Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections
The Vanguard Collection (2005-009)
The Vanguard was a progressive student newspaper at Brooklyn College, active from the mid 1930s to 1950 when it was shut down by the Faculty-Student Committee on Publications. The paper had come under fire from the administration after publishing articles critical of Brooklyn College President Harry Gideonse, after which its charter was revoked, with its business manager and five of its student editors suspended.[1] The paper was reinstated a few months later by the Faculty-Student Committee on Publications on the stipulation that the paper would publish opposing editorials in their entirety whenever Vanguard expressed views on topics deemed controversial. This same committee claimed that this rule had been violated and once again revoked their charter, later approving the charter for the Kingsman to replace the Vanguard. Editorial members briefly published the off-campus independent distribution Draugnav in May 1950 after the first suspension, accusing President Gideonse of attempting to silence criticism of his policies. The unofficial Campus News was similarly briefly published in the Fall of 1950 by ousted Vanguard staff.[2]
This collection includes correspondence to and from Brooklyn College President Gideonse, press clippings and articles about the suspension in publications like The New York Times, various fliers and handbills criticizing the administration’s repression, and issues of the Vanguard itself (as well as Draugnav). These issues were published between 1937 and 1950, several of those in the collection are only partial.
The Vanguard Oral Histories (2007-005)
The Vanguard Oral Histories are interviews with Brooklyn College graduates who were staff members of the Vanguard, conducted in 2001. In addition to the tapes and consent forms, the collection also includes press clippings and correspondence between various people involved in the events leading up to the Vanguard’s suspension in the 1950s. Excerpts of some of these oral histories and other contextual information can be found at Student Voices: Brooklyn College Oral Histories on World War II and the McCarthy Era, a website created in collaboration with the American Social History Project. As of December 2025, Brooklyn College archivists are working to make the oral histories available in their entirety on JSTOR.
Brooklyn College Student Newspapers
The majority of Brooklyn College’s student newspapers are available on JSTOR. This includes Vanguard, as well as The Beacon (1930-1942), Pioneer (1926-1936), and Spotlight (1927-1936), all of which touch on student demonstrations, anti-fascist and anti-war movements, labor organizing at Brooklyn College, the struggle for academic freedom, and investigations of faculty accused of Communist Party membership.
Periodicals Collection (2016-007)
This collection includes the publication The Staff, distributed monthly by the BC branch of the Communist Party from May 1935 to March 1939. Also represented is the UAR Record (Bulletin of the Union Against Reaction). This publication “arose out of an insistent need felt by a number of teachers at Brooklyn College for an organization which would take cognizance of, and effective action to combat, the increasingly frequent and ominous attacks on academic freedom” (Vol 1, No 1). Frederic Ewen, a Brooklyn College Professor who would later resign rather than testify before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, was the Chair, and David McKelvy White was a committee member. McKelvy White fought alongside other CUNY staff, students, and alumni in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in support of the Spanish Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War.[3] Brooklyn College also has issues of the Student Review, a publication of the National Student League, in the BC Library’s Special Collections (a full run can be found at CCNY).
The Papers of Rhoda (Hendrick) Karpatkin (2001-002)
Rhoda (Hendrick) Karpatkin was a journalism major at Brooklyn College in the late 1940s to early 1950s. She was involved with the Young Progressives of America newspaper and its Brooklyn College chapter, as well as the Vanguard. This collection includes correspondence between student organizers (some from Karpatkin herself) and college administration, including some with the chairman on the FSCA (Faculty on Student Committee on Student Activities) and the Young Progressives of America; leaflets and pamphlets regarding class stoppages and information about students’ civil liberties being violated; press clippings from the 1940s describing student arrests, suspensions, class stoppages, and probations.
The Papers of Dr. Harry Slochower (#88-007)
Harry Slochower taught German literature, comparative literature, and philosophy at Brooklyn College from 1930 until 1952 when he was called before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS, also known as the McCarran Committee) for “subversive activities.” He initially faced accusations of being a member in the Communist party in the 1940s; he denied the claims though never denied his interest in Marxist theory and sympathy for the Communist party platform. During his hearing, he refused to state whether or not he had been a Communist, invoking the 5th amendment. He was dismissed, sued the College and won, was briefly reinstated and given back pay, and then suspended on charges that he had made false statements under oath, after which he ultimately resigned.
Series 14 of his collection covers material regarding the Rapp-Coudert/McCarran court proceedings, including correspondence and notes, hearing transcripts and other documents related to the investigation, press clippings, and material accessed through a FOIA request.
The Papers of Madeline R. Robinton (2006-026)
Madeline Russel Robinton taught at Brooklyn College from 1931 until her retirement in 1976. Series II of her collection includes materials related to these years at Brooklyn College, including legal documents regarding the firing of several Brooklyn College professors and faculty publications such as the Brooklyn College Union Bulletin and The Staff newsletter.
Office of the President (#91-032)
The Office of the President collection contains a number of subject files from various Brooklyn College Presidents from throughout their tenure.
Of particular note is Box 536, which encompasses files related to the Teachers Union from the late 1930s through the late 1960s, including their charges against President Gideonse in 1946; Box 583 which covers Student Organizations active from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s; and Box 690 which contains files related to the Young Communist League at BC (1940 and 1943).
“Sub-group LXVII: Red Scare and Rapp Coudert” includes Boxes 747 through 756 and covers a broad range of materials including files related to organizations like the American Student Union, Association of Instructors and Tutors, Young Communist League, Student League of America, and more; an extensive collection of progressive newspapers, bulletins, newsletters, and other publications (including Vanguard); clippings, fliers, and handbills related to student protest and anti-war demonstrations; various materials related to investigations and hearings of “subversive activities”, including Dies Committee and Rapp-Coudert materials; correspondence with Brooklyn College President Gideonse; and documents related to various committees such as the Faculty Student Committee on Student Activities.
The Papers of BC President Harry D. Gideonse (#90-017)
Harry D. Gideonse was the President of Brooklyn College from 1939 until 1966. His legacy remains divisive, and for many leftist student and faculty organizers, his crusade to protect Brooklyn College from Communist ideology created an atmosphere hostile to free speech and academic freedom. He had substantial control over Brooklyn College’s functions, insisting on condition of his appointment that he would have the power to appoint deans and that faculty chair elections were to be considered nominations rather than binding. He also saw himself as responsible for developing not only his students’ intellectual needs but providing social and moral guidance as well. This resulted in committees created to surveil student activities and impose regulations intended to crack down on left wing student clubs and student journalism.[4] His relationship to faculty was similar, he encouraged and facilitated the investigations of faculty members suspected of Communist Party membership by the Rapp-Coudert Committee and later the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee.[5]
This collection contains references to his views on the threat of Communism in the American education system throughout his correspondence, professional speeches and articles found in Sub-Groups I through III.
BC Center for Academic Freedom (#92-066)
The Center for Academic Freedom (initially the Frederic Ewen Center for Academic Freedom) was proposed by the Brooklyn College Library in 1989 to document the struggle for academic freedom in the 1950s, and to provide opportunities for research and education around the impact of the House Un-American Activities investigations in higher education nationwide. 1990, the Kurz Foundation committed funds to support the center’s creation, however later that year, conflict over the governance of the center resulted in the withdrawal of funding. Archival materials that had belonged to Frederic Ewen, Brooklyn College professor who had himself been forced to resign from Brooklyn College following his refusal to participate in the McCarran investigations in 1952[6], were removed and placed in NYU’s Tamiment Library (see “External Resources”).
What remains of the collection at Brooklyn College is an oral history project with professors from Brooklyn College, Queens College, and City College who were affected by the anti-Communist hearings and investigations of the 1940s and 1950s. The collection includes audio and video tapes of interviews, with some accompanying documents such as personal papers, correspondence, newsletters, pamphlets, clippings and periodicals, books, reports, and some copies of government and committee records.
Brooklyn College Student Flyers and Posters Collection (#90-015)
The Brooklyn College Student Flyers and Posters Collection contains material that documents demonstrations and rallies that took place on Brooklyn College’s campus since its founding in 1930. They include fliers, handbills, and posters that depict student involvement in anti-war and anti-fascist demonstrations, organizing around the defense of faculty and academic freedom, and many other progressive causes.
At the time of publishing this guide, the Brooklyn College Archives have additional unprocessed materials related to these subjects that may be available for research. Marianne LaBatto, Associate Archivist at Brooklyn College, has studied this era at Brooklyn College extensively and would be an excellent resource for any researcher.
Contact Information
Advance appointments are required to view materials at these archives. Once you’ve determined which materials you’d like to view, please use the following contact information to make an appointment prior to visiting the archives.
Website: https://libguides.brooklyn.cuny.edu/asc/
Email: specialcollections@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Phone: 718-951-5346
Location: Brooklyn College Library, Room 130
2900 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11210
Notes
BROOKLYN COLLEGE SUSPENDS 6 YOUTHS; Student Editors Disciplined After Issuing Student Paper Following Ban. (1950, May 21). New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1950/05/21/archives/brooklyn-college-suspends-6-youths-student-editors-disciplined.html↑
M. Labatto, personal communication, November 24, 2025. ↑
M. Labatto, personal communication, November 4, 2025. ↑
LaBatto, M. (n.d.) In loco parentis: Harry Gideonse and the Making of Brooklyn College. Countdown to 2030, CUNY Academic Commons. https://countdown2030.commons.gc.cuny.edu/the-1940s/in-loco-parentis-harry-gideonse-and-the-making-of-brooklyn-college/↑
Historical Background – The McCarthy Era Vanguard Closing. (n.d.). Student Voices: Brooklyn College Oral Histories on World War II and the McCarthy Era. https://oralhistory.ashp.cuny.edu/pages/background/bgHistBack2.html↑
Meyers, K. (2003). Guide to the Frederic Ewen Papers [finding aid]. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University. https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/tam_277/↑