Finding Aid to the Bob Blauner papers BANC MSS 99/285 c

Mario H. Ramirez and Marjorie Bryer
The Bancroft Library
© 2013, 2019
The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
bancref@library.berkeley.edu


Language of Material: English
Contributing Institution: The Bancroft Library
Title: Bob Blauner papers
Creator: Blauner, Bob (Robert)
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 99/285 c
Physical Description: 21.4 Linear Feet (16 cartons, 1 box, and 2 card file boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1949-2011
Abstract: The Bob Blauner papers consist of materials related to the distinguished sociologist’s research, writings, and teachings on race relations, class, and masculinity. The bulk of the collection consists of Blauner’s research for his study of racism, manhood, and culture, "Black lives, white lives: three decades of race relations in America." There are also materials related to an anti-poverty project in Richmond, California, other books and writings, course materials, and a small amount of correspondence, personalia, and files related to his career in the Sociology Department at UC Berkeley.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.

Access

RESTRICTED. Requests for use of original must be approved by the appropriate curator. Box 1 contains restricted student information and is sealed until 2046 per curator stipulation.

Accruals

No additions are expected.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Bob Blauner in 1999 and Karina Epperlein in 2018.

Alternate Forms Available

There are no alternate forms of this collection.

Biographical Information

Bob (Robert) Blauner was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. A factory worker for five years, Blauner went on to earn a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Chicago, in 1948 and 1950 respectively, and a Ph.D from UC Berkeley in 1962. He taught at the University of Chicago and San Francisco State University before settling into his career at U.C. Berkeley (1963-1993). Blauner is recognized for his work on racial minorities in the United States, and for his hypothesis differentiating between the experiences of racism and discrimination among voluntary migrants and colonized peoples. He died at the age of 87 in Berkeley in 2016.

General

Finding Aid Author(s):
Mario H. Ramirez
Date Completed:
2013
Finding Aid Encoded By:
GenX

General

The former title of this collection was the Bob Blauner research notes.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Access to audio-visual materials may be restricted due to technical limitations.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Bob Blauner papers, BANC MSS 99/285 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Processing Information

Processed by Mario H. Ramirez in 2013. Additions processed by Marjorie Bryer in 2019

System of Arrangement

Arranged to the folder level.

Scope and Content Note

The Bob Blauner papers consist of materials related to the distinguished sociologist’s writings, and teachings on race relations, class, and masculinity. The bulk of the collection consists of interviews, notes, and other materials from Blauner’s research in the San Francisco Bay Area and northern California during 1967-1969 and 1977-1986 for his study of racism, manhood, and culture in American society, which was published under the title "Black lives, white lives: three decades of race relations in America." There are also interviews from New Careers for the Poor, a Richmond, California anti-poverty project (1966-1967); notes on an unidentified race relations project and reading notes on classics of race theory to 1972; Blauner's published and unpublished writings, including major book projects on factory workers and alienation, racial oppression in America, men’s grieving the loss of their mothers, the 1968 Huey Newton trial, and the Loyalty Oath at Cal. The collection is divided into 7 series: Black Lives, White Lives/Racism, Manhood and Culture in America; New Careers for the Poor (Richmond Project); Race Relations Project; Correspondence and Personalia; Writings; Course Materials; and Administrative Materials.

Publication Rights

Copyright for materials in Cartons 1-7 and cardfile boxes 1-2 have been transferred to the Regents of the University of California. Copyright for materials in Cartons 8-16 and Box 1 have been retained by the donor, Karen Epperlein. Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Racism
Berkeley (Calif.)
Faculty papers
University of California, Berkeley. -- Department of Sociology.
Race relations.
African Americans -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area -- Interviews.
African Americans - Civil rights
Working class.
Whites.
Mothers and sons.
Masculinity.
Academic freedom -- California -- History -- 20th century.
Loyalty oaths--California--Berkeley
Oral history
Blauner, Bob (Robert)

 

Series 1. Black Lives, White Lives/Racism, Manhood and Culture in America 1966-1991

Physical Description: Cartons 1-5; carton 6, folders 1-17; carton 7, folders 11-23; carton 8; cardfile boxes 1-2
carton 1, Folder 1

Interview Key, Master 1970

carton 1, Folder 2

Interview Key, Original 1970

carton 1, Folder 3-16

Interview Transcripts, First Phase, 1-70 1967-1970

Carton 2, Folder 1-14

Interview Transcripts, First Phase, 71-230 1967-1970

Carton 3, Folder 1-16

Interview Transcripts, First Phase, 231-715 1967-1970

Carton 4, Folder 1-21

Interview Transcripts, First Phase, 716-900 1967-1970

carton 4, Folder 22

Application, Research Grant, Ethnic Manhood Orientations 1969

carton 4, Folder 23

Interview Transcripts, Ten Years Later undated, 1968-1986

Carton 5, Folder 1-28

Interview Transcripts, Ten Years Later undated

Carton 6, Folder 1-5

Interview Transcripts, Ten Years Later undated

carton 6, Folder 6

Case Studies 1978

carton 6, Folder 7-10

Edits undated, 1977-1980

carton 6, Folder 11

Black Longshoremen 1967

carton 6, Folder 12

Articles and Book Excerpts undated

carton 6, Folder 13

Newsweek Magazine, "The Troubled American: A Special Report on the White Majority" 1969

carton 6, Folder 14

Perspectives on Pathology, Socialization, Religion and World View of Pruitt-Igoe Residents 1966

carton 6, Folder 15

A Preliminary Report on Housing and Community Experiences of Pruitt-Igoe Residents 1966

carton 6, Folder 16-17

Occasional Papers 1966-1967

Carton 7, Folder 11-15

Notebooks – includes Ideas for Final Revision, Feedback, Personal Projects 1983-1987

Carton 7, Folder 16

Book Reviews and Flyers for Talks 1988-1989

Carton 7, Folder 17

First Advance Copy, with Annotations March 8, 1989

Carton 7, Folder 18

Book Reviews 1989

Carton 7, Folder 19-23

Book Promotion; Materials from Butterfield Associates, Publishing Consultants; and Book Talks circa 1989-1991

Carton 8

Interviews for Black Lives, White Lives circa 1978-1986

Scope and Content Note

One VHS tape and 60 cassette tapes.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Access to audio-visual materials may be restricted due to technical limitations.
 

Series 2. New Careers for the Poor (Richmond Project) 1966-1967

Physical Description: Carton 6, folders 18-24; Carton 7, folders 1-6
carton 6, Folder 18

Articles 1966

carton 6, Folder 19-24

Interview Transcripts 1966

Carton 7, Folder 1

Interview Transcripts 1966

carton 7, Folder 2

Interview Notes 1966

carton 7, Folder 3

Observations 1966

carton 7, Folder 4

Project Notes 1967

carton 7, Folder 5

Research Papers and Notes 1966-1967

carton 7, Folder 6

Reports and Papers 1966-1967

 

Series 3. Race Relations Project 1978-1987

Physical Description: Carton 7, folders 7-10
Carton 7, Folder 7-10

Correspondence, notes, and articles regarding race relations undated

 

Series 4. Correspondence and Personalia 1961-2005

Physical Description: Carton 7, folders 24-31; Carton 9, folders 1-7

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence is personal and professional; incoming and outgoing. Includes letters from Blauner's father, letters he described as "interesting," invitations, thank you notes, and responses to his work. Personalia includes student papers and notes, materials related to Blauner's political activism, and a tribute to him. Correspondence can also be found in Series 5, Writings.
Carton 7, Folder 24-31

Letters, Invitations, Thanks Yous 1961-2005

Carton 9, Folder 1-2

The Polish Peasant in Europe and America and Appraisal of the Polish Peasant; Final Test: An Introduction to Sociology 1949

Carton 9, Folder 3

Political Science/Sociology Class – Notes 1956

Carton 9, Folder 4

Term Paper on the KKK/White Citizens’ Council 1957

Carton 9, Folder 5

"Masculinities": Pro-Feminist Men Respond to the Men's Movement 1993

Carton 9, Folder 6

Activism circa 1962-2006

Carton 9, Folder 7

Tribute to Blauner, Center for Latino Policy Research November 2005

 

Series 5. Writings 1950-2009

Physical Description: Carton 9, folders 8-37; Cartons 10-14; Carton 15, folders 1-10.

Scope and Contents

Consists of book projects; published and unpublished writings, including articles, book reviews, drafts, lectures and talks, and research notes; and notebooks. Published and unpublished writings are arranged chronologically and include Blauner's dissertation, a social psychological analyses of personal names; autobiographical writings; and writings on class, work, masculinity, gender, and race, and their intersections; essays on the Watts rebellion, Martin Luther King, Jr., internal colonialism, ethnicity and race relations, sociology, the men's movement, why UC Berkeley needs an American Studies requirement, politics and activism on the Berkeley campus, Black-Jewish relations, and anti-racist coalitions.
Carton 9, Folder 8

Blauner Bibliography circa 2010

Carton 9, Folder 9-12

Alienation and Freedom: The Manual Worker in Industry/Alienation & Freedom: The Factory Worker and His Industry 1962-2004

Scope and Content Note

Reviews, notes, and annotated copies of Blauner's classic study.
Carton 9, Folder 13-29B

Racial Oppression in America 1965-1999

Scope and Content Note

Materials related to Blauner's influential study. Includes correspondence, chapter drafts, material on the Black Panthers and Huey Newton, notes on Marxist theory and race relations, an opinion survey of the Watts community, reviews, and writings on colonialism and racism.
Carton 9, Folder 30-36

Our Mothers' Spirits 1993-2000

Scope and Content Note

Materials related to the anthology Blaunder edited of writings by men about grieving the loss of their mothers. Includes contributions, correspondence, errata, feedback, promotion, sales, and materials related to Like Mother, Like Son.
Carton 9, Folder 37

Like Mother, Like Son: Writings by Men on the "First Woman" in Their Lives, edited by Blauner 1995

 

Huey Newton Trial Materials/Project Archives

Scope and Content Note

Blauner was an expert witness in Huey Newton's 1968 trial and was writing a book about it. He may also have used some of these materials for his chapter "Jury Selection in the Huey Newton Murder Trial," in Still the Big News: Racial Oppression in America. The "Project Archives" consist of community, leftist, neighborhood, and radical newspapers and journals that covered topics relevant to Newton, the trial, the Black Panthers, the Black Freedom Movement, and racial oppression in the U.S.
Carton 10, Folder 1

Drafts 1968-1992

Carton 10, Folder 2-3

Trial Diaries, Books 1 and 2 1969, undated

Carton 10, Folder 4-6

Expert Witness 1973-1995

Carton 10, Folder 7-8

Impressions of Newton’s Testimony and Newton Trial Notes (1968), including Clippings 1968-1971

Carton 10, Folder 9-15

The Black Panther 1967-1970

Carton 10, Folder 16-17

The Movement (SNCC of Northern California) 1965-1968

Carton 10, Folder 18

The Sun Reporter 1965

Carton 10, Folder 19

The Flatlands, Muhammed Speaks, El Malcriado 1966-1967

Carton 10, Folder 20

The Berkeley Barb, San Francisco Express Times, San Francisco Bay Guardian 1968

Carton 10, Folder 21

The Spokesman 1968-1969

Carton 10, Folder 22

Freedom News (Richmond), and The Truth about Mississippi's Hungry Children (Mississippi Council of Human Relations) 1969, undated

Carton 10, Folder 23

Issues in Radical Therapy 1975

Carton 11, Folder 1-22

Resisting McCarthyism: To Sign or Not to Sign California’s Loyalty Oath 2004-2010

Scope and Content Note

Blauner's 2009 book examined anti-Communism and academic freedom, the Berkeley faculty who refused to sign the Loyalty Oath, and the political context from which the Free Speech Movement emerged. Working titles for the volume included "Civic Courage in California" and "To Sign or Not to Sign: The Loyalty Oath Crisis at Berkeley and UCLA." Includes correspondence, drafts,. notes and notebooks, proposals, and typescripts. There is overlap with two separate projects: "Heroes of Barrows Hall: A History of the World’s Greatest Sociology Department/Berkeley in Its Glory Days," and a biography of John Francis Neylan. Some notes relate to Blauner's other writings.
Carton 12, Folder 1-5

Resisting McCarthyism: To Sign or Not to Sign California’s Loyalty Oath – Correspondence, Draft, Ex-Communist Memoir, Notes 2004-2009, undated

Carton 12, Folder 6-18

John Francis Neylan Project 1958, 2002-2011, undated

Scope and Content Note

Includes research for Blauner's unfinished biography of John Francis Neylan, a key figure in the Loyalty Oath controversy. There are notebooks, an oral history with Neylan (1961), the finding aid to his papers at Bancroft, and Matt Horton's notes on Neylan's collection and life. There are also notes regarding other writings, including Heroes of Barrows Hall and My Friends Are Dying Now.
Carton 12, Folder 19-20

Heroes of Barrows Hall: A History of the World’s Greatest Sociology Department/Berkeley in Its Glory Days undated

Carton 12, Folder 21-26

Published and Unpublished Writings 1950-1960

Carton 13, Folder 1-69

Published and Unpublished Writings 1964-2008

Carton 10, Folder 24

Published and Unpublished Writings 1990-1991

Carton 14, Folder 1-32

Notebooks and Journals 1977-2005

Scope and Contents

These contain course notes, dream captures, poetry, research notes, and writings. Blauner often started a topic on one side of the journal, then flipped it over and wrote about a different subject on the other side. Topics include work, fathers, sexuality, the men's movement, aging, and his career. There are also autobiographical writings and notes regarding his books, Black Lives, White Lives, and Our Mother's Spirits.
Carton 15, Folder 1-3

Notebooks and Journals 1994-2005

Carton 15, Folder 4-10

Index Cards with Research Notes undated

Scope and Content Note

Include notes on sociological concepts and books.
 

Series 6. Course Materials 1957-1995

Physical Description: Carton 15, folders 11-37; Carton 16, folders 1-14; Box 1

Conditions Governing Access

Box 1 contains restricted student information and is closed to researchers until 2046.

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the teaching materials are from sociology classes at UC Berkeley, but there are a few files from classes Blauner taught at the University of Chicago and San Francisco State. Includes assignments, bibliographies, course readers, exams, lectures and lecture notes, student evaluations and responses to classes, and syllabi. There is also a master's thesis written by Franziska Meister at the University of Zurich. Subjects taught include ethnic literature, homosexuality, industrial sociology, masculinity and men's lives, mothers and sons, oral history methods, poverty, and race and ethnic relations in the United States. Includes Blauner's favorite lectures. Materials related to Blauner's teaching can also be found in his notebooks.
 

Series 7. Administrative Materials 1967-1999

Physical Description: Carton 16, folders 15-26

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

Consists of materials related to Blauner's professional career in the Sociology Department at UC Berkeley.
Carton 16, Folder 15

Recruitment of Minority Students 1967-1978

Carton 16, Folder 15A

Memo re: Octavio Romano 1971

Carton 16, Folder 16

Sociology Department Reviews and Promotion – Correspondence/Academic and Publishing-Related Reviews 1972-1999

Carton 16, Folder 17

Dossier – Teaching Award/Awards to the Promo[tion], including Student Letters 1979-1989

Carton 16, Folder 18

Bio-Bibliography 1986

Carton 16, Folder 19

American Cultures Requirement/Lectures 1988

Carton 16, Folder 20

Sarich Notes 1990, undated

Carton 16, Folder 21

Review – Sociology Department circa 1991

Carton 16, Folder 22-23

My Department Letter/Responses – Almaguer Line, and Graduation Speech 1991-1993

Carton 16, Folder 24

Wacquant Case 1992

Carton 16, Folder 25

Sociology Faculty 1999, undated

Carton 16, Folder 26

Flyers for Colloquium, Book Sale undated