Marjorie Heins Papers
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Abstract
Marjorie Heins (1946 - ) is a writer, a former civil rights and civil liberties attorney, and the past director of the Free Expression Policy Project (FEPP) and the American Civil Liberties Union's Arts Censorship Project. Heins has written popular and scholarly articles on free speech, censorship, constitutional law, copyright, and the arts, and has taught at New York University, the University of California - San Diego, Boston College Law School, and the American University of Paris. The Marjorie Heins Papers (dated 1968-2019) consist of materials created and collected by Heins in paper, analog audiovisual, and born-digital format documenting her career as a writer, civil liberties attorney, and founding FEPP director. Materials documenting Heins' research and writing include published articles, subject files, correspondence, reviews, and awards, and predominantly document her books Priests of Democracy: The Supreme Court, Academic Freedom, and the Anti-Communist Purge and Not in Front of the Children: 'Indecency', Censorship, and the Innoncence of Youth. The collection also documents Heins' involvement in the FEPP, including administrative records, research files, interviews, and policy reports on topics such as copyright, fair use, and internet filtering. The collection also includes materials on legal cases and free speech controversies in the 1990s and early 2000s through legal briefs, articles, original writings, and lectures. Audio and video recordings of Heins' public speaking and press appearances are also included in this collection.
Biographical Note
Marjorie Heins (1946 - ) is a writer, a former civil rights and civil liberties attorney, and the past director of the Free Expression Policy Project and the American Civil Liberties Union's Arts Censorship Project. Heins has written popular and scholarly articles on free speech, censorship, constitutional law, copyright, and the arts, and has taught at New York University, the University of California - San Diego, Boston College Law School, and the American University of Paris. She is the author of Priests of Our Democracy: The Supreme Court, Academic Freedom, and the Anti-Communist Purge; Not in Front of the Children: Indecency, Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth; Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy: A Guide to America's Censorship Wars; Cutting the Mustard: Affirmative Action and the Nature of Excellence; Strictly Ghetto Property: The Story of Los Siete de la Raza; and Ironies and Complications of Free Speech: News and Commentary from the Free Expression Policy Project, 2001-2017.
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.
Scope and Contents
The Marjorie Heins Papers (dated 1968-2019) consist of materials created and collected by Heins in paper, analog audiovisual, and born-digital format documenting her career as a writer, civil liberties attorney, and founding director of the Free Expression Policy Project (FEPP). Materials documenting Heins' research and writing include published articles, subject files, correspondence, reviews, and awards, and predominantly document her books Priests of Democracy: The Supreme Court, Academic Freedom, and the Anti-Communist Purge and Not in Front of the Children: 'Indecency', Censorship, and the Innoncence of Youth. The collection also documents Heins' involvement in the FEPP through administrative records, research files, interviews, and policy reports on topics such as copyright, fair use, and internet filtering. The collection also includes materials on legal cases and free speech controversies in the 1990s and early 2000s through legal briefs, articles, original writings, and lectures. Audio and video recordings of Heins' public speaking and press appearances are also included in this collection.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Marjorie Heins Papers; TAM 805; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Marjorie Heins in June 2021; the accession number associated with this gift is 2021.030.
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 Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures
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 rehoused in archival boxes, with loose material or overly filled folders housed in archival folders. Optical discs were identified, forensically imaged, and intellectually arranged maintaining the donor's original order. Two optical discs (TW_TAM_805_1 and TW_TAM_805_13) could not be imaged and are not arranged or described in the collection. 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.
In February 2025, new digital objects for processed electronic records were created to conform to current practices. Related files in the inventory were reorganized so that individual formats were listed separately.
