http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf5870045h No online items Register of the Spartacist League of the U.S. records Finding aid prepared by Dale Reed Hoover Institution Archives 434 Galvez Mall Stanford University Stanford, CA, 94305-6010 (650) 723-3563 [email protected] © 1994, 2017 Register of the Spartacist League 94062 1 of the U.S. records Title: Spartacist League of the U.S. records Date (inclusive): 1964-2016 Collection Number: 94062 Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Archives Language of Material: English Physical Description: 24 manuscript boxes(10.0 linear feet) Abstract: Records of the American Trotskyist political organization include minutes, internal bulletins, pamphlets, position papers, press releases, flyers, and leaflets relating to Trotskyist political activities in the United States. Includes issuances of youth groups and international affiliates of the Spartacist League. Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives Creator: Spartacist League of the U.S. Access The collection is open for research. The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible. Publication Rights For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Spartacist League of the U.S. records, [Box no.], Hoover Institution Archives. Acquisition Information Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1994, with increments received in subsequent years, through 2017. Accruals Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number of boxes listed in this finding aid. Historical Note The Spartacist League of the U.S. is a self-proclaimed revolutionary communist organization in the Marxist-Leninist-Trotskyist tradition. Its antecedents date to the early 1960s and stem from the Revolutionary Tendency within the Socialist Workers Party, American sympathizing section of the Fourth International (International Committee) at that time. The Revolutionary Tendency espoused a number of criticisms of the majority leadership of the Socialist Workers Party, notably its decision to participate in the reunified Fourth International (United Secretariat) and its uncritically favorable assessment of the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba. These differences eventuated in expulsion of leaders of the Revolutionary Tendency at the end of 1963 and their formation of a group around the publication Spartacist early in 1964. Following failure to achieve agreement with remaining elements of the Fourth International (International Committee), the group formally founded the Spartacist League of the U.S. in 1966. International activities of the Spartacist League resulted in formation of an international Spartacist tendency following a European conference in 1974. This international tendency, including sections in Australia and New Zealand, Canada, and several European countries, transformed itself into the International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) in 1989. Domestically, a youth affiliate of the Spartacist League appeared initially as the Revolutionary Marxist Caucus within Students for a Democratic Society in 1969. This was succeeded in turn by Revolutionary Communist Youth (1971-1974), the Spartacus Youth League (1974-1986), and, after a hiatus, reconstituted Spartacus Youth Clubs. Two other domestic affiliates are the Partisan Defense Committee, established to provide aid to leftist and labor prisoners, and the Prometheus Research Library, a facility for documentation of the history of the Trotskyist movement. In addition to its theoretical journal Spartacist, the principal publications of the Spartacist League press have been its newspaper Workers Vanguard, its youth newspaper Young Spartacus, and its Women’s Commission journal Women and Revolution. Scope and Content of Collection Register of the Spartacist League 94062 2 of the U.S. records The Spartacist League records in the Hoover Institution Archives include internally circulated materials from the inception of the organization up through 2004, and ephemeral publications and other public issuances up through 2016. Serial runs and other substantial publications of the Spartacist press can be found in the Hoover Institution Library. All materials held are open for use. The records are arranged in six series. The Spartacist League Internal Issuances series is limited to internal issuances of the League itself. In addition to minutes of meetings of its leading bodies and internal bulletins, it includes a chronologically arranged file of internally circulated letters and other documents. The Spartacist League Public Issuances series includes pamphlets, election campaign literature, and a few short-lived serial runs. It also includes a number of public bulletins of a documentary historical nature, amicus curiae briefs filed by the League in cases which it considered to involve significant legal issues, and a chronologically arranged file of leaflets and flyers. Two other series, Partisan Defense Committee Issuances and Prometheus Research Library Issuances, contain public issuances of those two affiliates of the League. A series of Youth Affiliate Issuances contains both internal and public issuances of the League’s successive youth affiliates up through liquidation of the Spartacus Youth League in 1986. These include minutes, internal bulletins, public bulletins, and some other ephemeral public issuances. Pamphlets published under youth affiliate imprints, however, are interfiled with adult group pamphlets in the Spartacist League Public Issuances series. The International Affiliate Issuances series includes internal issuances of the international Spartacist tendency--minutes, internal bulletins, and a chronologically arranged file of internally circulated material. It also includes non-English language pamphlets and short serial runs published by the Spartacist League, and a few pamphlets issued by European sections of the international Spartacist tendency and International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist). Subjects and Indexing Terms Socialism--United States. Communism--United States. Fourth International. Boxes 1-6, 14-16, Spartacist League Internal Issuances, 1964-2004 23-24 Scope and Contents note Internal issuances of the Spartacist League, including minutes, internal bulletins, and circulated material. Minutes, 1964-2002 Scope and Contents note Includes attachments to minutes and some agendas. New York Local Committee Box/Folder 1 : 1 1964 November 4, 18, December 2, 16 Box/Folder 1 : 2 1965 January 6, 20, February 3, 17, March 3, 17, 31, April 14, 21, May 5, 19, June 2, 16, 30, July 21, August 4, 18, 25, September 9, 23, October 7, 21, November 4, 11, 18, December 2, 16, 30 Box/Folder 1 : 3 1966 January 13, 27, February 10, 24, March 10, 24, April 7, 14, 17, 28, May 12, 26 Resident Editorial Board Box/Folder 1 : 4 1965 April 12, 26, May 8, 24, June 14, 28, July 12, August 2, 23, September 13, October 4, 26, November 15, December 6, 20, 27 Box/Folder 1 : 5 1966 January 10, 24, February 28, March 14, April 25, May 2, 16, 23, 30, June 20, 27, July 4, 18, 25, August 8, 22, 29, September 2 Political Bureau Box/Folder 1 : 6 1966 September 19, 26, October 3, 10, 17, 31, November 14, December 5, 26 Box/Folder 1 : 7 1967 January 2, 23, February 13, 27, March 27, April 10, May 8, 21, June 12, July 10, 31, August 21, September 11, 25, October 2, 8, 24, November 7, 14 Register of the Spartacist League 94062 3 of the U.S. records Spartacist League Internal Issuances, 1964-2004 Minutes, 1964-2002 Box/Folder 1 : 8 1968 January 23, 30, February 19, March 25, April 1, 22, May 6, 20, June 3, 10, July 1, 8, 29, August 22, September 16, November 4, 18, December 16 Box/Folder 1 : 9 1969 January 20, February 12, 24, March 17, 24, April 9, May 12, June 9, 30, August 4, December 31 Box/Folder 1 : 10 1970 April 28, May 18, June 15, 25, July 27, August 10, 24, September 9, 23, December 12, 21 Box/Folder 1 : 11 1971 January 10, February 15, March 29, April 6, 28, June 19, December 13, 23 Box/Folder 1 : 12 1972 January 9, March 10, May 15, 20, June 24, July 15, August 24, September 11, 18, November 5, December 16-17 Box/Folder 1 : 13 1973 March 11, July 23, September 3, October 21, 29, November 1, December 4, 11 Box/Folder 2 : 1 1974 January 7, February 18, March 12, 22, April 15, May 13, 22-23, June 12, July 17, 24, 31, September 17, November 7, 26 Box/Folder 2 : 2 1975 October 29 Box/Folder 2 : 3 1976 January 28, July 14, December 9 Box/Folder 2 : 4 1977 February 10, July 20 Box/Folder 2 : 5 1978 July 21 Box/Folder 2 : 6 1979 October 25, November 7 Box/Folder 2 : 7 1980 March 2, 23, April 6, August 12, 31, December 6 Box/Folder 2 : 8 1981 April 7, May 6, September 23, November 12 Box/Folder 2 : 9 1982 January 22, February 28, March 24-25, July 27, November 29 Box/Folder 2 : 10 1983 January 13, July 19, September 24 Box/Folder 2 : 11 1984 March 5, May 29, October 25 Box/Folder 2 : 12 1985 February