Part 7 (M2002-064): Additions, 1936-1991
Physical Description: 0.6 c.f. (2 archives boxes), 9 photographs, and 62 audio recordings (38 reel-to-reel tapes) 
Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1936-1991, consisting of miscellaneous personal papers, writings, and news clippings (1936-1991); photographs of the campaign on behalf of the Hollywood Ten (1949-1950); and sound recordings (1947-1985) including Bessie's testimony before HUAC, but mostly interviews with him or talks he gave.

Series: Legal Documents, Correspondence, et cetera

Letters from Dan Bessie to Ben Brewster (Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research), 2001, describing the contents of the accession

Divorce papers, 1938

Draft cards and correspondence regarding draft, 1943

Pilot's license and flight log books, 1937-1948

Address book, undated

Accounts, 1939-1947, in a steno pad; note of loans, , 1962

Draft of a letter by Alvah Bessie to Naomi ? about her research into McCarthyism, undated; letters to Glen Petrie, , April 28, 1935 and , November 15, 1936 (found in copy of book The Sons of Bilitis given to Petrie by Alvah Bessie and bought in a second-hand bookshop by Dan Bessie, , October 1999)

Series: Books by Alvah Bessie

Men in Battle, originally published by Scribners, New York
Scope and Content Note: Clippings of reviews of the 1939 edition; a note written by the author for the 1954 edition, published by the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in 1954, together with clippings of reviews; a list of publication dates up to 1970, with extracts from reviews (jacket copy for the 1977 edition?); clippings of reviews of the edition by Pinnacle Books, 1977.

Men in Battle and Spain Again, the first, originally published in 1939 by Chandler and Sharp, Corte Madera, California, in 1975
Note: Clippings of reviews of the two books together.

The Un-Americans (New York: Cameron Associates, 1957)
Note: Clippings of reviews.

Inquisition in Eden (New York: Macmillan, 1965)
Note: Clippings of reviews.

The Symbol, novel by Alvah Bessie (New York: Random House, 1967)
Scope and Content Note: Clippings of reviews of the novel (including a column by Bessie himself on the reception) and of the television play The Sex Symbol Bessie adapted from it, broadcast by ABC in 1974; correspondence about the residuals to The Sex Symbol, 1975.

Spain Again (Corte Madera, California: Chandler & Sharp, 1975)
Scope and Content Note: Two pages from chapter 5 and carbon typescript of pages 236-272 (marked “dup” in pencil).

One for My Baby, novel by Alvah Bessie (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1980)
Scope and Content Note: Clippings and typescripts of reviews; correspondence, mostly 1974-1975, a few items up to 1982, mostly on a possible screen adaptation.

Alvah Bessie's Short Fictions (Solo Flight and The Serpent Was More Subtil): (Corte Madera, California: Chandler and Sharp, 1983)
Scope and Content Note: Correspondence, bank statements and receipts for the savings account set up to take the subscriptions whereby this collection of previously published Alvah Bessie stories was published; prospectus, press releases, and reviews.

One Man in His Time, unfinished and unpublished autobiography
Scope and Content Note: Drafts, research materials.

Untitled short story, undated
Note: Incomplete typescript marked “dup”.

Series: Pamphlets by Alvah Bessie

This Is Your Enemy: A Documentary Record of Nazi Atrocities against Citizens and Soldiers of Our Soviet Ally (Front Line Fighters Fund, 1942)

Mr. Smith Went to Washington (California Emergency Defense Committee, 1951)

Would You Be an Informer (A Letter from the County Jail), signed by Oleta O'Connor Yates ( July 1952)

Look, You Do Have a Choice for U.S. Senator (Joint Action Committee of Northern California Unions, September 1952)

Steve Nelson, A Tribute by 14 Famous Authors, including Alvah Bessie (Provisional Committee to Free Steve Nelson, undated, but probably , 1952)

The Everlasting Bridges Case (International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, May 1955)

Series: Articles by Alvah Bessie

“Pie in the Eye Opens San Fran Film Fest,” Entertainment World 1, number 6 ( November 7, 1969): 4-5 (anonymous)
Physical Description: Clipping 

“A Couple of Conferences That Weren't Covered,” The Realist, number 61 ( August 1965): 5, 8-9
Physical Description: Copy of the issue 

“Remembering Jack London,” Fiction Monthly 2, number 5 ( January 1985): 9-10
Physical Description: Copy of the issue 

Obituary of Helen Clare Nelson, San Francisco Chronicle ( May 4, 1981)
Physical Description: Clipping with corrections 

Alvah Bessie's columns in Marin Life and In These Times, 1976-1978
Physical Description: Clippings 

Series: Speeches by Alvah Bessie

“American Film in 1960,” delivered at the First Unitarian Church, Los Angeles, California, January 1, 1961

“The Spanish Civil War and the American Inquisition,” delivered at Rice University, Texas, and other Oklahoma and Texas venues, January-February 1979

Series: Occasional Writings by Alvah Bessie

Letters to the press (also clippings of the articles, et cetera, that occasioned the letters), 1956, 1975-1982

Series: Miscellaneous

Brief mentions of Alvah Bessie in the press, 1951-1982
Physical Description: Clippings 

“The hungry i”
Scope and Content Note: Clippings on this San Francisco cabaret, at which Alvah Bessie served as stage manager and announcer, 1957-1963, mostly by Don Asher.

Appearances and Events: clippings and correspondence on lectures, interviews, et cetera, by Alvah Bessie, 1962-1985

Short articles, interviews, and mentions in non-U.S. publications

“Durch den spanischen Spiegel,” Das Magazin, 16, nummer 1 (Berlin, DDR: January 1969): 50-2

“Le privilège,” Almanache de l'Humanité (Paris, 1983); Filmihullu (Eiripaino, Lahti, Finland: , May 1976), special issue on the Hollywood blacklist (pictures of Bessie, no article on or by him)

Enric Satue, “El discreto encanto del diseño gráfico USA (I),” CNU (Barcelona: 1974)
Note: Article on Milton Wolff, citing Alvah Bessie.

Pierre Lachat, “'Ich bin nicht dies! ich bin nicht das! ich gehöre zu nichts! ich glaube an nichts! ich kritisiere nichts!': Hollywood und die unamerikanischen Umtriebe,” Tagesanzeiger Magazin, 7 (Zürich: January 19, 1972): 29-33

“Legal gelyncht,” Der Spiegel, 27 (BRD: June 28, 1971)

Ricardo Muñoz Suay, “Una columna: Aquellos testigos,” Fotogramas, 24, numero 1012 (Barcelona/Madrid: March 8, 1968): 3

Alvah Bessie, “Susan Aldridge, sie ruhe in Frieden!” Das Magazin, 14, nummer 6 (Berlin, DDR: June 1967): 6-9, 72

Alvah Bessie, “Blick in die literarische Unterwelt der USA,” Sonntag, nummer 21 (Berlin, DDR: 1966): 12; nummer 23 (, 1966): 23

Alvah Bessie, “Leonhard Frank in Hollywood,” Das Magazin (Berlin, DDR: undated): 21-3

“Eine Stimme des anderen America, interview mit Alvah Bessie,” Neues Deutschland (Berlin, DDR: March 20, 1965)

“Kontakt und Austausch: BZ-Interview mit Alvah Bessie,” Berliner-Zeitung (Berlin, DDR: May 13, 1965)

Alvah Bessie, “Nenne es Liebe,” Das Magazin, 10, nummer 3 (Berlin, DDR: March 1963): 6-11

Alvah Bessie, “Soldaten,” Das Magazin, 9, nummer 7 (Berlin, DDR: July 1962): 20-3

Klaus Bellin, “Unsere Hoffnung ist die DDR,” Junge Welt, 15, nummer 240B (Berlin, DDR: October 10, 1961)

“Internationale Spanienkundgebung,” Neues Deutschland (Berlin, DDR: July 16, 1961)

Alvah Bessie Oral History interview
Scope and Content Note: Correspondence between Sylviane Bessie, Dan Bessie and Roy Rosenzweig and others at George Mason University regarding Alvah Bessie oral history, 1985 and 1992

Series: Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB)

Text of speech by Alvah Bessie for VALB 39th anniversary dinner, Spenger's Grotto, Berkeley, California, February 8, 1976
Physical Description: Typescript 

Sam Spiller, “Remembering Alvah Bessie and Aaron Lopoff”: handwritten draft of article; letters from Sam Spiller to Dan Bessie, 1991

Al Amery: letter to Dan Bessie, August 8, 1991, enclosing card and letter from Alvah Bessie to Al Amery, , January 12, 1984, and , December 30, 1984

John L. Simon: letter to Dan Bessie, August 2, 1991, enclosing photocopies of letters from Alvah Bessie to Simon, , 1980, and a catalog page on One for My Baby Bessie sent to Simon

Congratulatory messages printed in a booklet for the VALB 39th Anniversary dinner, Berkeley, California, February 8, 1976

Moe Fishman: letter to Dan Bessie, November 26, 1991

The Volunteer (Organ of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade), 12, number 1 ( May 1990), with letter from George Kaye about Alvah Bessie's depiction of Irving Norman in Men in Battle

Series: Writings of Others

Helen Clare Nelson, “The Case of the Contemptuous Wife”
Physical Description: Photocopy of pages 27-38 of a volume published by Mainstream, New York, 1948 

Series: Photographs
Scope and Content Note: 9-8"x10" black-and-white photographs, 1949-1950, showing Alvah Bessie and other members and supporters of the Hollywood Ten during the campaign to free them (see letter from Dan Bessie with descriptions).

Series: Sound Recordings
Note: Descriptions of the contents of the following tape recordings derive from the labels on the tapes and tape boxes, not from an audition.

Subseries: Quarter-Inch Reel-To-Reel Tape, Seven-Inch Reels

“The Page St. Players, July 26-27, 1953. Eva Bessie. Alvah Bessie. Madame X (X. Claire Nelson)”

“Alvah Bessie. Berlin-Leipzig. July 1961. Side One-English (Berlin)-copied from 7½ ips master. Side Two-German (Leipzig)-copied from 30 ips master. Side Two-French (Berlin)-copied from 3¾ ips master. This tape to be played at 7½ ips. Half track. 165 Corbett Avenue, near 17th.”

“KPFA- March 5, 1965-Inquisition. Inquisition in Eden. 3¾ ips. Full track.”

“ March 25, 1965. KXKX-FM-Inquisition.”

“1. Contact-WKYC- August 16, 1965-10:05-11.05 p.m. American Inquisition. Tape #1 of 3 7½”

“2. Contact-WKYC- August 16, 1965-11.05-11.30 p.m. American Inquisition. Tape #2 of 3 7½”

“3. Contact-WKYC- August 16, 1965-11.30 p.m.-12:00 M. Tape #3 of 3 7½”

“KFAX (San Francisco), February 28, 1967-4:45 & 11.30 p.m. Author-Alvah Bessie. Interviewed by Bob Furry on KFAX, San Francisco, , February 22, 1967”

“A8359. KCBS. Alvah Bessie dub (Mel Hatton February 23, 1967). Speed: 7½. Date recorded: Friday, , February 25, 1967”

“1.30-2:00 p.m. 7½ KSFO. March 1, 1967. Jack Carney”

“WERE (Cleveland), March 9, 1967. Bill Gordon Interview March 9, 1967 (recorded , February 22, 1967 in San Francisco).”

“KTIM, October 14, 1974. Jorie Parr. Interview-Alvah Bessie-Jorie Parr. KTIM radio (San Rafael, California), October 14, 1974. SYMBOL on TV & other matters. 21 minutes”
Physical Description: Actually five-inch tape in seven-inch box 

“5846: Spain & Hollywood 10. Alvah:-4, 4 minute programs were used on all 180 stations on our program called 'All Things Considered' on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday- November 11, 12, 13, and 14 [1975]-the long piece will be used one day this month. Best, Ken.”

“KIIS (Los Angeles), November 16, 1975, 8:00-8:30 ... Boyd Britton. Spain Again”

“KPFA, November 28, 1976Spain-interview with Helga-Lohe-Bailey. 30 minutes-5 last minutes!”

Subseries: Quarter-Inch Reel-To-Reel Tape, Five-Inch Reels

“HUAC-October 28, 1947 (AB). Alvah Bessie. Unamerican Committee Testimony. October 28, 1947. 3¾ ips”

“FUCLA & March 14, 1965. AB. March 14, 1965-playing speed 3¾” per second. Louis Mumford's letter to the President: read by Lloyd Gough. 'The Continuing Inquisition,' Alvah Bessie. First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles. Recorded by George W. Bishop. Reel number 90808”

“KQED March 27 & , March 31, 1967. 3¾ ips. Symbol-30 min. KQED-SF-TV (James Dey)-Audio. 27 & March 31, 1967.”

“Sex Symbol 1. Sex Symbol Tape #1 (Agatha Murphy opening statement missing). ABC MOW September 17, 1974. 8:30-10:00 pm WDT”

“Sex Symbol 2. Sex Symbol Tape #2.”

“Sex Symbol 3. Sex Symbol Tape #3.”

“Sex Symbol 4. Sex Symbol Tape #4 (about 30 seconds missing between tapes).”

“Sex Symbol 5. Sex Symbol Tape #5.”

“Men & Spain, KTIM radio, San Rafael, California, April 15, 1975. Spain Again & Men in Battle. Interview with Jorie Parr ... KTIM, San Rafael, California AM 1510, April 15, 1975, 9:30 PDT”

Subseries: Quarter-Inch Reel-To-Reel Tape, Three-Inch Reel

“SHF on AB-FUCLA- March 14, 1965”

Subseries: Cassette Tapes

“Alvah Bessie / Peter Caroll 'Book Talk' Part I,” undated

“Alvah Bessie / Peter Caroll 'Book Talk' Part II,” undated

“HUAC Hearing-San Francisco City Hall- May 13, 1960-testimony of Tyler Brooke-Salud!”

“Alvah Bessie, May 19, 1970”: A and B

“Alvah Bessie, May 19, 1970”: C and D

“Alvah Bessie, May 19, 1970”: E and F

“Men & Spain: KPOO, San Francisco, March 27, 1975, 89.5 FM, 9-10 a.m. Dave Whitaker”

“'Jim Eason Show' KGO Radio, 1pm, May 9, 1975” (Side One and Side Two)

“Alvah Bessie-1 hour interview 'Eason Show' KGO, May 9, 1975” (Side One and Side Two)

“KPFA-FM (94.1), Berkeley, California, June 26, 1975. Roundtable, Spain, Frances Emley (Mod), Milt. Wolff, Juan Duran, AB, 45 minutes”

“NBC News. Liberty Act 1. March 30, 1976-9:30 pm (PDT) Trumbo & A.B.”

“KPIX. Evening-Alvah Bessie & Lester Cole- December 1, 1976, San Francisco. Evening-Alvah Bessie and Lester Cole-December 1, 1976.”

“KQED, Open Studio, Hollywood Blacklist ... 30 minutes, April 5, 1977. KQED-Open Studio-Hollywood Blacklist-Side One”

“Bessie Seminar, November 7, 1977, Sacramento-California State University: Side One-Bessie seminar in Sacramento Room-2:30, November 7, 1977; Side Two-2:30 seminar (continued)” ,

“'From Spain to Washington', California State University-Sacramento, November 7, 1977: Side One-Bessie lecture: November 7, 1977, 'From Spain to Washington'; Side Two-Discussion following Bessie lecture; November 7, 1977”

“Bessie, Alvah Tape #1. Interviewed by Rollins, Peter, 1979”

“Bessie, Alvah Tape #2. Interviewed by Rollins, Peter, 1979”

“Bessie, Alvah Tape #3. Interviewed by Rollins, Peter, 1979”

“Bessie, Alvah Tape #1. Interviewed by Rollins, Peter, 1979”

“Bessie, Alvah Tape #2. Interviewed by Rollins, Peter, 1979”

“Bessie, Alvah Tape #3. Interviewed by Rollins, Peter, 1979”

“A. Alvah Bessie Appearance OSU 6th Annual Filmathon, February 2, 1979” and “B. Alvah Bessie Visits Creative Writing Class of Gordon Weaver, Oklahoma State University, , February 1, 1979”

“Alvah Bessie Appearance OSU 6th Annual Filmathon, February 2, 1979. Side One-UNC Conference , 1978. William Colby, CIA, reflects on Vietnam Pacification.” and “Side Two-Alvah Bessie at Oklahoma State University, , February 2, 1979”

“Alvah Bessie interview (probably 1980) conducted by Jonathan Solody, for Brandeis University for VALB Archives,” Tapes One-Four

“Interview, Michael Krasny, KTIM-San Rafael radio, Sunday, July 6, 1980, 9-10 a.m. WDT. A-Alvah Bessie, July 6, 1980; B-Alvah Bessie, July 6, 1980 KTIM”

“AB-'Insight' KRE, 1400 AM, October 16, 1980, Berkeley, January Sweetzer”

“'Are you now or have you ever been ... ?' Symposium, October 18 & 19, 1980. Panel: 'Impact of McCarthyism on Arts & Mass Media'. Catalog #604A, Side A & B. © Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, Not to be reproduced or distributed without permission”
Use Restrictions: This recording is protected by copyright. See the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

“'Are you now or have you ever been ... ?' Symposium October 1980. Panel: 'Impact of McCarthyism on Arts & Mass Media'. Comments & Discussion Catalog #604A, this side only. © Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, Berkeley, California, 1980, not to be reproduced or distributed without permission from MCLI”
Use Restrictions: This recording is protected by copyright. See the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

“National Public Radio-88.5 (KQED-FM), San Francisco, regarding Spain, interview by Sanford Unger, 5 p.m., February 27, 1981,” Side One

“Civil War Vet (Spanish), Bessie /Unger, Aired: February 27, 1981, 5 pm PDT, KQED-FN (SF) 88.5,” Side Two

“ January 31, 1982, Alvah Bessie WALTZ-by Frank Dyer with Carolyn Fitzgerald”

“Lawson & Arts TV Program, November 16, 1983, Guest: Alvah Bessie, 28 minutes. Alvah Bessie, 28 minutes; Guest on Lawson & Arts (November 16, 1983), Pacific Arts & Letters”

“Alvah Bessie 1984, care of Peter Carroll-KPFA”

“Milt Wolff, Al Richmond, October 1985”: A and B