Register of the Ellie Schnitzer Papers, 1972-1996
Processed by Adele Wallace; machine-readable finding aid created by
Xiuzhi Zhou
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
6120 S. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90044
Phone: (323) 759-6063
Fax: (323) 759-2252
Email: archives@socallib.org
URL: http://www.socallib.org
© 1999
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. All rights reserved.
Register of the Ellie Schnitzer Papers, 1972-1996
Collection number: MSS 025
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Los Angeles, California
Contact Information:
- Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
- 6120 S. Vermont Avenue
- Los Angeles, California 90044
- Phone: (323) 759-6063
- Fax: (323) 759-2252
- Email: archives@socallib.org
- URL: http://www.socallib.org
- Processed by:
- Adele Wallace
- Date Completed:
- 1999
- Encoded by:
- Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1999 Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Ellie Schnitzer Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1972-1996
Collection number: MSS 025
Creator:
Ellie Schnitzer, 1922-1996
Extent: 2 Record Storage Boxes (2 Cubic Feet)
Repository:
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
The collection is available for research only at the Library's facility in Los Angeles.
The Library is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Researchers are encouraged
to call or email the Library indicating the nature of their research query prior to making a visit.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Southern California Library for
Social Studies and Research. Researchers may make single copies of any
portion of the collection, but publication from the collection will be
allowed only with the express written permission of the Library's
director. It is not necessary to obtain written permission to quote from
a collection. When the Southern California Library for Social Studies
and Research gives permission for publication, it is as the owner of the
physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Ellie Schnitzer Papers, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, Los Angeles.
Biography
Ellie Schnitzer (1922-1996), a lifelong, political activist, was born in Munich Germany. She and her family fled the Nazi
regime, settling in California in 1937. She attended Pasadena City College, U.C. Berkley, and Columbia University, graduating
with an MSW. For 35 years she worked with children in Los Angeles as a social worker for Vista del Mar and other Jewish family
agencies. She retired in the early 1980's to become, in her own words, "a full-time revolutionary."
As a social worker, she was active in her union. She was also a member of the Communist Party, USA (CPUSA). She and her first
husband went underground and moved to Seattle during the McCarthy era. She met and married her second husband, Jerome Schnitzer,
in the late 1950's. In the late 1970's, having left the communist party, she became involved with Line of March and its newspaper,
Frontline. She was a study-group leader for the Line of March led, Marxist-Leninist Education Project (MLEP) as well as a writer and
distributor for
Frontline. She was also a leading activist in many of the organization's initiatives.
She continued her involvement with this political group as it developed into the Frontline Political Organization, and finally
Crossroads, founded in conjunction with the Freedom Road Socialists. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Ellie was also
involved in many local and national political initiatives which were supported by Line of March or related political organizations.
She was sometimes represented Line of March (or its affiliates) while participating in these initiatives, which included the
Committee for Justice (See Scope and Content), the movement to free Geronimo Pratt, a Black Panther Party member who was imprisoned
under questionable circumstances, and the Rainbow Coalition, a political organization founded by Jesse Jackson.
Ellie was a member of the Advisory Board of KPFK, Pacifica Radio's local affiliate station. She also become actively involved
with the Committees of Correspondence (C0C), a leftist organization formed in 1992 by CPUSA members and other activists. Ellie
participated in the COC's pre-foundation conference in Berkeley in 1992, and served as a member of both its local and national
coordinating committees.
Scope and Content
The Ellie Schnitzer Collection is divided into five series: PARTY BUILDING, LINE OF MARCH, FRONTLINE POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS
(FPO), CROSSROADS, and OTHER POLITICAL INTERESTS.
The first four series contain records of a particular political tendency associated in its origins with the
Guardian Newspaper. Ellie Schnitzer was actively involved in this tendency from its beginnings in 1978 to its eventual dissolution in 1992. Each
of these four series represents a particular political and organizational stage in its development. The tendency as a whole
is generally known as "Line of March," the form it assumed during its most influential period, 1980 - 1989.
Material Cataloged Separately
A series of reprints from
Frontline Newspaper, 1984-1987.
PARTY BUILDING,
1976-1980
Scope and Content Note
The PARTY BUILDING series contains records relating to the debates, publications, and activities which led to the founding
of Line of March in 1980.
LINE OF MARCH,
1980 - 1989
Scope and Content Note
The LINE OF MARCH series (1980 - 1989) contains records pertaining to the history of Line of March as well as on a serious
political and organizational crisis that occurred on both the local and national level in 1988. (B1 #10) The sub-series
Marxist-Leninist Education Project (MLEP) contains a history and political analysis of the MLEP (B1 #25, 26). The folders in the sub-series
MLEP - Study Guides may contain subjects in addition to those named on the folder. The sub-series
Conferences contains fliers and articles on the Blue Shield Strike of SEIU local 3 by Filipino workers in San Francisco in 1981 (B1 #16).
The sub-series
L. A. Plan contains draft plans for Los Angeles Line of March as well as a description of its internal dynamics, including the names
and roles of individuals in the organization and on the periphery (B2 # 5-7). The sub-series
Frontline Newspaper refers to the bi-weekly publications of Line of March and is distinct from the FRONTLINE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION series, although
the organization was an outgrowth of the newspaper.
FRONTLINE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION (FPO),
1989 - 1991
Scope and Content Note
The FRONTLINE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION (FPO) series (1989 - 1991) documents the transition from line of March to Frontline Political
Organization (B2 # 15). The
Day of Dialogue folder (B2 #17) contains lists of participating activists, grouped by their areas of interest such as labor, peace, women's
issues, gay/lesbian issues, racism.
CROSSROADS,
1990 - 1992
Scope and Content Note
The CROSSROADS series (1990 - 1992) contains documents relating to the journal
Crossroads as well as to discussion groups associated with it.
OTHER POLITICAL INTERESTS
Scope and Content Note
The OTHER POLITICAL INTERESTS series contains documents relating to political initiatives in which Ellie Schnitzer was active
or areas of political concern for which she collected information. The sub-series
Committee for Justice concerns the "L. A. Eight," seven Palestinians and a Kenyan whom the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) attempted
to deport for their (legal) political activities. Three of the L. A. Eight had close connections to Line of March, and that
organization was very active in the Committee for Justice which supported the fight against deportation. The
Background Material folder (B2 #20) explains the case in some detail. The folder
CPUSA (B2 #31) contains correspondence concerning a dispute between Los Angeles Line of March and the local CPUSA leadership. The
folder
African American Community (B2 #30) contains reports of the Coalition Against Police Abuse (CAPA) from 1989 - 1993, including a report on community
demands to implement a gang truce between Crips and Bloods. This folder also contains a report generated by the FBI file concerning
the FBI's covert action plan to destroy the Black Panther Party.
Box 1, Folder 1
Periodicals, report, study guides 1976, 1977, NDS
Box 1, Folder 2
Pamphlets, papers 1972, 1980, NDS
Box 1, Folder 3
Conference on Minority Marxists-Leninists 1979, 1980
Box 1, Folder 4
Discussion Guides 1978, 1980, NDS
Box 1, Folder 5
Notes, reports, memos 1980-1982, NDS
Box 1, Folder 6
Discussion guides, memos 1980-1982, NDS
Box 1, Folder 7
Study Guides, 1980, 1981, 1983, NDS
Box 1, Folder 8
Discussion guides, seminars 1984, NDS
Box 1, Folder 9
National Board reports 1984-1986
Box 1, Folder 10
Agendas, minutes, reports 1985, 1986, 1988, NDS
Box 1, Folder 11
Anti-racism presentations, pamphlets 1980 , NDS
Box 1, Folder 12
Child care: notes, lists, publications 1981, NDS
Box 1, Folder 13
China project: study guide 1981, NDS
Box 1, Folder 14
Soviet Union project: study guide NDS
Box 1, Folder 15
Conference on Racism: reports, study guides 1981
Box 1, Folder 16
Labor Commission conference 1981
Box 1, Folder 17
Labor Commission conference,
Class Lines1982
Box 1, Folder 18
Stalin conference: study guides, notes 1983
Box 1, Folder 19
U.S. Anti-Imperialist League (USAIL) 1982
Box 1, Folder 20
United Front Against Racism: Study guides, reports NDS
Box 1, Folder 21
Forums: presentations, notes 1979, NDS
Box 1, Folder 21-23
U.S. History Project I - IX 1982, NDS
Box 1, Folder 24
U.S. History, notes 1975-1980
Box 1, Folder 26
Marxism, political economy 1981, NDS
Box 2, Folder 4
Study Leader's Guide 1983
Box 2, Folder 5-7
Correspondence, Articles 1987
Box 2, Folder 9
Internal Bulletin
1988, 1989
Box 2, Folder 10
Discussion Guides 1984, NDS
Box 2, Folder 11
Distribution 1984, 1985, NDS
Box 2, Folder 12
Announcements, correspondence 1983, 1984, 1986-1988, NDS
FRONTLINE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
Box 2, Folder 15
Reports, outreach, fliers 1989, 1990
Box 2, Folder 16
Bulletins, discussion papers 1990, NDS
Box 2, Folder 17
Day of Dialogue 1990, 1991
Box 2, Folder 18
Memos, reports, fliers 1990 1992, NDS
OTHER POLITICAL INTERESTS
Box 2, Folder 20
Background material 1987, NDS
Box 2, Folder 21
Agendas, minutes, lists 1987, 1988, NDS
Box 2, Folder 22
Alien Border Patrol, INS 1987, NDS
Box 2, Folder 23
Outreach: fliers, newsletters, correspondence 1987-1980, NDS
Box 2, Folder 24
Fliers, newsletters, articles 1988, 1989 NDS
National Committee for Independent Political Action (NCLPA)
Box 2, Folder 25
NCLPA Discussion Bulletin 1990-1993
Box 2, Folder 26
Independent Political Action Bulletin, report 1993, 1996
Box 2, Folder 27
Fliers, clippings, minutes 1994, 1995, NDS
Los Angeles Latino Community
Box 2, Folder 29
Bulletins, agendas 1986, 1992
Los Angeles African-American Community
Box 2, Folder 30
Fliers, reports 1992, 1994, NDS
Box 2, Folder 31
Memos, notes 1985, 1990, NDS
Central American Trade Unionists
Box 2, Folder 34
Announcement, study guides 1989
