Finding Aid to the Archie Brown Collection,
1933-1978
larc.ms.0087
Finding aid prepared by Labor Archives and Research Center staff.
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
1991, Revised 2012
Title: Archie Brown collection
Date (bulk): 1970-1978
Date (inclusive): 1933-1978
Creator:
Brown, Archie, 1911-1990
Collection number: larc.ms.0087
Accession numbers: 1991/079; 1992/005; 1995/011; 1995/067; 1997/066; 1998/057
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English.
Extent:
2.25 cubic ft.
(5 boxes)
Location: Materials are available onsite.
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives & Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the
Labor Archives & Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of
the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Archie Brown Collection, larc.ms.0087, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University.
Material Cataloged Separately
The following materials have been removed from the files and are located in the Ephemera Collection of the Labor Archives.
A Conversation--Labor Looks at Labor. Some members of the United Auto Workers undertake a self-examination. 1963.
Union Printers College. San Francisco Typographical Union, No. 21. 1963
Voices for Liberty. Stop McCarranism! Collection of speeches. Ca. 1964.
How to Speak at Union Meetings. UAW Education Department. 1977?
Effective Discussion Methods. UAW Education Department. 1976?
Come Out Swinging! A 2-Fisted Rank & File Program. Labor Education Fund. 1974.
Proposition "L": 30 Hours Work, 40 Hours Pay. Workers Action Movement. 1973.
Some Facts on the New Grape Boycott. UFW Research Department. 1973.
Agenda from the First Constitutional Convention, United Farm Workers. 1973. (English and Spanish)
Boycott Lettuce and Grapes. Political Education Project and UFW. 1973?
Joe Worker and the Story of Labor. (Comic book). National Labor Service. 1945.
On the Boss's Time. Shop Poems and Other Poems By George Bratt. 1958.
Security, Civil Liberties and Unions. AFL-CIO. 1956.
Of the People, for the People. Pictorial highlights of fifty years of the Communist Party, USA, 1919-1969. 1970.
"All Strikebreakers Must Go!" San Francisco Typographical Union No. 21. 1964.
Port of San Francisco Ocean Shipping Handbook. Board of State Harbor Commissioners. undated
Separated Material
Numerous Communist Party books and pamphlets were removed and sent to the Niebyl-Proctor Library.
Processing Information
Processed by The Labor Archives and Research Center staff.
Acquisition
The collection consists of accessions from Archie Brown's wife, Mrs. Esther "Hon" Brown. Materials include broadsides from
leftist causes, pamphlets, and correspondence. The collection was received in the spring of 1995 and processed during the
summers of 1995 and 1996; accession numbers 1991/079; 1992/005; 1995/011; 1995/067; 1997/066; and 1998/057
Biographical Notes
Archie Brown was born in Sioux City, Iowa in 1911. In his early teens he rode the rails to the Bay Area. At age 14, he lost
his job as a newsboy for organizing a newsboys' strike. During the 1930s, he belonged to the Young Communist League, helped
organize California agricultural workers, and became a longshoreman, part of San Francisco's thriving waterfront union movement.
In 1938, his convictions led him into the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War. He also
served in the U.S. Army in World War II, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
After his return from the war, Archie held a number of state and national Communist Party positions. He continued to work
as a longshoreman, and served on the Executive Committee of International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, Local 10.
He was arrested for violating the Landrum-Griffin Act, which stated that trade-union office holders could not be Communist
Party members. He fought the guilty verdict up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which struck down the ban in 1965.
Archie remained an active longshoreman until 1977. After his retirement, he worked to promote numerous leftist causes. He
died of cancer in November 1990. A partial record of his activities can be found in the Collection.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Contents
The Archie Brown collection includes items from the 1930s and 1960s, but the majority of materials date from the 1970s, and
document Brown's active role in the ILWU, the Communist Party, and a host of progressive organizations. The many pamphlets
and broadsides testify to his commitment to social justice and also give an idea about the issues of importance to San Francisco
leftists in the 1970s. Other activities of which there is less documentation include economic issues, such as the Coalition
to Fight the High Cost of Living. He also supported struggles of other unions and their strikes.
Of special interest in the collection are letters Brown received after the movie "Operation Abolition" was shown nationwide,
a documentary about the fight to abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee; and materials related to U.S. labor union
activities to support Chilean workers and the fight to free Angela Davis. The collection also includes two courtroom transcripts,
of the Grand Jury hearing of October 1935, and murder trial, December 1935, defendants: Shipscalers F. Jimenez, J. Cavales,
A. Brown and N. Villi; photocopies of letters Archie wrote to his wife to his wife Esther (Hon) Brown while he was a member
of the Spanish Civil War Abraham Lincoln Brigade (originals are held by Brandeis University in the Archie Brown Collection);
print materials pertaining to the San Francisco waterfront, including the
Waterfront Worker, May 1934¬March 1936; materials on Archie Brown's political campaigns for SF supervisor, California governor (write-in candidate)
and congressman; and photographs of Archie Brown during 1961 trial challenging the Communist Control Act (successor act to
Taft-Hartley Section 9) and at HUAC hearings in California, 1960.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Labor unions--Longshoremen--United States.
Political activists--California--San Francisco.
Waterfront Worker.
Box 1, Folder 1
Biography of Archie Brown
1990
Box 1, Folder 3
Black Panthers
1971, undated
Box 1, Folder 4
Candidacies (of Archie Brown)
1959, undated
Box 1, Folder 6
Correspondence, Incoming
1959-1977, undated
Box 1, Folder 7
Correspondence, Operation Abolition
1960
Box 1, Folder 8
Correspondence, Operation Abolition
1960-1961
Box 1, Folder 9
Correspondence, Operation Abolition
1960-1962
Box 1, Folder 10
Correspondence, Operation Abolition
1960-1961
Box 1, Folder 11
Correspondence, Outgoing
1961-1974
Box 1, Folder 12
Correspondence, Spanish Civil War (photocopy)
1938
Box 2, Folder 1
Court Transcript, State of CA vs. Brown
1935
Box 2, Folder 2
Court Transcript. Jimenez, Canales, Brown and Villi
1935
Box 2, Folder 3
FBI Records, Social Security Benefits
1977
Box 2, Folder 4
Government Documents
1967-1976
Box 2, Folder 5
Holmes Eureka Lumber Strike Commemoration
undated
Box 2, Folder 6
I.L.A. "Strike Bulletins"
1934, 1936
Box 2, Folder 7
I.L.A. "Women's Voice"
1936
Box 2, Folder 10
Labor Issues, Various
1963-1978
Box 2, Folder 11
Local Negotiations
1971-1972
Box 3, Folder 1
Newspaper Clippings
1934-1951, undated
Box 3, Folder 4
Political Leaflets, Various
1964-1978
Box 3, Folder 5
Socialist Labor Party and Workers International Industrial Union
undated
Box 3, Folder 6
Spanish Civil War, Abraham Lincoln Brigade
1962-1978
Box 3, Folder 7
Strike Bulletins and Flyers
1934
Box 3, Folder 8
Testimonial, Speech
undated
Box 3, Folder 9
Viet Nam War
1965-1971, undated
Box 3, Folder 10
Waterfront Worker (photocopy)
1933,1934
Box 3, Folder 11
Waterfront Worker (photocopy)
1933,1934
Box 4, Folder 1
Waterfront Worker (photocopy)
1934
Box 4, Folder 3
Waterfront Worker (photocopy)
1935
Box 4, Folder 4
Waterfront Worker (photocopy)
1935
Box 4, Folder 5
Waterfront Worker
1935-1936
Box 4, Folder 6
Waterfront Worker (photocopy)
1935-1936
Box 4, Folder 7
Waterfront Worker (photocopy)
1935-1936
