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Pathfinder Press Photographic collection
2004C50  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Biography Note
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Arrangement

  • Title: Pathfinder Press Photographic collection
    Date (inclusive): circa 1870-1999
    Collection Number: 2004C50
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 31 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 3 card file boxes (14.4 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: Collected by Pathfinder Press for use in illustrating its publications, the collection includes photographs, drawings, and printed reproductions of illustrations, depicting Leon Trotsky, leading figures of the Russian Revolution, leaders of the Fourth International, leaders of the Socialist Workers Party of the United States, and scenes related to all of the above.
    Creator: Pathfinder Press
    Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Access

    Box 34 closed. The remainder of the collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

    Use

    For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Acquisition Information

    Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2004

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Pathfinder Press photographic collection, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Biography Note

    Pathfinder Press was established in New York City in 1969 as a successor to Pioneer Publishers (1930-1965) and Merit Publishers (1965-1969), and has been associated with the Socialist Workers Party. It has been the principal English-language publisher of works of Leon Trotsky, and has also published documentary works on the Communist International, Fourth International and Socialist Workers Party, writings of Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and other American and international leftist leaders, and historical and analytical works on a variety of national and international political issues.
    A Pathfinder Press Collection, donated by the Anchor Foundation, was established in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1992, and consists of record copies of publications of the press. This separate Pathfinder Press Photographic Collection was received from the Anchor Foundation in 2004.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The Pathfinder Press Photographic Collection consists of photographs collected by the press for possible publication in books and pamphlets. There are also a small number of original drawings and cartoons. Cartoons by Laura Gray constitute the first series. The photographic series which follow include a Russian File (concentrating on the Russian Revolution and the history of the Bolshevik/Russian Communist Party through the 1920s), a Leon Trotsky File (depicting Trotsky at all stages of his life, but especially during his last three years in exile in Mexico), a Socialist Workers Party File (depicting leaders of the party from the 1920s through the 1990s), and a General Subject File (depicting Fourth International leaders from outside the United States, other notable leftist leaders from the United States and abroad, and world figures of all political stripes). There is also a small Publications File of photographs arranged by title of Pathfinder Press publication in which they appeared. Oversize items constitute a separate Oversize File.
    Photographic prints often bear negative numbers on their backs. These will direct the user to a large file of negatives, arranged in numerical order. There is also a file of contact sheets, arranged numerically by negative number. An index card file of names of individuals depicted (mainly members or associates of the Socialist Workers Party) is also keyed to negative number.
    Users of the Pathfinder Press Photographic Collection should be aware of the existence in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives of the Pathfinder Press Collection consisting of copies of publications of the press, and also of The Militant Photographic Collection, consisting of photographs created or collected by the staff of The Militant, the newspaper associated with the Socialist Workers Party. Negatives of photographic prints to be found in the latter collection are interfiled in the Numerical Negative File of the Pathfinder Press Photographic Collection.

    Arrangement

    The collection is organized into 11 series, Cartoons, Russian File, Leon Trotsky File, Socialist Workers Party File, Oversize File, General Subject File, Publications File, Numerical Contact Sheets File, Numerical Negative File, Filmstrips, and Card File.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Pictorial works
    Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921 -- Pictorial works
    Revolutionaries -- Pictorial works
    Communists -- Pictorial works
    Communists -- United States -- Pictorial works
    Trotsky, Leon, 1879-1940
    Fourth International
    Socialist Workers Party