavy Radicals: The FBI's Secret War on America's Maoists (2014), A Threat of the First Magnitude: FBI Counterintelligence and Infiltration from the Communist Party to the Revolutionary, 1962-1974 (2017), and The Folk Singers and the Bureau: The FBI, the Folk Artists and the Suppression of the Communist Party, 1939-1956 (2020). The Aaron Leonard Collection of FOIA Files consists of pdfs of declassified Federal Bureau of Investigation documents requested by Leonard through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), many of which were obtained as part of his research for The Folk Singers and the Bureau. Materials include pdfs of FBI reports and memoranda on multiple actors, musicians, writers, and composers documenting the subjects' employment, residences, daily activities, travel, and political affiliations, especially any documented or perceived connection to the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). Subjects of these files include Mary Barnicle, Aaron Copland, Howard Da Silva, Ronnie Gilbert, Archie Green, Marjoie Guthrie, Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, Cisco Houston, Burl Ives, Aunt Molly Jackson, Millard Lampell, Harold Leventhal, Bess Lomax Hawes, Alan Lomax, Harvey Matusow, Brownie McGhee, Abel Meeropol, Ed Robbin, Suze Rotolo, Pete Seeger, Irwin Silber, Dave Van Ronk, Josh White, and Hally Wood. The files document the federal surveillance of figures in the performing arts during the 1940s and 1950s for evidence of subversive or treasonous actions.
Biographical Note
Aaron Leonard is a writer and historian whose primary focus is the history of radicalism and state suppression of radicalism. Leonard is the author of Heavy Radicals: The FBI's Secret War on America's Maoists (2014), A Threat of the First Magnitude: FBI Counterintelligence and Infiltration from the Communist Party to the Revolutionary, 1962-1974 (2017), and The Folk Singers and the Bureau: The FBI, the Folk Artists and the Suppression of the Communist Party, 1939-1956 (2020). He is also a regular contributor to the History News Network, Truthout, and Jacobin.
Arrangement
Files are arranged alphabetically by subject's last name.
Scope and Contents
The Aaron Leonard Collection of FOIA Files consists of pdfs of declassified Federal Bureau of Investigation documents requested by Leonard through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), many of which were obtained as part of his research for The Folk Singers and the Bureau: The FBI, the Folk Artists and the Suppression of the Communist Party, 1939-1956. Materials include pdfs of FBI reports and memoranda on multiple actors, musicians, writers, and composers documenting the subjects' employment, residences, daily activities, travel, and political affiliations, especially any documented or perceived connection to the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). Subjects of these files include Mary Barnicle, Aaron Copland, Howard Da Silva, Ronnie Gilbert, Archie Green, Marjoie Guthrie, Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, Cisco Houston, Burl Ives, Aunt Molly Jackson, Millard Lampell, Harold Leventhal, Bess Lomax Hawes, Alan Lomax, Harvey Matusow, Brownie McGhee, Abel Meeropol, Ed Robbin, Suze Rotolo, Pete Seeger, Irwin Silber, Dave Van Ronk, Josh White, and Hally Wood. The files document the federal surveillance of figures in the performing arts during the 1940s and 1950s for evidence of subversive or treasonous actions.
Subjects
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Genres
People
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Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Materials in this collection are in the public domain. Permission to publish or reproduce is not required.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Aaron Leonard Collection of FOIA Files; TAM 762; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Aaron Leonard in September 2018, with accretions of files in November 2021 and April 2024; the accession numbers associated with these gift are 2018.123, 2021.076, and 2024.026.
Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures
Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted. 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, materials were described on the collection-level. Groupings of individual pdf documents are original to the donor's directory structure. Subsequent accretions have been intellectually incorporated into the alphabetic order. New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.
