Joshua B. Freeman Research Files on the Transport Workers Union of America
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Abstract
Joshua B. Freeman is a historian whose research focuses on U.S. labor history and the U.S. in the twentieth century. The collection is primarily records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation pertaining to the Transport Workers Union of America and its subunits during the 1940s, obtained by Freeman under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1980.
Historical/Biographical Note
Joshua B. Freeman is a historian whose research focuses on U.S. labor history and the U.S. in the twentieth century. Freeman obtained a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1970 and went on to earn a master's degree in 1976 and a Ph.D. in 1983, both from Rutgers University. He is the author of In Transit: The Transport Workers Union in New York City, 1933-1966, which details the formation and development of the TWU, with particular emphasis on the role of Communists and veterans of the Irish Republican Army. He also wrote Working-Class New York: Life and Labor Since World War II and co-authored Who Built America? Working People and the Nation's Economy, Politics, Culture, and Society Vol. II. In 1987 he was appointed an assistant professor at Columbia University, and became an associate professor in 1991. Freeman is currently a professor at Queens College, City University of New York. He serves on the editorial board of the journal International Labor and Working-Class History and is a consulting editor for the New Labor Forum.
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 collection is primarily records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation pertaining to the Transport Workers Union of America and its subunits during the 1940s, obtained by Joshua B. Freeman under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1980. The collection also includes several pieces of correspondence written to Freeman from the Department of Justice regarding his FOIA request.
The collection also contains a banner that was hung above the speakers' podium in the Low Library rotunda at Columbia University during "The Fight for America's Future: A Teach-In with the Labor Movement," held October 3-4, 1996 at Columbia University. The transcript of the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg vs. United States and papers related to the Citizen's Committee for the Metropolitan Music School also make up part of the collection.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Joshua B. Freeman were transferred to New York University in 2012 by Joshua B. Freeman. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu, (212) 998-2630.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Joshua B. Freeman Research Files on the Transport Workers Union of America; WAG 326; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Joshua B. Freeman in April 2012. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 2012.042 and 2012.045.
About this Guide
Processing Information
This collection is unprocessed. Materials remain in their original order. Folder titles added by the archivist are indicated with square brackets.
