Georgia Nigger

urn:taro:utexas.hrc.00126 John L. Spivak: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Jennifer B. Patterson University of Texas at Austin 1993 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, September 2000. Finding aid written in English. Tue Jul 22 15:09:02 CDT 2003 urn:taro:utexas.hrc.00126 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (20030505). Descriptive Summary Spivak, John L. (John Louis), 1897-1981 John L. Spivak Papers 1929-1948 Manuscript Collection MS-03939 2 boxes (.84 linear feet) Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin These papers document the research, writing, and response to Spivak's book Georgia Nigger (1932), a title he chose to be deliberately provocative. The papers consist of notes, draft manuscripts, and newspaper clippings created and collected by Spivak, an American journalist known for his investigative reporting and support of socialism. English Biographical Sketch

John Louis Spivak was born on June 13, 1897, and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. After a series of factory jobs, Spivak began a career in journalism as a police reporter with the New Haven Union. His antipathy for the patriotic hysteria of the late 1910s, coupled with an interest in socialism, politicized Spivak, who used his investigative skills to expose corruption and venality in American business and government. By 1919, Spivak was working as a freelance reporter for the American Socialist Party's paper, The Call, where he covered labor unrest in the West Virginia mines, going so far as to personally ask the White House to investigate the murders of unionizers and the Sacco-Vanzetti murder trial.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s Spivak travelled around the country and the world investigating corruption and inequality. He successfully proved that a New York police commissioner's evidence that labor unions were receiving funds from the U.S.S.R. were forged. He also investigated living conditions in Georgia prison camps and chain gangs, which he revealed in a book of fiction Georgia Nigger, a title he chose to be deliberately provocative. This book caused a sensation and is credited with curtailing the chain gang system in the South.

In the 1930s, Spivak investigated the rise of fascism. He was particularly interested in fascist infiltration in the United States, and worked with several anti-fascist and Jewish groups to expose German and Japanese propagandists and spies. His 1934 book Plotting America's Pogroms investigated Nazi groups in the United States, and he continued his reports with Europe Under the Terror (1936), which interviewed members of the anti-Nazi underground in Rome, Vienna, Berlin, Warsaw, and Prague. Spivak exposed a group of fascist sympathizers who were trying to foment a revolution in Mexico in order to divert American attention from Germany and Japan. His 1940 book, The Shrine of the Silver Dollar, led to the downfall of the anti-Semitic broadcaster, Father Charles Coughlin. Spivak's many exposés led the crusader and muckraker Lincoln Steffens to name him the best of us.

Spivak retired from journalism in the 1960s and published an autobiography, A Man in His Time, in 1967. However, two years later, he became consumer affairs editor at a Pennsylvania newspaper, where he exposed a corrupt magazine sales scheme, which led to a new state consumer protection law. Spivak died September 30, 1981, in Philadelphia.

Scope and Contents

Although he had a long and productive career as a journalist, this collection reflects Spivak's work on only one book. The two boxes of reports, correspondence, creative works, and scrapbook material, 1929-1948 (bulk 1929-1933), document the publication of his deliberately provocatively titled book, Georgia Nigger, a condemnation of the racist brutality in the Georgia prison system. The material is arranged in three series: I. Documentation of Georgia Prison System, 1929-1931 (2 folders); II. Drafts and Other Working Materials, undated (9 folders); and III. Reactions, 1932-1947 (7 folders)

Series I. Documentation of Georgia Prison Conditions includes reports and correspondence taken from Georgia state prison records. Spivak used these in the appendix of the book to document the conditions he fictionalized. Of particular interest are disciplinary and whipping reports, death notices of inmates, and written appeals from prisoners to the Prison Commissioner of Georgia, along with his responses. Much of the material is duplicated by photostats.

Series II. Drafts and Other Working Materials contains Spivak's notes, drafts, and prepublication materials associated with the publication of the book in 1932. Spivak's earliest attempts to expose the prison conditions were in the form of notes on prison conditions and African-Americans, cut into strips with handwritten categorizations like camp,migration,torture, and peonage. Two folders in this series contain these notes, as well as other research findings about African-Americans in the South. Four folders contain Spivak's first draft of the book, which is heavily corrected and modified. Materials originally paperclipped together by Spivak have been kept together in mylar sleeves. Many of these contain the paper strips found in his earliest notes, and illustrate how Spivak's historical and sociological research became a book of fiction. The series also contains two later drafts of the book, also annotated, as well as prepublication materials, including American and English edition dust jackets, and galley proofs. Of note, box 2, folder 1 includes an essay Foreword from life by Langston Hughes which was published as the Russian language foreword to a 1933 translation, Negr iz dzhordzhii.

Series III. Reactions consists of press releases, book reviews, newspaper articles, orrespondence, and lecture announcements that show how the book was received in the United States and abroad. Spivak's book set off a storm of controversy when it was first released, as is illustrated by the many book reviews and newspaper articles found in the series. Of particular interest is the correspondence (2 folders), since the book attracted mail from sympathetic persons and organizations, and from angry Southerners. Much of the correspondence centers around the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union, both of which distributed copies of the book, and condemned the prison conditions that Spivak described. Correspondents of note include Will W. Alexander, Roger Nash Baldwin, Countee Cullen, Michael Gold, Walter White, George Foster Peabody, John Cowper Powys, and Mary Heaton Vorse. Scattered throughout the series in articles and correspondence is evidence of Spivak's efforts to halt the extradition of Robert E. Burns, author of I Was a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang.

A strength of the Spivak collection derives from its illustration of the creative process. Series II. traces the book from the author's earliest notes to the galley proofs. The collection also reflects conditions and movements in the United States in the early 1930s, particularly in the progressive community.

Acquisition

Purchase, 1968 (R4276)

Access:

Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials.

Use Policies:

Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of Texas at Austin assume no responsibility.

Restrictions on Use:

Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom Center's Open Access and Use Policies.

Preferred Citation:

John L. Spivak Papers (Manuscript Collection MS-003939). Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.

Processed by

Jennifer B. Patterson, 1993

Related Material

Related to the Spivak Papers are 43 prints and negatives taken by Spivak documenting Georgia prison conditions and African-American life in the state. These were separated from the collection when it was first purchased, and are located in the Ransom Center's John L. Spivak Literary File Photography Collection (PH-02721).

Index Terms Correspondents Alexander, William Winton, 1884-1956. Baldwin, Roger Nash, 1884- . Burns, Robert Elliott. Burns, Vincent Godfrey, 1893- . Carmon, Walt. Cecil, Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, viscount, 1864-1958. Cleghorn, Sarah Norcliffe, 1876-1959. Cullen, Countee, 1903-1946. Gold, Michael, 1894-1967. Lehman, Herbert H. (Herbert Henry), 1878-1963. Moss, Gordon W. Murphy, Carl. North, Joseph. Peabody, George Foster, 1852-1938. Powys, John Cowper, 1872-1963. Reavey, George, 1907- . Vann, Robert L., 1887-1940. Vorse, Mary Heaton, 1874-1966. Walters, Basil Leon, 1896-1975. Waymack, W. W. (William Wesley), 1888-1960. White, Walter Francis, 1893-1955. American Civil Liberties Union. Des Moines Register and Tribune Company. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Prison Commission of Georgia. Subjects Afro-American prisoners--Georgia. Convict labor--Georgia. Prisons--Georgia. Document types Book reviews. Death records. Editorials. First drafts. Galley proofs. Newspapers. Photographs. John L. Spivak Papers--Folder List Series I. Documentation of Georgia Prison Conditions, 1929-1931 1 1 Reports 1 2 Correspondence, 1930-1931 Series II. Drafts and Other Working Materials, undated 1 3-4 Notes Early draft 1 5 Chapters 1-5 1 6 Chapters 6-10 1 7-8 Chapters 11-17 2 1-2 Drafts, including Langston Hughes Foreword from life, undated 2 3 Prepublication materials Series III. Reactions, 1932-1947 2 4 Press releases 2 5 Book reviews 2 6 Articles, 1932-1937 2 7 Articles, undated 2 8 Correspondence A-J, 1932-1934 2 9 Correspondence K-unidentified, 1932-1933 2 10 Lectures and interviews John L. Spivak Papers--Index of Correspondents Agence Littéraire Internationale--2.8 Ainer(?), Henry--1.2 Alexander, Will W. (Commission on Interracial Cooperation) (Filed under NAACP)--2.9 American Civil Liberties Union--2.8 Arbeiter Photo (Berlin)--2.8 Baldwin, Roger N. (American Civil Liberties Union)--2.8 Ballou, Robert (Brewer, Warren & Putnam, Inc.)--2.8 Barnett, C.A. (Associated Negro Press)--2.8 Battle, George--1.2 Brown, Eugene--1.2 Burns, Robert Elliott--2.8 Burns, Vincent Godfrey (Union Church)--2.8 Carmon, Walt (International Literature)--2.8 Cecil, viscount (League of Nations) (Filed under NAACP)--2.9 Chauvent, Ernest ( Le Nouvelliste) (Filed under NAACP)--2.9 Cleghorn, Sarah N.--2.8 Cohen, Elliot E. (National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners)--2.9 Cromford, George--1.2 Cowles, John ( Des Moines Register)--2.8 Cullen, Countee--2.8 Daily Mirror--2.8 Davin, Tom (Hearst's International)--2.8 Des Moines Register--2.8 Fullilove, H.M. (St. Mary's Hospital) (Filed under F. Mallon)--1.2, 2.9 Godley, Neeley--1.2 Gold, Michael--2.8 Handler, Charles--2.8 Henson, W.C. (Finley & Henson) (Filed under ACLU)--2.8 Hikida, Y.--2.9 Kelleher, Agnes A. ( Des Moines Register)--2.8 Kelley, William M. ( Amsterdam News) (Filed under NAACP)--2.9 Klarin, A. (Bibliographisches Institut)--2.9 Lehman, Herbert H.--2.9 Little, Willie--1.2 Lopashov, S. (State Central Library)--2.9 Mallon, Frank E.--2.9 Moore, Hon A. Harry (Filed under NAACP)--2.9 Moss, Gordon W. (American Civil Liberties Union)--2.8 Murphy, Carl ( The Afro-American)--2.8 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People--2.9 North, Joseph ( Labor Defender) (Filed under NAACP)--2.9 Peabody, George Foster--2.9 Pocklington, G.R.--2.9 Powys, John Cowper--2.9 Prison Commission of Georgia--1.2 Reavey, G. (Bureau of Litteraire Europeen)--2.8 Rose, Ernestine (Harlem Adult Education Committee)--2.8 S(h)ilensky, Morris (Hays, St. John, Abramson) (Filed under ACLU)--2.8 Smith, L.T. (Filed under NAACP)--2.9 Stanley, Vivian (Prison Commission of GA)--1.2 Stoklitsky,?--2.9 Thornton, S.W.--1.2 Vann, Robert L. ( Pittsburgh Courier)--2.9 Vorse, Mary Heaton--2.9 Walters, Basil L. ( Des Moines Register)--2.8 Waymack, W.W. ( Des Moines Register)--2.8 Wells, O. (Worker's School)--2.9 Wendell, Pauline--2.9 West, T. Newell (Public Works and Roads, Ga.)--1.2 White, Walter F. (NAACP)--2.9 Zipper, Hans (Osterr, Rote Hilfe)--2.9