Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Sunshine (Meryl and Manny) papers
HLL.2019.026
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Holt Labor Library at CSU Dominguez Hills
Title: Meryl and Manny Sunshine papers
Creator:
Meryl Sunshine, 1931-2010
Creator:
Manuel Sunshine
Identifier/Call Number: HLL.2019.026
Physical Description:
5 Linear Feet
Physical Description:
5 boxes
(cartons)
Date (inclusive): 1950-2002
Date (bulk): ca. 1980-1995
Abstract: The collection contains the papers of Meryl and Manny Sunshine, socialist activists who were members of the Freedom Socialist
Party, Radical Women, the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and other organizations.
It includes subject files, convention and conference materials, leaflets, photographs, bulletins, reports, memoranda, press
releases, minutes, publications, election materials, and draft proposals.
Language of Material: Collection material is in English.
The Meryl and Manny Sunshine papers, 1950-2002, undated, comprise convention and conference materials, leaflets, discussion
bulletins, minutes, reports, memoranda, press releases, and subject files related to the activities and statuses of the Freedom
Socialist Party, Radical Women, and the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party. Also included are membership documents,
election materials, leaflets, photographs, convention documents, minutes, by-laws, platforms, reports, publications, and draft
proposals regarding the Peace and Freedom Party, as well as one file regarding the incarceration of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Various
subject files concerning political committees, such as the Ad Hoc Committee to Aid Journalists of Principle, the Los Angeles
Conference on Revolutionary Regroupment, the Physicians Organizing Committee, and the Bay Area Supporters of the Mark Curtis
Defense are present. The collection contains materials from conferences held by political and labor organizations, such as
the Coalition of Labor Women and the Committees of Correspondence, as well as the "'Progressive Politics in a Conservative
Era,' West Coast Conference on Socialism and Activism," and a Jewish Feminist Conference, among others. Subject files concerning
women and employment, as well as international politics and the environment are also present.
The collection is open for research, except for three restricted files.
The collection was processed by Allison Ransom in September 2020.
For information about citing archival material, see the
Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.
The Meryl and Manny Sunshine papers were donated to the Holt Labor Library in San Francisco, California between 2002 and 2019,
and were acquired by the Gerth Archives and Special Collections at California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2019.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
The collection is arranged in three series: Series I. Freedom Socialist Party, Radical Women, and the Committee for a Revolutionary
Socialist Party files, 1966-1993, undated; Series II. Peace and Freedom Party files, 1974-2000, undated; Series III. Political
and labor subject files, 1950-2002, undated.
Meryl (1931-2010) and Manny Sunshine were socialist activists who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. They were members of
the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) until 1968, when they left the organization after it expelled Arne Swabeck, who was one
of its founders. In 1977, they joined the Freedom Socialist Party, which is a socialist feminist political party that was
founded by former members of the Seattle, Washington branch of the SWP. Meryl was also a member of Radical Women, a socialist
feminist organization that merged with the Freedom Socialist Party in 1973. Both Meryl and Manny were involved with the Committee
for a Revolutionary Socialist Party (CRSP), which was affiliated with the Freedom Socialist Party as well. While active in
the Freedom Socialist Party and its allied organizations, both Meryl and Manny were committed to trade union and working class
advocacy, revolutionary feminism, abortion rights, gay liberation, and racial justice. They were also involved with the Peace
and Freedom Party, which is a socialist organization that is committed to feminism and racial equality, as well as with various
Jewish activist organizations including the Jewish Peace Coalition.
Reference:
Sunshine, M. and M. (1978). From SWP to FSP- the odyssey of two radicals.
Freedom Socialist.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Socialism -- United States -- 20th century
Labor unions -- United States -- 20th century
Women and socialism -- United States
Women -- Employment -- United States
Trotskyism -- United States
Peace and Freedom Party (Calif.) (1967-)
Freedom Socialist Party (U.S.) (1966-)
Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party