{"value"=>"<p>Ronald Sanders was born on July 7, 1932 in Union City, New Jersey. His father was English-born Tin Pan Alley musician George H. Sanders, who penned the nursery rhyme, <span class=\"title\">I'm a Little Teapot.</span> His mother, Rose Rachlin, was the daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants. They met and married in New York in 1925. They had two children, Marilyn and Ronald.</p> <p>After Ronald's birth the family moved to the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, N.Y. He attended public schools between 1938 and 1950 and then continued on to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, in 1950. He was awarded the 1950 George F. Baker Scholarship. Sanders majored in English literature and studied with eminent poet and critic, <span class=\"persname\">John Crowe Ransom</span>. He served as the editor of the school's literary magazine. In 1953 he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.</p> <p>Later that year Sanders entered the U.S. Army. He completed his college degree in 1954 at the end of the first of his two years of military service, where he served as a corporal. Free time was spent discussing politics and culture with others in the barracks, publishing the 28th Infantry newspaper, and working with a local theatre company. During boot camp, soldiers were required to fill out various forms, including one for their dog tags. One question asked for their preference of religious affiliation. Though he was raised in a home where neither Anglican nor Jewish parental faith traditions were practiced, the only relatives Sanders knew were his mother's warm Jewish family. He chose to place a Jewish identifier on his dog tag. This decision proved to be significant life choice.</p> <p>Returning to New York in 1955 following his Army discharge, Sanders considered law and medicine as possible careers paths. But Sanders wanted to write and study history. Reasoning that a career in academia would allow him to do both, he pursued that path by studying American history at Columbia University. His subject interests, socialism and Jewish history, became intertwined in his Master's thesis, <span class=\"title\">Abraham Cahan and The Jewish Daily Forward.</span> He completed his Master of Arts in 1957 and continued with doctoral studies in early modern European history at Columbia, while teaching history at Queens College in the evening. French socialist Jean Jaurès became the focus for Sanders' dissertation studies. In 1960 he won a Fulbright Fellowship to live to Paris and research his subject. During this year abroad Sanders took advantage of a group excursion to the Soviet Union, and concluded his year away with two months in Israel. These experiences would also have significant influences on the course of his life.</p> <p>Sanders resumed his position at Queens College upon returning home, but his travels had left a strong impression on him, particularly an experience in the Soviet Union. While in Moscow he visited an old synagogue where he began chatting, in Yiddish, with an elderly man. They discussed current life in the city and times past. Sometime later Sanders, reflecting back on this encounter, wrote that he felt he had seen the Jewish future while visiting Israel, but had connected with a living Jewish past in Moscow.</p> <p>Prior to his travels abroad Sanders had established himself as an writer by publishing book reviews in professional journals. In 1962 the monthly Jewish Review, <span class=\"title\">Midstream,</span>chose him to write the main article in their issue celebrating the 100th aniversary of the publication of Moses Hess' <span class=\"title\">Rome and Jerusalem,</span>which was the call for the establishment of a Jewish state. The success of that article led to another on the American Yiddish press, a familiar subject thanks to his Master's thesis.</p> <p>Sanders continued to teach, but academic advancement was taking a back seat to non-academic writing projects. In 1963 he took a year's leave to live in Israel, study Hebrew and work on the archeological dig at Masada, hoping to turn his experiences there into a book. He returned again to Queens College at the end of this leave, but it became apparent to the school administration that he was not going to complete his doctoral studies and they did not offer him a contract for the new academic year</p> <p>His literary abilities established, Sanders was offered and accepted a position as an Assistant Editor at <span class=\"title\">Midstream.</span> He worked there steadily until 1975, the last three years as Editor-in-Chief. His position at <span class=\"title\">Midstream</span> did not, however, curtail other writing projects. In 1966 Sanders published <span class=\"title\">Israel: The View from Masada,</span>the memoir of his experiences in Israel. His next volume, <span class=\"title\">Downtown Jews: Portrait of an Immigrant Generation,</span> was published in 1969. By the time he left <span class=\"title\">Midstream</span> to write full-time, Sanders had published over 22 principal articles and numerous reviews, editorials, and occasional pieces for that magazine and several articles for <span class=\"title\">Commentary.</span>He had contributed to three volumes on Jewish history and the Middle East, co-edited an anthology, and published three of his own full-length works. He had also written dozens of short articles and book reviews that were published in periodicals such as <span class=\"title\">The New York Times Book Review,</span> <span class=\"title\">The New Republic,</span>and <span class=\"title\">The Nation,</span>among others. In 1970 he was awarded the B'nai B'rith Book Award .</p> <p>As a freelance writer Sanders published five additional major works on Jewish subjects, including <span class=\"title\">The High Walls of Jerusalem: A History of the Balfour Declaration and the Birth of the British Mandate for Palestine</span> (1984), considered by many to be the definitive work on that subject. He continued to write and publish short pieces and became an independent lecturer for convocations or college classes and Jewish community centers. He was a visiting lecturer at Haverford College in the 1984 - 1985 academic year and taught a class at the Bennington Writers Workshop in Vermont in the summer of 1985.</p> <p>In 1989 Sanders was invited to apply for the B.G. Rudolph Chair in Jewish Studies at Syracuse University. After several rounds of lectures and presentations, Sanders was offered the Chairmanship for the 1988-89 academic year. He delivered the annual B.G. Rudolph Chair in Jewish Studies Lecture on October 29, 1988 on the subject of <span class=\"title\">The Americanization of Isaac Bashevis Singer.</span> He intended this lecture to be the basis for his next full-length work, but it was not to be. Though he accepted the Chairmanship, he had to withdraw his acceptance soon after due to failing health. Sanders had been diagnosed with cancer. Though he continued writing, applied for and won a 1991-92 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to conduct research for the Singer book, he did not live to use it, succumbing to bone and liver cancer on January 11, 1991.</p> <p>Sanders married Beverly Gingold, a teacher and later an editor of American Crafts magazine, on March 19, 1967. They made their home in New York City. They have no children.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>The papers of Ronald Sanders (1951-1994; 22.5 lin. ft.) include correspondence; manuscript and typescript drafts of books, articles, and stories; notes and research materials for the same; newspaper and magazine clippings; memorabilia; artwork; sheet music; postcards; photographic prints and negatives; scrapbooks; and audiocassettes. Sanders' topics of interest were mainly historical and political. Socialism captured his attention as a young man, and was his focus throughout his formal education, including his doctoral dissertation subject. Later on, history, particularly Jewish history and culture, became his central focus.</p> <p>The Sanders Papers are a good example of a collection which documents the entire scope of one author's body of work. While the bulk of the materials are drafts and research notes for Sanders' mature, full length works (Boxes 6-40), there is significant documentation of stories and essays from his younger years. The collection includes many of his undergraduate class papers from English, Poetry, and History classes, as well as Philosophy and Political Science. Versions of the essay which he developed into his Masters' thesis, and the thesis itself, are also included (Box 41, folders 1 and 24 and Box 47, folders 3, 4, and 12). The collection has many of the book reviews and miscellaneous pieces he wrote throughout the years (Boxes 41-43), as well as drafts of many of the lectures that capped his career (Box 49 and 50).</p> <p>His work at <span class=\"title\">Midstream</span> is well documented with examples of articles he wrote for that publication (Box 5). Of note in the series is correspondence between Sanders and Editor <span class=\"persname\">Shlomo Katz,</span>including the dispute that led to Sanders' departure from the magazine. (Additional correspondence with Katz is found in the \"Individual Correspondence\" series, Box 1.) Several unpublished works, some incomplete, are also in the collection, including several chapters and notes from a murder mystery from his mature years (Boxes 45-46), one of just a few pieces of fiction by Sanders.</p> <p>For researchers curious about Sanders' personal life, the collection documents his non-literary pursuits as far back as high school. Series V, \"Personal and Other Items\" (Boxes 51-53) documents Sanders early interest in drawing and painting (Box 51, folder 4, Box 52, folder 8, and Box 53, 3 paintings). This series also includes materials and memorabilia from his year in France and his trips to the Soviet Union and Israel (Box 51, folder 11-12 and Box 52, folder 4). Letters from his parents (Box 2) shed light on his youth. The materials from individual correspondents of note (Box 1) include letters from long-term friends Bill Goldhurst and Uriel Tal as well as other literary friends and contacts.</p> <p>Sanders' memoir, <span class=\"title\">Reflections on a Teapot,</span> (Box 8-11) provides a first hand account of his childhood in Brooklyn and particularly the time he spent in the Army. There is very little else about his Army experience in this collection, outside of these chapters, a play program, and a review of theatrical productions in which Sanders had a part during his time in the Army (Box 51, folder 5 and Box 52, folder 10.)</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Ronald Sanders papers are arranged in six series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3617#c184675'>Series I. Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1953 - 1994</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The correspondence series is made up of two sub-series, Individuals (A-Z), and Personal/Professional. The Individuals sub-series includes correspondence with literary friends or figures of note, such as <span class=\"persname\">Elie Wiesel,</span> <span class=\"persname\">Shlomo Katz,</span>and <span class=\"persname\">Isaac Bashevis Singer,</span>or correspondence of a significant amount. These are arranged alphabetically by last name. The Personal/Professional sub-series is arranged chronologically. The Personal folders include correspondence from family and friends with subject matter dealing with life's everyday events. The earliest letters in the collection are from Sanders' parents. The Professional folders include materials from business associates and deals mostly with publishing matters. Additional correspondence from the following notables is found in: <span class=\"persname\">I.B. Singer,</span>Box 36, folders 10-11; <span class=\"persname\">Maurice Abravanel,</span> Box 19, folder 3; and <span class=\"persname\">Lotte Lenya,</span>Box 19, folder 2. The sub-series dates extend past Sanders' death in 1991 because it includes some correspondence to Beverly Sanders through 1994.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3617#c184769'>Series II. Midstream</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1962 - 1973</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of correspondence and articles, both those written by Sanders and those items which he may have received as the publication's editor. Of note is Box 5, folder 6, which contains correspondence between Sanders and <span class=\"persname\">Shlomo Katz,</span>representing the magazine's Board of Trustees, arguing over the publication's philosophical leanings and Sanders' editorial powers. Notes for Sanders' articles on György Lukács and Simon Wiesenthal's book, <span class=\"title\">Justice not Vengeance</span> are found in Box 48, folders 4 and 5.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3617#c184790'>Series III. Writings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1951 - 1991</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The largest and most significant series in this collection, this series is divided into seven sub-series. The Books sub-series (Boxes 6-40) includes drafts and research notes on almost all of Sanders' eight major works on Jewish history. No drafts of his first work, <span class=\"title\">Socialist Thought. A Documentary History,</span>are included, only a dust jacket. Some of the Book sub-series files included research materials such as small spiral notebooks of handwritten notes, and photocopies of documents and articles that Sanders studied as he worked. (Some are in foreign languages, e.g.: French.) Usually these materials are arranged with their respective titles. However, the materials in Boxes 38-40 contain unidentified research notebooks. Readers interested in materials for the book, <span class=\"title\">Shores of Refuge...,</span>and an unpublished fictional work, <span class=\"title\">The Bowery Gardens,</span>should review Box 40 as well.</p> <p>All of his full-length books were concerned, in some way, with Jewish history as a subject. Two of them, <span class=\"title\">Israel: a View from Masada,</span> and <span class=\"title\">Reflections on a Teapot,</span>are taken from Sanders' personal experiences. He examines the influences and events behind the Zionist movement in Britain and the founding of the State of Israel in the <span class=\"title\">High Walls of Jerusalem...</span> He discusses Jewish immigrant life in the East Side of New York in <span class=\"title\">The Downtown Jews,</span>and Jewish emigration over the a century in <span class=\"title\">Shores of Refuge.</span> A comparison between Jewish and African, and to some extent, Native American immigration is discussed in <span class=\"title\">Lost Tribes and Promised Lands.</span> His later books are biographies of prominent individuals, Kurt Weill and Isaac Bashevis Singer, though the latter was not published as a full-length book.</p> <p>Sanders created scrapbooks to chronicle several of his major works. They generally include a dust jacket, reviews of the book, significant correspondence about the book between the publisher and the author and congratulatory notes from friends and relatives. Two of these scrapbooks have been keep as they were created. For preservation reasons, the others were disassembled and the materials were placed in folders.</p> <p>The sub-series, Essays, Articles, and Stories, (Boxes 41-42) includes some articles that were expanded into longer pieces or book chapters. Several are labeled \"early writings,\" which is the term that appeared on label from the original envelope. Proposals (Box 44) contains the project descriptions Sanders wrote for his full-length books to present to publishers or major grant funding organizations, for monies to continue research. Unpublished Works include two full-length books and several short stories, all of which were labeled as unpublished works on their original folders.</p> <p>Sander's College Papers are arranged by class subject, if the class for which it was written was indicated on the cover or the container; if not, it was put in alphabetical order by title. Of note is the 1952 script for a musical drama for television, <span class=\"title\">They're Playing Our Song,</span> written by the Sanders father and son duo (Box 47, folder 26), and some research notes on Sanders' proposed Ph.D. dissertation subject, Jean Jaurès, (Box 47, folder 25).</p> <p>The Miscellaneous Items sub-series includes several notable items: a 1970 speech Sanders penned for <span class=\"persname\">Senator Eugene McCarthy</span>on US-Israeli relations, a poem written by Sanders and wife Beverly, transcripts of several radio interviews with Sanders after various book publications, and some translations of short stories and poetry.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3617#c185191'>Series IV. Teaching/Public Lectures</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1964 - 1989</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Most of the teaching materials in this series include class syllabi, lecture notes, correspondence and student notes to Sanders, test questions, and one class proposal. The series includes some student test papers, which are in \"Restricted Materials\" (Box 54). The lecture materials contain notes for lectures, the lectures themselves, or, in the case of The American Jewish Congress Travel Program, the flyer describing the lectures being offered, including one by Sanders.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3617#c185222'>Series V. Personal and Other Items</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1932 - 1991</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> This series includes some very interesting items that tell a little more about man rather than about his writing. As a young man Sanders enjoyed acting and drawing in addition to writing. This series includes both a clipping of a review of <span class=\"title\">The Crucible</span> from 1955-56 (Box 51, folder 5) and a program from a 1955-56 production of <span class=\"title\">On the Town,</span> (Box 52, folder 11), two of Sanders' acting experiences during his Army years.</p> <p>His artistic proclivities are documented in several places. The cover illustration of the sheet music of <span class=\"title\">The Clock Song,</span> written by George H. Sanders, is by son Ronald (Box 51, folder 4). A copy of his high school literary magazine includes an illustration by him (Box 52, folder 9). Box 53 contains three of his drawing and paintings. Items from his travels include excavation tokens from his archeological work at <span class=\"geogname\">Masada</span> (Box 52, folder 5), and travel documents and items from the France and the <span class=\"geogname\">USSR</span> from his Fulbright year, including some postcards of notable places in 1960s <span class=\"geogname\">Moscow</span> and a map of the city (Box 52, folders13-15).</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3617#c185255'>SERIES VI. AUDIOCASSETTES</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1972 - 1990</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Sanders used these cassettes to capture his interviews with people who had met or worked with writer Isaac Bashevis Singer. Many of the interviews involve four or more persons (for example, Ronald and Beverly Sanders, Isaac and Alma Singer, others in background), some of whom were uninvolved in the actual interview, but conversed among themselves, making the interviews somewhat difficult to hear. At the time of the interviews Singer was in poor health; wife Alma provided most of the information.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}