Scope and arrangement
The bulk of the papers consist of correspondence and writings. Included also are papers as university professor, as student, personal miscellany, research notes, and printed matter. The correspondence (1950-1985) which is sorted only by year is both general and personal and consists of in-coming and out-going correspondence mainly with historians, college and university professors (of history), academic colleagues, graduate students, editors, his literary agent and friends and associates. There is some family correspondence with his wife and children (beginning especially in the 1970s). Many of the correspondents are identified only by first name. The correspondence reflects Gutman's career as graduate student, historian, scholar, lecturer, university professor and researcher. Much of the correspondence relates to methodological and historiographical problems connected with the history of the black family and the working class in America and with the researching, writing and publication of works by Gutman and others working in the same fields. Other matters covered include recommendations for academic appointments, arrangements for seminars, conferences and colloquia grants and fellowships, matters of academic administration, his editorship of Labor History, national politics and personal matters. Included is correspondence with his dissertation supervisor (Howard K. Beale) and correspondence while he was on tour in Africa and while he was a visiting professor in Paris. Correspondents include Milton Cantor, Merle Curti, Michael Feldberg, John Hope Franklin, Michael A. Gordon, Samuel P. Hays, H. Wayne Morgan, Richard B. Morris, Howard H. Quint, Richard Sennett, Martin J. Sklar, Charles Vevier, William Appleman Williams, C. Vann Woodward, and Alfred Young.
The bulk of the papers as university professor consist of correspondence and papers kept by Gutman while on the faculty of Fairleigh Dickinson University. Included is correspondence of Gutman with officials of the University and with the American Association of University Professors regarding violations of academic freedom, disputes about academic policy, allegations of autocratic administration of the University by its president (Peter Sammartino), and the denial of a promotion to Gutman. There are also papers relative to Gutman's other professorships, including proposed courses at the New School for Social Research. The papers are unsorted.
The papers as student (1949-52) include term papers, essays, reviews, lecture notes, and final examinations written by Gutman for graduate courses in history and philosophy at Columbia University. There are also records of preliminary examinations taken for the doctoral degree.
The personal miscellany includes a few royalty statements and contracts with publishers, a pocket diary (1959) kept while on trip to Africa, personal bills and receipts, a few snapshots of Gutman and others, and records of college grades. The research notes are for his writings in social history. The printed matter includes clips of reviews of Gutman's books, flyers announcing his lectures, and reprints of scholarly articles by others.
Additions 87 M 18; 87 M 75.
These additional papers consist of correspondence, papers as university professor, papers as student, personal miscellany, writings, research notes, printed ephemera, bills and receipts, and unsorted papers. The correspondence (1950-85) which is sorted only by year and which is similar in content at the previous accession is mainly with historians, professors of history, academic colleagues and graduate students. Included is correspondence relative to Dr. Vera Shlakman who was dismissed from the faculty of Queens College for refusing to testify about her political beliefs before a U. S. Senate subcommittee on internal security. There is also correspondence relative to Gutman's service on the board of the New York Council for the Humanities and some correspondence with historians and students in the People's Republic of China. Correspondents include Howard K. Beale, Ira Berlin, Milton Cantor, Michael Feldberg, John Hope Franklin, Robert W. Fogel, Eugene Genovese, Aileen S. Kraditor, Richard B. Morris, C. Vann WOODWARD, and Alfred S. Young. Many correspondents are identified only by first name. A few items of correspondence in Box 20 have been sealed and restricted until the year 2020.
The papers as university professor relate to Gutman's professorships at Fairleigh Dickinson University, University of Rochester, State University of New York at Buffalo, and as visiting professor at Smith College. Included are copies of syllabi of courses given, reading lists, texts of end of course examinations, administrative memoranda, reports, and some correspondence. Included are papers relative to the German-American Symposium, Baltimore (1984), the Conference on the Historiography of Education and Work, Stanford (1979), and the Conference of American and Hungarian Historians, Budapest (1982). There are also papers relative to the American Studies Delegation to China (1984) in which Gutman participated, and papers relative to the American Working Class History Project at the City University of New York. A few papers have been sealed and restricted until the year 2020 and placed in Box 20.
The papers as student include syllabi, notes and term papers kept at Queens College, Columbia University, and the University of Wisconsin. Included are typescripts of Gutman's masters thesis ("Early Effects of the Depression of 1873 upon the Working Classes in New York City") and of his doctoral thesis ("Social and Economic Structure and Depression: American Labor in 1873 and 1874").
The personal miscellany includes address and pocket memorandum books, membership certificates, and photographs of Gutman, his family and associates. There is also an audio tape recording (3" reel) recorded 2/12/71 (unidentified as to content).
The writings consist of an original typescript and galley proofs with editorial corrections of The Black Family..., unsorted drafts of earlier chapter versions; and typescript (and reprints) of Gutman's scholarly articles, monographs, conference papers, and reviews. There are also scripts of writings by others.
The research notes concern mainly slavery, coal miners and industrial labor in the Gilded Age.
The printed ephemera includes clippings of reviews of The Black Family... The unsorted papers consist mainly of unidentified papers and fragments of notes, writings, memoranda.
One folder of oversized genealogical charts prepared for his book The Black Family... has been filed in the charter case.