Oscar Edelman Papers

The Oscar Edelman Papers are divided into fifteen series: Correspondence, Miscellaneous, Dayton Socialist Party, Ohio Socialist Party, National Socialist Party, Socialist International, Non-Socialist Party Political Activity, Local and State Socialist Publications, Haldeman-Julius Journals and Publications, Socialist Party Literature, Family Records, Rand School, Friends of Oscar Edelman, Personal Memorabilia, and Oversize Material.

Series I, Correspondence, 1912-1986, contains general correspondence, personal letters, carbon copies of letters written by Oscar Edelman, form letters, letters to the editor (clippings), and Debs Foundation correspondence from Terre Haute, Indiana. Correspondents include: Joseph W. Sharts, Barbara Webb, Fred Strickland, F.S. Hall, Segfried Ameringer, Ernest Utermann, Ernest Morgan, Jessie Stephen, Albert Carthy, Norman Thomas, and August Claessens.

Series II, Miscellaneous, 1912-1987, contains material concerning Socialist Party functions and individual participants. The series contains various Socialist magazines, The Booster (Dayton, Ohio), The Peoples League Bulletin (Dayton, Ohio) and several anti-socialist/communist clippings. Clippings, flyers, photographs, membership cards meeting notices, and memorabilia of Fred Guy Strickland, Barbara Webb Bourjaily, Oscar Ameringer, Ernest Morgan, Upton Sinclair, Oscar Edelman, Debs Foundation (including meeting minutes), Eugene Debs, Norman Thomas, and Karl Marx. Also included are catalogs, booklists and book reviews of the Charles Kerr Publishing Company.

Series III, Dayton Socialist Party, 1910-1980, consists of material concerning Dayton Socialist campaigns, clippings, flyers, stationary of Local Dayton Socialists Party, lectures, membership information including clippings, Miami Valley Socialist subscribers, Party officers, ward watchers, membership lists, Young People’s Socialist League records, Unity Park project (1918-1921), business records and clippings of the Miami Valley Socialist (1912-1928), and financial records of the Local Dayton Socialist Party (1922-1925).

Series IV, Ohio Socialist Party, 1913-1980, contains miscellaneous records of the Ohio Socialist Party, Ohio Party local records 1913-1980, the Socialist Party of Greene County 1922-1951, and the Miami Valley Socialist League 1934-1935. Also included are various clippings, reports and ballots concerning state elections 1913-1980.

Series V, National Socialist Party, 1912-1984, this collection contains material relating to national Socialist activities including pamphlets, booklets, correspondence and clippings. Also included are national Socialist publications: Michigan Socialist (seven issues) 1916-1917; New Appeal June 22, 1918; New Leader (two issues) 1933-1934; and New American (six issues) 1967-1972.

Series VI, Socialist International, 1936-circa 1985, consists of miscellaneous material of the Socialist International including clippings, booklets, election information and the Canadian Socialist Party.

Series VII, Non-Socialist Party Political Activity, 1926-1984, contains local, state and national election material. Also included is material concerning the League for Industrial Democracy, Americans United (ACLU), Workers Defense League, League of Women Voters, Labor Unions and religious organizations.

Series VIII, Local and State Socialist Publications, 1912-1925, contains 198 editions of the Miami Valley Socialist published in Dayton, Ohio. Also included are four editions of the Ohio Socialist 1919, the first edition of the Evansville Edition published by the Miami Valley Socialist on May 2, 1919, and the May 11, 1922 edition of the North Dayton Citizen a Dayton business publication.

Series IX, Haldeman-Julius Journals and Publications, 1925-1949, consists of three Haldeman-Julius Monthly journals (1925), four Haldeman-Julius Quarterly journals (1926-1927), and various publications circa 1925-1940s.

Series X, Socialist Party Literature, 1912-1983, consists of forty-six booklets and pamphlets relating to such topics as Eugene Debs, communism, socialist philosophy, labor, Dayton local economic history, and Lyndon LaRouche. Of note, is an audiocassette of an oral interview of Oscar Edelman by WYSO in 1973, which is digitized for access. In the interview, Edelman provides a history of socialism in the Miami Valley area, and recounts his own relationships with leaders in the party.

Series XI, Family Records, 1882-1982, this series consists of Edelman family correspondence. Also includes photographs, naturalization records, family history and funeral information of Oscar Edelman’s parents. Also included are photographs, personal information of Emma P. Edelman, Edythe Edelman Baldon, Virginia Baldon, Amanda Edelman, Ruth Adelman Armstrong including correspondence, Anna Armstrong, John Edelman, and various Edelman relatives including the Kohring family.

Series XII, Rand School, 1918-1983, contains correspondence, publications, photographs, class information, and clippings concerning the Rand School of Social Science.

Series XIII, Friends of Oscar Edelman, 1911-1982, contains correspondence, photographs and clippings of Oscar Edelman’s friends, including Tillie Gibson and her trip to the Soviet Union, the Lantz family, and the Merry-Go-Round Night Club of Dayton, Ohio. Also included is correspondence, clippings (including several letters to the editor), booklets, articles and Supreme Court legal briefs of Joseph W. Sharts.

Series XIV, Personal Memorabilia, 1897-1985, consists of the personal memorabilia of Oscar Edelman. Included are two 1915 diaries, high school papers, debates and lectures 1911-1916, a scrapbook of notable historic figures, Socialist – poems, songs, definitions, book lists and reviews, legal papers, correspondence, wills, trip information, non-socialist lecture information, Dayton YMCA and the Heritage Club materials, First Unitarian Church information, miscellaneous materials on Col. Robert Ingersoll, a WSU paper entitled “Yours For Industrial Freedom” written by Laurie Marshall and Bob Fogarty. Also included are photographs of Oscar, family members, and miscellaneous people.

Series XV, Oversize Material, circa 1880-1914, 1948, contains material from the Oscar Edelman Papers collection which cannot be stored with the other series due to their size. Included in this collection is Oscar Edelman’s Baptismal Certificate (in German) March 19, 1914, four copies of Colonel Robert Ingersoll essays circa 1880s and a Chicago newspaper reporting that Dewey won the 1948 presidential election. (Loc. 6, Folder 4)