Eugene and Peggy Dennis Papers, 1923-1982

Summary Information

Title: Eugene and Peggy Dennis Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1923-1982

Creators:
  • Dennis, Eugene
  • Dennis, Peggy
Call Number: Mss 607; Micro 975; Tape 1048A

Quantity: 5.4 c.f. (10 archives boxes, 1 flat box, 3 card file boxes), 12 reels of microfilm (35mm), and 5 tape recordings

Repository:
Archival Locations:
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:
Papers of lifelong activists in the Communist Party, USA. Eugene Dennis was general secretary of the Party from 1946 to 1959. He died in 1961. Peggy Dennis' Party work centered on teaching and writing. She left the Party in 1976 but continued her political writing. The collection consists of correspondence, articles, unpublished writings, research notes, and tape recordings. About half of the collection is research material collected by Peggy Dennis for her book The Autobiography of an American Communist. Those papers relate to the couple's organizing activities in southern California, China, Wisconsin, and New York, and the internal strife and government repression which the Dennises and the Party experienced in the 1940s and 1950s. The remainder of the collection consists of correspondence and writings which document Peggy Dennis' independent political action and her journalistic work on a variety of social issues. Numerous items pertain to the viability of the American Communist Party and to the status of women.

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-mss00607