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Horn (Zoia) papers
LSC.2262
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Zoia Horn papers
Source:
Marrion, Catherine
Creator:
Horn, Zoia
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2262
Physical Description:
27.8 Linear Feet
(56 document boxes, 8 shoeboxes, 2 cartons, 2 flat storage
boxes, 1 oversize flat storage box)
Date (inclusive): 1934-2014
Date (bulk): 1935-2005
Abstract: This collection documents the
activities, writings, and political opinions of Zoia Horn. Horn was a California-based
librarian, administrator, and activist. She is best known for refusing to testify in the
1972 Harrisburg Seven trial, becoming the first librarian to be jailed for refusing to
divulge information. Horn was also an outspoken opponent of censorship, government
overreach, and discrimination. This collection spans from 1918 to 2014, and chronicles
Horn's time in California, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and her work in the American
Library Association.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access
special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on
this page.
Language of Material: Materials are primarily in English;
some materials in Japanese and Russian.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance using the request button located on this page.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed
audiovisual materials. For information about the access status of the material that you are
looking for, refer to the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note at the
series and file levels. All requests to access processed audiovisual materials must be made
in advance using the request button located on this page.
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All
other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not
hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], Zoia Horn papers (Collection 2262). UCLA Library Special
Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Catherine Marion, 2014.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make
them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and
resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level
of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts
more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to
national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by Melanie Jones in the
Center for Primary Research and Training
(CFPRT)
with supervision from Courtney Dean, 2016.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
7794668
Zoia Markova Polisar was born in Odessa, Ukraine on March 14, 1918 to a secular Jewish
family. In 1926, her family immigrated to New York City. She attended Brooklyn College and
the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science, first working in a library in
1942. She married Milton (Tony) Horn and had two children, Patricia and Catherine.
After leaving her first husband, Horn began working at the UCLA Library in 1965, where she
became a tax-withholding opponent of the Vietnam War. In 1968, she was hired as Head of the
Reference Department at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1971, she moved
back to California to work at the Modesto Public Library and married Dean Galloway, Director
of Library Services at Stanislaus State College in Turlock, California.
In 1972, Horn was issued a grand jury subpoena to testify for the prosecution in the
"Harrisburg Seven" conspiracy trial against Philip Berrigan back in Pennsylvania. Horn
refused, arguing it would violate her professional principles of individual privacy and
intellectual freedom. She served 20 days in the Dauphin County Jail in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. The American Library Association Executive Board refused to publicly support
Horn's stand. It reversed its stance after the conspiracy trial fell apart. In 1974, Horn
was elected to the ALA Council, and appointed to the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee in
1977. She continued to work as an administrator at organizations like Right to Know and the
National Committee Against Repressive Legislation, but never secured a job as a full-time
librarian again.
After her release, Horn continued her campaign against censorship and government overreach.
She was outspoken in her opposition to South Africa's apartheid and the racist ALA-produced
film The Speaker (1977). She also protested the Patriot Act, particularly its sections on
library surveillance. In 1991, she was awarded the James Madison Freedom of Information
Award by the Society of Professional Journalists. In 1995, she published Zoia! Memoirs of
Zoia Horn, Battler for People's Right to Know. In 2002, she was awarded the Robert B. Downs
Intellectual Freedom Award and the Jackie Eubanks Memorial Award. In 2012, she was inducted
into the California Library Hall of Fame.
Zoia Horn died on July 12, 2014 at her home in Oakland, CA at age 96. Since 2004, the
Intellectual Freedom Committee of the California Library Association has awarded the Zoia
Horn Intellectual Freedom Award each year, to honor "Californian people, groups, and
organizations that have made significant contributions to intellectual freedom in
California."
This collection documents the activities, writings, and political opinions of Zoia Horn, a
California-based librarian, administrator, and activist. She is best known for refusing to
testify in the 1972 Harrisburg Seven trial, becoming the first librarian to be jailed for
refusing to divulge information that violated her belief in intellectual freedom. The
collection spans from 1918 to 2014, with the bulk of materials coming from 1935 to 2005. In
addition to professional materials, including correspondence, press clippings, Horn's FBI
file (obtained under the Freedom of Information Act), and unpublished manuscripts, the
collection contains a large quantity of personal material, including letters to and from
Horn, reflections on her time in jail, and interview recordings.
Some of the significant organizations and topics represented in these files are: the
American Library Association; the Intellectual Freedom Committee; the California Library
Association; the Coalition on Government Information; censorship; government overreach and
surveillance; privacy rights; racism and sexism; and antiwar activism. The collection
documents Horn's political radicalism; her time in jail; and her continued advocacy for
marginalized groups in the US; as well as her opinions on education and democracy in
America, her satirical wit, and her warm bond with family, colleagues, and friends.
Materials are largely textual, comprising correspondence, newspaper clippings publications,
and related printed matter. Among other formats are photographs, negative, video cassettes,
audio cassettes, microfilm, and ephemera.
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: Professional Records (1960-2005)
- Series 2: Research and Writings (1960-2014)
- Series 3: Personal Correspondence (1934-2014)
- Series 4: Biographical Information (1943-2014)
- Series 5: Books (1940-2013)
- Series 6: Photographs and Media (1960-2014)
The collection's series have been kept in their original order following Zoia Horn's
preliminary arrangement, and are organized by name or subject.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Marrion, Catherine