The papers of Lee Webb illustrate his work with the Students for a Democratic Society and other groups during the mid-1960's. There are no clearly personal papers in the collection, although correspondence with friends concerning both organizational and personal matters is interspersed through- out the files. The collection has been arranged in six series reflecting, in large part, the original arrangement by Lee Webb: STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY PAPERS, WRITINGS AND NOTES BY LEE WEBB, RECORDS OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND SDS PROJECTS, UNION AND LABOR FILES, SUBJECT FILES, and CHICAGO URBAN ORGANIZATIONS FILES. Several folders of miscellaneous and unidentified material are located at the end of the collection.
Webb's STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY PAPERS include his correspondence with the national and Midwest offices and individuals regarding publications, copies of publications and discussion bulletins written by himself and others; files of articles and writings considered and rejected for publication with accompanying notes and letters; and documents from conventions and conferences. There is a file concerning the April 17, 1965 March on Washington, illustrating the planning involved in the march, and two folders of National Council minutes, reports, and other papers. Also present are SDS printed memos and prospectuses, a Carl Oglesby proposal (undated), a 1964 paper by Tom Hayden, and work list papers, 1963-1965. Other files include a few papers of the League for Industrial Democracy, and papers and correspondence concerning the South Africa demonstration, March 19, 1965, at the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York.
A separate file of WRITINGS AND NOTES BY LEE WEBB includes notes, outlines, text fragments, and reference material in the form of news clippings and articles. Some of the papers were college term papers, and some writings were created for SDS distribution; but for others the ultimate purpose of the work is unclear. The writings deal with a variety of topics, although several concern reform of the U.S. economy and various aspects of society.
Among the RECORDS OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND SDS PROJECTS are several files documenting ERAP projects in various cities. Most these files are quite fragmentary in nature, but they do provide examples of the activities of individual ERAP projects. There is also a folder of Webb's correspondence regarding ERAP. Three other SDS projects-- Peace Research and Education Project, Political Education Project, and Radical Education Project-- are represented by smaller files of correspondence, minutes of organizational and other meetings, newsletters, and printed material. There are also draft prospectuses from the organization of REP. Similar types of documentation illustrate the 1965 establishment of the National Conference for New Politics (NCNP) and its predecessor, the Organizing Committee of the National Coalition for a New Congress (1964). Webb's involvement with NCNP is seen through his correspondence, memos and reports of meetings, and later (1967) papers. The latter file includes financial and meeting records, convention papers, and writings and articles, some by NCNP founder Arthur Waskow.
Webb's community organizing and alternate service in Chicago are less well documented. Within the RECORDS OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND SDS PROJECTS series are correspondence, a prospectus, and papers concerning organizing created by the staff of the Urban Training Center with which Webb worked. The separate series of Chicago Urban Organizations Files consists primarily of printed and near-print materials and news clippings collected by Webb to provide information about Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois. There is also some material regarding Chicago in the series on unions.
Webb's UNION AND LABOR FILES contain mainly news clippings, with some correspondence, and near-print and printed reference material. Apparently the bulk of the material was collected as background for a newsletter published by Webb in 1966 in Chicago. Two or three issues of the newsletter, Labor News or SDS Labor News, were published for those in SDS interested in labor issues. There are also present a few issues, correspondence, mailing lists, and articles collected for possible publication. Many of the major U.S. trade unions are represented in the collection, with documentation of the United Packinghouse Workers of America predominating.
The SUBJECT FILES collected by Webb concern a variety of political topics. Most of the files are primarily composed of news clippings, although there are a few examples of Webb's writings in the series. These include a bibliography on populism, a Northern Student Movement bibliography on civil rights (partly written by Webb), and Webb's text for the Poverty/Rights Action Center. Also present is his address book, papers from the 1962 National Student Association Congress, and files from his involvement with the National Mobilization in 1967.
The final series in the collection consists of reference materials concerning CHICAGO URBAN ORGANIZATIONS. These news clippings, printed and near-print reports and papers, and flyers pertain to Chicago radical and community organizing groups as well as to general topics such as Chicago's West Side, housing, welfare, and civil rights.
