The Peoples Coalition for Peace and Justice was founded in 1970s  with the primary object to oppose U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.[1] The PCPJ was created as a successor to the Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which itself was formed by members of the Communist Party USA. The organization staged many successful anti-war rallies in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[2]

People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice (Early 1970s)

In addition to the Hall Hoag Collection, the records of the People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice are held at the Tamiment Library at New York University.

The East Village Other was a counter-cultural newspaper founded in New York in 1965 by Walter Bowart, Ishmael Reed (who named the newspaper), Allen Katzman, Dan Rattiner, Sherry Needham and John Wilcock. The paper was one of the first underground newspapers in the United States. At its peak the paper had roughly 60,000 subscribers but only lasted until 1972.  Among other things The East Village Other was known for publishing underground comics including the work of Robert Crumb. [1]

There are ~40 issues of The East Village Other in the Hall Hoag Collection Part II.

To learn more visit The East Village Other NYU web page: http://eastvillageother.org/.

The East Village Other (December 23, 1971)

The East Village Other Back Cover (December 23, 1971)

 

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Village_Other

This weeks item is a pamphlet written by Lt. Col. Gordon Mohr called Brain-Washing: A Synthnesis of a Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics from 1982. The “textbook spells out methods which secret communists use to ‘alter the loyalties’ of American citizens and then use those citizens to, especially those in government positions, to take control of the nation.”[1] Lt. Col. Mohr was a former John Birtch Society member who later went on to found the “Crusade for Christ and Country” and the “Christian Patriots Defense League.”[2] Mohr participated in WWII and the Korean War in which he was held as a prisoner of war.[3]  Mohr was a proponent of Christian Identity, “which teaches that many white Europeans are the literal descendants of the Israelites.”[4] This pamphlet was published by the Lord’s Covenant Church out of Phoenix, Arizona. This was a Christian Identity Church run by Sheldon Emry.

Brain-Washing (1982)

To get a better understand of Lt. Col. Mohr’s beliefs listen to this speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb5FMKHdajk

This week’s item is a flyer printed for a lecture that Gordon Hall gave at East Tennessee State University on May 6, 1969. Hall was able to build his collection and conduct his research mostly from funds raised on the lecture circuit. This flyer also contains comments about Hall from Robert Welch, Gus Hall, George Lincoln Rockwell and Malcolm X all of whom had different ideological world views but were similar in their dislike of Gordon Hall.

East Tennessee State Lecture (May 6, 1969)

The Socialist Labor Party, founded in 1876, in New York City is the oldest socialist party in the United States. The SPL was arguably at its most powerful in late 1870s when an SPL state senator was elected in Illinois as well as four Chicago city councilmen.[1] Through the late 19^th and early 20^th Century the SPL enjoyed some success at the helm of Daniel De Leon even receiving 80,000 votes in the 1896 presidential election with Charles Matchett running.  Ideological the SPL falls under “De Leonism” which is a form of Marxism that predates Leninism and posits that workers must simultaneously form socialist industrial unions in the workplaces, and a socialist political party in order to enact change.[2]

The SPL also saw a slight bump in interest throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s under the leadership of Eric Hass but this did not have a lasting impact.[3] Although the organization was not a powerful political party throughout the 20^th Century it continued to publish its newspaper Weekly People and only closed its national office on September 1, 2008. There are ~350 items from the SPL in the Hall Hoag Collection Part II.

Weekly People (March 4, 1972)

Weekly People Image (March 4, 1972)

The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, (a.k.a Bay Area Revolutionary Union and Revolutionary Union) was founded in 1969 by former members of the Students for a Democratic Society. Bob Avakian was the organizations leader from its founding into the present time. The organization was not known as the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA until 1975. The group, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, takes its ideological cues from Avakian and has been noted for its cult-like acceptance of his views.[1] Ideologically the group is Maoist to the extent that members of the RCP, USA made official visits to China in the 1970s.[2] Among other things the RCP, USA is noted for its unwavering support of Mao, its eventual rejection electoral politics, and its belief that the only way for people to liberate themselves from U.S. Imperialism is through Communist revolution.[3] The group has been estimated to have branches in 9-18 states with a total of 400-2000 members.

The item included here is a poster printed by the RPC, USA for International Women’s Day in 1985.

Revolutionary Communist Party (March 8, 1985)

The Truth At Last was a “White activist newspaper[1]” published by Dr. Edward Fields from 1988-2008. The Truth At Last was preceded by a similar newspaper called The Thunderbolt from 1958-1988. The Thunderbolt, edited by Fields began as the official publication of the National States’ Rights Party. The first national chairman of the party, J.B. Stoner was convicted in 1980 of the 1958 bombing of Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.[2] Fields became the ideological center of the National States’ Rights Party and in the 1990s founded the America First Party, which is not to be confused with the America First Party founded in 2002. Both groups could be categorized as white supremacist, segregationist, anti-communist and anti-semitic. [3] There are ~200 issues of The Thunderbolt/The Truth At Last in the Hall-Hoag Collection Part II.

The Truth At Last (1989)