2016 historical U.S. anarchism archiving project

List of materials that have been digitized as part of our effort to make U.S. anarchist periodicals and pamphlets from the 1930s-1950s freely available.

Submitted by libcom on August 17, 2016

Back in June, we started a fundraiser for the intent to purchase U.S. anarchist and IWW material from the 1930s-1950s so that they could be digitized. Since then quite a bit has been done. Along with the material we actually purchased, a few people who became aware of our efforts due to the publicizing of the fundraiser also contributed material. This blogpost is an update of what has been uploaded so far, and will be updated as more is added.

57 issues of the Industrial Worker, an English-language newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World, spanning the years 1917-1940.

27 issues of Resistance, an anarchist publication produced out of New York from 1947-1954. Commonly seen as an anarcho-pacifist publication. it was associated with anti-conscription efforts and spoke harshly against segregation and racism in the United States at the time.

23 issues of Views and Comments, an anarcho-syndicalist leaning publication produced out of New York by the Libertarian League from 1955 until 1966.

20 issues of Alternative, an anarchist publication produced out of New York City from 1948-1951 and focusing on pacifist viewpoints.

13 issues of Why?, an anarchist publication produced out of New York City from 1942-1947.

8 issues of Retort, an anarchist publication produced out of Bearsville, New York from 1942-1951. Retort was associated with more cultural aspects of anarchism of its day, featuring poetry, long book and music review, interspersing more political pieces. It was also linked to the anti-World War II pacifist crowd, and some of its contributors spent time in federal prison for refusing to register for the draft.

7 issues of New Trends, an anarchist publication produced out of New York City from September 1945 until August 1946. Edited by Alexander Schapiro, an Russian Jewish anarcho-syndicalist, New Trends featured many articles on the Spanish resistance and post-war situation of Europe and Asia.

1 issue of The Marine Worker, a newspaper produced by the Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union No. 510 of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) from 1921 until 1936.

1 issue of of Workers' Opposition, a publication produced by members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) during the late 1970s in Chicago.

1 issue of Emancipation, a publication produced by the Anarchist Association of the Americas during the 1980s.

A scan of Anarchism: a solution to world problems, a 1940 pamphlet published by Man!, an anarchist newspaper out of New York.

A scan of Ethics and American unionism, a 1958 pamphlet written by Sam Dolgoff (under the pseudonym Sam Weiner) and published by the Libertarian League.

A scan of the 1981 second edition of Marxism and a free society by Marcus Graham, a reply to Isaac Deutscher’s address on “Socialist Man” with particular reference to the Minutes of the First International and the sabotaging of the Hague Congress by the Marx clique.

A scan of World labor needs a union by Fred Thompson, a 1969 pamphlet written by Fred Thompson and produced by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) about potential worldwide union coordination and cooperation.

A scan of The world scene from the libertarian point of view, a 1951 pamphlet produced by the Free Society Group of Chicago, featuring 21 anarchists giving their outlook on international issues and anarchism's potential.

Comments

Juan Conatz

7 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on August 17, 2016

Just recently purchased and received the last of the material for digitizing. Going to take a little while, though, at least nothing like the pace that's happened until now. In addition to some of the last things being books, I'm moving to Chicago in 3 weeks and have been, and will be, pretty busy.

I do plan on buying a scanner before I move though, so as soon as I'm settled in, I'll be able to pick this project back up.

Juan Conatz

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on September 24, 2016

Just thought I'd mention that I'm settled in Chicago and have a scanner now so I will be adding what I have left from this project.

Steven.

7 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on December 28, 2016

Is this project finished now, or are there are a few bits remaining?

Juan Conatz

7 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on December 28, 2016

Not finished. I have a ton of scans of Industrial Pioneer and Industrial Worker to add, plus 2 books and a few oversized newspapers I need to find a way to scan.

I believe I've added at least 1 book and 10 individual issues of stuff since I've gotten the scanner and been in Chicago but haven't been able to keep up with the pace that I was going at before this. I'll try to get around to finishing this soon.

Steven.

7 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on December 28, 2016

Cool, cheers for the update. Didn't mean to rush you I was just wondering. With the oversized pages, would photo on a smartphone work? Or are they so big the resolution wouldn't be high enough to read? If so maybe you could borrow some fancy SLR camera off someone who has one to photograph it at really high resolution. We could also do a shout out to see if anyone in Chicago could help you. With the books, if they would be tricky to do I can do them

Juan Conatz

7 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on March 17, 2017

Finally finished uploading the 57 issues of the Industrial Worker I had. Sent a few books that needed to be scanned to Steven. Have sent stuff I've already scanned to the Kate Sharpley Library. About to start uploading the issues of the Industrial Pioneer I have.

syndicalist

7 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on March 17, 2017

Good stuff

Juan Conatz

6 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on July 3, 2017

About a year in now and still have some more scans of the Industrial Pioneer left. If someone wants to finish it off and upload what I have left, I'd appreciate it. Don't really have the time or interest to do it myself. It would be about 21 issues. They would need to be uploaded in the same way I've been doing them.

Besides some things I sent to Steven, this would be the last of the materials from this project to be uploaded.

syndicalist

6 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on July 3, 2017

I would be willing to try my hand at a couple of them, see how it works`. Send me a PM if interested.

Juan Conatz

6 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on July 19, 2017

Hey syndicalist,

I've uploaded the rest of the 1924 issues of the Industrial Pioneer into a public Drive. I'll try and upload the rest when I find time.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1SlJXoAg4XYa0VzZG1BUlRvVmc

syndicalist

6 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on July 24, 2017

Juan Conatz

Hey syndicalist,

I've uploaded the rest of the 1924 issues of the Industrial Pioneer into a public Drive. I'll try and upload the rest when I find time.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1SlJXoAg4XYa0VzZG1BUlRvVmc

Cool.cool.

Juan Conatz

4 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on August 2, 2019

I feel like there were a few items from this fundraiser I sent to the UK to get scanned, such as the Man! Anthology but not sure if this ever got done or posted? Couldn't find it searching the site.

Steven.

4 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on August 6, 2019

Yeah, unfortunately a couple of your texts couldn't be scanned. Man!, the pages were too thin to be pulled through the scanner IIRC, and there was also a prison compilation where the paper was too thin and not uniform enough.
So if these were to be scanned, someone would have to do one page at a time, which I couldn't do. If someone wants to volunteer to do this, we could send to them.
Sorry if I forgot to let you know

Juan Conatz

4 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on August 8, 2019

Ok, yeah, that was the problem I was having which is why I didn't scan them. Oh well.

Khawaga

4 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on August 8, 2019

How many pages are we talking about here? I've got access to a scanner that would make a page-by-page scanning process a bit faster, so I could potentially do this.

Steven.

4 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on August 8, 2019

Khawaga

How many pages are we talking about here? I've got access to a scanner that would make a page-by-page scanning process a bit faster, so I could potentially do this.

The remaining 2 books are probably around 200 pages in length. So 100 double sided scans each. If you could do this that would be brilliant!
I just can't because of my disability

Khawaga

4 years 7 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on August 8, 2019

Aight, I can take this on, though it'll likely take some time. I'll pm you my address etc.