Berta Green Langston papers HLL.2019.002
Caralee Kahn, edited by Allison Ransom.
Holt Labor Library at CSU Dominguez Hills
September 2019
Contributing Institution:
Holt Labor Library at CSU Dominguez Hills
Title: Berta Green Langston papers
Creator:
Langston, Berta Green, 1926-2010
Identifier/Call Number: HLL.2019.002
Physical Description:
1.25 Linear Feet
Physical Description:
3 boxes
Date (bulk): 1958-2005
Abstract: This collection includes the personal and professional papers of Berta Green Langston, an active member of the Socialist Workers
Party and Socialist Action who was involved in various protest movements during the 20th century. It includes newsletters,
newspaper articles, miscellaneous writings, and correspondence with James Baldwin, Robert F. Williams, Albert Perry, Dave
Dellinger, William Worthy, Pete Seeger, and Noam Chomsky, among others.
Language of Material: Collection material is in English.
Processing Information
The collection was initially processed by Caralee Kahn in December 2005 at the Holt Labor Library in San Francisco, California.
In 2019 Allison Ransom edited the finding aid in ArchivesSpace at the Gerth Archives and Special Collections, California State
University, Dominguez Hills.
Preferred Citation
Biographical / Historical
Berta Green was born July 22, 1926, on the Lower East Side of New York City. She joined the Socialist Workers Party (SWP)
at age 19 or 20. For a brief time in the 1960s she was a member of the Party's National Committee. She remained active in
the SWP until 1983, when she was expelled along with numerous other long time members. She immediately went on to help form
Socialist Action, to which she belonged for several years.
In 1957-1958, she moved to Detroit and began working for the SWP full time. Her Party name was Berta Graham. One of her first
tasks was to help organize a tour in Michigan for Harold Davies, a British Labour Party Member of Parliament, who was on a
speaking tour of the United States and Canada in September 1958.
At this time, the SWP was deeply involved in "regroupment," in which the Party's work was oriented toward connecting with
Communist Party (CP) members following the Twentieth Congress and Khrushchev revelations. Langston was a member of a small
minority that believed the CP members might abandon politics following recent changes in their party, and that participation
in the growing civil rights movement would offer them greater opportunities. In an effort to encourage CP members to join
the SWP, Langston volunteered to work on the Committee to Combat Racial Injustice's nine-day tour of Michigan led by Robert
F. Williams, President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), following the "kissing
case" in North Carolina in December of 1958. During this time, she worked under the name Berta Green. Langston later moved
back to New York City, where she participated in Cuban defense activity and was elected Secretary of the New York branch of
the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC). Later she became the de-facto National Executive Secretary of the national group.
When the SWP national office decided to move away from Cuba activism, which Langston protested, she was re-assigned from the
FPCC to the Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants (CAMD), where in her role as secretary she corresponded with Robert F.
Williams regarding the Monroe legal cases as well as Williams' exile in Cuba.
In the late 1960s, Langston became involved in organizing activities with the Alexander Defense Committee (ADC), which formed
to aid victims of South African apartheid. Her husband, Robert Langston, was an officer of the committee.
In the early 1970s, under the name Berta Langston, she was active in the Committee on New Alternatives in the Middle East
(CONAME) along with her husband Robert Langston.
Scope and Contents
The Berta Green Langston Papers 1958-2005 consist of a selection of correspondence, newsletters, newspaper articles, and other
documents concerning the Alexander Defense Committee, Committee to Combat Racial Injustice, the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
(FPCC), the Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants (CAMD), and the Committee on New Alternatives in the Middle East (CONAME),
organizations in which the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) was active in the United States during the 1960's and 1970's.
Correspondents of note in the collection include James Baldwin, Robert F. Williams, Albert Perry, Dave Dellinger, William
Worthy, Pete Seeger, Noam Chomsky, and Arie Bober, as well as officials in the United States Department of Justice, Congress,
and the Attorney General's office. Publications in the collection include issues of the CAMD newsletter The Crusader and the
FPCC newsletters Fair Play, Student Council, and Cuban Press Survey. Some legal papers concerning the trial of the Monroe
Defendants are included, as is one black and white photograph of the defendants. A draft of Van Gosse's 1993 book
Where the Boys Are, newspaper clippings, press releases, event announcements, conference and symposia documents, and benefit concert information
are also included.
Custodial History
The Berta Green Langston papers were donated to the Holt Labor Library in San Francisco, California between 2002 and 2005,
and were acquired by the Gerth Archives and Special Collections at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in 2019.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Arrangement
The papers are arranged in five series: Series I. Alexander Defense Committee, 1965-1971; Series II. Fair Play for Cuba Committee,
1958-2002; Series III. Committee to Combat Racial Injustice, 1958-1959; Series IV. Committee to Aid Monroe Defendants, 1959-2001;
Series V. Committee on New Alternatives in the Middle East, 1969-2005.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Communism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Cuba -- History -- Revolution, 1959
Anti-apartheid movements -- United States
Socialism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Socialist Workers Party--United States--20th century
Social justice -- United States
Civil rights movements -- North Carolina -- History -- 20th century
Civil rights
African Americans -- Civil rights -- Southern States
Williams, Robert F. (Robert Franklin), 1925-1996
Alexander Defense Committee Series I.
1965-1971
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Contains letters from Alexander Defense Committee members to various individuals, including Congressman William Ryan, Assistant
Attorney General J. Walter Yeagley, and President Lyndon Johnson. Press releases, notices, and brochures relating to the
committee are also included.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
box 1, folder 1
Press Releases, Notices, Brochures
1965-1966
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 2
Correspondence
1965-1971
Language of Material: English.
Fair Play for Cuba Committee Series II.
1958-2002
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Contains correspondence, announcements, press releases, notices, and minutes from the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and its
chapters. Information about the FPCC's first national conference and their December 1960 Cuba tour is included, newsletters
such as
Fair Play,
Student Council, and
Cuban Press Survey, in addition to correspondence and documents from the Political Committee and the National Executive Committee of the Socialist
Workers Party are also included. The collection contains materials relating to the Eastland Committee Hearings, newspaper
clippings, and a scrapbook containing Political Committee minutes and documents as well.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
box 1, folder 3
Newspaper Clippings
1958-1959
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 4
Eastland Committee Hearings
1960-1961
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 5
First National Conference and Cuba Tour
1960-1961
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 6
Announcements, Press Releases, Advertisements, Notices, and Receipts
1960-1962
Language of Material: English.
Newsletters
1960-1963
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 7
Fair Play Newsletter
1960-1961
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 8
Student Council Newsletter
1960-1961
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 9
Cuban Press Survey Newsletter
1961-1963
Language of Material: English.
Socialist Workers Party
1960-1963
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 10
Scrapbook (PC Minutes, Correspondence, and Misc.)
1960
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 11
Political Committee (PC) and National Executive Committee (NEC)
1961-1963
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 1
Correspondence
1960-2002
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 2
New York Chapter and Banquet
1961
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 3
Correspondence, Notices, and Announcements Regarding Other Chapters
1961
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 4
Van Gosse Dissertation Draft
1991
Language of Material: English.
Committee to Combat Racial Injustice Series III.
1958-1959
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Contains newspaper clippings about the North Carolina "Kissing Case," in which two young African American boys were arrested
for being kissed by a white girl, and the involvement of Robert F. Williams, President of the North Carolina National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) who was instrumental in garnering political support to pardon the boys. Correspondence,
flyers, announcements, and press releases regarding Robert F. Williams and other Committee affairs are also included.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
box 2, folder 5
Newspaper Clippings
1958-1959
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 6
Correspondence and Announcements
1959
Language of Material: English.
Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants Series IV.
1959-2001
1959-1964
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Contains correspondence, newsletters, bulletins, financial statements, and symposium and conference information reflecting
the activities of organizations that aided the African American people in Monroe, North Carolina, who defended themselves
against racist attacks by the Ku Klux Klan. The series includes letters to and from Robert F. Williams, the president of the
Monroe, North Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), regarding the Monroe
legal cases as well as his political exile in Cuba. Other correspondents include James Baldwin, Albert Perry, Dave Dellinger,
William Worthy, Mae Mallory, Conrad Lynn, and Calvin Hicks, concerning the activities of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU), and the NAACP, as well as to the United States Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and Attorney General. The collection contains
The Crusader newsletter, as well as newspaper clippings concerning the Monroe Kidnap Case, Robert F. Williams, and the Monroe Defendants.
Also included are song lyrics for the song "The Story of Old Monroe" by Pete Seeger and associated correspondence to and from
Pete Seeger regarding a performance of the song at a benefit for the Committee.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
box 2, folder 7
Crusader,
Monroe Non-Violent Action Committee, and
Voice of Action Newsletters
1959-1964
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 8
Press Releases, Form Letters, Fact Sheets
1961-1964
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 9
Information Bulletins, Summary Reports, Financial Statements
1961-1964
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 10-11
Newspaper Clippings
1961-1969
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 12
Pete Seeger Music and Correspondence
1962-1963
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 13
Benefit Concerts and Other Events
1962-1963
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 14
Symposium and Conferences
1962-1963
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 1
Chronicles of the Monroe Riots
1962-2001
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Includes one photograph.
Correspondence
1961-1987
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 2
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
1961-1962
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 3
Robert F. Williams
1961-1963
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 4
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, Congress of Racial Equality, and Southern Conference Educational Fund
1961-1963
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 5
Boston, Ohio, and California Chapters
1961-1964
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 6
Internal Socialist Workers Party and Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants
1961-1964
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 7
Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Attorney General
1961-1987
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 8
Dave Dellinger and William Worthy
1961-2003
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 9
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
1962
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 10
James Baldwin
1963-1964
Language of Material: English.
Committee on New Alternatives in the Middle East Series V.
1969-2005
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
These documents primarily concern the American speaking tour of Arie Bober, an anti-Zionist Israeli and member of the Israeli
Socialist Organization, which the Committee on New Alternatives in the Middle East (CONAME) sponsored in spring and summer
of 1970. It includes substantial correspondence with Bober, as well as letters to and from sponsors of the committee including
Arthur Miller, Noam Chomsky, Pete Seeger, and various media and press outlets. Newspaper clippings, press releases, publicity
materials, Bober's biography, copies of speeches, tour reports, schedules, and financial statements are also included. Of
note is correspondence with Doubleday concerning publication terms of Bober's book
The Other Israel. One issue of ISRAC, the Israeli Revolutionary Action Committee newsletter, is also included.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
box 3, folder 11
Media and Press Correspondence
1970
Language of Material: English.
box 3, folder 12
Newspaper Clippings, Press Releases, Publicity and Marketing
1970
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Includes one press release written by Noam Chomsky.
box 3, folder 13-15
Arie Bober and Committee Sponsor Correspondence
1970-2005
Language of Material: English.
