Inventory of the Jean Graham Alinsky papers

Finding aid prepared by Jill Golden
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2012
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu


Title: Jean Graham Alinsky papers
Date (inclusive): 1908-1984
Collection Number: 92056
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 6 manuscript boxes (2.4 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Memoirs, correspondence, legal and financial papers, memoranda, press releases and printed matter, relating to the career of Saul Alinsky as a radical and organizer of impoverished communities in the United States. Includes published writings and a few papers of Saul Alinsky.
Creator: Alinsky, Jean Graham, 1916-
Creator: Alinsky, Saul David, 1909-1972
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Access

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

Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1992.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Jean Graham Alinsky papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Biographical Note

1916 May 17 Born Jean La Verne Graham, New York
1938 B.A., Vassar College
1942 January Married Frederick Schick
1948 Divorced Frederick Schick
Circa 1951 Assistant, Museum of Modern Art, New York
1952 May 15 Married Saul Alinsky in Spartanburg, South Carolina
1956 Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Circa 1964 Moved to Carmel, CA
1967 Honorary Chair, Help the Children Committee
1969 Divorced Saul Alinsky
1999 Died, Monterey, CA

Scope and Content of Collection

The papers contain Jean Graham Alinsky's memoirs of her marriage to Saul Alinsky. Correspondence, legal papers, memoranda, reports, and printed matter relate to the career of Saul Alinsky as an organizer of impoverished communities in the United States. Organizational records from the Industrial Areas Foundation as well as a few personal papers of Saul Alinsky are also included.
In a 1983 letter, Jean Graham Alinsky wrote that she was "determined to write a biography" of her second husband Saul Alinsky (Box 1, Folder 28). The bulk of the Jean Graham Alinsky file consists of Jean's research materials for her Saul Alinsky biography, including extensive clippings, as well as her personal memoirs and biographical writings on Saul Alinsky (Box 2). These writings, compiled from 1980-1984, are in fragments with several sections and pages missing. Except for two letters received from Saul Alinsky, the correspondence file consists mainly of holiday cards, personal letters from unidentified friends, and a few pieces of legal correspondence.
The Saul Alinsky file contains a few writings of Saul Alinsky as well as some records from the Industrial Areas Foundation, a Chicago-based organization founded by Alinsky in 1940.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into two series: Jean Graham Alinsky file and Saul Alinsky file.

Related Materials

Eric Hoffer papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Fred Ross papers, Special Collections, Stanford University
Industrial Areas Foundation records, Special Collections, University of Illinois, Chicago
Saul David Alinsky collection, Trinity College Library

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Radicalism -- United States
Community organization -- United States

 

JEAN GRAHAM ALINSKY FILE 1908-1984

Scope and Contents note

Contains biographical materials, memoirs, essays, correspondence, and printed matter, mainly on the life and career of Saul Alinsky and her own battle with multiple sclerosis.

Arrangement note

Arranged by physical form.
 

Biographical file 1916-1984

box 1, folder 1

Birth certificate 1916

box 1, folder 2

Vassar College diploma 1938

box 1, folder 3

Frederick Schick divorce papers 1948

box 1, folder 4

Jean Graham and Saul Alinsky marriage certificate 1952

Scope and Contents note

Certified copy from 1978
box 1, folder 5

Kathryn and Lee David Alinsky adoption records 1952

box 1, folder 6

Clippings 1953-1954, 1965

box 1, folder 7

YMCA award certificate 1966

box 1, folder 8

Saul Alinsky divorce papers 1968-1969

box 1, folder 9

Vassar Class of 1938 questionnaire circa 1972

box 1, folder 10

Conservatorship papers 1972-1984

Scope and Contents note

Includes copy of Saul Alinsky's death certificate
box 1, folder 11

Photograph of Jean Graham Alinsky 1980

box 1, folder 12

Address book and calendar 1980s, undated

 

Correspondence 1908-1910, 1971-1984

Scope and Contents note

Except for two letters from Saul Alinsky, consists of holiday cards and letters received from friends and a small amount of legal correspondence.
box 1, folder 13-14

Undated

Scope and Contents note

Includes one letter from Saul Alinsky
box 1, folder 15

1908-1910

box 1, folder 16

1960

Scope and Contents note

Includes one letter from Saul Alinsky
box 1, folder 17

1967

box 1, folder 18

1971

box 1, folder 19

1972

box 1, folder 20

1973

box 1, folder 21

1974

box 1, folder 22

1975

box 1, folder 23

1976

box 1, folder 24

1978

box 1, folder 25

1979

box 1, folder 26

1980

box 1, folder 27

1981

box 1, folder 28

1982

box 1, folder 29

1983

box 1, folder 30

1984

 

Writings 1950s-1984

box 2, folder 1

"Embezzlement as a Fine Art" 1950s

box 2, folder 2-3

Notes 1960s-1980

box 2, folder 4-14

Memoirs of marriage to Saul Alinsky, fragments circa 1980-1984

box 2, folder 15

Untitled essay on New Paltz, New York 1980

box 2, folder 16

Untitled essay on Rules for Radicals 1981

 

Subject file 1944-1984

 

Alinsky, Saul 1944-1984

box 2, folder 17

Undated

box 2, folder 18

1944

box 2, folder 19

1946

box 2, folder 20

1961

box 2, folder 21

1962

box 2, folder 22

1963

box 3, folder 1-3

1964

box 3, folder 4-6

1965

box 3, folder 7-8

1966

box 3, folder 9-10

1967

box 3, folder 11-12

1968

box 3, folder 13

1969

box 3, folder 14

1971

box 3, folder 15-16

1972

box 3, folder 17

1973

box 4, folder 1-2

1974

box 4, folder 3

1975

box 4, folder 4

1978

box 4, folder 5

1979

box 4, folder 6

1981

box 4, folder 7

1983

box 4, folder 8

Anthropology 1979-1980

box 4, folder 9

Archaeology 1980-1984

box 4, folder 10

Architecture 1960s-1980s

box 4, folder 11-12

Brussell, Mae 1972-1974, 1982-1984

Scope and Contents note

Includes copies of Brussel's World Watchers International newsletter
box 4, folder 13

Chicago (Ill.) 1962-1974

box 4, folder 14

Citizens Action Program 1973

box 4, folder 15

Environmentalism circa 1980

box 4, folder 16

Fort Ord (Calif.) 1969

Scope and Contents note

Relates to mutiny trial
box 4, folder 17

Judaism 1967, 1980

box 4, folder 18

Kennedy, Edward M. (Edward Moore) 1980

box 4, folder 19

Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald) 1979

box 4, folder 20

King, Martin Luther 1961, 1982

box 4, folder 21

Ku Klux Klan 1976-1980

box 4, folder 22-23

Multiple sclerosis 1967-1983

box 5, folder 1

Plath, Sylvia 1965

box 5, folder 2

Poetry 1970s

box 5, folder 3

Reagan, Ronald, 1984

box 5, folder 4-8

Miscellaneous clippings 1960s-1984

 

SAUL ALINSKY FILE 1946-1972

Scope and Contents note

Contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, writings, and printed matter.

Arrangement note

Arranged by physical form.
box 5, folder 9

Correspondence 1952-1967

Scope and Contents note

Includes two poems in honor of Alinsky
 

Organizations file 1957-1969

box 5, folder 10

Community Service Organization 1960

 

Industrial Areas Foundation 1957-1969

box 5, folder 11

Circulars 1965-1969

box 5, folder 12

Letters received 1961-1966

 

Memoranda 1957-1961

box 5, folder 13

Nicholas von Hoffman to Saul Alinsky on the Grand Boulevard Project 1957

box 5, folder 14

Saul Alinsky to Robert T. Dunn on the Chelsea Community Council 1960 February 10

box 5, folder 15

Saul Alinsky on articles in Christian Century magazine 1960 November 30

box 5, folder 16

Saul Alinsky on articles in The Chicago Sun Times 1961 April 12

box 5, folder 17

Craig Heverly on meeting with Chicago Housing Committee 1962

box 5, folder 18

Publications 1960-1962

Scope and Contents note

Includes Action to Equality of Opportunity
box 5, folder 19

Reports 1960-1966

Scope and Contents note

Includes annual report from 1960 and position paper on the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity
 

Speeches and writings 1946-1972

box 5, folder 20

Reveille for Radicals, University of Chicago Press 1946

Scope and Contents note

Copy inscribed by Saul to Jean
box 6, folder 1-3

Notes and outlines 1950s-1960s

box 6, folder 4

Untitled essay on intellectuals undated

box 6, folder 5

Untitled essay on welfare workers undated

box 6, folder 6

"Idea Notes on the Day We Took Christmas" undated

box 6, folder 7

"Note on the Democratic Process" undated

box 6, folder 8

"On Public Housing and Urban Renewal" undated

box 6, folder 9

"The Crime of Crime Prevention," address to the California Democratic Council Convention and Issues Conference 1961 March 4.

box 6, folder 10

"Citizen Participation and Community Organization in Planning and Urban Renewal," address to the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials 1962 January 29

box 6, folder 11

"The War on Poverty: Political Pornography," The Journal of Social Issues 1965 January

box 6, folder 12

"Of Means and Ends," Union Seminary Quarterly Review 1967 January

 

Rules for Radicals file 1968-1972

box 6, folder 13

"Note for Chapter on Self-Interest," circa 1968

box 6, folder 14

"The Purpose," chapter draft circa 1970

box 6, folder 15

Rules for Radicals, Vintage Books 1972

box 6, folder 16

John L. Lewis: An Unauthorized Biography, Vintage Books 1970

box 6, folder 17

The Professional Radical: Conversations with Saul Alinsky, Harper and Row 1970