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Title:
The Militant Photographic Collection
Dates: circa 1900-2000
Collection number: 2004C51
Collection Size:
48 manuscript boxes
(19.2 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: Photographs, drawings, and printed reproductions of illustrations, depicting activities of antiwar, civil rights, labor, racial
justice, women's rights and other protest movements in the United States and other countries, mainly from the 1960s through
the 1990s. Includes many photographs from Cuba and Nicaragua. Also includes photographs depicting activities of the Socialist
Workers Party in the United States and of related organizations in the United States and abroad. Collected by the New York
newspaper The Militant for use in illustrating its issues.
Physical location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English
Collection is open for research. Access to audiovisual materials requires at least two weeks advance notice. Audiovisual materials
include sound recordings, video recordings, and motion picture film. Hoover staff will determine whether use copies of the
materials requested can be made available. Some materials may not be accessible even with advance notice. Please contact the
Hoover Institution Archives Audiovisual Specialist for further information.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item],
The Militant Photographic Collection, [Box no.], Hoover Institution Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 2004.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
The Militant began publication in New York City in 1928 as the weekly newspaper of the Communist League of America, whose leaders had
just been expelled from the Communist Party, U.S.A. The Communist League of America was a part of the International Left Opposition
of the communist movement led by Leon Trotsky.
The Militant has continued publication in close association with the Socialist Workers Party, successor to the Communist League of America.
The Anchor Foundation donated the collection to the Hoover Institution Archives in 2004.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Militant Photographic Collection consists of pictorial material created or collected by the staff of
The Militant for possible publication as in the newspaper. The material varies considerably in composition, including original photographic
prints and contact sheets made by
The Militant staff members during the course of reporting trips, stock photographic prints received from other sources, and some printed
illustrations from published media sources. There are also a few original cartoons. While there is some older material, most
of it dates from the period of the 1960s to the 1990s. Aside from a small series of cartoons, the collection is arranged in
two large series, corresponding to domestic (United States) and international (non-U.S.) subjects respectively.
Domestic subjects that are especially well represented include the antiwar movement from the Vietnam War on, labor strikes
and union organization efforts, the civil rights movement and efforts to secure racial justice and equality, and the women's
rights movement, including abortion rights advocacy. Photographs of mass demonstrations and other protests are especially
notable. Other domestic photographs portray leaders and activities of the Socialist Workers Party and its youth group and
of the affiliated Pathfinder Press and
The Militant.
The international series includes photographs from almost every country in the world. They depict world leaders, political
and military events, mass demonstrations, and social and economic conditions. Particularly voluminous and notable are photographs
resulting from
The Militant reporting trips to Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Grenada, post-1990 South Africa and post-1975 Vietnam.
Users of
The Militant Photographic Collection should be aware of the closely related Pathfinder Press Photographic Collection also in the Hoover
Institution Archives.
The Militant Photographic Collection includes only a small number of negatives, but, in many cases, negatives corresponding to photographic
prints in it may be found in the Pathfinder Press Photographic Collection. The Pathfinder Press Photographic Collection includes
a large series of negatives arranged in numerical order. Negatives corresponding to prints in both collections are interfiled
in this series and may be located by consulting negative numbers written on the backs of prints.
Arranged into three series: Cartoons, Domestic (United States) Scenes, and International (Non-United States) Scenes. Arranged
alphabetically within series.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Protest movements--Pictorial works.
Peace movements--Pictorial works.
Civil rights--Pictorial works.
Labor movement--Pictorial works.
Race relations--Pictorial works.
Women's rights--Pictorial works.
Protest movements--United States.
Peace movements--United States.
Civil rights--United States.
Labor movement--United States.
United States--Race relations.
Women's rights--United States.
Cuba--Pictorial works.
Nicaragua--Pictorial works.
Socialism--Pictorial works.
Communism--Pictorial works.
Socialist Workers Party--Pictorial works.
Fourth International--Pictorial works.
Militant (New York, N.Y.)