Title: Robb Burlage Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1956-1973

Creator:

• Burlage, Robb, 1937-

Call Number: Mss 359

Quantity: 1.6 c.f. (4 archives boxes)

Repository:

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

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Papers of Robb Burlage, a civil rights activist, prominent member of the Students for a Democratic Society, and resident fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. The collection has been alphabetically arranged as a subject file, consisting of Burlage's correspondence, some with fellow activists Rennie Davis, Todd Gitlin and Nanci Hollander, and Dick and Mickey Flacks; research notes and drafts for several articles, a textbook, and other writings; reference material collected by Burlage, primarily concerning the South; and other items. Also included are copies of pamphlets Burlage wrote for SDS distribution, his papers from the Port Huron convention, his college class notes and term papers, and news clippings.

Note:

There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00359

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Robb Burlage, civil rights and political activist and resident fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, D.C., was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 8, 1937. The son of Henry Burlage, professor of pharmacy at the University of North Carolina, and dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Texas, he was raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Austin, Texas. Burlage attended high school in Austin, and college at the University of Texas, where he was editor of the student newspaper, University of Alabama (1961), University of Tennessee (1962) and University of Kentucky (1962). In 1960 and 1961, Burlage also taught at the University of Alabama, and worked for the Alabama State Planning Department. Burlage later pursued his graduate studies in economics at Harvard University.

Burlage's political activity began when he organized civil rights groups in the South from 1959 to 1961. He was active in the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) from its organization, and attended the Port Huron founding convention in 1962. From 1963 to 1964, Burlage worked with SDS's Economic Research and Action Project (ERAP) in Appalachia. For many years he also served on the SDS National Council. In 1965 Burlage began work with the Health Policy Advisory Center of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). He became a resident fellow at IPS in 1967. In addition, Burlage continued his interest in Appalachia; he served on the staff of the Tennessee State Planning Commission, and initiated an Appalachian program known as People's Appalachia. In the course of this latter project Burlage corresponded with Todd Gitlin concerning urban migrants, and wrote a review of Gitlin's book, Uptown: Urban Poor in Chicago. During the 1970's, Burlage continued his involvement in Appalachian work, and with labor and health issues at IPS. In June, 1975, he attended the conference on Public Planning sponsored by Mayor Paul Soglin's office in Madison, Wisconsin.

Burlage wrote a number of pamphlets for SDS in the early 1960's, a book entitled New York City's Municipal Hospitals (1967), and co-authored a book with his father, Four Walls of Pharmacy (1975).

The collection has been arranged alphabetically in a subject file. Included are Burlage's correspondence, research notes and drafts, reference material used in his writing, and other collected materials. Many of the folder titles were assigned by Burlage, and have been retained in the final arrangement.

Included with the folder entitled Appalachian material are items on coal unionism and papers on “The Labor History Project,” “The Proposed Roulesburg Reservoir, Cheat River, West Virginia...,” and “The Peabody Coal Company.” Bibliographies and research materials concern the South, the TVA, and civil rights. Among Burlage's writings are drafts and notes for many proposed projects - a textbook on the South, an article for Liberation magazine, and other articles, with a folder of general short pieces, a critique, and notes for a speech. Other examples of his writing may be found in the folders of college class notes and term papers. Also included is a folder of general correspondence, and separate files of letters to and from Rennie Davis, Dick and Mickey Flacks, and Todd Gitlin and Nanci Hollander, discussing both personal activities, and SDS strategies and projects. Throughout the collection are scattered handwritten notes, clippings, articles, and other material written or collected by Burlage as reference material. Many of these have been separated by topic, individual, or subject, and clearly illustrate the scope of his interests and activities.

In addition to correspondence Burlage's work with SDS is seen in the folders filed under the Students for a Democratic Society heading. Included are copies of the near-print pamphlets which Burlage wrote for distribution by SDS.

Use Restrictions

Literary rights are retained by the letter writers.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Robb Burlage, Washington, D.C., 1975, 1977. Accession Number: M75-284, M77-129

Processing Information

Processed by Margaret Wise, John Wright, and Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, 1975, 1981.

Box   1 Folder   1	Proposed Appalachia Pilot Project for Knoxville, Tennessee, by Robb Burlage
Box   1 Folder   2	Appalachian Material, 1973
Box   1 Folder   3	Back to the Drawing Boards Conference, June 1967
Box   1 Folder   4	Barnet, Richard J., Articles from Hanoi, 1969
Box   1 Folder   5	Bibliographies and Research Materials, early 1960's
	Burlage Writings
Box   1 Folder   6	Address to the City Club Forum, January 8, 1965
Box   1 Folder   7	“The American Planned Economy: A Critique,” 1963 - Final Version and Drafts
Box   1 Folder   8	General Writings, 1956-1965 - Articles, Drafts, and Notes
Box   1 Folder   9	Article for Liberation, “New Spirits of '76: Why We Care to Struggle,” 1969 - Draft, Notes, and Reference Material
Box   1 Folder   10	The South as an Underdeveloped Country, 1958, 1961-1966 - Draft and Reference Material
Box   1 Folder   11	Textbook on the South - Notes and Reference Material
Box   1 Folder   12	“Toward a New Politics and Economics of Health,” 1968
Box   1 Folder   13	“Where We're At”
	Classwork and Papers
Box   1 Folder   14	Class Notes and Papers, 1958-1960
Box   2 Folder   1	Term Papers, 1961-1962
	Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   2	General, 1959, 1961-1966, 1969, 1971, 1973, undated
Box   2 Folder   3	With Rennie Davis, 1965
Box   2 Folder   4	With Dick and Mickey Flacks, 1964-1965
Box   2 Folder   5	With Todd Gitlin and Nanci Hollander, 1963-1965
Box   2 Folder   6	Cramer, Alex, Writings on University and Curriculum Reform
Box   2 Folder   7	Economics, Employment, and Industrialization in the South - Notes and Papers, 1960-1967
Box   2 Folder   8	Education in the South, circa 1960-1965
Box   2 Folder   9	Essays and Discussion Papers, circa 1963
Box   2 Folder   10	Flacks, Richard, “The Liberated Generation: An Exploration of the Roots of Student Protest,” 1967
Box   2 Folder   11	Haber, Alan, The Power System in the U.S., 1965
Box   2 Folder   12	Hazard, Kentucky, 1964, 1966
Box   2 Folder   13	Highlander Research and Education Center - Correspondence and Reports, 1963-1966
Box   2 Folder   14	History and Culture of the South, 1958, 1960
Box   2 Folder   15	JOIN Community Union, Chicago, Illinois, 1965-1966
Box   2 Folder   16	Labor and Unions, 1961-1962, 1966
Box   2 Folder   17	Legal Action for Civil Rights, circa 1963
Box   3 Folder   1	Love, Joseph, 1965-1967
Box   3 Folder   2	“Magazine File”
Box   3 Folder   3	Marcuse, May 9, 1966
Box   3 Folder   4	Mills, C. Wright and The Power Elite, Criticisms of
Box   3 Folder   5	Names, Organizations, and Contacts
Box   3 Folder   6	Newspaper Clippings re: Civil Rights, 1960-1966
Box   3 Folder   7	New Working Papers, undated
Box   3 Folder   8	Notes re: Workers and City
Box   3 Folder   9	Notes on a New National Institute for Social Analysis and Community Problem Solving, 1966
Box   3 Folder   10	Plaut, Thomas - Elkins and Keren, 1972-1973
Box   3 Folder   11	Radical Action Cooperative, Columbia University
Box   3 Folder   12	Radical Economics in the 1960's
Box   3 Folder   13	Religion and the Church, 1959-1963
Box   3 Folder   14	Research, 1964-1965
Box   3 Folder   15	The Resistance - Segregationist Position, 1961-1962
Box   3 Folder   16	Rothstein, Richard, 1964-1965
Box   3 Folder   17	Southern Conference Educational Fund, 1963
Box   3 Folder   18	The Southern University, 1958, 1961-1963
	Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Box   3 Folder   19	General Papers, 1962-1963, 1966
Box   3 Folder   20	Conference for Jobs and Food, November-December 1963
Box   3 Folder   21	Students' Term Papers, 1967
	Students for a Democratic Society
Box   3 Folder   22	General Papers and Materials
Box   4 Folder   1	Port Huron Convention Papers
Box   4 Folder   2	Radical Education Project, 1969
Box   4 Folder   3	Southern Project, 1962
Box   4 Folder   4	Tennessee Council on Human Relations, 1961-1962
Box   4 Folder   5	Tennessee Politics, 1962-1964
Box   4 Folder   6	Tennessee State Planning Commission, 1964-1965
Box   4 Folder   7	“Urban Migrants,” A Report from the People's Appalachian Research Collective, July 1972
Box   4 Folder   8	Violence, Law Enforcement, 1961-1963
Box   4 Folder   9	Voter Registration Clipping File
Box   4 Folder   10	The Way Out, 1960
Box   4 Folder   11	What We As Students Can Do, 1960-1961
Box   4 Folder   12	“Who Is the Southerner?” - Introduction
Box   4 Folder   13-14	Miscellany