New Material Added to the Papers of Joseph Freeman, American Writer, Editor and Journalist
Maryann
Mon, 10/31/2022 – 09:00
This fall, the Hoover Institution Library & Archives acquired a new increment to the papers of Joseph Freeman, the American writer and magazine editor best known for his work with The New Masses, an influential Marxist journal that ran from 1926 to 1948 and had close ties to the Communist Party USA. The new addition to Freeman’s papers includes manuscripts, correspondence, and notes. The bulk of the manuscripts were written while Freeman was living in Mexico in the 1950s. Of particular interest is a manuscript titled simply “Survey,” which includes Freeman’s autobiographical notes of his time living in Moscow in the 1920s. Also in the collection is Freeman’s request to the US printing office for a transcript of the testimony he gave during the House of Un-American Activities hearings.
Originally from Ukraine, Freeman was born 1897 to a Jewish family. His family fled Ukraine in 1904 to avoid persecution and pogroms carried out by the Russians. Settling in Brooklyn, Freeman’s family remained vehemently anti-tsar and pro-communist; Freeman started publishing political and socialist commentary when just a teenager. After graduating from Columbia …read more
Source:: Hoover Institution