Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Donald Kalish papers
- Dates:
- bulk 1927-2000
- Creators:
- Kalish, Donald, 1919-2000
- Abstract:
- Donald Kalish, born December 4, 1919, was a logician, UCLA professor, and anti-war activist. His areas of expertise included logic and set theory. Kalish was known for his activism and opposition to the Vietnam War, as well as US military involvement in Central America and for hiring Angela Davis in 1969. This collection consists of materials related to Kalish's writings, teaching career, research, political activities, and personal life. The papers include course materials, lecture notes, correspondence, scrapbooks, political ephemera, newspaper clippings, photographs, and audio tapes.
- Extent:
- 91.2 linear feet (228 boxes)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Donald Kalish Papers (Collection 578). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection consists of materials related to the writings, teaching career, research, political activities, and personal life of UCLA Philosophy Professor Donald Kalish. The papers include course materials, lecture notes, correspondence, scrapbooks, political ephemera, newspaper clippings, newsletters, pamphlets, photographs, and audiovisual materials. Issues addressed in this collection include Angela Davis' hiring, Vietnam War protests, taxpayers against the war, the trial of the Chicago Seven, opposition to US involvement in El Salvador and Central America, conscientious objectors, various student movements and civil rights concerns, including the Iranian Student Union. Additional materials include course materials from his time at Swarthmore College, correspondence with family members, and photographs from Kalish's college years.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Donald Kalish, born December 4, 1919, was a logician, UCLA professor, and anti-war activist. Born in Chicago, Kalish earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology at UC Berkeley. He also received his doctorate in philosophy from UC Berkeley in the late 1940s. He later taught at Swarthmore College before moving to UCLA in 1949 and where he served as chairman of the UCLA Philosophy Department from 1964 to 1970. His areas of expertise included logic and set theory, and he worked closely with Richard Montague to develop formal logical proofs by natural deduction. Together they published Logic: Techniques of Formal Reasoning in 1964. Kalish later published a second edition in 1980 with Gary Mar.
Kalish was known for his activism and opposition to the Vietnam War, as well as US military involvement in Central America. He was also responsible for hiring to Angela Davis teach in the Philosophy Department in 1969 and continued to support her after UC Board of Regents attempted to dismiss her for her political views. His other activities include founding the Concerned Faculty of UCLA, membership in the University Committee on Vietnam, tax protests to avoid funding the war, and vice-chairman of the Peace Action Council, Los Angeles. Kalish led a 1967 Peace Action Council protest against President Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam policies at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, which brought out 10,000 people. He was also an organizer for the 1967 March on the Pentagon. Kalish retired in 1997. He passed away on June 8, 2000, in Los Angeles at the age of 80.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Anna Kalish. Addition, 2000.
- Processing information:
-
Initial acquisition processed by Chuck Wilson and UCLA Library Special Collections staff, 2004-2006. Additions processed and descriptions enhanced by Krystell Jimenez under the supervision of Angel Diaz, 2018. When additions were processed the collection was found to have a gap between Boxes 196 and 200 and Boxes 209 and 220. The additions were used to fill the gaps. There was no and still is no Box 219. Additionally, Krystell Jimenez found empty folders in some boxes. Others may remain in collection.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's library collections and archives.
- Arrangement:
-
This collection does not have series and has been arranged at the file level.
- Physical / technical requirements:
-
CONTAINS AUDIO AND AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed audio and audiovisual materials. Audio and audiovisual materials are not currently available for access, unless otherwise noted in a Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed digital materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Physical location:
- Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-02-06 13:01:52 -0800 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
This collection may contain sensitive materials, such as medical information, financial forms, or student grades. In order to access materials that are protected under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) or for which there is sensitive health information, please submit a research protocol to Library Special Collections at speccoll@library.ucla.edu.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Donald Kalish Papers (Collection 578). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988