James West Papers

Dates

Majority of material found within 1938-1994

Scope and Content Note

The materials that make up the James west Papers cover the period from 1938 to 1994. Mr. west donated the papers to Rutgers in 1992 and at the time the collection was being processed, Mr. west was still living and an active member of the Communist Party leadership. (Hence, other and later materials may be received after this finding aid was written.)

The James West Papers are arranged into six series. The papers are made up of personal documents, official documents, published materials, and, for want of a better term, propaganda items. Some of the personal documents include originals and photocopies of letters written to West, copies of letters he wrote, originals and copies of letters concerning James West, drafts of writings, typewritten texts of addresses, lectures and talks and other typed papers. Official documents include court papers and legal documents, newsletters, reports and similar materials. Published materials cover both his writings and materials written about him. His writings are available as they appeared in print in journals, newspapers, pamphlets, handbills, books, or as photocopies of those items. Included are full pages and full issues of some newspapers. Material written about him appears mostly as press clippings, but there are some press releases and newsroom wire sheets as well. "Propaganda" items include handbills, pamphlets, newsletters and similar materials.

Some of West's writings and materials written about him appear in foreign languages or as translations into foreign languages. Principal among these are Russian and German. There are also a small number of materials in Spanish, Czech, Polish, and Bulgarian. unique items that only appear once or twice are in Greek, Persian(?), and Mongolian.

There were no unusual items, such as audio tapes or photographs in the collection. ( Of course, some of the press clippings included photos of West and others.)

Potential areas of research that could benefit from use of these papers would be studies of: the Communist Party of the United States of America; the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 (popularly known as the Taft-Hartley Act) ; the McCarthy era; Communist Party involvement with labor unions; and, communist political publications.

Please note: The processor of the papers, who is also the writer of this finding aid, did not meet or talk with Mr. James West, his family, his friends, or anyone who knew him. The information used to construct this finding aid (and the filing order of the collection) comes from the facts provided in James west's resume and from facts garnered from a study of the documents themselves, as well as a little background research.

Extent

2.4 Cubic Feet (6 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers, including biographical file, correspondence, travel file and writings.

Biographical Sketch

James West was born in New York City on January 8, 1914. He grew up and was educated in New York. On October 24, 1929, "Black Thursday," the stock market crash that started the Great Depression occurred. In November of 1929, at the age of 15, West joined the Young Communist League.

West became politically active in the YCL. He participated in several political events, including a National Hunger March on Washington and had some dealings with law enforcement as a result of a few demonstrations. He moved around, but stayed in the New York -New Jersey area, helping to organize YCL clubs.

In 1935, West went to Moscow for a World Congress of the Communist International, the first of his many trips abroad for the Communist Party. After the Congress he stayed in Moscow to study.

West returned to New York in 1937. He moved to Seattle a short while later as Northwest Organizer of the YCL. He also wrote a few articles in the Young Communist Review. Before the war, he worked as machinist in Brooklyn and a carpenter's helper in Seattle. He returned to New Jersey in 1942. After a reclassification of his draft status, he entered the military to prepare to fight in the war. However, on the day that he was shipped out, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He eventually ended up in Korea for occupation duty.

Upon leaving the military, West and his family moved to Gary, Indiana. He became Lake County Organizer of the CPUSA. He edited and wrote for the Calumet Call, a local communist party paper. Later, he moved to Chicago and then to Ohio. In Cleveland, he worked "underground" as head of the Ohio Communist Party.

In 1957, West and seven others were arrested. They were charged with conspiracy to violate the non-Communist affidavit section of the Labor Management Relations Act, more popularly known as the Taft-Hartley Act. The trial was held in January of 1958 for West and six of the other seven. They were found guilty. The sentence was 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. West entered prison in 1961 and completed his sentence in 1962.

After prison, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as a painter and became Executive Secretary of the Communist Party of Illinois. He returned to Cleveland and became the State Chairman of the CPUSA.

In the late fifties, West began to write for the Marxist journal Political Affairs. He continued to write for that journal in the 1960 's and early 1970 's. He traveled to the Soviet Union and other communist countries in the 1960's, 1970's and the 1980's to attend party congresses and meetings. In the 1970's he began to write for the World Marxist Review and from 1979 to 1983 he lived in Prague where he served as U.S. editor of that journal.

West returned to the United States in 1983. He continued writing and gave public talks and lectures on the communist party. He became a member of the National Committee and National Board of the CPUSA as well as other posts in the Party. In the late 1980's and early 1990's he lived in Jersey City and worked for the party in New York City.

Please note: west did not mention certain information in his resume, such as a few bouts with cancer, the date of his marriage, or whether he was married more than once. Information on these possible events does appear in some places in the collection.

(This is just a brief summary of the life of James west. For a more complete account, see his resume .in the BIOGRAPHICAL FILE.)

Biographical / Historical

Chronology of Events

1914
: January 8th: born in New York City.
1929
: June: graduated New Utrecht High School, Brooklyn.
1929
: November: joins the Young Communist League.
1935
: Attends the Sixth World Congress of the Communist International and the World Congress of the Young Communist International in Moscow. After congresses, stays in Moscow to study economics and philosophy.
1937
: Returns to the United States, first in Brooklyn, then out to Seattle. In Seattle, serves as Northwest Organizer of the YCL.
1938
: First published article appears in the Young Communist Review.
1942
: Moves to New Jersey. Shortly there after, enters into military service.
1945
: Military training completed, he ships out to the Pacific theater on day the Atomic Bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. Redirected to occupation force in Korea.
1947?
: Returns to civilian life. Settles in Gary, Indiana. Becomes Lake County organizer of CPUSA.
1947
: Becomes editor and writer for The Calumet Call, a communist party paper.
195?
: Becomes "underground" head of the Ohio Communist Party.
1957
: January: arrested and charged with 7 others for conspiracy to violate the non-Communist affidavit section of the Labor Management Relations Act (the Taft-Hartley Act).
1957
: First article appears in the journal Political Affairs.
1958
: January: stands trial. West and 6 others found guilty.
1958
: February: sentenced to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
1961
: West begins sentence at Terre Haute Federal Penitentiary.
1962
: west completes his sentence and is released. Becomes Executive Secretary of the Communist Party of Illinois. Later, returns to Cleveland and becomes the State Chairman of the CPUSA.
1966
: May: attends the 13th Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. June: attends the 15th Congress of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.
1969
: Attends celebration of 20th anniversary of the Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany).
1970
: First article appears in World Marxist Review.
1976
: Visits Cuba with CPUSA delegation.
1978
: November: James West Testimonial Dinner held in Cleveland for 50 years as member of the Communist Party.
1979
: Becomes U.S. editor of the World Marxist Review. Moves to Prague to carry out editorial duties.
1980
: October: attends 6th Party Congress in North Korea.
1982
: February: attends 24th Congress of the Communist Party of France. March: attends 5th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. June: attends general congress in Tripoli, Libya.
1983
: Returns to United States. Elected to National Committee and National Board of CPUSA, and Chairman of National Review Commission. Becomes editorial board member of Political Affairs.
1984
: Attends the 13th Congress of the Rumanian Communist Party.
1986
: April: attends Party Congress in East Germany.
1991
: December: reelected to CPUSA posts at 25th Convention.
1992
: March: designated educational director by party National Committee.
1992
: Donates papers to Rutgers University.
1994
: Most recent article by West appears in Political Affairs.
1994
: September: Processing of the James west papers completed.

[Note: Several other trips abroad, as well as some personal information, has been left out of this time line.]

Arrangement Note

Originally, the collection arrived at Rutgers in three non-archival cardboard boxes. The material in the original boxes was grouped, in general, by subject area of the documents. Much of the material was arranged in files with file headings, but those headings were very broad. This original order served only to suggest the series' divisions and some general filing considerations, so a considerable amount of rearrangement was necessary. In addition, an additional packet of his writings arrived after the original three boxes.

Most of the items were not in chronological order on their arrival. They have been reorganized within the individual file in chronological order. Those items which had no information to date them are placed at the start of a file.

The collection originally contained many duplications of materials that were spread throughout the three boxes. These items have been gathered together despite the possibility that some may have been applicable to more that one file. Very little of the duplicated materials was eliminated during processing.

The original collection contained many complete copies of journals in which West's articles appeared. From these, his articles were removed and included in this collection, with the remaining portions of the journals eliminated. A few of the complete copies have been included, however.

There were no items in the collection that were removed and transferred to other locations or collections in the Special collections Department or in the general collections.

The collection arrived with many of the items already photocopied. Unfortunately, many of these are of fair to poor quality. If the originals were also present, those (or better copies of those) have been included. Several of the original press clippings and newspaper samples were in poor condition on their arrival at the archives. Certain immediate preservation measures were taken, and others were recommended for the future. Photocopies have been made of many of these items. Unfortunately, other materials, such as some of the journal articles, were also printed on low quality paper. These may become more fragile in the future.

At the time the collection was being processed, the Rutgers library system had the following items available in its general collection: The Young Communist Review, 1936-1943 (under Weekly Review); Political Affairs (1945-) ; and World Marxist Review (1959-1990). Researchers interested in the writings who are dissatisfied with the condition of the materials in this collection may wish to look in the general collection for these serial items. All were available in their original, hardcopy form in the bound periodicals collection of Alexander Library.

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title: Inventory to the James West Papers MC 972
Status: Edited Full Draft
Author: Paul Suszko
Date: September 1994
Language of description note: Finding aid is written in English.
Sponsor: Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.