Summary Information
Virgil J. Vogel Papers
1919-1982
- Vogel, Virgil J., 1918-1994
Mss 891
2.6 c.f. (7 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers, mainly 1949-1979, of an Illinois socialist and historian about his involvement in various organizations in the left wing of the Socialist movement in the United States. Included are convention records, policy papers, minutes, correspondence, and other papers on the Libertarian Socialist League and the Socialist Party USA (SP USA), which Vogel helped to found (1949 and 1973, respectively) and the Debs Caucus and Illinois chapter of the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation (SP-SDF), as well as miscellaneous papers on other organizations and committees such as the Citizens Party of Illinois, the Proletarian Party, the Independent Socialist League, and the Young Communist League. In addition, there is extensive correspondence with socialists around the country deriving from his work, 1973-1974, as editor of the SP USA discussion bulletin, Hammer and Tongs. Prominent correspondents in the collection include party officials and members Abraham Bassford, William O. Hart, David McReynolds, Bill Munger, Burton Rosen, Carl Shier, Harry Siitonen, Tad Tekla, Lee Webster, and Frank Zeidler.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00891 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Virgil Howard Joseph Vogel was born on February 25, 1918 in Keota, Iowa. His parents were Michael Edward Vogel, a farmer and railroad mail foreman, and Veda Irene (Talbot) Vogel. In 1943 Vogel married Ida Marian Lieberman and they became the parents of two children, Ann Vogel Mahaffey and Eugene Victor Vogel. In 1965 he married the artist Genelle Louise Walden and had a second son, John V. Vogel.
Vogel was educated at Chicago City Junior College from 1936 to 1938 and then at the Chicago Teachers College where he received his BE. He received his MA (1949) and Ph.D. (1966) in history from the University of Chicago. Vogel taught in the Chicago Public Schools until 1967 when he became a professor of history at Truman College (part of the City Colleges) in Chicago. There he taught U.S. history, Native American history, and social sciences until his retirement in 1980. He also taught adult education classes at the American Indian Center. Vogel was a member of various commissions and professional associations related to teaching, Native Americans, Illinois history, and labor, and he was regarded as an expert on Midwestern Native Americans. Vogel also wrote many publications on the topic including This Country Was Ours: A Documentary History of the American Indian, which is regarded as a standard work in the field. His other writings are listed below.
With Burton Rosen, in 1970 Vogel helped to restart the Charles H. Kerr Company, a radical publishing house in Chicago which reprinted several titles including William H. Carwardine's The Pullman Strike.
Vogel was a lifelong socialist, although he quit and re-joined the party several times due to ideological differences. From 1938 to 1949 he was a member of the Socialist Party and from 1945 to 1949 he was national chairman of the Young People's Socialist League. In 1949 he left the party to form the Libertarian Socialist League, a branch of socialism that rejected authoritarian socialism, especially Stalinism. Under the name Victor Howard, Vogel co-edited the LSL internal discussion bulletin Socialist Views. He also directed the LSL summer camps in Wisconsin.
In 1956 Vogel rejoined the reconstituted Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation (SP-SDF), but he quit again in 1970 when he perceived the SP-SDF as becoming more conservative. In 1972, under the leadership of Michael Harrington, the Socialist Party changed its name to Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA) and Vogel, though no longer in the party, urged his fellow dissidents to recreate the Socialist Party. Those who responded included the Debs Caucus, the Union for Democratic Socialism, the Socialist Party of Wisconsin, and the Socialist Party of California. In February the Chicago members re-established the Socialist Party of Illinois, and Vogel used its newsletter as a rallying point for the revival sentiment. On April 26-27, 1973 in Milwaukee he participated in re-forming the Socialist Party (SP USA). Subsequently Vogel was a member of the SP USA National Action Committee, and he edited Hammer and Tongs, the party's discussion bulletin, until May 1974. In 1976 Vogel was the SP USA candidate for governor of Illinois.
In 1977 Vogel resigned from the Socialist Party USA, again due to ideological differences. Thereafter he became involved in the People's Party of Chicago, and he published The Oar, an independent journal of opinion until 1979. After his professional retirement in 1980, Vogel continued to write on Native Americans until his death on January 10, 1994.
Vogel's writings as Victor Howard
-
Indian Place Names in Illinois . Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1963.
-
The Missionary as Acculturation Agent . Michigan History, 1966.
-
The Indian in American History . Integrated Education Associates, 1968.
-
American Indian Medicine . Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.
-
This Country Was Ours: A Documentary History of the American Indian . New York: Harper 8 Row, 1972.
-
“Indian Ways with Farming and Wild Foods.” In Look to the Mountain Top . H.M. Gousha, 1972.
-
The First Libertarian Socialist League, 1949-1956 , 1975.
-
For a Libertarian Socialist Caucus , 1975.
-
“American Indian Foods Used as Medicine.” In American Folk Medicine . Berkeley: University of California, 1976.
-
The Oar , 1977-1979.
-
Wisconsin's Name: A Linguistic Puzzle . Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1980.
-
The Journey of Silas Bigelow . (Novel) Collage, 1981.
-
Iowa Place Names of Indian Origin . Iowa City: University of Michigan Press, 1986.
-
Indian names in Michigan . Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1986.
-
Indian Names on Wisconsin's Map . Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1991.
Scope and Content Note
The Virgil Vogel Papers are arranged as four series: Libertarian Socialist League (LSL) Records, 1949-1953; Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation Records, 1950-1972; Socialist Party USA Records, 1970-1980; and Subject Files. They relate almost entirely to his activities within left-wing socialist organizations from the 1940s through the 1970s. There is nothing in the collection about his personal life and virtually no references to his career as a historian of Native Americans. However, Vogel's career as a historian probably affected his view of historical documentation, and, as a result, he kept excellent records about his political activities, particularly his involvement in the establishment of SP USA. Although Vogel was not responsible for the official records of any of the represented groups, the absence of such records in archival custody makes Vogel's collection extremely useful for researchers.
The Libertarian Socialist League (LSL) Records, 1949-1953, contains materials relating to Vogel's roles as a founding member of the party, editor of the discussion bulletin Socialist Views, and director of summer camps. The bulk of the material documents the history of the formation of the party and its ideological differences with the Socialist Party. These records are arranged alphabetically by type of document and include annual conference proceedings, minutes, policy statements, bulletins and flyers, correspondence, and information on summer schools. The publications of the league, including the internal discussion bulletin edited by Vogel, have been separated to the SHSW Library.
The Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation Records, 1950-1972, contains fragmentary documents related to Vogel's involvement with the SP-SDF from 1950 until the party became the Social Democrats, USA (SD USA) at their 1972 convention. Included is a position paper he presented to the 1958 convention on Native Americans and materials pertaining to the 1968 convention to which he was a delegate. Useful, although not complete, are the papers on the Chicago and Illinois chapters which include constitutions, convention minutes, financial information, a file on local leader Carl Shirer, and minutes of the Socialist Education Committee.
The bulk of the collection is the series Socialist Party, USA Records, 1970-1980, which contains documents relating to the revival of the Socialist Party, USA in 1973. Vogel did not keep the official records of the party, but his position as Hammer and Tongs editor placed him at the center of many of the party's workings and ideological debates. Furthermore, the file he saved for the period of his membership of convention minutes, party platforms, constitutional revisions, National Action Committee minutes, and other governance records is the only known file of these types of records in archival custody.
The series is subdivided into History and Background, Party Governance, Publication Records, and Illinois Chapter Records. The subseries on the history of SP-USA documents Vogel's participation in the effort to re-establish a traditional socialist party in 1973. These records include chronologically arranged memoranda, discussion bulletins, and mass mailings issued by the Debs Caucus from 1968 to 1971 and a separate file of the mailings on this issue distributed by Vogel.
The Governance Records include minutes, resolutions, constitution drafts, and general papers of national meetings from the founding convention in 1973 through the 1979 convention. Documentation on the 1976, 1977, and 1979 meetings is less complete, however. For the National Action Committee, on which Vogel served, there are mimeographed minutes, 1973-1977, and other information distributed to members of the committee. Unfortunately, the minutes are irregular and not complete.
The correspondence in the Publications section is the heart of the collection. This documentation resulted from Vogel's tenure as editor of the first eight issues of Hammer and Tongs, the internal party discussion bulletin, from 1973 through May 1974. This correspondence thoroughly documents the first year of the new party when Vogel was in regular contact with National Committee members, other individuals involved with party locals, the national office in Milwaukee, and individuals around the country who were writing to Hammer and Tongs. Themes represented in the correspondence include formation of party identity in a time when many of the principles of the Socialist Party had been adopted by mainstream liberals as well as many of the issues of the 1970s including the women's movement, sexual liberation, the Middle East, inflation, and the gas crisis. Internal problems including funding problems, personal feuds, and dissatisfaction with the management of the party are also well represented. This section is arranged alphabetically by state and then by city and member. Among Vogel's most frequent correspondents are: Charles Curtiss (Los Angeles), Jerry Hornsby (Tennessee), Frank Marquart (New Mexico), Harry Siitonen (San Francisco), Tad Tekla (Ohio), Mark Weber (Illinois), and Abraham Bassford, Rick Kissell, Bill Munger, and Lee Webster of Wisconsin. The Publication section also includes an assortment of brochures and press releases issued by the Socialist Party Information Service, while Hammer and Tongs, the Socialist Tribune, and numerous local newsletters are available in the SHSW Library.
Information on the Chicago and Illinois locals includes local campaign materials for the 1976 election, membership lists, minutes, and publicity material. There is, however, very little information about Vogel's own 1976 gubernatorial candidacy.
The alphabetical Subject Files include an assortment of documents that not only relate to his involvement in the LSL, SP SDF, and SP USA, but also to other groups such as those with which he had transitory involvement or communication such as the Citizens Party of Illinois and the Independent Socialist League. Of particular interest is the information regarding the transformation of the Young Communist League into the American Youth for Democracy; the clippings on writer Maxwell Bodenheim and his wife, members of the Libertarian Socialist League, who were murdered for their politics; and the election campaigns of David McReynolds and Frank Zeidler. Also here are a number of early files on the Proletarian Party found in the trash at the Charles Kerr Publishing Company. One folder filed under Vogel's name includes miscellaneous writings and several biographical clippings.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Virgil J. Vogel, Northbrook, Illinois, 1975 and 1983. Letter of transmission on file.
Processed by David Seubert (1997 Intern).
Contents List
|
Series: Libertarian Socialist League (LSL) Records, 1949-1953
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
1
|
Background and historical material
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
2-5
|
Conference papers, 1949-1951
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
6
|
Correspondence, 1950
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
7
|
Libertarian Socialist Committee, 1953-1954
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
8
|
Local LSL bulletins and flyers
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
9
|
National Organizing Committee minutes, 1950-1952
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
10
|
Miscellany
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
11
|
Program and statements of policy
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
12
|
Summer schools, 1949-1951, n.d.
|
|
|
Series: Socialist Party - Social Democratic Federation (SP-SDF) Records, 1950-1972
|
|
|
Conventions
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
13
|
1958, Vogel resolution on Indians
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
14
|
1968
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
15
|
Wisconsin Socialist Party, 1938, 1958-1960
|
|
|
Chicago
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
16
|
Constitution, 1959
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
17-18
|
Conventions, 1959, 1967
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
19
|
Correspondence, finances, 1960-1972
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
20
|
Miscellany, n.d.
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
21
|
Shirer, Carl, Bulletins and form letters, 1969-1973
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
22
|
Socialist Education Committee minutes, 1959
|
|
|
Series: Socialist Party USA Records, 1970-1980
|
|
|
History and background, 1968-1973
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
23-25
|
Debs Caucus, 1968-1971
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
26
|
Vogel mailings on party formation, 1970, 1973
|
|
|
Party Governance
|
|
|
Conventions
|
|
|
1973, May 26-27
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
Minutes
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
2
|
Constitution
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
3
|
Resolutions
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
4
|
General materials
|
|
|
1974
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
5
|
Constitutional revision
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
6
|
Resolutions
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
7
|
General materials
|
|
|
1975
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
8
|
Constitutional revision
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
9
|
Report/platform
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
10
|
Resolutions
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
11
|
General materials
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
12
|
1976
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
13
|
1977
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
14
|
1979
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
15
|
Undated convention resolutions
|
|
|
National Action Committee
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
16
|
Minutes, 1973-1977
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
17
|
Mailings, 1975-1977
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
18
|
Membership lists
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
19
|
National Secretary position, 1973-1976
|
|
|
Publication Records
|
|
|
General
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
1
|
Hammer 8 Tongs mailings, 1974
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
2-3
|
Literature, 1973-1977
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
4
|
Socialist Party Information Service releases
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
5
|
Socialist Tribune, 1970-1976
|
|
|
Vogel's Hammer and Tongs editorial correspondence, 1973-1976
|
|
|
Alabama
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
6
|
Fite, Lenhardt
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
7
|
General
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
8
|
Alaska: Koponen, Niilo
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
9
|
Arkansas: Bohannon, Herb
|
|
|
California
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
10
|
General reorganization material, 1972
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
11
|
Heisler, Frances
|
|
|
Los Angeles
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
12
|
Briggs, William
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
13
|
Curtiss, Charles
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
14
|
General
|
|
|
San Francisco
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
15
|
Coelln, John
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
16
|
Rifkin, Jo Nina
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
17-20
|
Siitonen, Harry
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
21
|
General
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
22
|
Canada
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
23
|
Colorado: Goodstein, Phil
|
|
|
Florida
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
24
|
Bigenho, Merle
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
25
|
General
|
|
|
Illinois
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
26
|
Kessler, June and Ralph
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
1
|
Lerner, Richard
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
2
|
Rosen, Burton
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
3
|
Thompson, Fred
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
4
|
Weber, Mark
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
5
|
General
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
6
|
Indiana: Archer, John
|
|
|
Iowa
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
7
|
Barr, William
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
8
|
Demopulos, Jim
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
9
|
General
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
10-11
|
Kansas-Maine
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
12
|
Massachusetts: Lewine, John
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
13
|
Michigan: Chester, Harry
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
14-16
|
Minnesota-New Jersey
|
|
|
New Mexico
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
17
|
Eaby, Christian
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
18
|
Marquart, Frank
|
|
|
New York: New York City
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
19
|
Ballin, Bruce
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
20
|
Bassford, Abraham
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
21
|
Chamberlin, Bob
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
22
|
McReynolds, Dave
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
23
|
Redler, Arthur
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
24
|
Rosenhart, Ann
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
25
|
General
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
26
|
North Carolina
|
|
|
Ohio
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
27
|
Girkins, Ron
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
1-2
|
Tekla, Tad
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
3
|
General
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
4
|
Oregon
|
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
5
|
Hooper, Darlington
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
6
|
Tucker, Robert
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
7
|
Williams, Dick (David Ben-Safed)
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
8
|
General
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
9
|
Rhode Island
|
|
|
Tennessee
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
10
|
Hornsby, Jerry
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
11
|
General
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
13
|
Vermont
|
|
|
Virginia
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
14
|
Hubert, Lee
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
15
|
Willingham, Stephen
|
|
|
Washington, D.C.
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
16
|
Acher, John
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
17
|
Miller, Eleanor
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
18
|
Morse, Warren
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
19
|
Tepper, Larry
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
20
|
Washington
|
|
|
Wisconsin
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
21
|
Bassford, Brahm
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
22
|
Hart, William O.
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
23
|
Hermann, Bea
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
24
|
Kissell, Rick
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
25
|
Koth, Ervin
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
26
|
Munger, William
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
27
|
Webster, Lee
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
1-2
|
Zeidler, Frank
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
3
|
General
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
3A
|
Unidentified
|
|
|
SP USA Illinois
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
4
|
Chicago chapter formation, 1973
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
5
|
Minutes, Illinois chapter, 1973-1976
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
6
|
Circulars
|
|
|
Elections
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
7
|
Acuff ballot issue, 1976
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
8
|
Gubernatorial election, 1976
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
9
|
Mayoral election, 1976
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
10
|
Membership lists
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
11
|
Thomas-Debs dinners
|
|
|
Series: Subject Files
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
12
|
Anti-nuclear power, Chicago area, n.d.
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
13
|
Ballot access, 1976-1977
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
14
|
Bodenheim, Maxwell, Murder, 1954
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
15
|
Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., 1973
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
16
|
Chile, 1973, n.d.
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
17
|
Citizens Party of Illinois, Mailings, 1980-1982
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
18
|
Debs-Helen Keller incident correspondence, 1968
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
19
|
Democratic Socialists, 1978
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
20
|
Democratic Socialists Organizing Committee, 1973
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
21
|
Driscoll, Robert, Case, 1954
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
22
|
Hass 8 Cozzini independent presidential candidacy, 1960
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
23
|
Independent Socialist League, 1950s
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
24
|
India
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
25
|
Labor and socialist newspapers list
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
26
|
McReynolds, Dave, 1958-1970
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
27
|
Midwest Action Conference, 1976
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
27a
|
Militant Labor Forum
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
28
|
New America, 1968-1970
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
29
|
New American Movement, 1973-1974
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
30
|
Portugal
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
1
|
Proletarian Party, 1923-1946
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
2
|
Social Democrats USA, 1973
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
3
|
Socialist Education Committee, 1949
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
4
|
Socialist International
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
5
|
Socialist Program, Committee for, 1954
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
6
|
Songs and poetry
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
7
|
Strachey's “Contemporary Capitalist” commentary
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
8
|
Thomas (Norman) Institute, 1976
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
9
|
Union for Democratic Socialism, 1972-1973
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
10
|
Vogel miscellany (Writings and clippings), 1945-1980
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
11
|
Women's movement
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
12
|
Young Communist League, 1943, 1982
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
13
|
Young People's Socialist League, Constitution, 1946
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
14
|
Zeidler Presidential campaign, 1976
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
15
|
Zionism
|
|
|
