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Title: Eric Hass papers
Dates: 1899-1980
Collection Number: 81034
Creator: Hass, Eric.
Collection Size:
11 manuscript boxes
(4.5 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: Correspondence, speeches and writings, notes, clippings, serial issues, other printed matter, and photographs, relating
to the Socialist Labor Party, and to social problems of aging.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages:
English
Collection is open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item], Eric Hass papers, [Box number], Hoover Institution Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1981.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
| 1905 | Born, Lincoln, Nebraska |
| 1928 | Joined Socialist Labor Party |
| 1932-1938 | National organizer, Socialist Labor Party |
| 1938-1968 | Editor, The Weekly People |
| 1949 | Author, The Socialist Labor Party and the Internationals |
| 1952 | Socialist Labor Party candidate for President (first campaign) |
| 1956 | Socialist Labor Party candidate for President (second campaign) |
| 1960 | Socialist Labor Party candidate for President (third campaign) |
| 1964 | Socialist Labor Party candidate for President (fourth campaign) |
| 1969 | Resigned from Socialist Labor Party |
| 1974-1978 | Lived in Costa Rica |
| 1980 | Died, Santa Rosa, California |
Scope and Content of Collection
Eric Hass was a longtime leader of the Socialist Labor Party. This party, dating back to 1876, was the first Marxist political
organization in the United States. A number of the early leaders of the subsequent Socialist and Communist Parties served
their political apprenticeships while passing through SLP ranks. Even before the death in 1914 of its outstanding leader
Daniel De Leon, the SLP had been eclipsed in size and influence by the younger Socialist Party. For decades thereafter it
nevertheless maintained a low profile existence, regularly publishing its newspaper
The Weekly People and securing a ballot position for its presidential candidate every four years. Hass figured significantly in these activities
as editor of
The Weekly People for thirty years and as a four-time presidential candidate. In 1969, however, he broke with the party. While remaining
a committed socialist, Hass came to believe that the SLP had become intellectually stultified and internally undemocratic.
The papers of Eric Hass are divided. Many are located in the Nebraska State Historical Society. Those in the Hoover Institution
Archives were acquired from Tillie Hass in 1981, after the death of her husband. These papers largely date from Hass's later
years, following his departure from the SLP. After this rupture he worked for a time as caretaker of Trinity Churchyard in
New York City, then retired to Costa Rica where the cost of living was low, and after a few years returned to the United States.
As an experienced journalist and an avid amateur naturalist, he was able to supplement his income by writing nature articles
for the mainstream press, principally the
New York Times.
The
Subject File contains a good deal of collected information on Daniel De Leon. The
Speeches and Writings file includes some output by Hass from his SLP period, especially his editorial reports prefiguring his breach with the party,
and his account of his resignation. The
Correspondence file includes exchanges in the 1970s with Sam Brandon, Nick Simon and other former SLP members, analyzing their experiences
and the prospects for reconstituting a De Leonist political organization.
During the decade of the 1970s Hass became increasingly involved in study of the social problems of aging, and in advocacy
for older persons in regard to age discrimination and related issues. Toward this end he joined the Gray Panthers after his
return from Costa Rica. Shortly before his death he completed a book-length study, "Agism: The Shunning of the Elderly."
This manuscript, for which he was unable to find a publisher before he died, is in the
Speeches and Writings file. The
Subject File contains a substantial quantity of collected material on aging.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Socialist Labor Party.
Aged.
Older people.
Socialism--United States.