Conservatism, the Right Wing, and the Far Right: A Guide to Archives. Archie Henderson

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an organization dedicated to the protection of constitutional rights and liberties in the United States. It was founded in 1920 by a group of civil libertarians. Established in 1935 as Seattle ACLU, becoming Washington state chapter in Seattle, Washington, in the 1960s. Accession No. 1177-001, American Civil Liberties Union of Washington Records, circa 1955-1975, contains general subject files on abortion, American Legion, Bricker Amendment, de facto segregation, equal rights, extremism, flag desecration, Fund for the Republic, Guaranteed Annual Income, gun control, Gwinn Amendment, homosexuality - gay rights, Ku Klux Klan, loyalty oaths, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, right to work laws, right wing activities, and Lawrence Timbers. Accession No. 1177-024, American Civil Liberties Union of Washington Records, circa 1960-1987, contains correspondence, mailings, planning files, committee files, conferences and conventions, other record series; three 16mm films, early 1960s. The 16mm movie film "Operation Abolition" is about the spread of Communism; ACLU fought its distribution to the public schools in the early 1960s. "Operation Correction" is a film produced by the ACLU to counter distortions in "Operation Abolition". The third film is untitled.

      Finding aids:

      http://www.lib.washington.edu/static/public/specialcollections/findingaids/1177-001.pdf

      http://digital.lib.washington.edu/findingaids/view?docId=AmericanCivilLibertiesUnionofWashington1177.xml

      http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv75164

      [0083] American Civil Liberties Union Records: Subgroup 2, Organizational Matters Series, 1947-1995, MC001.02.01

      Location: Public Policy Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library, 2001 Princeton University Library, One Washington Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08544

      Description: The American Civil Liberties Union Records document the activities of the Union in protecting individual rights from 1920 through 1995. Subseries 1E.1: Departments: Executive Directors, 1950-1978, includes material from Roger Baldwin, Patrick Murphy Malin, John de J. Pemberton, Jr. and Ayreh Neier, including a file on Malin: Free Speech - Rockwell Case - American Nazi Party. Subseries 1E.2: Departments: Executive Director Aryeh Neier, 1970-1978, documents Neier's service as National Executive Director of the ACLU from 1970 to 1978. The administrative files contain numerous internal memoranda and correspondence concerning the ACLU's involvement in various legal and social issues, including Abortion, Philip Agee, Anti-ACLU, Robert Bork, James L. Buckley, William F. Buckley, Busing, Cointelpro, Desegregation, Frank Donner, Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), gun control, Flag Desecration, John Heinz, III, Hyde Amendment, Jewish Defense League, Libertarian Party, Morality in Media, School Desegregation, Shockley Free Speech Case, Skokie Case (the ACLU's support of the right of Nazis to parade through the predominantly Jewish Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois), and Sterilization. Subseries 1E.3: Departments: Associate Director Alan Reitman, 1948-1986, contain correspondence, memoranda, reports, and statements which document Reitman's role in ACLU operations. Sub-subseries Subject Files, 1963-1989, contains files on Conservatives, Frank Donner, Ku Klux Klan, Moral Majority, and Nazi Party- Skokie, Illinois. Subseries 1E.4: Departments: Assistant Director Dorothy Dunbar Bromley, 1959-1962, documents her tenure as assistant director of the American Civil Liberties Union. The Church and State materials contain files on Bible Reading in Public Schools, Fairness Doctrine: Anti-Communist Programs, Regents' Prayer Case (Long Island, NY) [Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), prohibiting the use of a Regent's prescribed prayer in New York public schools], and Right-Wing Attacks. Subseries 1E.8: Departments: Legal, 1937-1980. Sub-subseries Subject File, 1937-1954, contains files on Group Libel, Gwinn Amendment Data, Ku Klux Klan, and Poll Tax Research Material. Sub-subseries Subject File, 1946-1960, bulk 1954-1960, contains a file on School Integration: John Kasper, 1957. Subseries 1E.9: Departments: Membership, 1951-1971, contains a file on Ezra Pound Fake Application, 1954. Subseries 1E.10: Departments: Public Information and Education Office, 1966-1988, bulk 1975-1987, primarily contains the records of Trudi Schutz, who served as Press Director (1974-1975) and Director of the Public Information and Education Office (1975-1987). Files on Abortion, Philip Agee, Walter and Frances Bergman: FBI providing information to Ku Klux Klan, Robert H. Bork: Confirmation Hearings, Creationism Bills, Desegregation of Schools, and Nazis-in-Skokie. Subseries 1I: Meetings and Celebrations, 1947-1995, bulk 1949-1989, contains files on Conference on Effect of Ultra-Right Organizations on Democratic Process (1962), Greenwich Conference (1962), and Right Wing Analysis; Research; Conference on a Preserving Democratic Press (1962) [i.e., the Conference on Preserving the Democratic Process, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee and held in Greenwich, Connecticut, January 25-27, 1962]. Subseries 1M: Attacks and Commendations, 1936-1982, bulk 1948-1970. Sub-subseries Attacks, 1936-1982, documents attacks leveled against the ACLU by the press, various institutions, and individuals. The majority of the attacks on the ACLU came from the American Legion. The attacks on the ACLU occurred primarily during the McCarthy years, and were concerned with a suspected relationship between the ACLU and Communism. Files on American Council of Christian Laymen, American Mercury: J.B. Matthews, American Legion, American Mercury article, 1936, 1938, Anti-Communist League of America, Christian Broadcasting Network, Christian Economics Article, Firing Line Statement, 1958, John T. Flynn, Individualist, McCarthy Attack, 1954, Mullins' Attack on ACLU (re: "Hood-Smith Act Case"), 1954, National Economic Council Letter: Merwin K. Hart, 1948, Senator McCarthy Attack on ACLU during "Voice of America", 1953, Senator McCarthy Attack on ADA and Roger Baldwin, 1952, Tenney Committee - California, The Wanderer Attacks on Roger Baldwin, 1952, and The Freeman.

      Finding aids:

      http://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/MC001.02.01

      http://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/MC001.02.01.pdf

      http://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/MC001.02.01?view=onepage

      http://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/MC001.02.01/c04020

      [0084] American Civil Liberties Union Records: Subgroup 1, The Roger Baldwin Years, 1917-1950, MC001.01

      Location: Public Policy Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library, 2001 Princeton University Library, One Washington Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08544

      Description: The American Civil Liberties Union Records, The Roger Baldwin years, document the activities of the ACLU from 1917 through 1950. Subseries 5 - General--Clippings, 1912, 1917-1946, 1949-1950, contains files on Open Shop Campaign, Ku Klux Klan, Lynchings/Mob Violence, Japanese-Americans, Patrioteering Organizations, Patrioteering Organizations: American Legion, and Patrioteering Organizations: Better America Federation. Subseries 6 - Legislation--Clippings, 1917-1923, 1926-1946, 1949-1950, contains files on Anti-Labor Legislation, Anti-Lynching Bill, and Geyer Anti-Poll-Tax Bill. Subseries 12 - Federal Legislation--Correspondence, 1919-1921, 1926-1950, contains files on Anti-Lynching Legislation, Anti-Japanese Bill, Anti-Poll Tax Legislation, Anti-Semitism, Dickstein Racial Hatred Bill, Dies Committee to Investigate Subversive Activities, Chinese Exclusion Act, Connally Resolution, Group Libel Legislation, Lynching Legislation, Race Hatred Bill, Race Hatred Legislation, Sterilization Laws, Taft-Hartley Act, and Women's Equal Rights Amendment. Subseries 13 - General--Correspondence, 1917-1924, 1926-1929, 1931-1950, contains files on American Legion, Communism, Fascism and Nazism, Lynchings, Poll Tax, and U.S. vs. Schwimmer. Subseries 15 - Labor and Liberal Organizations--Correspondence, 1921, 1931-1950, contains files on American Jewish League Against Communism and Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League. Subseries 17 - New York City Committee--Correspondence, 1936-1950, contains files on Anti-Semitic Speaker Arrests, Father Coughlin Activities, Christian Front Meetings, Fritz Kuhn Case, and Social Justice Parade. Subseries 18 - Organizational Matters--Correspondence, 1917-1950, contains a file on Ku Klux Klan. The Index Headings for the ACLU Card Index (1917-1946) (Names) include Harry Elmer Barnes, Charles A. Beard, William E. Borah, Frank Buchman, Louis F. Budenz, Nicholas Murray Butler, John Roy Carlson, John Chamberlain, George W. Christians, Grenville Clark, Upton Close, Charles E. Coughlin, Bronson Cutting, Virginius Dabney, George Deatherage, Cecil DeMille, Prescott Dennett, Lawrence Dennis, Arthur Derounian, Samuel Dickstein, Martin Dies, Elizabeth Dilling, John Dos Passos, Ralph Easley, Max Eastman, Robert Edmondson, Milton S. Eisenhower, Hamilton Fish, Irving Fisher, Henry Ford, Amos Fries, Frank E. Gannett, Benjamin Gitlow, Merwin K. Hart, William Randolph Hearst, Granville Hicks, Adolf Hitler,