Donation of Archives to Tamiment Library

Tonight we are celebrating the passage of a massive and unique collection of documents, photos, films, and materials from the Communist Party and the Reference Center for Marxist Studies to Tamiment Library. It is truly a historic occasion.

These items are glimpses into the past, and I had the opportunity to see a small sampling of them during this process. The collection helps paint a picture of the Party’s history, but it does not reflect every story of our Party’s past...

If I were to list only a fraction of the names of the thousands of people who wrote for, or cartooned for or in other ways supported the Daily Worker, Western Worker, Daily World, People’s World, Voz del Pueblo and now People’s Weekly World and Nuestro Mundo — in short, the Communist press in all its forms during our 83 years of existence — we’d be here for a long time...

This is a proud moment for our party. This collection contains tens of thousands of documents, books, pamphlets, photos, audio and visual records that show the real history of the Communist Party, USA. We treasure this collection. It is a priceless collection. It is the documented record of Party’s history. It shows that we are not now nor have we ever been part of some fictitious international conspiracy...

Dear Editor,

Your article on the Communist Party's archive donation to NYU quotes Joe Hill: "My will is easy to decide, for there is nothing to divide." Willing our archive to NYU also was easy to decide. Not because there was nothing to divide, but precisely because in it lies a rich legacy that the US public should be made aware of.

NEW YORK - Tens of thousands of books, countless photos, papers and notes, and unique audio, video and film documents are all part of the massive donation being made by the Communist Party, USA to the Tamiment Library at New York University (NYU). The collection covers the 88 years of the party’s history, as well as earlier radical movements. It also includes records from the labor, community, student and peace movements the communists participated in and in many cases helped lead.