Friends of the RCMS

Welcome!

Welcome to the website of the Friends of the Reference Center for Marxist Studies (RCMS). The RCMS is a library and archive in New York City used by researchers who are doing work related to radical history and Marxism. It is also the official caretaker of the archives of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA). (Here are some pictures of the RCMS, taken by ALA President Mitch Freedman during Banned Books Week.)

What we are doing

This Friends organization will assist the RCMS in a variety of ways, but is now mainly concerned with helping the RCMS regain possession of its major archive. CPUSA's papers were transported to the Soviet Union for safekeeping in the middle of the 20th Century, and a microfilm copy was recently sold to the Library of Congress and to the publishing company IDC by the Russian Federation. Marxist ideals notwithstanding, the RCMS considers this an act of "stolen property."

Supporting documents

• A November 17, 2002 interview with RCMS librarian and archivist Mark Rosenzweig about questions of access, which have been raised by non-supporters and the curious.

• A letter of complaint sent by Rosenzweig to IDC Publishers, 11/7/02

• "Mr. Rosenzwieg goes to Washington", an account of Rosenzweig's experience of using the actual microfilm at the Library of Congress.

• Various emailed letters of support, early 2001.

• Three articles by Andrew Albanese in Library Journal Academic Newswire about the dispute.

• Rosenzweig's letter to the SAA Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct, requesting mediation.

• Rosenzweig's comments on LC librarian Winston Tabb's reply to the letter to Billington, 4/24/01.

• Rosenzweig's original letter to Librarian of Congress James Billington.

• The Library of Congress' original press release advertising the aquisition of the CPUSA's archive.

How to support us

• We would like you sign the online petition asking for recognition of CPUSA's ownership of the archive.
• At some point in the near future we would like to be legally set up to accept donations, and are looking into various possible ways to do this. Please watch the site for changes and consider a membership donation. In the meantime, if you really want to join Friends of the RCMS, contact the President, Rory Litwin, at rcms@libr.org to have your membership recorded and discuss what help you might be able to offer.