Guide to the Austin Lewis Papers, 1913-1944
Processed by The Bancroft Library staff
The Bancroft Library
© 1997
The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
bancref@library.berkeley.edu
Note
History --History, California --General
Social Sciences --Political Science --General
Social Sciences --Law
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Austin Lewis Papers,
creator:
Lewis, Austin, 1865?-1944
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-B 467
Physical Description:
5.5 linear feet
(4 cartons, 1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1909-1944
Abstract: Relating primarily to his interest in civil liberties, to various causes including efforts to free Tom Mooney and Warren Billings
and to repeal California's criminal syndicalism law, and to his legal career. Includes correspondence, MSS of his writings
and lectures, legal files, and clippings.
Language of Material: English
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Access
Collection is open for research.
Biographical Sketch
Austin Lewis was a lecturer, writer and attorney with law offices in San Francisco and Oakland. He devoted his career to so-called
radical causes, such as the pardon of Tom Mooney and Warren K. Billings and the repeal of California's criminal syndicalism
law, and to defense of civil liberties in general, usually involving persons with little or no money. He helped organize the
Northern California Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and served as its counsel and on the Advisory Committee.
Scope and Content
The papers relate mainly to his career. The bulk of them were given to The Bancroft Library in 1952 by Saxon A. Lewis and
Mrs. Ralph H. Sliter. Some additional correspondence came from Mrs. Mary H. Hutchinson in 1965.
A key to arrangement follows.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Austin Lewis Papers, BANC MSS C-B 467, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
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Subjects and Indexing Terms
Labor -- California
Lewis, Austin, 1865?-1944
Civil rights.
Legal documents -- California.
Lawyers -- California.
Labor movement -- California.
Labor unions and socialism -- California.
Additional collection guide
box 1
Letters written by Lewis,
1913-1944
Scope and Contents
Letters dated 1913 to 1934 are typed copies written mainly to Roger N. Baldwin relating to legal cases involving civil rights
and efforts to free Mooney and Billings. Those from 1938 to 1944 are originals written to Mary E. Bulkley and comment on international
events, literature, friends, his health, etc.
box 1
Letters written to Lewis
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by name of person or organization. A partial list of correspondents follows the key to arrangement.
Unlisted letters are arranged alphabetically in a miscellany at the end of the file.
Series 2.
Manuscripts of Lewis' writings
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Carton 1
American Labor and the Crisis
Carton 1
Centralization and Decentralization
Carton 1
The Chalice of St. John (fiction)
Carton 1
The Citizen and Social Planning
Carton 1
Education and the Working Class
Carton 1
Effects of Breaking Regulations of Hours, etc.
Carton 1
German Militarism Under Hitler
Carton 1
Huey Long and His Background
Carton 1
The National Disgrace - Child Labor
Carton 1
Some Matters of Law in Persecutions under Criminal Syndicalist Law of California
Carton 1
Syndicalism and Political Socialism
Carton 1
The University and the Working Class
Carton 1
The World Turned Upside-Down
Series 3.
Clippings of Lewis' writings
General
Published mainly in
New Review.
Arranged alphabetically.
Carton 1
The A.F. of L. Convention
Carton 1
Company Owned Towns in California
Carton 1
The Mechanics of Solidarity
Carton 1
Movements of Migratory Unskilled Labor in California
Carton 1
Organization of the Unskilled
Carton 1
Solidarity - Merely a Word?
Carton 1
Syndicalism and Mass Action
Series 4.
Manuscripts of lectures by Lewis
Carton 1
The Coming Struggle for Power
Carton 1
Contemporary Political Theory
Carton 1
Labor Organization in the United States
Series 5.
Notes
Scope and Contents
Mainly excerpts from books and articles re economics, labor movements, philosophy, politics, etc.
Series 6.
Manuscripts of writings by others
Scope and Contents
Typescripts, arranged alphabetically by name of author.
Carton 1
Flynn, Elizabeth Gurley, Sabotage
Carton 1
Lewis, Saxon A., Law of Conspiracy and Combinations of Labor in Great Britain and the United States
Carton 1
Rorty, James, The Pretensions of American Poetry
Carton 1
Scharrenberg, Paul, Minority Report - Wheatland Hop-field Riot Investigation
Series 7.
American Civil Liberties Union. Northern California Advisory Committee
Carton 1
Financial statements,
June -Aug. 1935
Carton 1
Reports to the director,
Jan. -Mar. 1935
Carton 1
Minutes of meetings,
Jan. -Apr. 1935
Carton 1
By-laws and miscellaneous Papers
Carton 1
Miscellaneous publications
Series 8.
Committees, national and state, concerned with efforts to free Mooney and Billings
Carton 1
Miscellaneous form letters, etc.
Series 9.
Labor Defense League of California
Series 10.
Pamphlets and miscellany
Carton 1
Assorted pamphlets regarding equal rights for women, labor unions, syndicalism, etc.
Carton 2
Charles Alden vs. Pacific Coast Lumber and Mill Company
1909
General
(Lawsuit to recover damages, industrial accident.)
Carton 2
Gerda Bensen vs. Carl Bensen
1911
General
(Dissolution of marriage.)
Carton 2
Paul Hartman vs. Kate L. Cassity
1912
General
(Land ownership dispute.)
Carton 2
Hugo, Gustav V.
approximately 1913
General
(Articles of co-partnership.)
Carton 2
Kintner vs. Southern Pacific
General
(Automobile accident.)
Carton 2
People vs. Richard "Blackie" Ford and H.D. Suhr (trial transcripts)
1914
General
4 volumes of transcripts from the 1914 trail (in Marysville, California) of Richard "Blackie" Ford and H.D. Suhr, who were
tried for second degree murder of District Attorney E.T. Manwell during the 1913 Wheatland Hop Riot at the Durst Ranch in
Wheatland, California.
Carton 2
People vs. Emil Madsam
1921
General
(Arson case. Incomplete.)
Carton 2
People vs. Welton, Casey, Dunn, etc.
General
(Violation of criminal syndicalism law. Incomplete.)
Carton 2
People vs. James j. Wieller
1921
General
(Violation of criminal syndicalism law. Incomplete.)
Carton 2
Rockledge Resilient Spring Company
1917
General
(Incorporation and patent papers.)
Carton 2
Walter Skrocki vs. H.F. Stahl and F.J. McGettigan
1909
carton 3
Transcripts of court proceedings in cases involving civil liberties
General
Lewis was attorney in some of the cases.
Series 12.
Newspaper clippings
Scope and Contents
Lewis' folder titles, arranged alphabetically as follows:
Carton 4
Labor, American - history
Carton 4
Scrapbook
Scope and Contents
Clippings concerning civil liberties, world conditions, etc. Includes postcard written by John D. Barry and a letter written
by Alice L. Park.
