Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Stachel, Jack.
Title:	Jack Stachel Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1943-1982
Quantity:	3 linear ft.
Abstract:	Correspondence, writings, speeches, clippings, printed matter, books and other material from the American Communist Party member and political activist.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Jack (Jacob Abraham) Stachel (1900-1965) was a Jewish-American political activist. A leader of the American Communist Party for forty years, Stachel was one of eleven Communist leaders convicted under the Alien Registration Act (popularly known as the Smith Act) in 1949, for which he served a sentence of five years in prison. Not only was Stachel involved in the progression of communism in America and the world, he also was outspoken on Vietnam, President Kennedy, the Civil Rights Movement, and other social and cultural shifts.

Stachel's wife, Bertha, was active as a Communist Party member by giving speeches, speaking out against the Smith Act verdict, endorsing Benjamin Davis, Henry Winston, and Gilbert Green, and wrote many letters to the editor of The Daily World, a communist leaning periodical. After Stachel died in 1965, Bertha annually published "In Memoriam" notices in The Daily World for more than ten years after Stachel's death.

Stachel and Bertha had one son, John.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Jack Stachel Papers consists of correspondence, memorabilia, and writings relating to the personal and professional life of the American Communist Party leader and his wife, Bertha.

Correspondence-subject files includes letters and greeting cards from fellow Communist Party members and committees and organizations related to Stachel's Smith Act trial. Some important individuals in this series are Gus Hall, Henry Winston, Benjamin J. Davis, and Eugene Dennis. There is a substantial amount of letters from Bertha to Jack while he was in prison from 1951 until 1955.

Memorabilia contains the couple's death certificates and correspondence related to their funeral and burial, as well as a small amount of miscellaneous material relating to Jack.

Writings are divided into items by Bertha and items by jack; these include letters to the editor, speeches, notes, and no on.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent. The other series are arranged alphabetically by title, type, or topic.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

A number of books (21) have been separated from the collection and transferred to Rare Books for cataloging. Please refer to Libraries Search and search on "Gift of John Stachel" to locate these items.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Jack Stachel Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of John Stachel, 2012-2013.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: MRC
Date: 6 Mar 2017
Revision history: 9 Aug 2021 - collection processed (RMH)

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Inventory

	Correspondence-subject files
		Family
Box 1			Stachel, Bella (aunt) 1943
			Stachel, Bertha (wife)
Box 1				to Jack Jul 1951-Apr 1953 (7 folders)
Box 2				to Jack Sep 1953-Feb 1955 (5 folders)
Box 2				to John (son) 1963, 1967, 1975
Box 2			Stachel, Evelyn (daughter-in-law) 1953-1954
			Stachel, Jack
Box 2				65th birthday 1965
Box 2				to Bertha and John 1949
Box 2			Stachel, John (son) 1952-1953
Box 2			Stachel, Moishe (father) 1943
Box 2		Auerbach, Isabelle 1965
Box 2		Baron, Rose 1955-1956, 1960
Box 2		Bedacht, Max 1959
Box 1		Birthday greetings 1951-1960
Box 2		Bittelman, Mrs. Alexander 1956
Box 2		Blair, Fred 1964
Box 3		Bloor, Ella Reeve 1949, 1982
Box 3		Colon, Clara 1970
Box 3		Committee to Keep McCarthyism Out of Michigan by Fighting Smith Act Persecutions 1953
Box 3		Communist Party USA National Election Conference 1954
Box 3		Condolences on Jack's death 1966
Box 3		Davis, Benjamin J. 1955
Box 3		Davis, David 1954-1955
Box 3		Dennis, Eugene 1952, 1956
Box 3		Doty, Orin 1955
		Edwards, Richard
			See Bloor, Ella Reeve.
Box 3		Families of the Smith Act Victims 1953-1954
Box 3		Flynn, Elizabeth Gurley 1949-1950
Box 3		Foley Square Smith Act trial 1948-1949
Box 3		Ford, James W. 1952
Box 3		Foster, William Z. 1950
Box 3		Ganley, Nat
		Gerson, Simon W.
			See Foley Square Smith Act trial.
		Gibson, Lydia
			See Minor, Robert.
Box 3		Gold, Michael 1954
Box 3		Hall, Gus 1966-1968, 1974
Box 3		Herman, V. 1960
		Hutchins, Grace
			See Rochester, Anna.
Box 3		Immigration case 1951-1955, 1960-1962
Box 3		Janos, Gyetvai 1964
Box 3		Jermoe, Victor Jeremy 1966
Box 3		Johnson, Oakley C. 1965-1967
Box 3		Kettner, Otto 1950
Box 3		Magil, Abe 1956
Box 3		Minor, Robert 1945-1950, 1954
Box 3		National Committee to Win Amnesty for Smith Act Victims 1953-1954
Box 3		North, Joseph
Box 3		Perloff, Jack and Ruth 1955
Box 3		Rent Strike 203 W. 94th st 1978
Box 3		Robinson, Dorothy 1965
Box 3		Rochester, Anna 1949, 1956
Box 3		Russo, Mike 1955
Box 3		Schwartz, Sidney 1966
Box 3		Shields, Art 1965
Box 3		Trachtenberg, Rosalind 1966 - wife of Alexander Trachtenberg
Box 3		United States v. Jacob Stachel 1948
Box 3		Williamson, John 1965
Box 3		Winston, Henry M. 1949, 1960, 1966, 1973, 1976
Box 3		Winter, Helen 1954
Box 3		Woodrow, Arley R. 1962
Box 3		The Worker Illinois Office 1965
Box 3		Miscellaneous 1949, 1953-1957, 1960, 1964-1969, 1974-1978

	Memorabilia
Box 3		Bertha Stachel 1974, 1978-1979 - death certificate and correspondence related to her funeral and burial
			See also In Memoriam" notice.
Box 4		Jack Stachel 1944-1946, 1966-1967, 1979 - death certificate and correspondence related to his funeral and burial
Oversize 1		Jack Stachel 1952, 1955 - magazine clipping; photograph of Stachel

	Writings
		Bertha Stachel
Box 4			Letters to the Editor, The Daily World 1954-1955, 1965-1967, 1970-1974
Box 4			"In Memoriam" notice 1969-1978
			Notes
Box 4				50th Anniversary International Women's Day 1960
Box 4				on Benjamin J. Davis
Box 4				on Henry Winston and Gilbert Green
Box 4				Miscellaneous
Box 4			Poem "For Morton Sobell"
			Speeches
Box 4				Against the Smith Act verdict
Box 4				On amnesty for Smith Act victims
Box 4				Communist Party USA 1973
Box 4				Jack Stachel 1966 (2 folders)
Box 4				Jack's eulogy 1966
Box 4				On the McCarrow Walters Act
Box 4				William L. Patterson birthday rally circa 1955
Box 4				[Untitled] 1953-1955 (3 folders)
		Jack Stachel
			Essays
Box 4				About Communism [pamphlet text?] 1947
Box 4				Against Browderism 1948
Box 4				"Improve Methods of Party Leadership"
Box 4				New York Election 1958
Box 4				The political situation and the progressive party 1949
Box 4				"Relation of the Paper to Party"
Box 4				"Social Democracy" 1956
Box 4				"Some notes on the program" 1954
Box 4				"Wallace and the third party movement" 1948
Box 4				"Youth" 1952
			Notes
Box 5				65th birthday
Box 5				"81 Party Statement and Fight for Peace"
Box 5				1960 election
Box 5				1964 election
Box 5				On Barry Goldwater
Box 5				On capitalism
Box 5				On Civil rights
Box 5				On Communism
Box 5				"Conference on the entire situation in SE Asia"
Box 5				CP [Communist Party] meeting
Box 5				CP [Communist Party] meeting report
Box 5				The Daily Worker
Box 5				On Defense Minister Joseph Strauss
Box 5				"Importance of DuBois and Castro Declarations Adherence to Parties of M-L"
Box 5				On Kennedy
Box 5				Outline for an edition of The Worker
Box 5				"Position of U.S. Capitalism and the Kennedy Administration"
Box 5				"Social Democracy-Reform"
Box 5				Speech to Communist Party
Box 5				Speech on Gates
Box 5				On Vietnam
Box 5				"Why a Quarterly and its Character"
Box 5				"Winning Mass Influence"
Box 5				Miscellaneous
Box 5				[Untitled] 1945
			Reports
Box 5				CPUSA [Communist Party of the USA] 1949
Box 5				To Communist Party plenum 1949
Box 5				"Remarks of Jack Stachel re: the Worker Campaign" 1944
Box 5				On The Worker and The Daily Worker 1957
			Speeches
Box 5				CPUSA [Communist Party of the USA] 1957
Box 5				CPUSA [Communist Party of the USA] conference 1947
Box 5				On CP [Communist Party]
Box 5				History of CP [Communist Party] given at the Youth Project
Box 5				Strike struggle
Box 5				On Will Weinstone
		Jack and Bertha Stachel
Box 5			Poems
Box 5			Fragments

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