Guide to the Adam Holzwarth Anarchist Collection

Processed by D. Tambo and E. Fields

Department of Special Collections

Davidson Library

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Phone: (805) 893-3062

Fax: (805) 893-5749

Email: special@library.ucsb.edu

URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html

Guide to the Adam Holzwarth Anarchist Collection, ca. 1909 -1929

Collection number: Mss 48

Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara

Contact Information:

Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html

Processed by:

D. Tambo and E. Fields

Date Completed:

04 September 2003

Encoded by:

David C. Gartrell

Descriptive Summary

Title: Adam Holzwarth Anarchist Collection,

Date (inclusive): ca. 1909 -1929

Collection Number: Mss 48

Creator: Holzwarth, Adam

Extent: .4 linear feet (1 document box)

Repository: University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special Collections

Santa Barbara, California 93106-9010

Physical Location: Del Sur

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None known.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

Preferred Citation

Adam Holzwarth Anarchist Collection. Mss 48. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Acquisition Information

Purchase, ca. 1969.

Biography

The little that is known about Adam Holzwarth is drawn from the material in the collection. Holzwarth apparently was an early 20th century anarchist who lived in Oregon (Hillsboro and Portland). He had a brother, Charles, and a wife, Mary (who appears in the collection both as Mary Holzwarth and Mary Trautner). He and his wife were active supporters of Emma Goldman and Margaret Sanger, and they kept in touch with others of similar political beliefs.

It does not appear that any of the Holzwarths were close friends or associates of Goldman, Sanger, or other major figures of the time. In her autobiography, Living My Life, Goldman briefly describes three visits to Portland. She mentions only a few people in connection with these trips; Adam Holzwarth is not one of them. Judging from the material in this collection, he was one of the many who helped support the movement by attending lectures and gatherings, subscribing to periodicals, purchasing books and pamphlets, and personally spreading the word.

One of the most interesting letters from Goldman to Holzwarth is dated May 10, 1912 and is written from San Diego, giving several directions for upcoming lectures and meetings in Portland. One part of the arrangement still needs to be discussed with her manager, Ben Reitman, and Goldman writes, "He is not with me now, but I am going back to LA today and we'll talk the matter over." It was on this trip to San Diego that Reitman was kidnapped and, with the complicity and encouragement of the city's mayor and police chief, kicked, beaten, burned, and then tarred and feathered (news clippings in the collection describe the incident). This letter may have been written from the hotel room in San Diego where Goldman was waiting to hear from Reitman.

Another item in the collection demonstrates the depth of Adam and Mary's personal commitment to the ideals of the movement. This is their marriage contract, a document they drew up to confirm their union, which they refused on principle to legalize with a license:

Portland, Oreg., Sept. 10th 1911.

We, Adam Holzwarth and Mary Trautner, believing in the right of each person to control their own lives and denying the right of the State to tax for the privilege of getting married. Hereby agree to live together as husband and wife. And I, Adam Holzwarth promise and agree, so help me God, to care of Mary Trautner and any children that may be born but shall be free to separate unless our marriage can always be on mutual love and affection. And if she separates from me, never-the-less, I will help care for her and any children. And I recognize her as my true wife.

Adam Holzwarth

Mary Trautner

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection contains two series: Correspondence and Ephemera.

Abbreviations used in the container list:

ADS: Autographed Document Signed (in the hand of the author)
AL: Autographed Letter Unsigned
ALS: Autographed Letter Signed
AN: Autographed Note Unsigned
ANS: Autographed Note Signed
n.d.: no date
TL: Typed Letter Unsigned
TLS: Typed Letter Signed

Related Material

At UCSB Special Collections:

Mother Earth Publishing Association. Special Collections has a number of works published by Mother Earth, ca. 1907-1916. These have been cataloged separately and can be searched on Pegasus, the UCSB Libraries online catalog.

Marie Stopes Birth Control Collection (Mss 122). Contains personal papers and correspondence, and birth control devices of the British birth control advocate. Stopes (1880-1958), trained as a paleobotanist, also was a pioneer in family planning. Also, numerous published works by Stopes.

Published works on birth control, radical movements, and related subjects are cataloged separately and can be searched on Pegasus, the UCSB Libraries online catalog.

Elsewhere:

University of California, Berkeley. The Emma Goldman Papers Project has a website, detailing their work, at: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/

Series 1. Correspondence

Scope and Content Note

Incoming correspondence only.

Subseries 1. Adam Holzwarth (AH)

Scope and Content Note

Incoming correspondence only.

Box 1: 1

Goldman, Emma (several items on Mother Earth Publishing Association letterhead stationery)

Box 1: 1

1 AL, addressed "Dear Comrade" and noting that "It's great propaganda you are doing by giving to friends this literature." . " New York, 14 Apr. 1911

Box 1: 1

1 ALS, on hotel stationery, re shipping a case of literature, Salt Lake City, 26 Apr. 1911

Box 1: 1

1 envelope, postmarked Los Angeles (no accompanying letter), 1 May 1911

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter calling attention to "The Autobiography of an Anarchist," by Alexander Berkman. New York, [July 1911?]

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter noting Berkman autobiography nearing completion. New York, 23 Sept. 1911

Box 1: 1

1 ALS, mainly re meeting preparations. San Diego, 10 May 1912

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, addressed by Emma Goldman to A[dam] Holzwarth, form letter re upcoming Portland lectures, San Francisco, 19 July 1913 (includes an envelope postmarked 22 July 1913,

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter re drama lectures, New York, 16 Nov. 1913

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter asking assistance in selling tickets to upcoming lectures. San Francisco, 10 July 1914

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter noting subscription to Mother Earth is due. New York, 26 Mar. 1915

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter talking about arrest and imprisonment, and asking for renewal of subscription to Mother Earth, which is due May 1915

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter asking support for upcoming set of ten lectures in Portland. San Francisco, 15 July 1915

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter discussing legal case and soliciting contributions for Mother Earth. New York, 7 Apr. 1916

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter, once again noting subscription past due. New York, 5 June 1916

Box 1: 1

1 TLS, form letter announcing that a bill passed by the Senate and House prohibits use of mails by Mother Earth. New York, 28 Sept. 1917

Box 1: 1

1 TLS addressed "Dear Comrades," with Goldman saying she is sorry recipients were not able to attend her lectures, n.d.

Box 1: 2

Holzwarth, Mary [Trautner] (MH and MT) - 1 ALS, addressed "My beloved Sweetheart," mainly about personal matters. Portland, 20 Mar. 1912

Box 1: 3

Litowitz, Jacob - 3 ALS from friend of AH, mainly about personal matters; comments he had hoped to meet Emma Goldman when she visited Lake Bay Home Colony (Washington), but was unsuccessful. Various locations, 1911-1912

Box 1: 4

Mazel, Ned - 22 ALS and ANS from friend of AH and MH, mostly about his life and jobs. Various locations, later ones from Papeete, Tahiti, 1911-1923

Box 1: 5

Mother Earth Publishing Co. - 2 TL, subscription notices, 1913, 1916

Box 1: 6

Reitman, Ben L. (Emma Goldman's manager)

Box 1: 6

1 ALS, mainly about Emma Goldman and he being arrested and jailed. San Francisco, 8 Feb. 1909

Box 1: 6

1 TLS, on letterhead of Mother Earth Publishing Association, re subscription and other publications, including Tolstoy's "Church, State, etc.". New York, 10 Nov. 1913

Box 1: 7

Sanger, Margaret

Box 1: 7

1 TL [mimeograph], addressed "TO MY FRIENDS AND COMRADES," re request for moral and financial support on her indictment on birth control issues, 5 Jan. 1916

Box 1: 7

1 TL, addressed "To my friends," re trial for advocating birth control, 3 Feb. 1916

Box 1: 7

1 TLS, per R. M., to Mary Holzwarth, answering request for books, 29 Sept. 1916

Box 1: 7

1 TLS, addressed "Dear Friend," asking for contributions, n.d.

Box 1: 8

Walker, Edwin C. 1 ALS and 1 TLS from bookseller specializing in "Fields of Freethought, Secularism, Evolutionary Science, Economics, Sex Sociology, and Free Press. Old Works on Slavery Constitute a Leading Line. Also, Radical Fiction." New York, 1911

Box 1: 9

Miscellany

Box 1: 9

Bliven, Elisa Mowry - 1 ALS, 28 Aug. 1911

Box 1: 9

Chargeurs Reunis (Le Havre) - 1 ALS, 1913

Box 1: 9

Church of Humanity (an international propaganda society) - 1 ALS, thanking AH for subscription. Great Bend, Kansas, 1911

Box 1: 9

H. C. Siemer (importer/exporter) - 1 TL, re the Hamburger Fremdenblatt - Illustrated American Edition, which Siemer says keep being confiscated by the English authorities. New York, n.d.

Box 1: 9

Hessling, Bruno (editor and book dealer) - 1 TLS and business card. Montreal, 1918

Box 1: 9

International News Company - 1 ALS from William H. Fowler, 23 Mar. 1914

Box 1: 9

Liberator Book Shop - 1 TLS from M. Vohsbrink, 2 Apr. 1918

Box 1: 9

The Little Review 1 ALS [from AH] re subscription, Portland, 19 Mar. 1917

Box 1: 9

Posma, Albert - 1 ALS, Portland, 14 Dec. 1913

Box 1: 9

Revolutionary Press - 1 TLS from Hippolyte Havel, asking for contributions to publish the Revolutionary Almanac, 3 Nov. 1914

Box 1: 9

Wasserman, A. (International Book Store) - 1 postcard, New York, 2 Dec., 1911

Box 1: 9

Unidentified - 1 ALS and 1 envelope, 1919

Subseries 2. Charles Holzwarth (CH)

Scope and Content Note

Incoming and outgoing correspondence.

Box 1: 10

Correspondence - Charles Holzwarth (CH) (incoming and outgoing)

Box 1: 10

1 ALS, CH to Tho[ma]s H. Keell, 3 Feb. 1912

Box 1: 10

1 ALS, CH to Abe Isaak, 3 Feb.1912

Box 1: 10

1 ALS, Monte Brandon to CH, 11 Mar. 1914

Box 1: 10

1 ALS, [?] to [CH?], re working for Uncle Sam in the War Department. St. Helens, OR, 3 May 1914

Box 1: 10

1 ALS, [?] to CH, 9 Aug. 1918, San Francisco

Box 1: 10

1 ALS, CH to Ross Winn, n.d.

Subseries 3. Mary Holzwarth (MH)

Scope and Content Note

Incoming and outgoing correspondence.

Box 1: 11

Danger, Margaret - 1 AL from MH, re Danger's books on birth control, 16 Sept. 1916

Box 1: 12

Holzwarth, Adam (AdE and AH) - to MH

Box 1: 12

1 ALS, saying he has seen her at Emma Goldman meetings and is seeking her acquaintance, 20 Aug. 1911

Box 1: 12

1 ADS, marriage declaration, 10 Sept. 1911

Box 1: 12

2 ANS (postcards), 23 Dec. 1911

Box 1: 12

1 ANS (note appended to Mother Earth form letter), 14 Oct. 1912

Box 1: 12

1 ANS (postcard), 27 Dec.1912

Box 1: 12

2 ANS (postcards) 7 Aug. 1913

Box 1: 12

1 ALS, 7 Aug. 1913

Box 1: 12

1 ALS (from Prescott), 7 Feb.1918

Box 1: 12

1 envelope (from New York; no letter), 13 Apr. 1918

Box 1: 13

[Olivereau?], Louise - 1 ALS and 2 TLS to MH, 1913, 1920

Series 2. Ephemera

Scope and Content Note

Contains advertisements for lectures, newspaper clippings, publishers lists, pamphlets, and tracts. Included are several items relating to Emma Goldman, the International Workers of the World (IWW), Mother Earth Publishing Association, Father William E. Riker (a segregationist propagandist and promoter from Holy City, California), and several radical publishing houses.

Box 1: 14

Anti-Employment Office League (San Francisco) - "Songs for the Discontented," 1910

Box 1: 15

The Blast ("Revolutionary Labor Weekly,"San Francisco) - subscription information, ca. 1916

Box 1: 16

Brown, William Thurston - lecture card, n.d.

Box 1: 17

Caplan-Schmidt Defense League (Los Angeles) - request for financial support, 1915

Box 1: 18

Charles H. Kerr & Company (Chicago) - tract and list of socialist publications, 1899, 1911

Box 1: 19

E. Steiger & Co. (New York) - advertisement for Huberich on Trading with the Enemy, ca. 1917

Box 1: 20

Eckler, Peter (New York publisher) - lists and ads for liberal and scientific books, ca. 1916

Box 1: 21

Equi, Dr. Marie - tract re her imprisonment on espionage charges, ca. 1919

Box 1: 22

The Fatherland Corporation (San Francisco district) - subscription renewal requests from a publication for Germans and Americans of German descent , ca. 1915

Box 1: 23

Ferrer, Francisco - postcard series published by the Francisco Ferrer Association (New York), n.d.

Box 1: 24

Goldman, Emma - lecture cards and tickets, newspaper clippings, and tract, ca. 1912

Box 1: 25

Industrial Workers of the World [I.W.W.] - tracts and lecture card for James P. Thompson, national organizer of the I.W.W., n.d.

Box 1: 26

J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company (New York) - publication ads, n.d.

Box 1: 27

Jay J. McCarthy (Chicago) - publication list on secret society rituals, ca. 1915

Box 1: 28

Lane, Harry (U.S. Senator) - remarks on keeping out of the European war, 1917

Box 1: 29

Liberator Publishing Company, Inc. (New York), 1918

Box 1: 30

Mother Earth Publishing Association (includes flyers and advertisements for Emma Goldman's Anarchism and Other Essays, as well as other anarchist publications), ca. 1913-1916

Box 1: 31

Open Court Publishing Co. (Chicago), n.d.

Box 1: 32

Our Magazine (Dayton, Oregon), n.d.

Box 1: 33

Paul B. Hoeber, Publisher (New York), ca. 1914

Box 1: 34

Peace League of Oregon - constitution and bylaws, n.d.

Box 1: 35

People's Press (Chicago), n.d.

Box 1: 36

Rabelais Press (New York), 1914

Box 1: 37

Rangel-Cline Defense Committee (labor organizers), ca. 1913-1914

Box 1: 38

Reitman, Ben L. (Emma Goldman's manager) - lecture card), n.d.

Box 1: 39

Revolutionary Press (New York), 1915

Box 1: 40

Richards, W. S., 1916

Box 1: 41

Riker, Father William E. - two flyers, "Sooner or Later You will accept and apply William E. Riker's Perfect Solution for the Capital and Labor Problem" and "A TRUE SYMBOL OF THE TRUE POSITIONS of EACH RACE of PEOPLE. . . Holy City, California. . .," n.d.

Box 1: 42

Schwartz, Fre L. (Pittsburgh), ca. 1910

Box 1: 43

Seymore, August, 1912

Box 1: 44

The Truth Seeker (New York), n.d.

Box 1: 45

Vanguard Press (New York), ca. 1929

Box 1: 46

Walker, Edwin C. (bookseller, lecturer), ca. 1915

Box 1: 47

Wettstein, Otto, n.d.

Box 1: 48

Miscellany (includes lists and advertisements for publications, newspaper clippings, and tracts), ca. 1916