Guide to the Harvey O'Connor Civil Liberties Collection , between 1966 and 1972


John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title: Harvey O'Connor Civil Liberties collection
Date range: between 1966 and 1972
Creator: O'Connor, Harvey, 1897-1987
Extent: 4.0 linear feet
Abstract: The collection includes a wide range of printed materials (reports, mailings, newspaper clippings, financial statements, court documents, correspondence, meeting agendas, announcements, publications, flyers, and press releases). In addition, there are materials concerning civil rights issues; the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); the Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB); Committee for GI Rights; the Rosenerg-Sobell case; Stamler and Hall; American Committee for Protection of Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF); Emergency Civil Liberties Committee; American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born; the House Un-American Activities Committee, the Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee, and Sacco and Vanzetti.
Language of materials: English
Repository: John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number: Ms.2011.013

Scope & content

The material contained in the collection is generally grouped alphabetically by year or year span and subject matter. There is however, some material which is miscellaneous in nature without any year or subject organization. In addition, there is a fair amount of document duplication across agencies and the collection as a whole. The majority of the collection contains materials which encompass flyers, annual reports, pamphlets, correspondence, press releases, petititons, periodicals, announcements, court documents, articles, newsletters, journals, and publications

Box 1 contains "About Face" the U.S. Servicemen's Fund Newsletter; American Civil Liberties Materials (ACLU) from 1968-1972 which includes some correspondence from Senator Paul Douglas and Aryeh Neier; Civil Liberties Scene (RI Affliate ACLU); American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born (ACPFB), defending the rights of the foreign born, especially radicals and Communist Party members; court document on the American Servicemen's Union ... vs. John N. Mitchell; Amnesty Action (civil rights) irregular issues journal 1969, 1970, 1972; Angela Davis American political activist including materials from the Angela Davis Defense Fund (Marin County courthouse incident); CCCO (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors) Newsletters; Center for Constitutional Rights reports; Civil Liberties Legal Defense Fund ,1968-1969, which include some letters with Jane Fonda, Benjamin Spock, M.D. and Julian Bond signatures; additonal clippings and printed materials related to civil rights issues; Committee for GI Rights news releases, with items concerning Pvt. Andrew Stapp; Committee to Defend the Panthers, with correspondence signed by Ossie Davis, Dick Gregory, and Angie Dickerson and article "Here and Now for Bobby Seale"; Committee to Defend the Rights of Pfc. Howard Petrick; Congressional Records; "downdraft" with articles on David Mitchell; Emergency Action Committee on Genocide; Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (ECLC), material of the Fort Dix 38 (the Fort Dix Stockade Rebellion), an important event in the history of the GI Resisters Movement during the Vietnam War; GI Civil Liberties Defense Committee, Gus-Hall, Benjamin Davis Defense Committee which includes "Steps to Victory" bulletin; a wealth of material on and by the House Un-American Activities Committee(HUAC) including materials concerning Alan and Margaret McSurely violators of the Kentucky anti-sedition statue; Kent Defense Fund; Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (Law Students Council); Liberty, and the McCarran Act (McCarran Internal Security Act)

Box 2 focus is on the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation (NCARL) from 1970-1972 with some correspondence by Frank Wilkinson. Additional items are from the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Library by the Meiklejohn Institute; Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party versus James O Eastland; Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALD); and a few items concerning the Vietnam War protestors known as the Milwaukee 14

Box 3 contains a significant amount of material from the National Committee to Abolish the House Committee on Un-American Activities (NCAHUAC), 1966-1969, with additional material on and from the House Internal Security Act (HISE) and the National Committee Against Repression from 1969-1970

Box 4 contains material from the National Conference for New Politics (NCNP); National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC), 1971-1972, which includes "Rights" and the "Bill of Rights Journal'; Notes from ADC (Newsletter of Alexander Defense Committee) including anti-apartheid articles about Franz J.T. Lee; pamphlets "Radical Education Project", "Socialist Workers Campaign Committee" and others; Pete Seeger; Plainfield Joint Defense Committee concerning Bobby Lee Williams, Gail Madden, and George Merritt, Jr.; miscellaneous publications related to civil rights issues including "Anatomy of Apartheid in Southern Africa" by Franz J.T. Lee, "The Arlington Case" by Robert Thompson and "The Conspiracy Tactic" by Paul L. Ross, and "RESIST" opposition to the draft and the Vietnam War; Rhode Island Bail Fund; Rhode Island Political Offensive for Freedom; Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and Morton Sobell; Nicolla Sacco and Bartolome Vanzetti; Soledad Brothers; Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), 1966-1972, including materials by Carl and Anne Braden; Southern Poverty Law Center; Jeremiah Stamler and Yolanda Hall; Union Democracy in Action; USLA Reporter, and the Workers Defense League, 1969-1972, (WDL News)

Access Points

Subject Names Subject Organizations Subject Topics Document Types Subject Topics

Arrangement

The collection is organized in one series:

  • I. Printed material, 1966-1972.

Biographical note

Harvey O'Connor was born March 29, 1897 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended high school in Tacoma, Washington. During the period from 1918-1924 Mr. O'Connor did editoral work in Seattle. From 1924-1927 he was assistant editor of Locomotive Engineers Journal in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. O'Connor was a bureau manager for Federated Press from 1927-1930. And from 1935-1937 he was managing editor of People's Press. He was also editor of Ken from 1937-1938 in Chicago. Mr. O'Connor has been active in the following organizations: Pittsburgh Civil Liberties Committee, board member, 1932-1936; Chicago Civil Liberties Committee,vice-chairman, 1937-1944; Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, chairman, 1954-1963; National Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee, chairman,1963; and City Club of Chicago, member of board of governors, 1938-1944. Mr. O'Connor has written the following books plus a number of articles: Mellon's Millions, 1933; Steel-Dictaor, 1935; The Guggenheims, 1937; The Astors, 1941; History of Oil Workers International Union, 1950; The Empire of Oil, 1955; World Crisis in Oil, 1961; Revolution in Seattle, 1963. He has also written pamphlets for Union for DemOcratic Control, London, England. In addition, from 1957-1960 he was on the editorial advisory board of Nation. In 1954 Mr. O'Connor was cited for contempt in the McCarthy investigation. He was convicted but the decision was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals. In 1958 he refused to respond to a subpoena from the House Un-American Activities Committee and was cited for contempt and then indicted, but was never brought to trial. He died September 1987, of heart failure after a long illness at his home in Little Compton, R.I.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials: Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation: Harvey O'Connor Civil Liberties Collection, MS.2011.013, Brown University
Contact information: John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
Acquisition: Gift of Harvey O'Connor
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Author: Finding aid prepared by Brown University Library staff.
Encoding: This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013 January 25
Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor: Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Inventory

Series I. Printed Material, 1966-1972

Container Description Date
Box 1 About Face - McCarran Act
Box 2 Meiklejohn - National Committee Against Repressive Legislation
Box 3 National Committee to Abolish the House Committee on Un-American Activities
Box 4 National Conference for New Politics - Workers Defense League