Summary Information
Ray Sparrow Papers
1915-1985
Mss 300; Micro 2040
0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes) and 2 reels of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers, mainly 1958-1968, of Ray Sparrow, a Socialist Workers Party leader also known by his pen name Art Sharon. The collection consists almost entirely of correspondence exchanged with SWP leaders such as James P. Cannon and Farrell Dobbs about Sparrow's work as San Francisco branch organizer and with Ernest Mandel about the United Secretariat of the Trotskyist Fourth International. Brief writings include a review of The Power Elite and a broadcast reply to comments made by Seymour Martin Lipset about HUAC. Also included is an obituary and documents pertaining to matters within CPUSA during the late 1950s.
There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00300 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Ray Sparrow, who served as a member of the National Committee of the Socialist Workers Party from 1941 to 1975, first became involved in revolutionary politics at age thirteen, although because his parents were both members of the Communist Party he had been exposed to radical ideas at an even younger age. At sixteen Sparrow joined the Communist Party and became active in the Young Communist League. His radical and antiwar ideas led to eventual expulsion from high school and from the military.
In 1933 Sparrow broke with the CP and joined the Communist League of America. During the 1930s and 1940s he was involved in organizing efforts in the Merchant Marine and among the textile and steel industries in Chicago. In 1954, as a leader in the SWP in New York City, Sparrow entered the construction business, successfully winning a contract for the Guggenheim Museum. In 1958 he relocated to San Francisco where, while maintaining his work for the local SWP branch, he also supervised large construction projects such as the Marin County Civic Center and the San Francisco Airport. In 1965 the party assigned Sparrow to serve as a member of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. In this capacity he worked with international Trotskyist leaders Ernest Mandel, Livio Maitan, and Ernie Tate and he was partially responsible for organizing many of the international anti-war demonstrations which took place during those years. Sparrow returned to San Francisco in 1968 where he remained active in branch activities. He died in San Francisco on November 16, 1985.
Scope and Content Note
Ray Sparrow's long career in revolutionary organizing is incompletely represented in this small collection, and long periods are completely undocumented. There is also no information on his interesting and important career in construction. Indeed, many of these facts are only evident because they are discussed in his obituary from The Militant. The Sparrow Papers are arranged as Obituary, Correspondence, Writings, and Miscellany. The entire collection is available both in paper form and on microfilm.
The Correspondence mainly dates from 1958 to 1968. The exception to this is a few items, 1953-1954, exchanged with national organizer Tom Kerry and with James P. Cannon about writing done by Sparrow. The coverage resumes in 1958 after Sparrow relocated in San Francisco. Most of this later correspondence consists of exchanges about international party matters, national and local elections, publicity tours, finances, and factional disputes, both within the national office and within the San Francisco branch. There are also occasional allusions to the party's situation in Los Angeles in correspondence with Carl Feingold. While the majority of the correspondence from the late 1950s is concerned with the details of day-to-day party operations, occasional letters from such prominent correspondents as James P. Cannon, Farrell Dobbs, George Weissman, Tom Kerry, and Joe Hansen contain more comprehensive reports. Later correspondence alludes to the growing role of young people in the party and to the 1962 Cuban Blockade demonstration. The most extensive correspondence dates from the period 1966 to 1968 when Sparrow was sent to Brussels as a member of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. Despite the volume of the exchanges with international Trotskyist leaders such as Ernest Mandel and Livio Maitan and with Dobbs, Hansen, and other national staff in New York City, it is unclear precisely what Sparrow's responsibilities were in Europe.
Some letters, especially those from Mandel, concern conditions he observed during worldwide tours. Correspondence with British socialist Ernie Tate is also extensive here. This material is quite informative about conditions in Great Britain, organizational work carried for international peace demonstrations, and the factional dispute with Ernest Healy. A substantial portion of the international correspondence concerns the details of publication and distribution of party pamphlets and periodicals.
The Writings, which represent only a small sample of the material that Sparrow published in The Militant and elsewhere, consists of a review of The Power Elite and broadcast remarks aired by KPFA in reply to comments made by Seymour Martin Lipset. It is not known if the two other pieces filed here (“An Examination of the District Convention Resolution Condemning Trotskyism” and “Report of the New York Local Organizer”) were written by Sparrow.
The Miscellany consists of typewritten notes thought to relate to the 1953 or 1954 CIO convention and a file of mimeographed and original documents (undated, but circa 1957) relating to a crisis in the CP after the 20th Congress. Particularly interesting here is a pre-convention document “Report to the District Negro Commission.” Nothing in the file explains why these documents were in Sparrow's custody.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Copyright is retained by the Socialist Workers Party.
Presented by the Socialist Workers Party, June 15, 1992. Accession Number: M92-179
Processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, 1994.
Contents List
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Mss 300/Micro 2040
Box/Folder
1/1
Reel/Frame
1/1
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Obituary, 1985
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Correspondence
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Box/Folder
1/2-11
Reel/Frame
1/9
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1953-1954, 1958-1967, June
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Box/Folder
1/12
Reel/Frame
2/1
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1967, July-December
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Box/Folder
2/1-2
Reel/Frame
2/210
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1968, undated
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Box/Folder
2/3
Reel/Frame
2/655
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Writings, 1960, undated
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Miscellany
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Box/Folder
2/4
Reel/Frame
2/720
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CIO convention notes, 1953-1954(?)
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Box/Folder
2/5
Reel/Frame
2/729
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CPUSA, documents on post-20th Congress crisis, undated
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Box/Folder
2/6
Reel/Frame
2/780
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Rank and file union convention, 1964
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