Title: Studies on the Left Records
Inclusive Dates: 1959-1967

Creator:

• Studies on the Left

Call Number: Mss 74; Micro 997

Quantity: 6.0 c.f. (15 archives boxes) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Records of a socialist journal whose editorial focus included the social and natural sciences, literature, and the arts. Over half of the collection is comprised of correspondence concerning content, advertising, exchanges, circulation, and other business and financial matters. The correspondence, which deals with content and which spans the journal's existence (1959-1967), relates to editorial policy in general and to the publication of individual articles. Included are extensive exchanges with authors such as Herbert Aptheker, Noam Chomsky, David Dellinger, W. E. B. DuBois, Philip Foner, Eugene Genovese, Thomas Hayden, Langston Hughes, Corliss Lamont, Staughton Lynd, Herbert Marcuse, C. Wright Mills, Sidney Peck, Howard Selsam, William A. Williams, C. Vann Woodward, and Maurice Zeitlin. For the period 1965-1967, there are manuscripts of articles and reviews. The remainder of the collection is comprised of fragmentary business and financial records.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00074

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Studies on the Left was a socialist journal published first in Madison, Wisconsin, and then in New York City. It was founded by a group of graduate students at the University of Wisconsin “to encourage socialist analyses in the social and natural sciences, literature and the arts.” The original board of editors included representatives from the disciplines of history, economics, political science, sociology, and the language arts.

The first issue of the journal was published in December, 1959, and contained articles by Hans Gerth, Paul Breslow, Lloyd Gardner, and David Eakins, with a “Documents” section and several book reviews. It was well received by the reviewers and the initial printing of 3000 copies was soon sold out. Studies on the Left was conceived as a quarterly, but succeeding issues were printed at irregular intervals, and usually appeared much later than scheduled. Until the spring of 1963, the magazine was issued from Madison, but with the departure of many of the editors and associates for the East Coast, it was decided to transfer operations to New York. Beginning with volume VI (1966), Studies on the Left became a bi-monthly publication, which it remained until its demise in the summer of 1967. The last number of the journal was volume VII, no. 2 (March-April, 1967).

The financing of Studies on the Left was a major problem from the very beginning, and as the years went by it became increasingly difficult to keep the journal solvent. Revenue from subscriptions and bookstore sales was not sufficient to cover the costs of publication, and the editors were increasingly forced to depend on contributions from readers and foundations. Although circulation reached 10,000 copies per issue in the 1965-1966 period, declining sales and increased expenditures forced the suspension of publication shortly thereafter.

The editors, associates, and many of the contributors were close friends, and an informal atmosphere prevailed within the organization. Personal conflicts were not entirely absent, however, and ideological differences sometimes provoked serious dissension and impaired the functioning of the magazine. Several of the editors and associates resigned, at one time or another, due to misunderstandings derived, in part, from the closeness of the staff.

In its seven year history, Studies on the Left enlisted the support of a distinguished group of associates and board members, a veritable “who's who” of the intellectual new left in the United States and abroad. Included were Staughton Lynd, Eugene Genovese, Tom Hayden, Emile Capouya, James O'Connor, and many others, as well as those who were directly responsible for the actual publication of the journal, Eleanor Hakim, James Weinstein, Michael Lebowitz, Saul Landau, Steven Scheinberg, Martin Sklar, and its last managing editor, Dale Lewis.

The records consist of editorial correspondence, together with manuscript copies of articles published from 1965 to 1967, a small amount of business and financial records, and miscellany. Copies of the magazine itself are available at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Library.

Correspondence includes letters relating to the actual content of the journal, its editorial policies, articles, reviews, etc. There are extensive exchanges with many of the published authors relating to their manuscripts, suggested revisions, and future articles. There are also letters soliciting manuscripts from various people, letters of rejection, and cover letters for unsolicited manuscripts. Also included is correspondence between editors and associates relating to specific manuscripts (their acceptance or rejection) and letters from Studies on the Left critics, including an interesting exchange with Allen Ginsberg (December 1960). There are also small files of advertising and exchange, subscriber, and business and financial correspondence. The majority of such material was discarded, however, because of its routine nature.

The remainder of the collection primarily consists of the author file, which consists of alphabetically arranged edited manuscripts for articles published during the last two years of the magazine's existence. Financial records are similarly incomplete, consisting of banking material for the years 1959-1960, subscriber records, and notations on weekly income, 1959, 1963-1967. Invoices and bills from the three printers have been retained since information regarding the major expenditures is not available elsewhere. A small amount of miscellany consists of notes and memos relating to the proposed Sociology of Knowledge Symposium of 1962, notes on editorial board meetings, form letters, reviews, and miscellaneous copy.

Acquisition Information

Presented by James Weinstein, New York, N.Y., September 21, 1967. Accession Number: M67-264

Processing Information

Processed by R. Reed, March 1970; and BethAnn Berliner and Carolyn Mattern, February 1981.

Mss 74	Series: Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	Aa-Az, 1959-1967
Box   1 Folder   2	Alperovitz, Gar, 1965-1966
Box   1 Folder   3	Ambrose, Stephen E., 1960-1964
Box   1 Folder   4	Aptheker, Herbert, 1960-1966
Box   1 Folder   5	Aronson, James, 1965
Box   1 Folder   6	Aronson, Ronald, 1965-1966
	Ba - Bz
Box   1 Folder   7	1959-1962
Box   1 Folder   8	1963-1967
Box   1 Folder   9	Baldwin, James, 1960-1962
Box   1 Folder   10	Baritz, Loren, 1960-1961
Box   1 Folder   11	Baron, Harold, 1959-1962
Box   1 Folder   12	Basso, Lillo, 1967
Box   1 Folder   13	Baxandall, Lee, 1961-1964
Box   1 Folder   14	Becker, James F., 1962-1967
Box   1 Folder   15	Beckwith, Burnham P., 1959-1963
Box   1 Folder   16	Beecher, John, 1960-1962
Box   1 Folder   17	Berland, Oscar, 1966
Box   1 Folder   18	Bershady, Harold J., 1961
Box   1 Folder   19	Blumberg, Albert E., 1959
Box   1 Folder   20	Booth, Paul, 1967
Box   1 Folder   21	Braverman, Harry, 1960-1962
Box   1 Folder   22	Breslow, Paul, 1959-1966
Box   1 Folder   23	Bromberg, Joan, 1960-1964
Box   1 Folder   24	Bronfenbrenner, Martin, 1959
Box   1 Folder   25	Brooks, Robin, 1962-1966
Box   1 Folder   26	Burgum, Edwin B., 1960-1961
Box   2 Folder   1	Ca - Cz, 1959-1967
Box   2 Folder   2	Capouya, Emile, 1960-1964
Box   2 Folder   3	Chapperon, Matthew, 1959-1964
Box   2 Folder   4	Chase, Richard, 1961
Box   2 Folder   5	Chomsky, Noam, 1966-1967
Box   2 Folder   6	Clecak, Peter, 1965
Box   2 Folder   7	Colodny, Robert G., 1961-1967
Box   2 Folder   8	Conference on Independent Politics, 1966
Box   2 Folder   9	Conlin, Joseph R., 1965-1966
Box   2 Folder   10	Cook, Ramsay, 1961
Box   2 Folder   11	Corwin, Phillip, 1961
Box   2 Folder   12	Cruse, Harold W., 1961-1963
Box   2 Folder   13	Da - Dz, 1959-1967
Box   2 Folder   14	Davis, R. G., 1964-1965
Box   2 Folder   15	De Boer, Fritz, 1963-1964
Box   2 Folder   16	De Haan, Richard, 1959-1960
Box   2 Folder   17	Dellinger, David, 1964-1966
Box   2 Folder   18	Deutscher, Isaac, 1961-1963
Box   2 Folder   19	Dewart, Leslie, 1965
Box   2 Folder   20	Dickinson, John, 1960-1963
Box   2 Folder   21	Donner, Frank J., 1961-1962
Box   2 Folder   22	Du Bois, W. E. B., 1961
Box   2 Folder   23	Dworkin, Gerald, 1961
Box   2 Folder   24	Ea - Ez, 1959-1967
Box   2 Folder   25	Eakins, David, 1961-1963
Box   2 Folder   26	Eby, Kermit, 1961-1962
Box   2 Folder   27	Ellis, Charles, 1961-1962
Box   3 Folder   1	Fa - Fz, 1959-1967
Box   3 Folder   2	Fein, Richard, 1962-1966
Box   3 Folder   3	Fiddick, Thomas C., 1965-1966
Box   3 Folder   4	Folsom, Michael, 1965-1966
Box   3 Folder   5	Foner, Philip, 1959-1966
Box   3 Folder   6	Forbes, Crosby, 1963
Box   3 Folder   7	Fraad, Rosalyn, 1961
Box   3 Folder   8	Freistadt, Hans, 1960-1961
Box   3 Folder   9	Friedberg, Gerald, 1963-1964
	Ga - Gz
Box   3 Folder   10	1959-1962
Box   3 Folder   11	1963-1967
Box   3 Folder   12	Gans, Herbert, 1965-1966
Box   3 Folder   13	Gardner, Lloyd, 1959-1960
Box   3 Folder   14	Gatsby, James, 1962-1963
Box   3 Folder   15	Geismar, Maxwell, 1963-1964
Box   3 Folder   16	Genovese, Eugene, 1961-1963
Box   3 Folder   17	Gettleman, Marvin E., 1959-1965
Box   3 Folder   18	Gibson, Morgan, 1959-1961
Box   3 Folder   19	Gilbert, James, 1965-1966
Box   3 Folder   20	Gimbel, John, 1963-1964
Box   3 Folder   21	Gitlin, Todd, 1964-1965
Box   4 Folder   1	Goldberg, Dena (Samberg), 1959-1963
Box   4 Folder   2	Goldman, Lawrence, 1961-1966
Box   4 Folder   3	Greenleaf, Richard, 1959-1963
Box   4 Folder   4	Gregor, A. James, 1961-1963
Box   4 Folder   5	Guttmann, Allen, 1963-1964
Box   4 Folder   6	Ha - Hz, 1959-1967
Box   4 Folder   7	Hack, Arthur, 1961-1964
Box   4 Folder   8	Hacker, Andrew, 1960-1963
Box   4 Folder   9	Hakim, Eleanor, 1963
Box   4 Folder   10	Hall, Irving, 1961
Box   4 Folder   11	Harap, Louis, 1960-1961
Box   4 Folder   12	Harding, Timothy, 1963-1967
Box   4 Folder   13	Harrison, John F. C., 1962
Box   4 Folder   14	Hartweg, Norman, 1961-1962
Box   4 Folder   15	Hayden, Thomas, 1962-1964
Box   4 Folder   16	Heifetz, Henry, 1963
Box   4 Folder   17	Heifetz, Robert, 1964
Box   4 Folder   18	Hodges, Donald C., 1960-1966
Box   4 Folder   19	Horowitz, David, 1961-1967
Box   4 Folder   20	Horowitz, Irving L., 1963-1966
Box   4 Folder   21	Howard, Richard, 1966-1967
Box   4 Folder   22	Hughes, Langston, 1961
Box   4 Folder   23	Ia - Iz, 1959-1967
Box   5 Folder   1	Ja - Jz, 1959-1967
Box   5 Folder   2	Johnson, Dale, 1960-1962
Box   5 Folder   3	Jonas, Rene Robert, 1960-1966
Box   5 Folder   4	Ka - Kz, 1959-1967
Box   5 Folder   5	Kaminsky, Herschel, 1963-1964
Box   5 Folder   6	Kaplow, Jeffrey, 1961-1963
Box   5 Folder   7	Kennedy, James A., 1962-1965
Box   5 Folder   8	Kissinger, Clark, 1963-1966
Box   5 Folder   9	Knapp, Daniel, 1961-1962
Box   5 Folder   10	Kofsky, Frank, 1962-1967
Box   5 Folder   11	Kolko, Gabriel, 1966-1967
Box   5 Folder   12	Kraditor, Aileen S., 1965
Box   5 Folder   13	Kramer, Helen, 1963-1964
Box   5 Folder   14	Krippendorff, Ekkehart, 1962
Box   5 Folder   15	La - Lz, 1959-1967
Box   5 Folder   16	La Feber, Walter, 1961-1962
Box   5 Folder   17	Lamont, Corliss, 1960-1967
Box   5 Folder   18	Landau, Saul, 1959-1966
Box   6 Folder   1	Lebovics, Herman, 1962
Box   6 Folder   2	Lebowitz, Michael, 1963-1967
Box   6 Folder   3	Lehrman, Nathaniel S., 1960
Box   6 Folder   4	Lewis, Gordon, 1960-1966
Box   6 Folder   5	Loewenberg, Peter, 1961-1964
Box   6 Folder   6	Love, Joseph, 1966
Box   6 Folder   7	Lund, Mary Graham, 1961-1966
Box   6 Folder   8	Lynd, Staughton, 1961-1966
	Ma - Mz
Box   6 Folder   9	1958-1962
Box   6 Folder   10	1963-1967
Box   6 Folder   11	McCormick, Thomas, 1962
Box   6 Folder   12	Maher, John, 1965-1966
Box   6 Folder   13	Marzani, Carl, 1959-1962
Box   6 Folder   14	Marcello, Caspar, 1960
Box   6 Folder   15	Marcuse, Herbert, 1960-1966
Box   6 Folder   16	Marker, Gordon, 1960-1962
Box   6 Folder   17	Mattick, Paul, 1959-1967
Box   6 Folder   18	Meagher, Sylvia, 1966
Box   6 Folder   19	Mills, C. Wright, 1960-1961
Box   7 Folder   1	Na - Nz, 1959-1967
Box   7 Folder   2	Nichols, Charles, 1961-1963
Box   7 Folder   3	Nicolaus, Martin, 1967
Box   7 Folder   4	Nish, Cameron, 1961
Box   7 Folder   5	Oa - Oz, 1959-1967
Box   7 Folder   6	O'Brien, Conor Cruise, 1965-1966
Box   7 Folder   7	O'Connor, James, 1960-1966
Box   7 Folder   8	Orbach, Harold L., 1961-1963
Box   7 Folder   9	Pa - Pz, 1959-1967
Box   7 Folder   10	Pappenheim, Fritz, 1959-1961
Box   7 Folder   11	Peck, Sidney, 1959-1964
Box   7 Folder   12	Petras, James, 1963-1967
Box   7 Folder   13	Pierce, Martin, 1960-1963
Box   7 Folder   14	Pinckney, Orde S., 1960-1961
Box   7 Folder   15	Primbs, Edward R. J., 1961
Box   7 Folder   16	Prywes, Ruth W., 1965
Box   7 Folder   17	Qa - Qz, 1959-1967
Box   8 Folder   1	Ra - Rz, 1959-1967
Box   8 Folder   2	Radosh, Ronald, 1959-1967
Box   8 Folder   3	Rawick, George, 1960-1964
Box   8 Folder   4	Reich, Wilhelm, 1966
Box   8 Folder   5	Reilly, John, 1962-1963
Box   8 Folder   6	Resek, Carl, 1965
Box   8 Folder   7	Riddle, Donald, 1960-1961
Box   8 Folder   8	Rogow, Arnold, 1961-1962
Box   8 Folder   9	Rosen, Sumner, 1964
Box   8 Folder   10	Rothbard, Murray, 1966
Box   8 Folder   11	Rouff, William, 1960-1964
Box   8 Folder   12	Rousseas, Stephen, 1963-1964
Box   8 Folder   13	Rush, Norman, 1961
	Sa - Sz
Box   8 Folder   14	1959-1961
Box   8 Folder   15	1962-1967
Box   8 Folder   16	Schappes, Morris U., 1965
Box   8 Folder   17	Schechter, Daniel, n.d.
Box   8 Folder   18	Scheer, Robert, 1961
Box   8 Folder   19	Scheinberg, Steven, 1961-1965
Box   8 Folder   20	Schultz, John, 1961-1965
Box   8 Folder   21	Scott, Joan, 1965
Box   8 Folder   22	Selsam, Howard, 1960-1964
Box   9 Folder   1	Shah, Said A., 1961-1966
Box   9 Folder   2	Shapiro, Herbert, 1959-1966
Box   9 Folder   3	Shapiro, Samuel, 1960-1963
Box   9 Folder   4	Simon, John, 1961-1963
Box   9 Folder   5	Sklar, Martin, 1959-1964
Box   9 Folder   6	Sklar, Richard, 1959-1961
	Socialist Scholar's Conference
Box   9 Folder   7-8	1966, A-Z
Box   9 Folder   10	1967
Box   9 Folder   11	Spence, Larry D., 1963
Box   9 Folder   12	Spitzer, Alan B., 1962-1963
Box   9 Folder   13	Stern, Daniel J., 1961-1962
Box   9 Folder   14	Struve, Walter, 1963
Box   9 Folder   15	Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), 1963-1965
Box   9 Folder   16	Sutton, Arthur E., 1965-1966
Box   9 Folder   17	Swabeck, Arne, 1961-1962
Box   10 Folder   1	Ta - Tz, 1959-1967
Box   10 Folder   2	Tillett, Paul, 1960-1962
Box   10 Folder   3	Tornquist, Elizabeth and David, 1961-1963
Box   10 Folder   4	Va - Vz, 1959-1967
Box   10 Folder   5	Vause, Stephen, 1961-1963
Box   10 Folder   6	Wa - Wz, 1959-1967
Box   10 Folder   7	Wagstaff, Thomas, 1966
Box   10 Folder   8	Weinberg, Meyer, 1961
Box   10 Folder   9	Weiner, Carl, 1959-1964
Box   10 Folder   10	Weinstein, James, 1959-1966
Box   10 Folder   11	Weissman, Steven, 1966
Box   10 Folder   12	Wellman, David, 1967
Box   10 Folder   13	Williams, William A., 1962-1965
Box   10 Folder   14	Wilson, David J., 1961-1962
Box   10 Folder   15	Winters, Stanley, 1964-1966
Box   10 Folder   16	Wolfe, Robert, 1959-1961
Box   10 Folder   17	Wolff, Kurt H., 1960-1964
Box   10 Folder   18	Wolff, Richard, 1967
Box   10 Folder   19	Woodward, C. Vann, 1961-1967
Box   10 Folder   20	Worthy, William, 1962-1965
Box   10 Folder   21	Wreszin, Michael, 1963-1964
Box   10 Folder   22	X - Y - Z, 1959-1967
Box   10 Folder   23	Yglesias, Jose, 1964
Box   10 Folder   24	Zeitlin, Maurice, 1960-1963
Box   10 Folder   25	Unidentified, 1959-1967
Box   11 Folder   1	Advertising correspondence, 1959-1967
Box   11 Folder   2	Subscriber correspondence, 1966
Box   11 Folder   3	Business and financial correspondence, 1960-1966
	Series: Author Manuscripts	⇧
Box   11 Folder   4	Aptheker, Herbert
Box   11 Folder   5-6	Aronson, Ronald
Box   11 Folder   7	Barton, Thomas K.
Box   11 Folder   8	Basso, Lelio
Box   11 Folder   9-11	Baxandall, Lee
Box   11 Folder   12-13	Becker, James F.
Box   11 Folder   14-15	Berland, Oscar
Box   11 Folder   16	Brooks, Robin
Box   11 Folder   17	Cammett, John M.
Box   11 Folder   18	Capouya, Emile
Box   11 Folder   19	Clecak, Peter (Peter Lathrop)
Box   11 Folder   20	Conlin, Joseph R.
Box   11 Folder   21	Cowley, John C.
Box   11 Folder   22	Cruse, Harold W.
Box   11 Folder   23	Davis, R. G.
Box   11 Folder   24	Dewart, Leslie
Box   11 Folder   25	Eby, Kermit
Box   11 Folder   26	Fiddick, Thomas C.
Box   11 Folder   27	Folsom, Michael B.
Box   11 Folder   28-29	Foner, Philip S.
Box   11 Folder   30	Friedberg, Gerald
Box   11 Folder   31-33	Fruchter, Norman
Box   11 Folder   34	Gans, Herbert J.
Box   12 Folder   1	Gatsby, James
Box   12 Folder   2-4	Genovese, Eugene D.
Box   12 Folder   5-6	Goldman, Lawrence
Box   12 Folder   7	Harap, Louis
Box   12 Folder   8	Harding, Timothy F.
Box   12 Folder   9	Hodges, Donald Clark
Box   12 Folder   10	Hollins, Richard
Box   12 Folder   11	Horowitz, David
Box   12 Folder   12	Klein, A. Norman
Box   12 Folder   13	Kofsky, Frank
Box   12 Folder   14	Kolko, Gabriel
Box   12 Folder   15	Lane, Ann J.
Box   12 Folder   16	Lebowitz, Michael
Box   12 Folder   17	Leopold, Evelyn
Box   12 Folder   18	Lookes, Robert
Box   12 Folder   19	Love, Joseph
Box   12 Folder   20	Lynd, Staughton
Box   12 Folder   21	Maher, John
Box   12 Folder   22	Meagher, Sylvia
Box   12 Folder   23	Nicholaus, Martin
Box   12 Folder   24-26	O'Connor, James
Box   12 Folder   27	Peck, Sidney M.
Box   12 Folder   28	Pecorano, A.
Box   12 Folder   29	Plimpton, Irving
Box   13 Folder   1	Radosh, Ronald
Box   13 Folder   2	Reich, Wilhelm
Box   13 Folder   3	Resek, Carl
Box   13 Folder   4	Richer, Edward
Box   13 Folder   5	Rohdie, Samuel
Box   13 Folder   6	Rosen, Sumner
Box   13 Folder   7	Rothbard, Murray
Box   13 Folder   1	Schappes, Morris U.
Box   13 Folder   9-10	Schechter, Daniel
Box   13 Folder   11	Selsam, Howard
Box   13 Folder   12	Shapiro, Samuel
Box   13 Folder   13	Sklar, Martin J.
Box   13 Folder   14	Spence, Larry D.
Box   13 Folder   15	Stark, Evan
Box   13 Folder   16	Therborn, Goran
Box   13 Folder   17	Wagstaff, Thomas
Box   13 Folder   18-22	Weinstein, James
Box   13 Folder   23	Welman, David
Box   13 Folder   24	Williams, William A.
Box   13 Folder   25-26	Wolfe, Robert
Box   13 Folder   27	Woodward, C. Vann
	Series: Business and Financial Records	⇧
Box   14 Folder   1	Miscellaneous subscription and address lists, n.d.
Micro 997	Subscription lists, 1967 February 2; 1967 April 28
Mss 74 Box   14 Folder   2	Bank records, 1959-1960
Box   14 Folder   3	Invoices and bills (printers of Studies on the Left), 1959-1967
Box   14 Folder   4	Daily accounts, 1959, 1963-1967 Physical Description: (6 volumes)
	Series: Miscellany	⇧
Box   15 Folder   1	Sociology of Knowledge Symposium, 1962
Box   15 Folder   2	Manuscript fragments, n.d.
Box   15 Folder   3	Memos, notes, agendas, etc., n.d.
Box   15 Folder   4	Form letters, newsletters, etc.
Box   15 Folder   5	Miscellaneous publications containing reviews, n.d.