The Clarence Senior Papers consist of the files generated during the years 1924-1945 when he was successively a student, journalist, public employee, and college instructor. There is no information on his one year of journalistic endeavor, however, just as there is none on his
later activities as a college professor, successful author and consultant. The Papers include correspondence, notes, lists, reports, and clippings. The correspondence is arranged chronologically and is followed by an alphabetical subject file comprising the reports, lists, notes, clippings and an occasional memo.
Senior's correspondents include the American Civil Liberties Union, 1925-1926; Bruno Lasker, 1926; Upton Sinclair, 1926; Norman Thomas, 1928; the League for Industrial Democracy, 1928: and Paul R. Porter. During the 1920s and early 1930s, Senior's most regular correspondent was his college roommate and confidant, Paul Porter. Because Porter traveled a great deal, the letters are from many parts of the United States and some foreign countries, including the Far East and China. They deal primarily with personal matters, but include much social, economic and political commentary. In addition to Porter's vivid descriptions of his local scene, the letters provide insight into the thinking of two young socialists during the 1920s, as they react to the writings of Upton Sinclair, Henry Mencken, and others. Especially vivid is Porter's description of the 1928-1929 textile strike in Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Senior's correspondence as National Executive Secretary for the Socialist Party (1929-1936) consists mainly of solicitations for the “Keep-America-Out-of-War” Congress, and the 1935 Continental Congress of Workers and Farmers. Evaluations of the 1935 congress and its effectiveness are included. In 1938 his letters to the leaders of the major international labor unions sought support for the Labor Delegation to Mexico, apparently without much success. Senior also wrote a telegram-resolution to the President of the United States that was signed by a great number of people. It expressed concern that Mexico might become a new-world Spain. The seizure of American owned oil wells by Mexico, the delicate relations that ensued, and a visit to Mexico by John L. Lewis, postponed the delegation indefinitely.
Much of the correspondence throughout pertains to Mexico and Latin America. There are numerous letters (some written in Spanish) to Mexican officials making arrangements for the AFSC C.O. work camps and service seminars in Mexico from 1939 to 1941. Senior's letters in behalf of his projected “Semester in Mexico” were written to the U.S. Department of State, other colleges and universities, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Lewis Hanke, Irving Leonard, and Hubert Herring, three men notable for their expertise in Latin American affairs and history. The letters treat conditions in Mexico, 1938-1941, and Mexican-American relations, 1938-1941. Senior's later correspondence sets forth his views on the post-war world and his own future plans.
Additional Senior papers include those originating after 1945, probably still in his personal custody; and the bulk of his papers when he was National Executive Secretary for the Socialist Party, which are at Duke University.
