MsC 376

 

Manuscript Register

 

STETSON KENNEDY COLLECTION OF PROGRESSIVE PARTY MATERIALS

 

Collection Dates: 1945 -- 1952

(Bulk Dates:1940s)

.5 linear ft.

 

This document describes a collection of materials held by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu 

 

Posted to Internet:May 2002

 

 

Acquisition Note: These papers were donated by Stetson Kennedy to the University of Iowa Libraries in 1979.

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

 

Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department.

 

Copyright:  Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on "Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials"

 

Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.

 

Biographical Note

Writer and political activist Stetson Kennedy was born in Florida in 1916. He graduated from Lee High School and attended the University of Florida. One of his first jobs after college was as the state editor for the WPA Florida Writers Project. In 1941, Kennedy published his first book, Palmetto County. In the 1940s he infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan, out of which came his book Southern Exposure. During World War II, he was director of intelligence for the Anti-Nazi League. He was active in pre- and post-war peace movements and was a delegate to the World Peace Conference. In 1950, Stetson Kennedy ran for the U.S. Senate from Florida as an Independent. He was endorsed by the Progressive Voters League but received only 914 votes. Kennedy has worked as a newspaper writer and columnist for papers such as the New York Times and the New York Post. Most of his papers are deposited at the Southern Labor Archives at Georgia State University.

Scope and Contents

 

The Stetson Kennedy Collection of Progressive Party Materials consists of 118 items. Founded in 1948, the Progressive Party's first presidential candidate was Henry A. Wallace. The party (which continued until 1954) opposed the bipartisan Cold War policy, advocated civil rights, and wanted an extension of New Deal policies. This small collection includes correspondence, speeches, flyers, and advertising relating to the Henry A. Wallace campaign and southern strategy. It also contains clippings and folders concerning the Progressive Citizens of America and the National Council of the Arts, Sciences, and Professions.

 

Related materials

 

MsC177 The Papers of Henry A. Wallace

 

Box List

 

Box 1

Glass, Horace. "Humanity's Advocate Stetson Kennedy: Literary Crusader." Mandarin Weekly Advertiser
2 March 1981, vol. 4, no. 1: 9-25.

National Council of the Arts, Sciences, and Professions, 1947 -- 1951

Progressive Citizens of America, 1947 -- 1948

Progressive Party, 1945 -- 1952. Including "Wallace Campaign Materials" and a southern strategy letter from Morton Bloom

Progressive Party. Newspaper clippings, 1948 -- 1949. Including from York, PA, The Gazette and Daily