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 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 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 19-24
Interview Transcripts
1966
Carton 7, Folder 1
Interview Transcripts
1966
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 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 2-3
Trial Diaries, Books 1 and 2
1969, undated
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 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 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 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 25
Sociology Faculty
1999, undated
Carton 16, Folder 26
Flyers for Colloquium, Book Sale
undated