The Louise Berman papers are concerned mainly with the various organizations for which she worked and to which she donated money during her lifetime. Only a small portion of them reflect her personal life. The collection has been separated into three series: SOCIAL ACTION ORGANIZATIONS, 1931-1959; PERSONAL PAPERS, 1929-1958; and VISUAL MATERIALS.
The SOCIAL ACTION ORGANIZATIONS series is divided into 14 sections: American Labor Party; American-Russian Institute; Anti-Nazi, Anti-Fascist Organizations; Booker T. Washington Community Center; Civil Rights Congress; Civil Rights Council of Northern California; Democratic National Committee, Women's Division; Democratic Youth Federation of California; Lincoln Brigade; Nisei Japanese-American Materials; Northern California Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born; Peace Organizations; Progressive Party; and Rosenberg Foundation. Letters from prominent people in the arts and in politics occur throughout. (See the Appendix for a List of Prominent Correspondents.)
The American Labor Party files, 1949-1959, contain speeches and materials for various political campaigns including W.E.B. DuBois' race for senator from New York in 1950 and Vito Marcantonio's race for mayor of New York City that same year. Also included here is some later material and memorabilia on DuBois. The American-Russian Institute section, 1938-1948, consists of correspondence, annual reports, policy statements, articles of organization, radio scripts, and publications. The Anti-Nazi, Anti-Fascist Organizations files, 1934-1951, includes correspondence and miscellaneous items of the National Committee to Aid the Victims of German Fascism and of the visit of Lord Dudley Marley, chairman of the World Committee. Louise Berman was secretary of the San Francisco branch of this organization. Also included here is material and correspondence of other organizations such as the American Committee for the Relief of Victimized German Children, American League Against War and Fascism, American Committee Against Fascist Oppression in Germany, and the Spanish Relief Ship Project.
The Booker T. Washington Community Center file contains correspondence and minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors. Louise Berman was a director of this San Francisco center designed to improve the recreational, educational, and cultural opportunities of people in the Fillmore area. The major portion of this file deals with the attempts of blacks in 1945 to buy the building in which the center was located. The building was owned by interned Japanese-Americans.
The Civil Rights Congress section, 1949-1958, includes correspondence of this organization, and some related material on civil rights issues in the South including letters concerning attempts to find a job for Rosa Parks, the woman who sparked the campaign for the integration of public transportation in the South. The Civil Rights Council of Northern California segment, 1938-1944, contains correspondence, minutes of meetings and files on the various political campaigns and issues and civil rights cases to which the organization directed its efforts. The council was founded in 1936 as the Academic and Civil Rights Council and its purpose was to protest and to bring pressure against the curtailment of civil liberties and violations of the Bill of Rights. That organization died out in 1937-1938 but was revived, renamed, and affiliated itself with the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties in 1939. The Democratic National Committee, Women's Division file, 1939-1940, consists of correspondence relating to the Reporter Plan, a program designed to help create a better informed electorate. Louise Berman was a member of the Executive Committee of the Women's Division of the Democratic Party of Northern California and senior reporter for that area.
The Democratic Youth Federation of California segment, 1938-1943, includes the supplementary studies and materials about California and its youth, labor, agricultural, and housing conditions that are mentioned throughout the correspondence. Originally named the Young Democratic Club of California this organization was sued by a group with a similar sounding name and in 1940 a court order required the Young Democratic Club to change its name.
The [Abraham] Lincoln Brigade file contains letters written to Louise Berman in 1937 by various members of this Spanish Civil War Loyalist brigade, which describe their lives both on and off the battlefield. The Nisei Japanese-American Materials, 1941-1943, include letters to Louise Berman by Ernest S. Iiyama, president of the Nisei Democratic Club of Oakland, who was interned at the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, California. The letters document the life of the people and the conditions in the camp. Also included are copies of the Tanforan Totalizer, 1942-1943, and the News Letter, 1944. A 1943 copy of Volunteers for Victory published by the Council for Japanese-American Civil Rights is also here.
The Northern California Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born files, 1940-1959, contain minutes of the meetings, a constitution, and correspondence of the organization. Also filed here are summaries of proceedings of the annual meetings for 1941 and 1942 of the American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born.
The Peace Organizations file, 1939-1941, includes correspondence and pamphlets of the San Francisco Coordinating Council for Peace, the American Peace Mobilization, and the Hollywood Peace Forum. The Progressive Party file, 1948-1952, contains leaflets, newsletters, and speeches of various party candidates, especially those of Henry Wallace during his Presidential campaign. The Rosenberg Foundation segment, 1931-1951, has material on the foundation established by Max Rosenberg to distribute grants to various worthy organizations in California. Louise Berman was a director of the foundation until 1951 when pressure from other members concerned about her appearances before the House Un-American Activities Committee caused her to resign.
The PERSONAL PAPERS series is divided into three files: Rosenberg Family Miscellany; Louise Berman's Letters from Russia; and House Un-American Activities Committee. The Rosenberg Family Miscellany, 1929-1958, contains newspaper clippings, and a few letters relating to the family and to its dried fruit business. Included here is a letter written by Louise Berman detailing the family history. The typewritten copies of Louise Berman's Letters from Russia were addressed to her mother in 1933. The letters are lengthy and express Louise Berman's feelings about the country and what she saw while visiting it. The House Un-American Activities Committee file, 1948-1953, contains newspaper clippings and copies of Louise Berman's testimony during her two appearances before the Committee. There is nothing in the collection relating to Louise Berman's activities during the last years of her life.
The VISUAL MATERIALS series relates to Berman's involvement in various social causes. The ephemeral materials include flyers, handbills, short publications, and greeting cards related to the American Labor Party, the Committee to Restore Paul Robeson's Passport, W.E.B. DuBois, and Women for Wallace. The photographs relate to the American-Russian Institute and document classroom activities and a reception for Molotov in May 1954. There is one image labeled “LRB [Labor Relations Board] members” gathering signatures in New York, and images of Revels Cayton, Lord Marley, and an unidentified man giving a speech.
