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Wolfe (Bertram David) papers
77029
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Title: Bertram David Wolfe papers
Date (inclusive): 1903-2000
Collection Number: 77029
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
184 manuscript boxes, 2 card file boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 35 envelopes, 6 microfilm reels, 5 videocassettes, 13 sound tape
reels, 8 sound cassettes
(85.4 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Writings, correspondence, notes, memoranda, clippings, other printed matter, and audiovisual material relating to Marxism;
the international communist movement; communism in the Soviet Union, the United States, and elsewhere; literature and art
in the Soviet Union and in Mexico; and the Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Includes some papers of Rivera and papers of Ella
Wolfe, wife of Bertram D. Wolfe. Digital copies of select records also available at
https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
Creator:
Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957
Creator:
Wolfe, Bertram D. (Bertram David), 1896-1977
Creator:
Wolfe, Ella
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Box 183 and glass slides may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection is open for
research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material
in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives between 1977, with increments received from 1982 to 2015.
[Identification of item], Bertram David Wolfe papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Digital copies of select records also available at
https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
Scope and Content of Collection
Writings, correspondence, notes, memoranda, clippings, other printed matter, and audiovisual material, relating to Marxism;
the international communist movement; communism in the Soviet Union, the United States, and elsewhere; literature and art
in the Soviet Union and in Mexico; and the Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Includes some papers of Rivera and papers of Ella
Wolfe, wife of Bertram D. Wolfe.
The materials in the increment consist largely of correspondence, writings, and printed matter added to the collection by
Bertram D. Wolfe's widow, Ella Wolfe, in the years following his death in 1977. Additional items became part of the papers
after Ella Wolfe's death in 2000. Much of the incremental materials pertain to Bertram Wolfe's career as a critic and historian
of Marxism and Soviet communism, as well as his work as a biographer of Diego Rivera. They also document Ella Wolfe's role
as her husband's collaborator and caretaker of his legacy, while showing her as a personality in her own right with a wide
network of friends and correspondents.
The
Speeches and Writings series of the papers contains an unpublished, book length manuscript by Bertram Wolfe, "The Corrido in Mexico." A work of
cultural anthropology, this study explores how the
corrido, a folk ballad form, has served as a vehicle for the expression of popular sentiment in Mexico, including as a means of commentary
on various topical issues. In this series there is also a rare pamphlet in Spanish containing a text written by Wolfe during
his visit to Spain in 1937, at the height of the Civil War. The series additionally includes the typescript draft of Bertram
Wolfe's autobiography,
A Life in Two Centuries, and the proofs of another posthumously published work,
Revolution and Reality.
The
Correspondence series records Bertram Wolfe's dealings with his publishers, as well as his exchanges with a number of colleagues in the
fields of Soviet history and Marxist studies. A substantial amount of the correspondence relates to Ella Wolfe and her many
friends and acquaintances. Included in this are many letters written to Ella Wolfe by Svetlana Allilueva, the daughter of
Joseph Stalin. The
Writings by Others series includes a number of unpublished papers, mainly relating to Soviet history, Marxism, and the Spanish Civil War.
The
Photographs series includes many pictures of Bertram and Ella Wolfe. There are also several hundred photographs that depict paintings,
sketches, and murals by Diego Rivera. These were used by Bertram Wolfe in the preparation of his book,
The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera. There are copies of a number of books by Bertram Wolfe, including Italian, Spanish, and German translations of some of them,
in the
Printed Matter series of the increment.
The
Biographical File contains materials such as college yearbooks and membership cards, as a well as number of tributes to Bertram Wolfe written
after his death. It also includes the transcript of an oral history interview with Ella Wolfe.
The 2015 increment consists of biographical materials, correspondence, writings, photographs, printed matter, and a subject
file largely related to Bertram Wolfe. Received from a family member, this increment includes letters, writings, and other
materials sent by Wolfe to members of his family, including his brothers Paul and Henry and his niece Evelyn (Rinna), as well
as Wolfe's subject file on communist/USSR apologists.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Russian literature
Audiotapes
Video tapes
Communism -- United States
Communism
Soviet Union -- Politics and government
Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939
Art -- Mexico
Communism and culture
Communist International
Communist Party of the United States of America
Lenin, Vladimir Ilʹich, 1870-1924
Marx, Karl, 1818-1883