The major portion of these papers consists of manuscript drafts, handwritten notes, clippings, and correspondence. There are four main series in the collection: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, the EVELYN REED PAPERS, CORRESPONDENCE, and SPEECHES AND WRITINGS. The bulk of the collection covers Novack's later years as a party intellectual and writer and most of the papers relate to his writing projects and to his ongoing association with Alan Wald, a historian of the left wing New York intellectuals in the 1930s.
Although papers concerning Novack's writings make up the bulk of the collection, their utility for research is difficult to assess and the files are difficult to use. The collection includes no complete bibliography of Novack's writings, and many individual manuscripts are incomplete, disordered beyond reconstruction, and insufficiently identified. Many works, especially his books, appear completely unrepresented. There was also little in the papers to document his role in educating young Trotskyists, although a number of his mimeographed instructional lectures (Dialectical Materialism and Introduction to the Logic of Marxism) have been added to the collection from the National Education Office files of the SWP records also held by the SHSW Archives.
The collection is also disappointing because of the absence of material about Novack's early life. Although Novack considered himself to have been as widely acquainted as anyone among New York intellectuals during the 1930s this fact is not reflected in any contemporary documentation in the collection, although many useful recollections of his associations and activities during that period are included. Neither is Novack's leadership in the non-CP labor defense and civil liberties struggles reflected here. (Work as executive director of the Civil Rights Defense Committee is documented, however, in a separate collection held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.) Finally, evidence of Novack's contacts with the Trotskyist leadership is sparse, with only slim folders documenting his relations with individuals such as Jack Barnes, Farrell Dobbs, Vincent R. Dunne, and Joe Hansen. This deficiency is partly compensated for by Novack (and Warde) letters that are scattered throughout the records of the Socialist Workers Party and the James Cannon Papers.
The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL consists of a few clippings, a marriage license and divorce papers, professional resumes, and two lengthy autobiographical interviews conducted during the early 1970s. Also included is a copy of the introduction to Polemics in Marxist Philosophy which concerns the development of Novack's political philosophy.
The EVELYN REED PAPERS consist of one box of papers, almost entirely concerning her controversial Marxian views on the oppression of women in society. Included is a chronological file of correspondence and a second file comprised of writings and speeches. A subject file contains several anthropological debates to which Reed was a party which appeared in various Trotskyist publications. (Researchers should note that the single folder of personal correspondence between Novack and Reed in the collection (1962 to 1965) is filed in the Novack correspondence described below.)
The CORRESPONDENCE covers the years 1945 to 1988, with the bulk dating after 1960. The majority of the series is arranged alphabetically by correspondent, although there is a small chronologically-arranged general file. The largest section of the series documents a relationship with historian Alan Wald, a fellow Trotskyist, that began in 1968. This correspondence concerns Wald's research on New York City intellectuals of the 1930s, particularly James T. Farrell, Sherry Mangan, and John Wheelwright. The relationship between Wald and Novack began in order to answer Wald's research queries, but over the years it developed into a strong friendship, so that the file is a rich source of information not only about Novack's past associations and observations but also about his life from 1974 to 1983. Because of Wald's habit of sending Novack copies of letters he had received from other informants in order to prompt Novack's clarifications and comments (at one point even sending him copies of Farrell-Novack letters in the James T. Farrell Papers), the file contains correspondence from individuals such as Herbert Aptheker, James Burnham, Noam Chomsky, Pierre Frank, Albert Glotzer, Granville Hicks, Sidney Hook, Irving Howe, Quincy Howe, Sidney Kunitz, Mary McCarthy, Felix Morrow, B. F. Skinner, Arne Swabeck, Lionel and Diana Trilling, and even several letters from Novack's first wife, Elinor Rice Hayes. In addition, some of the materials sent to Novack relate to Wald's courses and other activities at the University of Michigan. Although many of the letters in the Wald files are filmed with their cover letters, over time many items had been separated from their cover letters and the unattached enclosures are therefore arranged on film by their own dates.
Much of Novack's other correspondence deals with publishing projects. Most notable are exchanges with Isaac Deutscher and Ernest Mandel concerning proposed joint projects during the 1960s. (Several letters from Max Shachtman are included in the Deutscher file.) Exchanges with fellow Trotskyist Joe Hansen also touch on editorial matters, although the chief focus is a discussion of international events prompted by Hansen's visits with foreign socialists. The folder on James T. Farrell contains several handwritten letters.
The collection includes one folder of correspondence pertaining to the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky and Novack's role in its efforts to win exile for Trotsky. This file consists largely of material photocopied by the SWP from an unidentified source, although some later material (including letters to and from Novack and his memoir of the Dewey Commission) probably derived from records in the SWP National Office files includes original papers. The folder of correspondence with Trotsky himself contains only copies of letters from the Houghton Library.
Other useful files include Novack's reports on his 1944 national tour as national secretary of the Civil Rights Defense Committee and a folder of correspondence, 1962-1965, with Evelyn Reed that mixes personal and political news. Another folder concerns matters within the Fourth International; it dates entirely from 1952 when Novack was in England and the identity of most correspondents in the file is masked by pseudonyms.
SPEECHES AND WRITINGS comprise the largest series of the collection. (This section is supplemented by several recorded speeches by Novack and Reed which are part of the Socialist Workers Party records at SHSW). The section has been subdivided--as it was by Novack himself--into three categories--Historical writing, Philosophical writing, and General writing. The philosophical and general writings are arranged alphabetically by keyword. Material in the philosophy section primarily deals with Marxist thought and the folder headings--many of which deal with abstract concepts--are those applied by Novack. The historical writings are roughly grouped by historical periods. The philosophical and historical sections are closely related, as both document Novack's lifelong interest in the philosophy of history. The historical writings include many manuscripts and notes that relate to Novack's interest in the Second American Revolution as an interpretative concept. Although undated, internal evidence suggests that these manuscripts may relate to a proposed volume written early in his career that was destroyed by fire.
Overall, the writings series offers a disappointing record of Novack's important contributions to Marxist thought. Many of the files were received in great disorder, and only a portion contain finished manuscripts and even fewer contain items that were adequately dated or identified. Interspersed within many individual drafts are handwritten notes and typed pages apparently from other works, suggesting that Novack may have reworked some manuscripts for other purposes. Because no order could be discerned for many files, this section has been filmed essentially as it was received. A few files in this series (for example, the useful file on his C. Wright Mills collaboration) contain correspondence. In general, complete manuscripts which are not supplemented by correspondence, variant drafts, or any other supporting documentation have been filed chronologically in the “General Writings” file.
Much of the historical writing is thought to date from Novack's early life and portions probably relate to an unpublished manuscript on the Second American Revolution, also an ongoing interest.
Notable in the General writings is a copy of Novack's CRDC pamphlet Witch Hunt in Minnesota; three historical papers (“Civil War in New York: The Anti-draft Demonstration of 1863,” which was prepared in 1939, and “Discrimination in the Building Trades: The Struggle for Equality in Plumbers Local 78” and “Unity Caucus on the Railroads: The Story of the Consolidation Committee of Enginemen,” both written in 1958); articles on A. J. Muste and the CRDC;, and memorial addresses eulogizing Dobbs, Pierre Frank, and other SWP leaders. Also included are printed copies of early writing for the New Republic and the New International. The section of general writings also includes documents pertaining to Novack's involvement in several isolated episodes in SWP history: reports and resolutions on the Black struggle during the 1960s, the China discussion, the 1960 party platform, efforts to expand the SWP publication program, and “regroupment” cooperation with the Socialists during the late 1950s. Also here is information on the party's response to charges made against Novack and Hansen by British Trotskyist Gerry Healy that they had been guilty of negligence in Trotsky's assassination.
