Summary Information
George N. Caylor Papers
1941-1966
- Caylor, George N., 1885-1975
Mss 59
0.6 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of George N. Caylor, a socialist bookseller and party member who terminated his membership in 1924. Included are a typescript autobiography which includes information about the socialist movement during the first quarter of the century in Philadelphia and New York City and interesting sidelights on leaders such as Eugene V. Debs, Jack London, E. Haldeman-Julius, and John Spargo; typescripts and shorter reminiscences; correspondence and a report relating to a study of his frequent letters to the editor of the Orlando Sentinel; and copies of correspondence, 1955-1966, the originals of which are held by Brandeis University Library and which reflect the wide range of his concerns.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00059 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
George N. Caylor, former Philadelphia socialist bookseller, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 23, 1885. In 1896, the family moved to Philadelphia, where Caylor and his brother, Joseph, were raised in an atmosphere of comparative poverty. While still in school, Caylor worked as a newspaper seller and as an errand boy in a necktie factory. In 1899, after finishing elementary school, he took a full-time position with the neck tie firm, and in 1902, he became the first treasurer (subsequently secretary-treasurer) of the newly-formed Neckwear Cutters Union. Caylor joined the Socialist Party in 1904, and was elected “Literature Agent” for the Philadelphia area. In this capacity, he was responsible for the printing, distribution, and selling of all socialist literature for the Party.
At the age of 21, in 1906, he was the youngest delegate to the Pennsylvania State Socialist Convention in Pittsburgh, where he was elected secretary. Two years later, in 1908, he was the youngest delegate to the National Socialist Convention in Chicago. In 1910, he organized and managed the first socialist book store in the United States (in Philadelphia), and became secretary of the Socialist Literary Society of Philadelphia. He became a superintendent of the necktie firm in 1912, but left the next year to enter business for himself as a salesman of general merchandise (principally shoes). In 1916, Caylor moved to New York where he was associated with the Rand School of Social Science. He traveled in Europe where he met with many of the leading socialist leaders of the time: Ramsey MacDonald, Philip Snowden, Jean Longuet (grandson of Karl Marx), and Foy Litvinoff, to name a few.
In 1923, when he entered the wholesale footwear business in New York, his enthusiasm for the Socialist Party had begun to decline seriously. In 1924, he dropped his membership in the Party with the explanation that “if socialism was going to come, it would have to come through some other means. Socialism to me was still a living thing, but the Socialist Party was dead as far as I was concerned.” He continued his footwear business until 1939, during which time he also served as an arbitrator for the New York State Board of Mediation. He did a lot of traveling throughout the United States and Mexico, and in 1943 he served as an arbitrator for the War Labor Board. In 1948, Caylor retired from business completely, and settled in Orange County, Florida, with his wife Tema. In retirement, he became a prolific “Letter to the Editor” writer, the conservative Orlando Sentinel being the recipient of most of his comments.
Scope and Content Note
The most important items in the Caylor manuscript collection are the three-volume typescript (carbon copy) of his autobiography, “If My Memory Serves Me Right,” its continuation, “Seventy to Eighty,” and a memoir of his brother Joseph E. Cohen, entitled “Brother Joe.” They provide valuable information regarding the socialist movement in the first quarter of the twentieth century, particularly in Philadelphia and New York, and include interesting and relevant sidelights on many of the most notable socialist leaders of the era: Eugene V. Debs, Jack London, Haldeman-Julius, John Spargo, and many others. To supplement these works, there are also several typescripts of shorter memoirs and reminiscences relating to Debs, Spargo, Fred Long, Clinton Golden, Billy Price, the labor movement, the motion picture Birth of a Nation, and other subjects.
In 1958, the Center for Practical Politics of Rollins College (Winter Park, Florida) inaugurated a study of Caylor's “Letters to the Editor” to the Orlando Sentinel. The correspondence and final report of the study are included in the collection. A small, but interesting, collection of Xerox copies of Caylor's correspondence (originals in the Brandeis University Library) covering the period 1955 to 1966 includes letters to and from John F. Kennedy, Clinton S. Golden, Stewart Holbrook, Carl Sandburg, Alger Hiss, Harry Golden, Robert F. Kennedy, and Richard O'Connor, among others. The subject matter reflects the wide range of Caylor's concerns: labor arbitration, segregation and civil rights, nuclear testing, Medicare, Viet Nam, and the Selective Service.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by George N. Caylor, Orlando, Florida, 1963-1966.
Processed by Richard Reed, January 8, 1970.
Contents List
|
Box
1
Folder
1
|
Correspondence, 1955-1966, and Typescripts
|
|
|
1955, March 15, Public Thought Editor, Orlando Sentinel, re: Labor arbitration
|
|
|
1955, March 27, W. A. Smallwood, Director, Communication Workers of America, Atlanta, Ga., re: Labor arbitration
|
|
|
1955, March 27, W. A. Smallwood, re: Labor arbitration
|
|
|
1955, July 6, 14; 1956, April 6, 12, 18, William E, Bohn (ed.), The New Leader, re: Integration and conditions in the South
|
|
|
1956, Aug. 30; 1956, Sept. 8, John B. Orr, re: Segregation
|
|
|
1957, March 14; 1957, April 1, John F. Kennedy, re: Profiles in Courage
|
|
|
1957, Sept. 22; 1957, Oct. 30; 1957, Nov. 8, Barry L. Golden, re: E. Haldeman-Julius
|
|
|
1958, April 3; 1958, April 8, Corliss and Margaret Lamont, re: Bomb Testing
|
|
|
1959, April 20, Congressman Sid Herlong, re: Migrant farm labor problem
|
|
|
1959, Dec. 11, Clinton S. Golden, re: Steel controversy and the aged
|
|
|
1960, April 2, Governor Leroy Collins (Dem.-FL), re: Race relations
|
|
|
1960, April 24; 1960, May 14; 1960, May 22, Stewart H. Holbrook, re: Gaylord Wilshire
|
|
|
1960, June 20; 1960, July 12; 1960, July 25; 1960, July 30, Carl Sandburg
|
|
|
1960, July 30, Travers Clement, re: Rebel America and My Life as a Rebel
|
|
|
1960, Sept. 8; 1960, Aug. 4, Alger Hiss, re: In the Court of Public Opinion
|
|
|
1960, Aug. 25; 1960, Aug 30, Harry Golden, re: Eugene V. Debs
|
|
|
1960, Sept. 29, Joseph S. Clark, re: Medicare
|
|
|
1962, Feb. 18; 1962, May 10; May 24; 1962, July 7, Louis P, Lochner, re: Always the Unexpected
|
|
|
1962, March 19; 1962, March 25, Louise Heinze, re: Eugene V. Debs
|
|
|
1962, March 29; 1962, April 1; 1962, April 6; 1962, April 20, Syracuse University Press, re: Eugene V. Debs
|
|
|
1962, May 27, E. Haldeman, re: Emanuel Julius
|
|
|
1962, July 27; 1962, Aug. 1; 1962, Aug. 6; 1962, Aug. 21; 1962, Sept. 3; 1963, May 19; 1966, May 23; 1966, Aug. 19, Gerald Friedberg, re: John Spargo
|
|
|
1963, June 18, Barbara W. Tuchman, re: Anarchists
|
|
|
1964, Feb. 23; 1964, March 3, Arthur M. Schlesinger, re: Retrospective: The History of a Historian
|
|
|
1965, Feb. 20; 1964, Feb. 27; 1965, March 7; 1965, April 18; 1965, April 23; 1965, Aug. 18, Richard O'Connor, re: Jack London
|
|
|
1965, June 25, Robert F. Kennedy, re: Dirksen Amendment
|
|
|
1965, July 13, Jacob K. Javits, re: Dirksen Amendment
|
|
|
1965, Aug. 18, Robert F. Kennedy, re: Poll Tax
|
|
|
1965, Oct. 12; 1965, Oct 14, Theodore W. Kheel, re: Clinton S. Golden
|
|
|
1965, Nov. 9; 1965, Nov. 30, A. H. Raskin, re: Rose Schneiderman
|
|
|
1965, Nov. 25; 1965, Dec. 6, Robert F. Kennedy, re: Ship safety laws
|
|
|
1965, Dec. 10, Jacob K. Javits, re: Ship safety laws
|
|
|
1966, March 14; 1966, March 21, Hubert H. Humphrey, re: Vietnam
|
|
|
1966, April 12, Department of State, re: Vietnam
|
|
|
1966, Aug. 10; 1966, Sept. 6, Jacob K. Javits, re: The Draft
|
|
|
1966, Aug. 27, Robert Shaplen, re: Cambodia
|
|
|
1966, Sept. 24; 1966, Oct. 14, Eugene V. Rostow, re: Eugene V. Debs
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
2
|
“Letters to the Editor” Project: Correspondence, speech, and statistics, 1958-1960
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
3
|
Miscellaneous typescripts, 1941-1965
|
|
|
“A Visit With John Spargo,” 1941
|
|
|
“To What Extent Are Unions Responsible for Inflation,” 1959
|
|
|
“Philip Minassian,” 1960
|
|
|
“Fred Long,” 1960
|
|
|
“Henry, Rita, Daniel Berman,” 1963
|
|
|
“That Was Debs,” 1963
|
|
|
“Clinton S. Golden,” 1963
|
|
|
“Impressions Upon Seeing 'Birth of a Nation' in the South,” 1963
|
|
|
“Simon Libros,” 1963
|
|
|
“Billy Price,” 1963
|
|
|
“Frances Perkins, 1882-1965: A Memoir,” 1965
|
|
|
“Notes for a Talk on My Connection with the Labor Movement,” undated
|
|
|
“Eugene V. Debs, Samuel Moore, Joseph E. Cohen,” undated
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
4
|
Typescript: “Brother Joe: Fragmentary Chapters for a Life of Joseph E. Cohen”
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
5-7
|
Typescript: “If My Memory Serves Me Right: The Autobiography of George N. Caylor”
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
Typescript: “Seventy to Eighty” (continuation of autobiography)
|
|
|
