Summary Information
UE Legal Department Personnel Papers
UE.9.1
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Legal Dept.
1940-1970s
15.0 linear feet (12 boxes)
Language: English
Abstract: This subgroup contains the records of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) Legal Department staff. Records include correspondence and legal documents regarding War Labor Board cases and company information.
ULS Archives Service Center
University of Pittsburgh Library System
7500 Thomas Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA, 15260
412-648-3232
archives-ref@mail.pitt.edu
June 2009
Finding aid prepared by Zachary Brodt.
Collection Scope and Content Notes
The Legal Department of the UE consisted of general and associate counsels that were responsible for representing the national union, as well as its locals and members, during legal hearings and cases. This subgroup contains the papers of Legal Department staff. Records include correspondence and legal documents regarding War Labor Board cases and company information. Documents regarding the draft status of UE staff are also present.
Arrangement
Series 9.1.1. Fred Livingston
Series 9.1.2. David Scribner
Series 9.1.3. Frank J. Donner
Subject Terms
- Draft -- United States -- History -- World War, 1939-1945
- Draft registration -- United States – History -- World War, 1939-1945
- Electric industry workers -- Labor unions -- United States -- History
- Group insurance -- United States
- Labor lawyers -- United States
- Labor unions -- Organizing -- United States
- Labor unions -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. -- History
- United States. National War Labor Board (1942-1945).
- United States. Selective Service System.
- Donner, Frank J.
- Livingston, Frederick R., 1912-1986
- Scribner, David
- Correspondence
- Legal documents
- Personnel records
Access and Use
No restrictions.
Gift of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America in 1976, 1986, and 1997.
UE Legal Department Personnel Papers, 1940-1970s, UE.9.1, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Portions of this collection have been previously cited as Papers of Fred Livingston, Associate General Counsel, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), 1940-45, UE:NO-ST-LivingstonF, Archives Service Center, University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
This collection was processed by Jaimie George in 2003 and 2004 and by Zachary Brodt in April 2009.
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
UE Law Firm and Attorney Correspondence, 1943-1979, UE.9.6, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Federal Bureau of Investigation on the UE Records, 1940-1985, UE.9.5, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
UE Communism Collection, 1935-1968, UE.10.2.1, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Hymen Schlesinger Papers, 1927-1990, AIS.1977.33, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Collection Inventory
Series 9.1.1. Fred Livingston 1936-1945
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Scope and Content Notes: Frederick R. Livingston was born in November 1912. In 1944 Livingston left the federal National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to become the Associate General Counsel of the UE. In this capacity, Livingston advised the union and represented it before the draft board, War Labor Board, and War Manpower Commission during World War II.
The first two boxes in this series contain materials regarding the draft status of UE staff. The memorandum produced by the UE for the Director of Selective Service is particularly interesting since it provides justification for deferring international officers from military service and stresses the UE’s importance to the war effort. The draft questionnaires, arranged alphabetically by last name of staff member, provide biographical information often not available elsewhere and shed light on staff members’ roles in the union and war economy. Correspondence with Selective Service and the local draft boards is also included.
The rest of this series includes research on group insurance for the union. Several of these files relate directly to the creation of the 1944 pamphlet “UE Guide to Group Insurance” designed to assist UE locals negotiating insurance policies with their companies. Included is correspondence with attorneys, UE districts, UE locals, and other CIO unions concerning insurance policies. Also present is a set of questionnaires from a survey conducted by the UE national office to determine the amount of insurance coverage obtained at the local union level. Several information files exist for individual insurance companies and policies. Additional files bring together War Labor Board cases from 1943 to 1945 focused on determining whether unions were to be permitted to acquire group insurance benefits or not.
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Box 1
| Folder |
1 |
Affidavit – Occupational Classification, undated
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| Folder |
2 |
CIO Review Committee on Draft Committee, 1942-1944
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| Folder |
3 |
Classification Advice, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
4 |
Correspondence – Selective Service, 1944
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| Folder |
5 |
Deferred Indefinitely, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
06-07 |
Draft Deferment, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
8 |
Draft Miscellaneous, 1944
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| Folder |
09-14 |
Memorandum on the Draft Status of Staff – Deferments, 1944
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| Folder |
15 |
Names of Companies Recommending Occupational Deferment, 1942
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| Folder |
16 |
Newspaper Items, 1944
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| Folder |
17-25 |
Occupational Deferment by District, 1944
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| Folder |
26 |
General Information on Questionnaire on Draft, 1942-1944
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| Folder |
27-34 |
Questionnaire on Draft, A-B, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
35-39 |
Questionnaire on Draft, C, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
40-48 |
Questionnaire on Draft, D, 1942-1945
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Box 2
| Folder |
01-02 |
Questionnaire on Draft, E, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
03-08 |
Questionnaire on Draft, F, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
09-11 |
Questionnaire on Draft, G, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
12-15 |
Questionnaire on Draft, H, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
16 |
Questionnaire on Draft, I, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
17-19 |
Questionnaire on Draft, J, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
20-22 |
Questionnaire on Draft, K, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
23-26 |
Questionnaire on Draft, L, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
27-36 |
Questionnaire on Draft, M, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
37-40 |
Questionnaire on Draft, N, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
41 |
Questionnaire on Draft, O, 1944
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| Folder |
42-43 |
Questionnaire on Draft, P, 1942-1944
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| Folder |
44-49 |
Questionnaire on Draft, R, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
50-55 |
Questionnaire on Draft, S, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
56-58 |
Questionnaire on Draft, T, 1941-1945
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| Folder |
59-61 |
Questionnaire on Draft, V-W, 1942-1945
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| Folder |
62-63 |
Questionnaire on Draft, Z, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
64 |
Requested Draft Deferments, 1944
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| Folder |
65 |
War Department, 1942-1944
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Box 3
| Folder |
01-02 |
Analysis of UE Local Plans, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
3 |
Car Accident Case, 1944
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| Folder |
4 |
Companies: Aetna Life Insurance Company, 1944
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| Folder |
5 |
Companies: Associated Hospital Service, 1944
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| Folder |
6 |
Companies: Connecticut General Life Insurance, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
7 |
Companies: Equitable Insurance Company, 1944
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| Folder |
8 |
Companies: Group Health Co-Operative, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
9 |
Companies: John Hancock Life Insurance, 1944
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| Folder |
10 |
Companies: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 1936-1942
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| Folder |
11 |
Companies: Miscellaneous, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
12 |
Companies: Prudential Life Insurance, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
13 |
Companies: Savings Bank Life Insurance, 1944
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| Folder |
14 |
Companies: Trade Union Accident and Health, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
15 |
Companies: Trade Union Agency Insurance, 1942-1944
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| Folder |
16 |
Correspondence: Attorneys, 1944
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| Folder |
17 |
Correspondence: CIO Unions, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
18 |
Correspondence: Miscellaneous, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
19 |
Correspondence: State Capitols and Washington, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
20-21 |
Correspondence: UE Districts and Locals, 1943-1945
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| Folder |
22 |
Fitzgerald, Albert – Accident Policy, 1945
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| Folder |
23 |
Miscellaneous, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
24 |
Newspaper Articles, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
25 |
Pension Plans, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
26 |
Insurance Plans: Associated with the UE, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
27 |
Insurance Plans: District 4, 1942-1944
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| Folder |
28 |
Insurance Plans: General Electric, 1940-1945
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| Folder |
29-30 |
Insurance Plans: Miscellaneous, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
31 |
Insurance Plans: New York City, 1944
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| Folder |
32 |
Insurance Plans: Under Current Contract, 1943-1944
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Box 4
| Folder |
1 |
Policy at UE National Office, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
2 |
Policy Proposals to UE, 1943
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| Folder |
03-05 |
Questionnaire to Locals on Insurance Coverage, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
6 |
Requests for Books and Information, 1943-1945
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| Folder |
7 |
Simons and Greeley – Employee Benefit Plans, 1945
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| Folder |
8 |
Specimen Insurance Policies, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
10 |
UE Guide to Group Insurance: Letters and Clippings, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
11 |
UE Guide to Group Insurance: Plates, undated
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| Folder |
13 |
Wagner-Murray-Dingell Bill on Social Security, 1944-1945
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| Folder |
14 |
War Labor Board Case: Dissenting Opinion, 1944
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| Folder |
15 |
War Labor Board Case: Representatives’ Correspondence, 1943-1944
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| Folder |
16 |
War Labor Board Case: Rulings on Group Insurance, 1943-1945
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| Folder |
17 |
Worksheets, 1943-1945
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| Folder |
18 |
Workers Compensation, 1944
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| Box |
05-07 |
Group Insurance: Correspondence and UE Staff Files, undated
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Series 9.1.2. David Scribner 1943-1945
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Scope and Content Notes: David Scribner served as General Counsel for the UE during the 1940s to the 1950s. He represented the union throughout the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and other ensuing trials accusing members of the UE to be members of the Communist Party. His work with the UE and other cases in which he believed a defendant's civil rights were being compromised led to him being investigated by the FBI. Scribner was also a founder of the National Lawyers Guild and served as executive secretary in 1959. He died in April 1991.
This series contains many files regarding National and regional War Labor Board cases concerning UE locals and their companies. Included are correspondence, clippings, and legal documents. Publications on companies and certified public accountants in New York are also present.
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Box 8
| Folder |
1 |
Local 456 Negotiations and War Labor Board Case, 1943
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| Folder |
2 |
Smith-Connaly Strike Vote, GE-GM, Westinghouse, 1945
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| Folder |
3 |
General Electric and Westinghouse, War Labor Board, 1945
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| Folder |
4 |
War Labor Board Transcript, Breeze Corp., 1944
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| Folder |
5 |
Westinghouse and GE, War Labor Board Cases, 1945
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| Folder |
6 |
Westinghouse War Labor Board Joint Application, 1943-1945
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| Folder |
7 |
GE War Labor Board Joint Applications, 1944
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| Box |
09-10 |
War Labor Board Cases and Correspondence, undated
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Series 9.1.3. Frank J. Donner 1950-1967
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Scope and Content Notes: Frank Donner earned his law degree from Columbia University and soon after became a staff attorney for the NLRB. He then served as counsel for the Congress of Industrial Organizations from 1943 to 1947, when he started his own firm. He specialized in defending people questioned by HUAC and was himself accused of being a Communist during the hearings. These experiences led to him becoming general counsel for the UE during the 1960s. He wrote several books, including
The Un-Americans, and from 1971 until his death in 1993, he was director of the American Civil Liberties Union Project on Political Surveillance at Yale Law School.
This series contains office files of Frank Donner. Included are correspondence, address books, business cards, and records from his law firm. Some personal correspondence is also present.
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Box 11
| Folder |
1 |
Donner, Perlin & Piel, Settlement of Firm Accounts, undated
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| Folder |
2 |
Danny Donner-School, 1959-1966
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| Folder |
3 |
Correspondence regarding Ballantine Book, 1961-1963
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| Folder |
4 |
Lillian Hellman, 1950-1960
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| Folder |
5 |
Ballantine Books Correspondence, 1962-1965
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| Folder |
6 |
Albany-Georgia Suit-Temporary, 1959
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| Folder |
7 |
Talks-Articles-Book, Carey McWilliams, 1960-1965
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| Folder |
8 |
Correspondence with Arthur Kinoy-Research Project, 1963
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| Folder |
9 |
Clippings on McCarthy and the UE, 1954
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| Folder |
10 |
Frank J. Donner Misc., undated
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| Folder |
11 |
Memos and Correspondence, 1958-1962
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Box 12
| Folder |
1 |
Arbitration, 1976
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| Folder |
2 |
Miscellaneous, 1976
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| Folder |
3 |
Student Draft, 1968-1969
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| Folder |
4 |
Correspondence, January 1966-December 1967
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| Folder |
5 |
Jacobson, 1970-1971
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| Folder |
6 |
Correspondence on the Right Wing, 1962-1963
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| Folder |
7 |
L.M. Rabinowitz Foundation, 1962
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| Folder |
8 |
Personal Correspondence, A-L, 1960-1961
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| Folder |
9 |
Personal Correspondence, A-L, 1959-1962
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| Folder |
10 |
Guns-Gun Control, 1968
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| Folder |
11 |
Donner & Piel-Financial, 1964
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| Folder |
12 |
Personal Correspondence, M-Z, 1959-1962
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| Folder |
13 |
Personal Correspondence, A-L on the Right Wing, 1963
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