Rochester socialist scrapbook collection
Biographical / Historical note
During the years 1910 to 1917, the Rochester, New York local of the Socialist Party had almost nine hundred dues-paying members. The membership represented a cross-section of the laboring and educated classes in the city, and participated in the social and political life of the area. Among the organizations and activities organized and supported by Rochester socialists during this period were public speeches and debates held at the Rochester Labor Lyceum, the same and other social activities in the Young People's Socialist League, and classes and activities for children in the Rochester Socialist Sunday School. The director and guiding spirit of the two latter organizations from 1911 to 1915, was Kendrick Shedd, University of Rochester, Class of 1889, a popular member of the University's German faculty between 1891 and 1912, who was forced to resign his university position because of his political views. The activities of the Rochester socialists were centered in a three-story brick building they built at 580 St. Paul Street in Rochester, which still stood in 1986. While the Labor Lyceum continued to function there after disillusionment with socialism set in following the First World War and the Russian Revolution, both the Young People's Socialist League and the Socialist Sunday School, after each having about five hundred members during this period, lost members and were disbanded.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of four scrapbooks on the Rochester Socialist Sunday School, two on the Young People's Socialist League of Rochester, and one on the Rochester Labor Lyceum, kept between 1910 and 1919. Also included are a manuscript minutes book kept by the Central Branch Socialists between 1910 and 1913, and a manuscript membership dues payment record for an unnamed Hungarian ethnic group between 1909 and 1913. The scrapbooks contain typescript and manuscript letters, printed material, ephemera, and photographs. The Rochester Socialist Sunday School scrapbooks contain an index and typescript history of the organization by Kendrick Shedd. It was Shedd who apparently kept the scrapbooks for the Sunday school. Letters from prominent socialists and reformers of the period, including Margaret Sanger, Scott Nearing, Charles Edward Russell, Theodore Debs, George Goler, Walter Rauschenbusch, Jim Larkin, Algernon Lee, Florence Cross Kitchelt, and Emma Goldman, are in the latter scrapbooks and the Labor Lyceum scrapbook.
Creator
- Sanger, Margaret, 1879-1966 (Author, Person)
Dates
- Creation: 1910-1919
Language of Materials
English
Extent
9 volume(s)
Access
The Rochester Socialist Scrapbook Collection is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books; Special Collections & Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.
Use
In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
[Item title, item date], Rochester Socialist Scrapbook Collection, D.110, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
Subject
- Sanger, Margaret, 1879-1966 (Person)
- Title
- Rochester socialist scrapbook collection
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Rare Books and Special Collections staff
- Date
- undated
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Library Details
Part of the Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation Library