Collection Dates: 1920 -- 1990
(Bulk Dates: 1930s -- 1950s)
3 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: November 1997
Addenda: 1996
Acquisition
Note: This collection was donated
to the University of Iowa Libraries by Harris in August 1990.
Access
and Restrictions:
Digital
Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but
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collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections
Department.
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Series
Table of Contents
Box 1 Agrarian Department -- China
Box 2 Cochran, Nile -- Farm Organizations
Box 3 Farm Problems in the South -- International Chamber of Commerce
Box 4 Iowa -- New York
Box 5 Newspaper Clippings -- Soviet Agriculture Today
Box 6 Speech by Lem Harris -- "The World Agrarian Crisis and The Peasant Movement"
Box 7 Agriculture School -- Political History of U.S. Farm Policy
Box 8 Program for American Farmers -- Ware, Harold M.
Lement Harris
was born in 1904 to Gertrude Upham and John Francis Harris. John Harris
was the co-founder of Texaco and the Wall Street brokerage firm of Harris,
Winthrop, and Co. Lement was educated in exclusive eastern prep schools
and graduated from Harvard in 1926. Not having decided upon a career,
he went to work on a farm in Pennsylvania where he was to remain for three
years. While working as a farm laborer he read and was influenced by the
works of Gandhi and Tolstoi. He was also exposed to a fellow worker who
had been a member of a trade union delegation to the Soviet Union. Harris
decided that he too must go there to see how the "new society" was working.
He was introduced to Harold Ware, a communist and IWW organizer, who was
running a farm in the North Caucasus area. Ware promised him employment
when he came to the Soviet Union. His time in Russia was life-altering
and he returned to the United States convinced that the Soviet system
was in all ways superior to the West. Back home, he and Ware conducted
a nine month survey of life in rural America. They published their results
in The American Farmer. It was after this tour that Harris officially
joined the Communist Party, of which he was a member until his death in September of 2002.
Scope
and Contents
The Lement Harris Papers consist of 3 linear feet and document his farm activism in the 1930s and beyond. Arranged chronologically within an alphabetical sequence, this collection includes correspondence files with letters from Harold Ware, Milo Reno, Ella Reeve Bloor, and Gus Hall; pamphlets; subject files relating to farm issues and organizations such as Farmers' Holiday and Farmers Union and radical politics.
Box List
Agrarian Department. Central Committee -- Communist Party of the U.S.A., 1930 -- 1933.
Agrarian Periodicals in the United States, 1920 -- 1960.
"Agrarian Radicals: The United Farmers League of South Dakota " by Allan Mathews. South Dakota History.
AAA--The New Farm Act. A Short Summary of the Provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938.
Agricultural Adjustment Administration. Supreme Court Decision, 1935.
Agricultural Areas and Farm Populations.
Agriculture in the South. Untitled article.
Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill, 1980.
Alabama, 1932-1933. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Alabama. Including a letter from Milo Reno.
The American Farmer by George Anstrom. Pamphlet, 1932.
The American Farmer by Harold Ware. Typescript carbon.
American Fund for Public Service, Inc., 1936 -- 1941.
The American Guardian. Newspaper, Feb. 3, 1933. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
"The American Tractor Comes to Soviet Agriculture: The Transfer of a Technology" by Dana G. Dalrymple, 1963. Article.
Annual report of a collective farm, 1967. In Russian.
Anti-Labor Propaganda Campaign Unloosed in Farm Belt. Article.
Arizona, n.d. Miscellaneous printed material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Arizona.
Arkansas, 1929 -- 1932. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Arkansas.
As One Farmer to Another by Fred Briehl. Pamphlet, n.d.
Associated Farmers of Minnesota. Newspaper, vol. 1, #1 (July 1938), Northfield, Minnesota.
Atomic Blessing or Atomic Blasting? by Fred Stover. Pamphlet, 1950.
Biographical Sketch of Fred Stover, 1985.
Bills and Resolutions, 1933 and undated.
Birth of the Soviet Combined Harvester and Reaper, 1931. In Russian.
Bloor, Mother Ella Reeve.
Bonus March. Newspaper clipping, 1932 (New York Times).
Brannan Farm Program, 1949.
California, 1930-1937. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in California.
Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union, 1931 -- 1934. Reports, clippings, union membership books, etc.
China, 1943 -- 1950. Printed material and clippings.
Cochran, Nile, 1933. Newspaper clippings.
"Class Composition of the Farmers Second National Conference," Chicago, 1933 by George Anstrom. Article.
Colorado, n.d. Typescript relating to agricultural problems and programs in Colorado.
Committee for Cooperation with the New South, 1950. Correspondence, brochures, financial statements, etc.
The Communist Party Addresses These Lines to the Working People on the Southern Farms. Typescript.
"The Communist Party and the Midwest Farm Crisis of 1933" by John L. Shover. Reprinted from The Journal of American History, Sept. 2, 1964.
The Communist Position on the Farmers' Movement. Pamphlet, 1933.
The C.I.O. and the Farmers. Pamphlet, July 10, 1937.
The Contest Between the People and the Plunderers by Fred Stover. Pamphlet, 1951.
Correspondence, 1923 -- 1935, 1975 -- 1976. Including letters from: Harold Ware, Milo Reno, Ella Reeve Bloor, and Gus Hall.
Coughlin Lemke and the Union Party by Dale Kramer. Pamphlet, 1936.
Cuba, 1947. Farm problems.
The Daily Worker. Newspaper, March 11, 1933 (New York City, New York).
Dairy Issues, 1933 -- 1939. Pamphlets, printed material, clippings, etc.
Delaware, 1933. Miscellaneous printed material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Delaware.
The Devil and Jimmy Byrnes by Frederick L. Schuman. Pamphlet, 1948.
Discussion on the Program of the United Farmers League. Typescript of a speech by Kolarov, February 18, 1931.
Events Leading to the Establishment of the National Endowment for Democracy, 1984.
"The Evolution of Action" Typescript of an article.
The Evolution of the American Farmer. Peasantry--Capitalism's `Solution' of the Farm Problem. Typescript carbon
Facts Explode the Myth of Stassen-Ball-Thye `Liberalism'. Pamphlet.
Facts for Farmers, 1935 and 1941.
"Farm Cooperatives and the Trusts" by Lem Harris and Robert Digby. Political Affairs, January 1948.
The Farm Crisis. Pamphlet, 1955.
Farm Holiday News. Newspaper, vol. 1, #1, February 20, 1933. (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Farm Labor News. Newspaper, January 1949. (Washington, D.C.)
Farm News Letter. Newspaper, vol. 1, #1 -- 11, 1932 -- 1933. (Washington, D.C.)
Farm Notes. Typescript notes.
Farm Organizations, 1932. Printed lists.
Farm Problems in the South, 1939 -- 1950 and undated. Typescripts, holograph notes, printed material, clippings, etc.
A Farm School on Wheels is Needed. Typescript.
Farm Survey, 1931. Interview and notes.
Farmer-Labor Party. Pamphlet.
Farmer-Labor-Teamwork. Pamphlet, ca. 1954.
Farmers and Radicals: The 1930's by Richard Henry Lee German, 1973. Typescript carbon.
Farmers and the War by Jasper Haaland. Pamphlet.
Farmers and the War by Anna Rochester. Pamphlet, 1943.
Farmers' Committee of Southwest. Proposed Platform, n.d.
Farmers' Demands. Typescript.
Farmers in 1944 by Charles J. Coe. Pamphlet, 1944.
The Farmers Make Their Own Program. First Farmers National Relief Conference, 1932. Pamphlet.
Farmers' National Committee for Action, 1933.
Farmers National Relief Conference:
Miscellaneous printed materials, questionnaires, brochures, notes, clippings, etc., 1932 -- 1933.
Photocopies of the proceedings, 1932. (2 folders)
Farmers' Relief Conference of Michigan, 1933. Minutes, correspondence, clippings, etc.
The Farmers' Score Board. Typescript.
Farmers Unite Their Fight by Lem Harris. Report of the Farmers Second National Conference, Nov. 1933. Pamphlet.
The Farmers' Way Out. Pamphlet, 1932.
Federated Farmer-Labor Party. Statement of Principles.
First National Convention of Wage Workers in Agricultural Industry. Budget and Plan of Work.
Florida, 1934. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Florida.
Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of America-CIO. Campbell Soup Conspiracy, 1946.
For How Long...Does the Farmer Feed Them All by Archie Wright. Pamphlet.
Georgia, 1934. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Georgia.
Harold M. Ware (1890 -- 1935) Agricultural Pioneer, U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. by Lement Harris.
"How Will the Farmers Vote in 1948? " Article by Lem Harris.
Idaho, n.d. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Idaho.
Illinois, 1938 -- 1947. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Illinois.
Illinois Central Railroad Company, [1861]. Land Commissioner's Advertisement.
International Chamber of Commerce, 1931. "Agriculture, the Touchstone of World Depression and Prosperity."
Iowa, 1933 -- 1953, 1980 -- 1983. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Iowa.
Is the Depression Here? Midwest Farmer-Labor Alliance.
Is This `Home' Too Much? Brochure.
Kansas, 1932. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Kansas.
The Labor Herald, vol. 2, #1, March 1923. Official Organ of the Trade Union Educational League.
Labor's Relations with the Farmers. Typescript.
Landon, Alf, 1936.
A Legislative Program for Agricultural Labor. Pamphlet.
"The Loup City Riot of 1934: Main Street vs. the `Far-Out' Left" by William D. Rowley. Nebraska History, Sept. 1966.
Lynching Northern Style. Pamphlet.
"Making Hay " by Lem Harris. Column in The Worker, 1948 -- 1950.
"Marx and Engles on America" Clarity, vol. 1, #13, Nov. 1944.
Massachusetts, [1932]. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Massachusetts.
Meat. A National Scandal by Lem Harris. Pamphlet, 1946.
Medical Survey. Typescript of a report about medical services in the Soviet Union.
Memo on Rural Work. Typescript carbon, Nov. 1, 1945.
Michigan, n.d. Miscellaneous printed material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Michigan.
A Militant Program for American Farmers. Draft Program of the United Farmers League. Pamphlet.
Minnesota, 1933 -- 1948. Miscellaneous printed material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Minnesota.
Miscellaneous printed material, 1934 -- 1935.
Mississippi, n.d. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Mississippi.
Missouri, 1932. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Missouri.
Montana, 1930 and 1949. Miscellaneous printed material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Montana.
"Muddled Millions. Capitalist Angels of Left-Wing Propaganda" by Benjamin Stolberg. Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 15, 1941.
My Country, 'tis of thee--- Report on the farm survey done by Ware and Harris.
My Tale of Two Worlds by Lement Harris. New York: International Publishers, 1986.
National Farmers' Holiday Association, 1933 -- 1936. Including carbon typescripts, clippings, etc.
National Farmers' Holiday Association. Correspondence, 1932 -- 1933.
The National Farmers Union and the Cold War by William C. Pratt. Typescript, 1980.
Nebraska, 1932 -- 1933. Miscellaneous material regarding agricultural problems and programs in Nebraska.
New Evidence in the Rosenburg Case. Pamphlet.
New Jersey, 1934. Miscellaneous printed material regarding agricultural problems and programs in New Jersey.
New York, 1933 -- 1939. Miscellaneous material regarding agricultural problems and programs in New York.
Newspaper Clippings, 1933 -- 1949.
Nonpartisan League Party, 1919. Platform Argument and State Ticket of South Dakota.
North Carolina, 1932 and 1950. Miscellaneous material regarding agricultural problems and programs in North Carolina.
North Dakota, 1932 -- 1933. Miscellaneous material regarding agricultural problems and programs in North Dakota.
Notes [probably taken by Lem Harris].
Notes of the Road. Holograph draft.
Notes about Southern towns by Lem Harris. Including some correspondence, 1961 -- 1967.
Ohio, [1929]. Miscellaneous material regarding agricultural problems and programs in Ohio.
Oklahoma, n.d. Miscellaneous printed material regarding agricultural problems and programs in Oklahoma.
On the Position of Rev. Chas. E. Coughlin by Michael J. Gallagher, D.D. Talk, 1935.
Oregon, 1927. Miscellaneous printed material regarding agricultural problems and programs in Oregon.
The Organized Farmer, 1932 -- 1936. Organ of the Pennsylvania Farmers Protective Association.
Outline of American Agricultural Situation with Russian Contrasts. Typescript, October 1931.
Pennsylvania, 1932. Miscellaneous material regarding agricultural problems and programs in Pennsylvania.
Pineland and Delta Plantation. Interview.
Pity the Poor Politician. Typescript carbon.
A Plea to Farmers--We Want to Pay You More Money. Pamphlet.
Poverty on the Land. Pamphlet. Report on the Public Hearings of the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, 1965.
Prairiefire. The American Farm Crisis Project, 1985 -- 1986.
Preliminary Report on the Agricultural Wage Workers of the U.S.A. by Elinor Henderson. Typescript of a report done for the Agrarian Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the U.S.A.
The Producers News. Official Organ of the United Farmers League. Newspaper, June 2 and Nov. 17, 1933. (Plentywood, MT)
A Program for Agriculture by Lem Harris. Reprinted from Political Affairs, Oct. 1947.
Prospects for Soviet Agriculture in the 1980’s by D. Gale Johnson and Karen M. Brooks. Review by Lem Harris, 1983.
"Quality of Life on Soviet Farms " by Lem Harris. New World Review, vol. 45, no. 6 (Nov. -- Dec. 1977) pp. 45 -- 48.
Radical Farm Organizations and Periodicals in America, 1920-1960 by Lowell K. Dyson. Offprint from Agricultural History, 1971.
"The Red Peasant International in America" by Lowell K. Dyson. Reprinted from The Journal of American History, March 1972.
Rents. Typescript.
Report of Agricultural Sector Technicians' Conference on the Workers' Plan for America.
Rhode Island, 1932. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Rhode Island.
Rolling Up Mass Power. Typescript carbon.
The Rosenburg Case by D.N. Pritt. Pamphlet.
The Rural Observer, 1938.
Russian Reconstruction Farms. Material from a scrapbook kept by Jessica Smith (Mrs. Harold Ware)--Photocopies.
Russian Reconstruction Farms. Original material from a scrapbook kept by Jessica Smith (Mrs. Harold Ware).
The Scooper, 1931. Issued by the Agricultural Workers Union.
"The Second Chronic Crisis in Agriculture" by Robert Digby. Reprinted from Political Affairs, Jan. 1947.
Selina State Farm. Report of equipment, production statistics, workers, costs, and profits, 1964 (also 1950 -- 1954). In Russian.
Social Justice and the Distribution of Wealth by Rev. Chas. E. Coughlin. Pamphlet, 1935.
Solidarity and Social Justice by Rev. Chas. E. Coughlin. Pamphlet, 1935.
Some of Uncle Sam's Poor Relations. The Real Producers of Cotton. Typescript carbon.
South Dakota, 1932 -- 1933. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in South Dakota.
Southern Tenant Farmers' Union, 1935 -- 1939 and 1965. Including bulletins, constitutions, proceedings, union cards, etc.
"Soviet Agriculture Today" by Lem Harris. New World Review (Nov. -- Dec. 1976) pp. 23 -- 25.
Speech by Lem Harris.
Speech at the First All-Union Congress of Collective Farm Shock Brigade Workers by Josef Stalin. Pamphlet, 1933.
The Struggle for Civil Liberty on the Land. Pamphlet.
The Sunday News. Newspaper, vol. 4, #3, June 4, 1938 (Seattle, WA)
Taxpayers League Has Saved Citizens More Than $5,000,000 by Frank L. Ferguson. Article.
Trade Unionism in North Carolina: The Strike Against Reynolds Tobacco, by Akosua Barthwell, 1947.
The 20s: A Helping Hand from the U.S. by Isai Belenkin. Published by Soviet press.
Two Babes in the Wood. Typescript carbon.
The Unionist. Newspaper, vol. 3, #42, Aug. 5, 1938. (Austin, MN)
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (U.E.), 1953 -- 1954. Pamphlets.
United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America (C.I.O.). Brochures, press releases, reports, etc.
United Farmers' League. By-laws, union cards, broadsides, etc.
United Packinghouse Workers of America (C.I.O.). Brochures.
United States Agriculture, ca. 1935. Untitled typescript.
Unmasking the New Deal in the Cotton Patch by Donald MacDougal. Typescript carbon.
Vermont, n.d. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Vermont.
Virginia, n.d. Miscellaneous printed material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Virginia.
Wallace, Henry, 1946 -- 1948. Memos, brochures, pamphlets, clippings, etc.
Ware, Harold M., 1923 -- 1935 and 1979. Correspondence, articles, clippings, etc.
"Was Agricultural Distress in the 1930's a Result of Land Speculation During World War I? The Case of Iowa" by Lowell K. Dyson. Annals of Iowa, Spring 1971.
The Way Out for Milk Producers by Leif Dahl. Pamphlet.
What is the Chief Cause of the Farm Depression? Pamphlet.
"What Outlook for Co-ops?" by Lem Harris. Article, Nov. 16, 1947.
What Price Milk? by Caroline Whitney. Pamphlet, 1939.
What the Government Does to the Farmer. Typescript.
Wheat Belt. Typescript.
Why Farmers Should Be Concerned. Farm Commission of the Communist Party.
Why I Joined the United Farmers League by A Wisconsin Farmer. Pamphlet.
Wisconsin, 1932 -- 1933 and 1950. Miscellaneous material relating to agricultural problems and programs in Wisconsin.
"The Workers' Party and the Farmers " by Harold M. Ware. The Toiler, vol. 4, #205, Jan. 14, 1922.
Workers School. Series of Marxism-Leninism-Elements of Political Economy. IV. Agriculture.
"The World Agrarian Crisis and the Peasant Movement " by V. Kolarov. The Communist International, Vol. 8, #9, May 15, 1931.
Agriculture School. Incomplete typescript and galley proof.
The Alabama Share Croppers Union by Dale Rosen. Essay, 1969.
American Agriculture Movement, 1978 -- 1985. Includes correspondence, reports, interviews, etc.
"American Family Farmers: An Endangered Species " by Lem Harris. World Marxist Review, July 1989.
Anti-Semitism and the Radical Right in the Farm Crisis. Articles, 1986.
Billions Erased but Problems Remain by Lem Harris.
Book Review by Lem Harris of Dynamic Stability: the Soviet Economy Today by Victor and Ellen Perlo, 1980.
Breadlines Knee-deep in Wheat by Janet Poppendieck. Photocopy of Chapters 1 -- 2.
Caulfield, Sargent. Transcription of an oral history interview conducted by Lem Harris.
Columns
written by Lem Harris, 1978 -- 1990 and undated.
"Communist returns to Iowa" by Thomas Knudson. The Des Moines Register, December 13, 1979.
Correspondence, 1965 -- 1985.
"A Deeper Look at U.S. Agriculture" by Lem Harris. Political Affairs, June 1989.
Dukakis, Michael. Farm policy packet of campaign clippings, 1987.
Editorials and Letters to the Editor by Lem Harris and others, 1986 -- 1989.
Family Farm, 1978 -- 1988 and undated. Booklets, clippings, articles, etc.
Family Farm, Vital Producer of Food and Fibre by Lem Harris.
Farmers’ Legal Action Report, 1986 -- 1987.
Farmers’ Outlook in Two Worlds by Lem Harris.
"Farmers’ Role in an Antimonopoly Coalition" by Lem Harris. Political Affairs, vol. 57, #12 (December 1978) pp. 28 -- 32.
"How the Giant Food Chains Dictate Farm Prices" by J.H. Jackson. Independent Banker, December 1966.
Interfaith Action for Economic Justice, 1988.
Krebs, A.V. Various articles regarding agribusiness, 1988 -- 1990.
The Loss of Our Family Farms by Mark Ritchie. Special AAM Edition Pamphlet.
Murphy,
Al. Transcription of an oral history interview conducted by Lem Harris,
January 1978.
Obituary
One Man with Courage.... A documentary of the Ristine grain action February 16, 1981.... Pamphlet.
Political History of U.S. Farm Policy by Mark Ritchie and Kevin Ristau. League of Rural Voters.
Program for American Farmers.
Rossiter, Vince E. Congressional testimony and clippings, 1980.
"Rural Radicalism on the Northern Plains, 1912 -- 1950" by William C. Pratt. Montana the Magazine of Western History, vol 42 (Winter 1992) pp. 43 -- 55. Photocopy.
Special Conference on the Rural Crisis, 1985. Statement by Lem Harris.
Transcriptions of oral history interviews conducted by Lem Harris, 1979.
The United Farmer and Rancher Congress, 1986. Sponsored by Farm Aid.
Ware, Harold M. Articles and reports.
