Resource of the Week
By Shirl Kennedy, Deputy Editor

Our regular ResourceShelf readers know we have a weakness for unusual digital library collections. This week, we’ll introduce you to one such collection and take a look at what else is available from the same institution.

Left Wing Politics–United States–Ephemera
Source: Richard Oestreicher, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Pittsburgh (hosted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Digital Research Library)
American Left Ephemera Collection
“The collection of American Left ephemera on this website reflects the personal collection of Richard J. Oestreicher, Associate Professor within the History department at the University of Pittsburgh. The material primarily documents three of the largest and most influential left-wing organizations in the twentieth century in the U.S.: Socialist Party of America (SPUSA), Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA), and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Digitized items include flyers, leaflets, pamphlets, posters, postcards, illustrations, photographs, pins, ribbons, and miscellaneous objects.”

A good place to start browsing here at Oestreicher’s overview of the collection. It talks about left and right “political designations,” which first came about during the French Revolution “when the Jacobins sat on the left in the National Assembly and the Girodins on the right.” (Who knew?) He describes major left-wing organizations in 20th century America, and some background on the collection itself.

The collection comprises 125 objects; you can search by keyword or browse thumbnails. Alternately, you can browse by organization:
+ Communist Party USA
+ Social Democratic Party
+ Socialist Labor Party
+ Socialist Party USA
+ Students for a Democratic Society

You can also browse by topic:
+ African-Americans and the Left
+ Ethnic Radicalism
+ The New Left
+ Spanish Civil War
+ Vietnam War

Each image record includes its title, creator, description, format, date, rights, and other information. You can view images in several sizes and/or zoom in and out on selected parts by using on-screen button options. You’ll also find annotated links to related collections.

While you’re here, you may want to take a look at some of the other collections put together by the Digital Research Library of the University of Pittsburgh’s University Library System. The Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections are particularly nice. Baseball fans might be interested in this one. You can search any or all of the collections from a single page.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 27th, 2006 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.