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Guide to the Margaret Meier Collection of Extreme Right Ephemeral Materials M0688
M0688
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Margaret Meier collection of Extreme Right Ephemeral Materials
Identifier/Call Number: M0688
Physical Description:
28 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1930-1980
Language of Material:
English
.
The Margaret Meier Collection of Extreme Right Ephemeral Materials, c1930-1980, consists of 47 manuscript boxes and 9 print
boxes. The collection contains Margaret and Herbert Meier's materials documenting the rise and the activities of the extreme
right in California and national politics. The bulk of the materials date from the 1960s-early 1970s, with additional materials
from the late 1930s through the 1980s. Much of the materials relate to activities and groups in Southern California, where
the Meiers lived, especially the towns of Arcadia and Sierra Madre. Included are political ephemera, newspaper and magazine
clippings, and serials from extreme right groups such as the John Birch Society, Americanism clubs, various Christian right
organizations, republican and extreme right political personalities. A censorship debate regarding the Arcadia Public Library's
decision to include Kazantzakis' work, The Last Temptation of Christ, the activities of and opposition to the John Birch Society,
and opposition to Senator Kuchel of California are three examples of subjects which are especially well covered. The collection
also contains 18 boxes of serials and 3 OS boxes of newspapers, including publications of the John Birch Society and its leader,
Robert Welch, the Institute for American Democracy, and Gerald L.K. Smith. MM's notes are found throughout the collection.
The processors have made every attempt to retain MM's original order of the collection when possible, and have ordered the
unorganized materials in this spirit.
Margaret and Herbert ("Herb") Meier were active in Republican politics in Orange County, and in California as a whole, primarily
during the 1960s and 1970s. Herbert worked as a "field underwriter" at the Pasadena office of Home Life Insurance Co., of
New York. Both were moderate Republicans, although Margaret held a membership card for the Moderate Democrats [see Box 20,
folder 10]. In 1965, Herbert Meier was president of the Arcadia-Sierra Madre Chapter of the California Republican League,
a "state-wide volunteer political organization authorized by the California Republican State Central Committee and activated
in 1964," whose objective was that the "party must be broader, more dynamic, more forward-looking." Both Herbert and Margaret
also held other state and local positions in Republican political groups. This collection reveals their effort to document
the rise of the extreme right during these years.
Margaret Meier Collection of Extreme Right Ephemeral Materials (M0688). Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Purchased, 1994.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Antisemitism.
California -- Politics and government -- 1951-
Censorship.
Conservatism -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989.
Civil rights -- United States.
Right-wing extremists.
Fundamentalism.
Anti-communist movements.