Panken's papers reflect his interest and involvement in socialist, labor, and Jewish matters, his career as a judge, and his private life. The papers incidentally reflect important events of the times, such as the Depression and World War II. Unfortunately, Panken's earliest activities are not represented by the collection, for a fire in 1930 destroyed many of his early papers. The vast majority of the papers date from Panken's appointment to the Domestic Relations Court in 1934, although there is a fair amount of material dating from the early 1920's. The collection is divided into six series: Biographical Materials; Correspondence; Addresses, Essays, Lectures; Legal Documents; Subject File; and Clippings. The basic arrangement of the collection and the folder titles generally reflect Panken's own filing systems.
The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 1932-1964, consist of papers Panken collected and wrote for a planned autobiography and materials which reveal his personal life, career, and interest. This latter group includes short pieces written for biographical dictionaries, and probably for campaign purposes, as well as a few resumes, testimonials, and related materials from affairs in Panken's honor. Also included are photos, information about Panken's health and in-come, and his will.
Panken's CORRESPONDENCE, 1916-1964, is extensive. Although his correspondents were often quite prominent, much--although by no means all--of the correspondence relating to socialist, labor, and Jewish affairs is disappointingly mundane. (Panken's correspondents in these areas are generally the same as those found in the Morris Hillquit Papers.) Following Panken's own system of arrangement, there are two subseries: 1) a subject file for persons with whom Panken frequently corresponded or for persons or institutions which Panken considered of particular interest or importance, and 2) a general file for all others.
From 1928 to 1964 the General Correspondence file is arranged in five year chronological units and thereunder in alphabetical order. Corporate addressee takes precedence unless the individual is of particular interest and letters about a person are usually filed under that person's name. Correspondents of interest relating to Panken's socialist, labor, and Jewish concerns include: Association for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies, Paul Blanchard, Abraham Cahan, Nathan Chanin, August Claessens, A.S. Coolidge, Debs Young Circle, Julius Gerber, Louis Hendin, Morris Hillquit, Daniel Hoan, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, International Pocket-book Workers, Joint Distribution Committee, Louise Kautsky, Algernon Lee, Marx Lewis, Meyer London, Judah Magnes, New Leader, ORT, People's Tool Campaign, Martin Plettl, Rand School of Social Science, Toni Sender, Clarence Senior, Socialist Party, Norman Thomas, United Hebrew Trades, and numerous others. Correspondence with city, state, and federal officials and departments includes letters to and from Robert Ingersoll, New York City Mayors Vincent R. Impelliteri and William O'Dwyer, New York City public librarians, Governor Herbert H. Lehman, Senator Robert Wagner, Presidents Harry S. Truman and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, War Department, WPA, NRA, and many others. Much of this correspondence consists of letters written by Panken seeking action or offering his opinions or advice and the responses. Correspondence to and from Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia and some city departments have separate files in the Subject Correspondence. There is also considerable correspondence with Panken from individuals seeking help, letters relating to his court cases and methods of correction, and exchanges with noted psychologists, authors, publishers, representatives of mass media, and religious leaders and organizations. Names of interest include: Alfred Adler, Blue Network, Father Divine, A.A. Gross, Bishop Thomas Molloy, Motion Picture Distributors, Mutual Broadcasting Network, and Irving Stone.
Each file under Subject Correspondence is arranged in chronological order. This group primarily contains correspondence with New York City departments and officials while Panken was a domestic court judge. Most of the Subject Correspondence concerns particular cases, the functions of the court, and related matters. Of particular note is the extensive correspondence with Fiorello La Guardia, the correspondence concerning the unsuccessful attempt to save European socialists R. Breitscheid and R. Hilferding from Nazi persecution, the letters to and from Jenny Grimm, the wife of European socialist Robert Grimm, the congratulations on his fiftieth birthday which include letters from notable European socialists, correspondence with Jewish publications, and the voluminous correspondence with children. This last group consists of letters to and from children who passed through Panken's court. Many of the letters are the children's explanation of how and why they got into trouble, some are pleas for leniency or help, and others are letters of appreciation or thanks. The files entitled “Invitations” are requests for Panken to speak at or attend various functions and his replies.
The ADDRESSES, ESSAYS, LECTURES are almost all undated, but most of the type-written manuscripts, which comprise the greater portion of this series, can be dated between 1934 and 1955 when Panken had secretarial help; most of the handwritten manuscripts are probably pre-1934. These writings, which are arranged by subject, include lectures, speeches, newspaper releases, and essays submitted to various publications, especially those of socialist, labor, and Jewish organizations. Although campaign speeches which Panken had labelled as “campaign materials” have been filed in the Subject File under Political Campaigns, it is possible that some of the items in the present series, under New York and Depression especially, may also be campaign speeches. Others may be drafts for works which Panken planned to publish but did not (see Correspondence - General, 1938, Harpers). Some subjects such as Socialism, Labor, and Jews necessarily overlap, and users may wish to consult all possibly relevant files. Generally, the content of a piece and not the occasion for delivery dictates filing procedure. Thus, a speech about socialism delivered at a United Hebrew Trades convention would be found under Socialism. Miscellany includes manuscripts on a wide variety of topics, such as the South, chain stores, World War I, Lingbergh and racism, two brief attempts at fiction, the KKK, non-conformism, several versions of a long essay titled “Social Aspects of Individual Psychology,” and others.
The series LEGAL DOCUMENTS, 1920-1955, contains jury charges, opinions, memoranda, and other legal documents which Panken kept from his career in the Municipal and Domestic Relations courts. Most of the documents, which are filed alphabetically according to the name of defendant, are memoranda and opinions from the Domestic Relations Court, and they deal with divorces, delinquency petitions, paternity suits, support hearings, etc. Panken may have kept many of the cases for reference purposes for his writings. The Municipal Court cases are primarily concerned with landlord-tenant disputes and personal injury suits; there is one pertaining to a charge of racism.
The SUBJECT FILE, circa 1921-1959, includes a wide variety of materials. The subject titles are for the most part Panken's own. Book Reviews by Children are the result of Panken's application of bibliotherapy. Panken wrote responses, sometimes lengthy, to every child who wrote a review. His publications include notes, drafts, correspondence, galley and reviews for The Child Speaks; The Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (H. Holt and Co., 1941) which was based on Panken's experiences in court and his use of bibliotherapy The galleys for Panken's earlier book, Socialism for America (The Rand School of Social Science, 1928?) are also in the collection. There are also research materials, correspondence, drafts, and notes for subjects about which Panken wrote articles. Other files of interest contain materials related to Panken's campaigns and testimonial publications which include contributions by Panken. The files on the Ethel and Julius Rosenberg children, who were in Panken's court when the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children charged the Abel Meeropols with using the children for fund raising purposes, are of interest. The incident received international attention, and there are numerous petitions from Europe, especially France, regarding the case. Panken's notes, reports, transcripts and other materials collected at the 1933 Labor and Socialist International are also noteworthy. The Miscellany subject file includes a 1908 Bar Association recommendation that American universities not participate in the Heidelberg Jubilee.
CLIPPINGS, 1920-1964, consist primarily of newspaper articles and photos about Panken and articles written by Panken. The former usually concern speeches he gave, cases he decided, and events he attended. Manuscripts for some of the articles can be found in the series Addresses, Essays, Lectures. The clippings are mostly from 1929 to 1948 with a high concentration from the early 1930's. They supplement the other materials in the collection and provide information about Panken's wife not found elsewhere in the papers. The newspapers themselves are almost all from New York, and many of them are published by socialist, labor, or Jewish organizations. The clippings are arranged by subject and thereunder chronologically. All clippings in Yiddish are filed under “Jewish Affairs and Yiddish Clippings” regardless of subject. Also, there is necessarily some overlap between subjects such as “Campaigns” and “Socialism;” researchers should consult all possibly relevant subjects.
