Descriptive Summary
John Mihelic Collection1908-1927
, (Bulk 1918-1924)
MS 015
The language of the materials is English
.75 linear feet ( boxes)
Western Connecticut State University
Mihelic, John
Ruth A. Haas Library
John Mihelic was from Kansas City, Missouri and was a member of the Socialist Party. He was also involved with the Communist Party of America. The collection includes some correspondence and leftist/socialist publications from the early 20th century.
Provenance
Harriette Tax (niece of Thelma Fogel), Professor Emeritus of the School of Professional Studies, donated the Mihelic collection to the Archives and Special Collections Department of the Ruth Haas Library.
Access Restrictions
Open for research without restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
Ruth A. Haas Library
Special Collections and Archives
181 White Street
Danbury, CT 06810
Phone: 203-837-8992
Fax: 203-837-9108
E-mail: stevensb@wcsu.edu
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); The John Mihelic Collection; MS 015; box number; folder number;
Western Connecticut State University Archives
Historical/Biographical Note
John Mihelic was born on February 2, 1898 in Kansas City, MO to John and Matilda Mihelic. Milhelic finished High School in Kansas City and then spent time "riding the rails." In his travels in the late 20s, he met a Russian-born woman Thelma Fogel who had moved with her family to St. Louis in 1921. The two lived together for 10 years and married in 1941. In addition to running a book store near the University of Chicago from 1940-1970, Mihelic also found work as a business machine repair man. Mihelic died on April 21, 1980.
Between 1919 and 1926, he was an active member of the Socialist Party. He was also involved with the Communist Party of America.
The "2nd National Convention" of the Communist Party of America was held at Bridgman, MI, August 17-22, 1922. It was prematurely terminated for fear of police action. On Aug. 22, a police raid did occur and 17 members of the CPA were arrested including Mihelic. Members of the CPA who were arrested at the Bridgman convention include: Phillip Aronberg, Alex Bail, Eugene Bechtold, Earl R. Browder, William F. Dunne, Charles Erickson, William Z. Foster, Alex Georgian, Caleb Harrison, Charles Krumbein, Cyril Lambkin, Max Lerner, Elmer McMillin, John Mihelic, Seth Nordlind, Thomas J. O'Flaherty, William Reynolds, C.E. Ruthenberg, A. Severino, T.R. Sullivan, Norman H. Tallentire, and Joseph Zack [Kornfeder].
Sources:
- The Communist Party of America (1919-1946) [http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/eam/cpa/communistparty.html]
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of this collection consists of political booklets and periodicals published by individuals and organizations active in labor movements across the country, and reflect communist and socialist viewpoints on many topics. Many of the booklets discuss trials, unlawful searches and seizures, raids, and arrests without due process of law. The booklets are arranged alphabetically and span the years 1908-1927.
The correspondence files contain very little information pertaining to Mihelic's direct involvement with the Socialist Party. Several letters indicate he corresponded directly to William Haywood, the Secretary-Treasurer of the General Defense Committee, and traveled to union meetings in order to raise funds for the Defense Committee.
Also included in the correspondence file are 17 pages (carbon copies) of labor history in poem and lyric form some of which were set to well known music. In 1915, Ralph Chaplin, a poet and writer and organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, wrote
Solidarity Forever to the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic. These lyrics and song later became the anthem of the American labor movement.
Of particular interest is a letter of introduction for Mihelic signed by William Z. (Zig Zag) Foster, a U. S. labor leader and a member of the American Socialist Party. Foster was a union organizer, leader of the 1919 U. S. Steel strike, and founding member and leader of the American Communist Party. He was also the presidential candidate for the Communist Party in 1924, 1928, and 1932, and chairman of the American Communist Party after World War II (box 1, folder 2).
Arrangement
Folders are arranged alphabetically.
The files are grouped into 2 series.
Access Points
Subject Names:
Bukharin, N.
Cannon, James P.
Centralia, 1919
Chaplin, Ralph, 1887-1961
Ferguson, Isaac E.
George, Harrison
Gildea, Charles
Gitlow, Benjamin.
Gold, Michael.
Hanson, Nils H.
Hard, William.
Haywood, William D.
Lasovsky, A. (S. A. Dridzo)
Minor, Robert
Owen, George E.
Parsons, Lucy E.
Radek, Karl
Ramirez, J.
Riebe, Ernst.
Roberts, John Emerson
Ruthenberg, C. E.
Varney, Harold Lord.
Vorse, Mary Heaton.
Subject Organizations:
Socialist Workers Party.
Trade Union Educational League.
Communist Party of the United States of America.
Industrial Workers Of The World.
War Information Series.
Subject Topics:
Anarchists--United States.
Communism---Europe.
Communism -- Periodicals.
Communism--United States.
Communism--United States---Periodicals.
Communist trials--United States.
Employee rights -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
Labor movement -- United States --History -- 20th century.
Labor songs and poetry.
Labor--United States --History -- 20th century.
Socialism---Europe.
Socialism -- Periodicals.
Socialism--United States.
Haymarket Square.
Lumber trade --- Washington (State).
United States--Politics and government.
Working class -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
World War, 1914-1918 -- Periodicals.
Document Types:
Corresponence.
Fliers.
Booklets.
Publications.
Container List
[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]
Series I: Correspondence
1
1
Correspondence
1919-1926
1
2
Correspondence
1919-1926
Series II: Booklets
1
3
Agriculture. The World's Basic Industry and Its Workers.
undated
1
4
Bukharin, N. Program of the Communists (Bolshevists).
ca.1918
1
5
Burns's and Daugherty's Attack Upon Labor and Liberty.
undated
1
6
Burns's and Daugherty's Attack Upon Labor and Liberty. (c.2)
undated
1
7
Cannon, James P. The Fifth Year of the Russian Revolution.
undated
1
8
Chaplin, Ralph. The Centralia Conspiracy.
1920
1
9
A Communist Trial. Extracts from the testimony of C. E. Ruthenberg and closing address to the jury by Isaac E. Ferguson
ca.1920
OS Drawer 3
*
Contribution Forms - Defense Fund
undated
1
10
De Leon, Daniel. The Burning Question of Trades Unionism. A Lecture Delivered at Newark, N. J. on April 2, 1914.
1918
1
12
Descriptive Catalog. (4 copies)
1921
1
13
George, Harrison. Is Freedom Dead?
ca.1918
1
14
Gildea, Charles. Corruptionists and Union Wreckers.
undated
1
15
Gold, Michael and Ramirez, J., Proletarian Song Book of Lyrics from the Operetta 'The Last Revolution.'
undated
1
16
Hanson, Nils H. The Onward Sweep of the Machine Process.
undated
1
17
Industrial Democracy. Address delivered by Hon. Glenn E. Plumb, President of the Plumb Pan League to the Sixteenth Convention of the International Association of Machinists. Rochester, New York. September 24, 1920.
1920
1
18-21
International Socialist Review
1909-1917
1
22
Kansas City Guide & Union Station Time Tablev. 2; December 1915.
1915
1
23-30
The Labor Herald.
1922-1924
2
31-34
The Labor Herald.
1924
2
35
Losovsky, A. (S. A. Dridzo.) The International Council of Trade and Industrial Unions.
ca.1920
2
36
Losovsky (Dridzo), A., The Role of the Labor Unions in the Russian Revolution.
1920
2
37
Manifesto and Program, Constitution, Report to the Communist International.
undated
2
38
Greater New York.
1919
OS Drawer 3
*
Metropolitan"Bolshevist Russia. Raymond Robins' Story told to William Hard." June-October 1919.
1919
2
39
Minor, Robert. Stedman's Red Raid.
1921
2
40
More Truth About the I. W. W.
ca.1918
2
41
The One Big Union Monthly. March 1
1919
2
42
Owen, George E. Authority.
ca.1908
2
43
Owen, George E. Authority. (c. 2)
ca.1908
2
44
Radek, Karl. Is the Russian Revolution a Bourgeois Revolution?
undated
2
45
The 'Red Ruby', Address to the Jury by Benjamin Gitlow; Also Darrow The Judge Giovanitti.
undated
2
46
Riebe, Ernest. Crimes of the Bolsheviki.
1919
2
47
Riebe, Ernest. Crimes of the Bolsheviki. (c. 2)
1919
2
48
Roberts, John Emerson. The Struggle of a Mind to be Free.
1917
2
49
Ruthenberg, C. E. Why Every Worker Should Be a Communist and Jointhe Workers Party.
undated
2
50
The Silent Defense. A Story of the Remarkable Trial of Members of theIndustrial Workers of the World Held at Sacramento, California.
ca.1917
2
51
'"The Communists in the United States, The Michigan Communist Case January 1923."
1923
2
52
The Social Service Bulletin. Testimony of William D. Haywood before the Industrial Relations Commission.
1915
2
53
Theses and Statutes of the Third (Communist) International.
1920
2
54
Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Eleventh of November Memorial Edition. November 11, 1887-1912.
1912
2
55
Varney, Harold Lord. Industrial Communism-The I. W. W.
undated
2
56
Vorse, Mary Heaton. The Passaic Textile Strike 1926-1927.
undated
2
57
The War for Peace. War Information Series, March 1918.
1918
2
58-59
Photographs, 26 images,
undated
OS Drawer 3
*
Miscellaneous: 4 x 6 Sketch of Vladimir Lenin (framed).
undated