Pele deLappe Papers
Finding aid prepared by Heather Cooper, revised by Labor Archives and Research Center staff in 2014.
Labor Archives and Research Center
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA, 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
2005, revised 2014
Title: Pele deLappe papers
Date (inclusive): 1938-2003
Creator:
DeLappe, Pele, 1916-
Collection number: larc.ms.0233
Accession number: 2003/081
Extent: 0.8 cubic ft.
(2 boxes)
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
Abstract: Consists of the correspondence and personal papers of Pele (Phyllis) deLappe, amassed during the years 1938-2002. Correspondence
includes a large collection of letters from Decca Treuhaft, also known as Jessica Mitford, Steve Murdock, and with various
publishers. Papers include typescripts of deLappe's memoir; oral history and interview transcripts; subject files on Byron
Randall, Anton Refrigier, Emmy Lou Packard and Anita Whitney; deLappe's files released under the Freedom of Information Act
from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and sketches of the 1966 United Farm Workers march from Delano to Sacramento.
Language of Materials: Languages represented in the collection:
English.
Location: Collection is available onsite.
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Availability
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Pele deLappe Papers, larc.ms.0233, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University.
Acquisition
Pele deLappe donated the collection in 2003, accession number 2003/081.
Processing Information
The collection was processed in 2005 by Heather Cooper, Labor Archives Intern. It was reboxed from one carton into two boxes
in June 2014; the original order has been maintained.
Separated Materials
A photographic negative of part of the Rincon Annex mural painted by Anton Refrigier has been relocated to the Labor Archives'
Photographic Negative Collection. An unfiled photograph of the 1949 Western Hemisphere Peace Congress in Mexico has been relocated
to the Labor Archives' Photographic Collection.
Arrangement
The collection is organized roughly according to the order established by the donor. Folders are arranged alphabetically.
Biography
Pele deLappe was born in San Francisco on May 4, 1916 to Wesley and Dorothy Sheldon deLappe. In her teens, she studied art
in San Francisco and in New York, where she befriended Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera during his composition of the controversial
Rockefeller Center mural. When she returned to San Francisco in 1934, she became active in the San Francisco Maritime Strike
as a member of the Women's Auxiliary. In addition to picketing and raising money, deLappe contributed political cartoons to
Fo'csle Head, the newsletter of the Maritime Workers Industrial Union, and
The Waterfront Worker, the rank and file longshore newsletter. She joined the Communist Party in 1934.
deLappe continued to be active in the labor movement and to contribute her artistic skill to various political movements throughout
her life. She worked as a journalist, editor, and political cartoonist for various publications, including
People's World,
Daily Worker, Marine Cooks and Stewards
Voice,
San Francisco Chronicle,
San Francisco Magazine, and
The Beacon. In the 1940s, she taught life drawing at the California Labor School. In 1952, she and several other artists affiliated
with the Labor School founded the Graphic Arts Workshop, a cooperative of class-conscious artists working in the spirit of
Diego Rivera and his call to produce socially necessary art for the masses. During the course of her friendship with Jessica
Mitford, she provided illustrations for two of Mitford's works: a pamphlet entitled "Lifeitselfmanship" and the book,
Hons and Rebels. deLappe participated in group and one-person art shows throughout her life. A number of her lithographs are now a part of
permanent art collections, including those of the Woodstock Artists Association in New York and the Achenbach Foundation for
Graphic Art at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.
deLappe was married to attorney Bert Edises in 1934. She gave birth to a daughter, Nina, in 1940 and to a son, Peter, in 1945.
deLappe and Edises divorced in 1949; she re-married in 1953 to Steve Murdock, the political writer for the
People's World; they divorced in 1969. She and fellow artist Byron Randall shared a close friendship from 1990 until his death in 1999.
deLappe published her autobiography,
Pele: A Passionate Journey Through Art and the Red Press, in 2000. deLappe died in 2007, in Petaluma, California.
Scope and Contents
Consists of the correspondence and personal papers of Pele (Phyllis) deLappe, amassed during the years 1938-2002. Correspondence
includes a large collection of letters from Decca Treuhaft, also known as Jessica Mitford, Steve Murdock, and with various
publishers. Papers include typescripts of deLappe's memoir; oral history and interview transcripts; subject files on Byron
Randall, Anton Refrigier, Emmy Lou Packard and Anita Whitney; deLappe's files released under the Freedom of Information Act
from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and sketches of the 1966 United Farm Workers march from Delano to Sacramento.
In addition to correspondence with Jessica Mitford, the collection contains news clips, manuscripts and articles that deLappe
wrote about Mitford, found in the Pele deLappe Writings – General file. The several files on deLappe's memoir, along with
the transcripts contained in the Oral Histories and Interviews folder, provide insight into deLappe's experience as a San
Francisco artist and activist. The subject file on Anita Whitney contains six unidentified slides from an exhibit or scrapbook
relating to Anita Whitney. The file on Anton Refregier contains documents relating to the Rincon Annex murals, painted by
Refregier in 1946-1947; deLappe assisted him with some of the panels. A photographic negative of part of the mural has been
relocated to the Labor Archives' Photographic Negative Collection.
Indexing Terms
Mitford, Jessica, 1917-1996.
Artists--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Oral histories.
Political activists--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Women artists--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Correspondence,
1938-2002
Box 1, Folder 1
General
1938-2002, undated
Box 1, Folder 2
Jessica Mitford
1955-1996
Box 1, Folder 3
Jessica Mitford (photocopies of letters)
1955-1995
Box 1, Folder 4
Steve Murdock
1950-1962, undated
Box 1, Folder 5
Publishers
2001-2002, undated
Box 1, Folder 7
Freedom of Information Act Files
1945-1971
Box 1, Folder 8
Oral Histories and Interviews
1991-1995
Box 1, Folder 9
Press – General
1998-2003
Box 1, Folder 10
Press – re:
A Passionate Journey
2000-2001
Box 1, Folder 11
Diary of Europe Trip
1970
Box 1, Folder 12
General
1949-1993, undated
Box 2, Folder 3
Drafts of Part II
undated
Box 2, Folder 4
Drafts of Part III
undated
Box 2, Folder 5
Illustrations List
undated
Box 2, Folder 7
The Beacon: Voice of the People
1948
Box 2, Folder 8
California Labor School
1952-1988, undated
Box 2, Folder 9
Jessica Mitford – Biography
1978-1996, undated
Box 2, Folder 10
Jessica Mitford – Writings
1973, undated
Box 2, Folder 11
Emmy Lou Packard – Biography
1980-1998, undated
Box 2, Folder 12
Byron Randall – Biography
1949-1999, undated
Box 2, Folder 13
Anton Refregier – Biography
1974-1980, undated
Box 2, Folder 14
Anita Whitney – Biography
1949-1986, undated
Box 2, Folder 15
Sketches from series "Original Walk with Farm Workers from Delano to Sacramento" [on envelope: "UFW Sketches"]
1966
Note
Sketches were originally housed in a separate envelope, labeled "UFW Sketches" in no apparent order. The processor of the
collection numbered them and supplied titles.
1. [Man holding placard with Virgin of Guadelupe]
2. [Man playing accordion, with Huelga flag in background]
3. [Portraits, with Luiz Valdez]
4. [Portrait, with Chuck Gardinier]
5. [Waving figure with text: "Those left behind in Delano to picket the fields – the Filipinos"]
7. [Sideview of man with cane]
8. [Man playing accordion]
