Meryl and Manny Sunshine papers

Collection

Identifier: HLL-2019-026

Staff Only

Content Description

The Meryl and Manny Sunshine papers, 1950-2002, undated, comprise convention and conference materials, leaflets, discussion bulletins, minutes, reports, memoranda, press releases, and subject files related to the activities and statuses of the Freedom Socialist Party, Radical Women, and the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party. Also included are membership documents, election materials, leaflets, photographs, convention documents, minutes, by-laws, platforms, reports, publications, and draft proposals regarding the Peace and Freedom Party, as well as one file regarding the incarceration of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Various subject files concerning political committees, such as the Ad Hoc Committee to Aid Journalists of Principle, the Los Angeles Conference on Revolutionary Regroupment, the Physicians Organizing Committee, and the Bay Area Supporters of the Mark Curtis Defense are present. The collection contains materials from conferences held by political and labor organizations, such as the Coalition of Labor Women and the Committees of Correspondence, as well as the “‘Progressive Politics in a Conservative Era,’ West Coast Conference on Socialism and Activism,” and a Jewish Feminist Conference, among others. Subject files concerning women and employment, as well as international politics and the environment are also present.

Dates

1950-2002
Majority of material found within ca. 1980-1995

Creator

Meryl Sunshine, 1931-2010 (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection material is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research, except for three restricted files.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Biographical / Historical

Meryl (1931-2010) and Manny Sunshine were socialist activists who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. They were members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) until 1968, when they left the organization after it expelled Arne Swabeck, who was one of its founders. In 1977, they joined the Freedom Socialist Party, which is a socialist feminist political party that was founded by former members of the Seattle, Washington branch of the SWP. Meryl was also a member of Radical Women, a socialist feminist organization that merged with the Freedom Socialist Party in 1973. Both Meryl and Manny were involved with the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party (CRSP), which was affiliated with the Freedom Socialist Party as well. While active in the Freedom Socialist Party and its allied organizations, both Meryl and Manny were committed to trade union and working class advocacy, revolutionary feminism, abortion rights, gay liberation, and racial justice. They were also involved with the Peace and Freedom Party, which is a socialist organization that is committed to feminism and racial equality, as well as with various Jewish activist organizations including the Jewish Peace Coalition.

Reference:

Sunshine, M. and M. (1978). From SWP to FSP- the odyssey of two radicals. Freedom Socialist.

Extent

5 Linear Feet

5 boxes (cartons)

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection contains the papers of Meryl and Manny Sunshine, socialist activists who were members of the Freedom Socialist Party, Radical Women, the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and other organizations. It includes subject files, convention and conference materials, leaflets, photographs, bulletins, reports, memoranda, press releases, minutes, publications, election materials, and draft proposals.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series: Series I. Freedom Socialist Party, Radical Women, and the Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party files, 1966-1993, undated; Series II. Peace and Freedom Party files, 1974-2000, undated; Series III. Political and labor subject files, 1950-2002, undated.

Custodial History

The Meryl and Manny Sunshine papers were donated to the Holt Labor Library in San Francisco, California between 2002 and 2019, and were acquired by the Gerth Archives and Special Collections at California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2019.