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Bettina Aptheker Interview, 2015 March 27

Box: Electronic Records, Folder: TW_VID_18_ER_1 (Material Type: electronic records)

Extent

1 item on portable 1 terrabyte hard drive

Scope and Contents

This oral history with Bettina Aptheker was conducted by Timothy Naftali on March 27, 2015. The oral history runs approximately 140 minutes. The interview covers Aptheker's experience in the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) including her participation in the DuBois Clubs, and on the party's National Committee. She recounts her opposition of the party leaders, including her father Herbert Aptheker, at the 1968 Communist Party convention over the Soviet Union's invasion of Czechoslovakia. She also discusses her sexuality, coming out as a lesbian in the 1970s, and homophobia in the Communist Party. Other topics she addresses include the Vietnam War, civil rights, the Black Panthers, Angela Davis, and the FBI's covert program COINTELPRO.

Digital materials

Aptheker, Bettina Interview (Material Type: Electronic Record)

Leslie Cagan Interviews, 2014 November 17 - 2015 February 9, inclusive

Box: Electronic Records, Folder: TW_VID_18_ER_2 (Material Type: electronic records)

Extent

362.7 Gigabytes in 37 computer files

Scope and Contents

This oral history with Leslie Cagan was conducted by Rosalyn Baxandall and Michael Koncewicz in three separate interviews recorded between November 2014 and February 2015 at New York University's King Juan Carlos Center in New York City. The oral history runs approximately 340 minutes. Cagan discusses the influence of family on her activism and how she became involved in organizing as a student at New York University (NYU). She discusses her work as an organizer for social justice marches and demonstrations, her involvement with anti-war groups like Mobilization for Survival and for LGBT rights, and her work with politicians like David Dinkins and Bill de Blasio. She also discusses her involvement in anti-war activism, and the differences between the movement before and after the 2001 September 11th terrorist attacks.

Digital materials

Cagan, Leslie Interviews: 2014-11-17-2015-02-09 (Material Type: Electronic Record)

Timothy Hobson Interview, 2014 May 8

Box: Electronic Records, Folder: TW_VID_18_ER_3 (Material Type: electronic records)

Scope and Contents

This oral history with Timothy Hobson was conducted by Timothy Naftali on May 8, 2014 at New York University's King Juan Carlos Center in New York City. The oral history runs approximately 180 minutes. The interview covers the espionage allegations against Hobson's stepfather Alger Hiss. Hobson discusses the allegations made by ex-Communist Whittaker Chambers and his claims about being close with the Hiss family. Hobson describes his personal memories of Chambers and his family, and the Hiss defense team's decision not to call Hobson to the stand as a witness in his stepfather's perjury trials. Hobson also discusses the "undesirable" discharge he received from the U.S. Navy for admitting he was gay, and the effects of that discharge later in his life.

Digital materials

Hobson, Timothy Interview: 2014-05-08- (Material Type: Electronic Record)

Frances Seidman O'Brien Biographical File, 1980-2000, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 1 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Frances Seidman O'Brien Interview, 2011

Box: Electronic Records, Folder: TW_VID_18_ER_4 (Material Type: electronic records)

Scope and Contents

This oral history with Frances Seidman O'Brien was conducted by Anita Altman in 2011 at an unknown location. The oral history runs approximately 90 minutes, and covers O'Brien's political activism in youth organizations and her involvement in community and affordable housing activism. She discusses her life growing up in New York City, and her parents' experience as Eastern European immigrants. She recounts living in Mexico while her husband Vaughn Thomas O'Brien volunteered as a bodyguard for Leon Trotsky during his exile. The bulk of the interview focuses on O'Brien's activist work in New York including her work for the Spanish Refugee Aid, where she served on the board, on local school and community boards, and organizing for affordable housing.

Digital materials

O'Brien, Frances Seidman Interview: 2011- (Material Type: Electronic Record)

Hunter Pitts "Jack" O'Dell Interview, 2015 June 19, inclusive

Box: Electronic Records, Folder: TW_VID_18_ER_5 (Material Type: electronic records)

Scope and Contents

This oral history with Hunter Pitts "Jack" O'Dell was conducted by Timothy Naftali on June 19, 2015 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The oral history runs approximately 215 minutes. O'Dell begins the interview by discussing his experience in the Merchant Marines and his work as a union organizer in the National Maritime Union. He discusses joining the Communist Party, and although he was only a member for 7 years, he describes individuals like James Jackson as highly influential to his political beliefs. He describes his work with Freedomways and the relationship between the Southern Negro Youth Congress (SNYC) and the Communist Party. O'Dell also recounts his work for the New York office of the Southern Christian Leadership Congress (SCLC), working with Martin Luther King Jr., and eventually leaving the organization because of backlash related to his affiliation to the Communist Party. At the end of the interview he discusses his work with Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition.

Digital materials

O'Dell, Hunter Pitts "Jack" Interview: 2015-06-19- (Material Type: Electronic Record)

Daniel Rubin Interview, 2014 September 5

Box: Electronic Records, Folder: TW_VID_18_ER_6 (Material Type: electronic records)

Scope and Contents

This oral history with Daniel Rubin was conducted by Timothy Naftali on September 5, 2014 at Hobson's home in Brooklyn, New York. The oral history runs approximately 180 minutes. The interview covers Rubin's involvement in the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). He recounts his earliest political memories and the influences that drew him to Marxism and socialism, and describes his work with communist youth organizations like the DuBois Clubs and the socialist youth publication New Horizons. Rubin discusses organizing for African American civil rights and describes his involvement in the Freedom Rides and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) youth leadership. At the end of the interview he discusses the split of the Communist Party in 1991.

Digital materials

Rubin, Daniel Interview: 2014-09-05- (Material Type: Electronic Record)
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012