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Aptheker (Herbert) papers
M1032
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Herbert Aptheker Papers
Creator:
Aptheker, Herbert
Identifier/Call Number: M1032
Identifier/Call Number: 1637
Physical Description:
103 Linear Feet
(approx. 200 boxes, 2 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1842-2003 (bulk 1934-1994)
Date (bulk): 1934-1994
The collection contains Herbert Aptheker's professional correspondence with other academics, Marxist scholars, as well as
his correspondence from his presidency of AIMS [The American Institute of Marxist Studies] with people interested in Marxism
; manuscripts, printed articles, and books written by Aptheker; family correspondence and information on the Aptheker family
in general and Bettina Aptheker in particular; the research files and manuscripts belonging at one time to W.E.B. Du Bois
and given to Aptheker at the time that Du Bois moved to Ghana in the early 1960's; and the manuscripts and supporting documents
related to A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE NEGRO IN THE UNITED STATES, Vols. 1-7.
Dr. Herbert Aptheker, historian and lecturer, was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 31, 1915 to Benjamin and Rebecca (Komar)
Aptheker. He married Fay Aptheker on Sept. 4, 1942; they had one daughter, Bettina Aptheker, an author and historian in her
own right. Aptheker received his B.S. in 1936, an A.M. in 1937, and his Ph.D. in 1943, all from Columbia University. He also
holds a Ph.D. (honorary) from Martin Luther U., Halle, Germany , 1966 and a DHL (honorary), University of Massachusetts, 1996.
He edited Masses and Mainstream from 1948 through 1952 and Political Affairs from 1952 through 1963. He was director of the
American Institute for Marxist Studies, New York City, from 1964-1985. He was a professor at Hostos Community College, CUNY,
1971-1977, and has lectured extensively throughout the United States and Europe from 1941 through the present. He was a visiting
lecturer in the Department of History at Bryn Mawr College, 1969-1971; in addition, he was a visiting lecturer at University
of Massachusetts from 1971-1972, Yale University, 1976, University of California at Berkeley Law School, 1978-1991, University
of Santa Clara, 1982-1983; and a visiting professor of Afro-American Studies at University of California at Berkeley, 1984.
He has written and published extensively, and is the author of To Be Free : Studies in American Negro History, 1948, rev.
ed. 1992, World of C. Wright Mills, 1960, Soul of the Republic, 1964, Negro Slave Revolts in the United States, 1939, Negro
in the Civil War, 1938, Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion, 1966, Mission to Hanoi, 1966, Labor Movement in the South During Slavery,
1954, The Truth about Hungary, 1957, The Nature of Democracy, Freedom, and Revolution, 1967, History of the American People,
3 vols., 1959, 1960, Essays in the History of the American Negro, rev. edit., 1964, Era of McCarthyism, 1955, Dare We Be Free?,
1960, American Foreign Policy and the Cold War, 1962, American Negro Slave Revolts, 1943, rev. edit., 1963, 1993, American
Civil War, 1961, Urgency of Marxist-Christian Dialogue, 1970, Afro-American History : the Modern Era, 1971, Annotated Bibliography
of the Published Writings of W.E.B. Du Bois, 1973, Early Years of the Republic, 1783-1793, 1976, The Unfolding Drama : Studies
in U.S. History, 1979, Racism, Imperialism, and Peace, 1987, Abolitionism : A Revolutionary Movement, 1989, The Literary Legacy
of W.E.B. Du Bois, 1989, Marxism : Demise or Renewal, 1990, Anti-Racism in U.S. History, 1992.
In addition to these original writings, he has edited numerous works, including Disarmament and American Economy, 1960, One
Continual Cry, 1965, Marxism and Democracy, 1964, And Why Not Every Man, 1961, Marxism and Alienation, 1965, Documentary History
of the Negro People in the United States, Vols. 1-7, 1951-1994, Marxism and Christianity, 1967, Autobiography of W.E.B. Du
Bois, 1968, The Correspondence of W.E.B. Du Bois, Vol. I, 1973, Vol. II, 1976, Vol. III, 1978, The Published Writings of W.E.B.
Du Bois, 40 vols., 1973-1986, Education for Black People (Du Bois), 1973, Prayers for Black Folk (Du Bois), 1980, Against
Racism : 1887-1961 (Du Bois), 1985.
Aptheker ran for the U.S. Congress in 1966 as the Independent Peace candidate; he also ran for the U.S. Senate in 1976 as
the Communist Party candidate. He served to major F.A. AUS, 1942-1946, ETO.
He served as a Guggenheim Fellow from 1946 to1947, and he received grants from the Social Science Research Council, 1961,
the Rabinowitz Foundation, 1965, and the American Council of Learned Studies, 1974. He holds memberships in the American Historical
Association and the Association for the Study of Negro Life, which awarded him its History Award in 1939 and 1969.
[Identification of item], Herbert Aptheker Papers, M1032, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased, 1998, 2000, 2003; gift of Herbert Aptheker, 2002; gift of Bettina Aptheker, 2003, 2005, and 2009.
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. Accession 2002-251 (9
linear feet, includes correspondence, photographs, and audiovisual materials), 2003-221 (3 linear feet), and 2005-227 (2 linear
feet, includes 32 audio cassettes, 2 video cassettes, and additional correspondence) are closed until processing is complete.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Washington, Booker T.
American Institute for Marxist Studies
Aptheker, Bettina
Aptheker, Fay
Aptheker, Herbert
Lynd, Staughton