3 short articles, by Andrew Albanese, which have appeared in
Library Journal Academic Newswire (Cahners, NY) about this dispute.
LC COMMUNIST ARCHIVE HAS MARXIST GROUP SEEING RED
After years of negotiations with officials in the former
Soviet Union, The Library of Congress (LC) has acquired and
made available microfilm copies of a key collection of
papers from the Communist Party of the United States of
America (CPUSA). The collection, say LC officials, secretly
shipped to the Soviet Union for safekeeping more than 50
years ago, contains more than 435,000 frames of material on
326 reels, shedding new light on a fascinating, contentious
period in American history from 1919 to 1944. According to
Mark Rozenzweig, chief librarian and archivist for the
Reference Center of Marxist Studies, an independent
educational institution with custodianship of CPUSA's
documentation and records, the LC acquisition raises
serious ethical and legal questions.
According to Rosenzweig, the vast collection of CPUSA
papers were shipped to the former USSR to protect members
from raids by the U.S. government. And the decision to make
these papers public, he claims, should have been made by
CPUSA or, at the very least, in consultation with
CPUSA. "These are the papers of a continuously existing and
still functioning American organization," wrote Rosenzweig
in a letter sent to LC officials questioning the
acquisition. "There has been, as far as I know, no
consultation with CPUSA about the disposition or further
distribution of these records." Rosenzweig asserts that
the "new Russian government" took control of the CPUSA
papers without warrant and that their dealings with LC were
in "violation of ethical practices, if not possibly
illegal." Rosenzweig has asked LC for evidence of
provenance and documentation of "legitimately accessioning
and processing this material" by the Russian government.
At press time, officials at the LC said they had not yet
received Rosenzweig's letters.
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LC DEFENDS ACQUISITION OF COMMUNIST COLLECTION
The Library of Congress last week defended its acquisition
of a collection of papers from the Communist Party of the
USA (CPUSA). The acquisition came under fire last week when
Mark Rosenzweig, chief archivist of the CPUSA, questioned
both the legality and the ethics of the
acquisition. "Control and ownership of [the collection] is
a matter of Russian law," said LC spokesperson Helen
Dalrymple. "The formal agreement on the microfilming signed
in December 1998 between the Library of Congress and the
Russian State Archives of Social and Political History
guarantees that it has the right to copy and transmit to
the Library microform copies of the documents indicated."
Rosenzweig, however, was quick to point out that the
Russian Government that sold the microfilm copies of the
papers to the LC is not the same government that took the
papers for "safekeeping" during the period 1919-1944 (see
LJ Academic Newswire 2/6/01).
"One has the impression that these papers of the CPUSA are
being treated as the booty of the Cold War," claims
Rosenzweig. "The Russian government which took control of
these papers did so without warrant, with no discussion
with or even notification of the CPUSA and I believe this,
as well as their dealings with LC, is in violation of
ethical archival practice, if not possibly illegal."
Rosenzweig said the CPUSA, at the very least, should have
been consulted in the disposition of the papers, a claim
dismissed by LC officials. "The CPUSA had no role to play
in the process." said LC's Dalrymple, adding that control
over the papers rests with the Russian State Archives of
Social and Political History and is controlled by Russian
law.
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COMMUNIST PARTY CHIEF MULLING SUIT AGAINST LC
The LJ Academic Newswire has learned that the Communist
Party of the United States (CPUSA) is consulting with
attorneys regarding the Library of Congress's (LC) purchase
of an archive of microfilmed Communist Party USA documents
from a Russian archive. Shortly after LC announced the
acquisition, Mark Rosenzweig, an archivist of CPUSA
materials, questioned both the legality and the ethics of
the acquisition, saying the Russian government did not have
the right to sell the CPUSA papers to LC. LC officials
maintain that "control and ownership of [the collection] is
a matter of Russian law." (See LJ Academic Newswire
2/13/01).
"We do want to pursue a remedy," confirmed Sam Webb, Chair
of the CPUSA. "We don't quite know what that remedy is. We
are doing some consulting with some attorneys and with some
of our leadership to embark on what we ought to pursue at
this point." First, says Webb, the party is planning to
send a letter to LC officials requesting that they turn the
documents over to the party of their own volition, a
proposal with which Webb says he doubts LC will
comply. "This is our heritage," noted Webb. "This is the
history of our party." Webb was elected to lead the party
after the October 2000 passing of leader Gus Hall, who was
90.