Leopold Haimson Papers, 1890s-1999
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- BA#0525
- Bib ID:
- 6909647 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Haimson, Leopold H.
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 88 linear feet (164 document boxes. 4 flat boxes, 2 record storage boxes)
- Language(s):
- English , Russian .
- Access:
- You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
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This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized.
Description
Summary
The bulk of the collection consists of Leopold H.Haimson correspondence (including correspondence with Isaiah Berlin, autograph note from Joseph Brodsky, and correspondence with prominent historians and scholars), writings by Haimson and other authors, manuscripts, research and archival materials from Soviet archives and libraries, printed materials, and institutional documents from the History Department of Columbia University, the Harriman Institute, and the History Department of the University of Chicago. There are also documents, memoirs, microfilms, audio materials, digital files, and photographs.
The collection documents the variety of Leopold Haimson's professional activity as a professor of Russian history, scholar, editor, conductor of various collaborative projects, organizer of and participant in numerous colloquia and conferences, faculty member at the University of Chicago and Columbia University, and one of the key figure in the development of Soviet-American academic relationships in his field.
It ought to be specially noted that Haimson Papers include extensive files on the history of Menshevism - a collection of materials known as the Archive on the History of Menshevism. The establishment of this archive was one of the main goals of the Inter-University Project on the History of the Menshevik Movement. It contains extensive collection of documents and newspapers of the Menshevik Party, Mensheviks' memoirs and case studies, correspondence, records and transcripts of interviews conducted by associates of the Project with survivors of the Party, transcripts of seminar discussions of various of the Project studies, biographical and bibliographical data, periodicals, and editorial materials of the "Sotsialisticheskii vestnik".
There are also research materials on the late imperial Russian social history, including Haimson's extensive collection of microfilms, photocopied newspapers, provincial census reports, rare journals, bibliographic files, and his own data files. The collection also contains Haimson's professional papers, which include correspondence as well as materials from his many trips to Russia, beginning in 1956, and which are a great source of information about the academic life of the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, there are institutional materials relating to the history of the Harriman Institute and to Soviet/Russian studies in general. Among other materials, included here are institutional records and correspondence of a broad sort.
Audio materials, oversize items, and digital files were removed from their original location and organized in series based on their format. References are provided.
Some correspondence and printed materials remain with materials to which they relate, and can be found in various series. References are provided.
Microfilms and periodicals and serial publications from the collection are in a process of been cataloged by individual title, as of the February 2009.
Leopold Haimson's rich collection of microfilms contains research materials, such as books and periodicals, and archival documents on Russian social history from various archives and libraries. It also includes microfilms belonging to the Menshevik project, which contain a variety of materials related to the history of the Menshevik movement: periodicals, books, archival materials from Soviet archives and libraries. Upon completion of the cataloging process, microfilms from Leopold Haimson's collection will be available in the Microform Reading Room. For the comprehensive list of microfilms see Appendix 2 in the paper copy of the finding aid.
There is some number of microfilm reels with unidentified materials thus they can not be cataloged. These microfilms are part of the Series X: Research and Reference Materials.
Leopold Haimson's collection of periodical and serial publications contains newspapers, magazines, census reports, bulletins, statistical data mostly of the period of late 19th-beginning of 20th centuries. It also includes periodicals belonging to the Menshevik project, such as Menshevik publications, newspapers, and magazines, which were collected in various available formats as originals, photocopies, and microfilms. Originals and photocopies are cataloged for the SEEC collection (Soviet and East European Collection of printed materials in the Bakhmeteff archive) and will be available in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library upon completion of the cataloging process. Periodicals preserved on microfilms will be available in the Microform Reading Room. For the comprehensive list of periodicals see Appendix 1 in the paper copy of the finding aid.
There are cross-references provided throughout the finding aid. When the cross-reference refers to another item within the same series, the reference includes the specific name or title and box and folder number (this also applies to the references within same subseries and sub-subseries). If the cross-reference is to an item in another series, the reference includes the series number, series name, folder title, and box and folder numbers (this also applies to the references to items in another subseries and sub-subseries).
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Series I: Correspondence, 1950s-1990s
The series consists of Haimson's professional correspondence with various people and organizations, with related materials, such as articles, CVs, drafts, fellowship and scholarship applications. Organized into four subseries. More correspondence with people and organizations on particular subjects can be found in other series of the collection
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Series II: Writings, 1951-1994
This series includes monographs, articles, papers given at conferences, interviews, and book reviews by Leopold Haimson. Mostly typescripts and photocopies of typescripts, often with holograph corrections and notes by the author; also includes reprints, publications, and clippings. Arranged alphabetically by title. For more of Haimson's writings, see also: Series VII: Editorial Activities; Series X: Research and Reference Materials--Subseries X.2: Drafts and research notes; Series XI: Writings by Others--Subseries XI.3: Unidentified writings.
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This series consists of materials of the Inter-University Project on the History of the Menshevik Movement. The project was launched in the fall of 1959, with the support of the Ford Foundation, by an ad hoc committee of specialists in Russian history teaching at American universities, in collaboration with representatives of the then already fast dwindling Menshevik émigré community in the United States. (The subsequent work of the project was also supported by grants from the Rockefeller and Atran foundations, the Hoover Institution, and the American Council of Learned Societies.)
The Project pursued two main goals: to assemble and preserve the factual record, and to provide a suitable medium for survivors of the Menshevik movement to re-examine those aspects of the Party's history in which they had been most directly involved.
The pursuit of these two objectives culminated in the establishment of a permanent archive on the history of Menshevism; the preparation, and distribution in multilith form, of accounts by Mensheviks residing in the United States and Western Europe of events in the Party's history in which they were participants; and preparation for publication of memoirs, bibliographies, and documentary and monographic studies by Menshevik associates of the Project as well as participating American scholars. English language volumes are being published by the University of Chicago Press; others appeared in a Russian-language series sponsored by the Hoover Institution.
The series is arranged in three subseries, then in sub-subseries within them.
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Series IV: Strikes Project, 1980s
This series contains materials from the cooperative project that was launched in 1982 after an international colloquium in comparative labor history in Paris. The participants in the colloquium decided to pursue a discussion of analytic problems addressed in its proceedings, and to explore further possibilities of analyzing them in a comparative perspective through the application of quantitative methods. An international working group was created for this purpose. An international cooperative framework was established involving the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (Paris), the International Research and Exchanges Board (New York), the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and the eventual cooperation of the Friedrich Ebert and Feltrinelli Foundations. The tasks pursued by this Project included the creation of an international data bank to make available, in computer readable form, the statistical data on industrial labor conflicts recorded in the official and other major sources for Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Imperial Russia, and the United States; the organization, under the sponsorship of the Project, of other colloquia in the field of comparative labor history; and the joint publication program. The series is arranged in three subseries and includes Project documents, writings, and research material. Related to the Project materials located also in Series VI: Colloquiua and Conferences.
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Files contain materials of academic seminars held by various institutions and include seminar minutes and notes, manuscripts of talks and papers presented by various authors; and related correspondence. Organized in five subseries by the name of the institution.
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Series VI: Colloquia and Conferences, 1975-1991
This series comprises papers by various authors presented at colloquia and conferences, Haimson's notes, documents and correspondence related to the organization of these academic events. Organized in chronological order. Related materials can also be found in Series IV: Strikes Project; Series VIII: Institutional Files; Series IX: Russian Files.
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Series VII: Editorial Activity, 1964-1974
The series contains materials related to Haimson's work as an editor and compiler and includes drafts, notes, and corrections for The Mensheviks and project documentation, and manuscript for The Russian revolutionary tradition: an anthology. For more materials on Haimson's editorial activity see Series III: Menshevik project; Series IV: Strikes Project.
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Series VIII: Institutional Files, 1956-1990s
Institutional materials accrued by Haimson during his work at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and the Harriman Institute make up this series. Subject files contain internal institutional documents and correspondence, Haimson's correspondence with various organizations, grant applications and proposals, correspondence with publishers of his books, and materials regarding the Menshevik project. Organized into two subseries.
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Series IX: Russian Files, 1957-1998
This series contains materials related to Haimson's long-lasting participation in scholarly and library exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union and includes correspondence with various people (mostly with Russian scholars) and institutions, such as the Academy of Science, the Institute of History, libraries, etc.; and materials on scholarly and library exchange programs and Haimson's trips to Russia.
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Series X: Research and Reference Materials, 1900s-1994
Contains research materials on Russian social history, including bibliographic files; Haimson's own data files and his many notebooks, scholarly notes, and drafts of his lectures and writings; materials copied in Soviet archives and libraries; and printed materials. Arranged in four subseries.
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Series XI: Writings by Others, 1934-1990s
This series consists of manuscripts and reprints of works by various authors on different subjects. More writings by various authors are part of other series and filed throughout the collection. They can be searched by the author's last name. This series is arranged in two subseries.
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Series XII: CVs and Photographs, 1960s-1990s
This series holds Haimson's CVs and photographs.
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(shelved at RBML Historical Map Collection P-Europe--Russia)
There are four maps: Karta zheleznykh dorog Evropeiskoi Rossii, Plan Gatchiny, Plan Petergofa, and Plan Sestroretska.
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Series XIV: Audio Materials, 1960s
The series comprises reel-to-reel tapes with materials from the Menshevik Project and some tapes that may not be related to it. Arranged in 3 subseries.
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384 of 5.25'' diskettes and 14 of 3.5" diskettes contain files in Lotus 1-2-3, Word and other formats with archival and bibliographical material, manuscripts, letters, papers, statistics, grants and working files mostly related to the Strikes Project. Also contains material related to the Menshevik project, the Russian Exchange program, and various other subjects.
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Series XVI: Oversize Materials, 1920-1969
Oversize materials removed from Series III: Menshevik Project and stored in flat boxes. Organized into two subseries.
Arrangement
The collection is in sixteen series.
- Series I: Correspondence, 1950s-1990s
- Subseries I.1: Correspondence with Prominent Figures, 1960-1976
- Subseries I.2: General Correspondence, 1959-1997
- Subseries I.3: Chronological Correspondence, 1955-1997
- Subseries I.4: Subject Correspondence, 1959-1999
- Series II: Writings, 1951-1994
- Series III: Menshevik Project (Inter-University Project on the History of Menshevik Movement), 1890s-1977
- Subseries III.1: Project Records, 1957-1977
- Subseries III.2: Mensheviks Personal Files, 1920s-1970s
- Subseries III.3: Archive on the History of Menshevism, 1898-1972
- Series IV: Strikes Project, 1980s
- Subseries IV.1: Project Documentation
- Subseries IV.2: Monographs and colloquium papers, 1982-1992
- Subseries IV.3: Research Material
- Series V: Seminars, 1948-1983
- Subseries V.1: Columbia University Seminars, 1967-1986
- Subseries V.2: Russian Institute (Harriman Institute), 1972-1973
- Subseries V.3: Russian Research Center, Harvard University, 1948-1970
- Subseries V.4: University of Pennsylvania, 1982-1983
- Subseries V.5: Unidentified Seminar
- Series VI: Colloquia and Conferences, 1975-1991
- Series VII: Editorial Activity, 1964-1974
- Series VIII: Institutional Files, 1956-1990s
- Subseries VIII.1: Chicago University Files, 1956-1966
- Subseries VIII.2: Columbia University Files, 1966-1990s
- Series IX: Russian Files, 1957-1998
- Subseries IX.1: Correspondence with Individuals, 1957-1998
- Subseries IX.2: Exchange Files, 1959-1991
- Series X: Research and Reference Materials, 1900s-1994
- Subseries X.1: Bibliographies, 1900s-1970s
- Subseries X.2: Drafts and Research Notes, 1950-1994
- Subseries X.3: Materials from Soviet Archives and Libraries, 1903-1920s
- Subseries X.4: Printed Materials and Publications, 1900s-1981
- Series XI: Writings by Others, 1934-1990s
- Series XII: CVs and Photographs, 1960s-1990s
- Series XIII: Maps, 1900s
- Series XIV: Audio Materials, 1960s
- Series XV: Digital Files
- Series XVI: Oversize Materials, 1920-1969
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Chair of the Bakhmeteff Committee. The RBML approves permission to publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Restrictions on quote and publication applied to letters of recommendation.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Leopold Haimson Papers; Box and Folder; Bakhmeteff Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Related Materials
Other Finding Aids: Raphael Abramovitch Papers; Anatolii Vasil'evich Baikalov Papers; David Iul'evich Dalin Manuscripts; Alexander Dallin Papers; Petr Abramovich Garvi Manuscript; Boris Moiseevich Sapir Papers; Marshall D. Shulman Papers; Nikolai Platonovich Vakar Papers
Accrual
No further accruals are expected
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
accn number: Source of acquisition--Leopold Haimson. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--May 2001.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
Papers processed Katia Shraga and Tanya Chebotarev with assistance of Nataliia Ermolaev and Bela Shaevich, graduate students of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, class of 2008 2008.
Finding aid prepared by Katia Shraga October 2008.
Revision Description
2009-04-23 File created.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
2019-07-24 Added links to remediated digitized audio. kws
Biographical / Historical
His major publications are: "The Making of Three Russian Revolutionaries: Voices from the Menshevik Past". Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press Paris: Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1987; "The Mensheviks : From the Revolution of 1917 to the Second World War". Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974; "Politics of Rural Russia, 1905-1914". Bloomington: Indiana University Press, c1979; "Russia's Revolutionary Experience, 1905-1917: Two Essays". New York: Columbia University Press, c2005; "Strikes, Social Conflict, and the First World War : An International Perspective". Milano: Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, 1992; "Strikes,Wars, and Revolutions in an International Perspective: Strike waves in the Late The Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries". Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press; Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1989
Leopold Henri Haimson is a historian and professor emeritus of Columbia University, where he worked since 1965 as a professor of Russian history and a member of the Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of Eurasia.
Haimson was born in Brussels, Belgium on April 28, 1927 in a family of immigrants from Russia. He resided there up to the age of 13, when the German invasion in 1940 prompted his family to escape, first to unoccupied France, and eventually to the United States. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history and philosophy from Harvard University in 1945 and his PhD in history and social relations there in 1952. His professional background includes his work as a research associate at Columbia University (1948-1949, 1950-1952), American Museum of Natural History and Center for International Studies (1948-1949, 1951-1952); a visiting research scholar at Princeton University (1952-1953); a lecturer in the Russian Regional Program and the Department of History at Harvard University (1955-1956); an assistant professor and then a professor of Russian History at University of Chicago (1956-1966). From 1960 to 1965, Leopold Haimson served as the director of the Inter-University Project on the History of the Menshevik Movement. In 1964-1965, he was a research associate at Hoover Institute and a visiting scholar at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences. He became a professor in the Department of History and the Russian Institute at Columbia University in 1966.
A distinguishing feature of Haimson's career has been his role as the organizer of collaborative research projects that have brought together scholars from different disciplines and different academic cultures, especially those of the United States, France, and Russia. Starting in 1982, in addition to his work for the Inter-University Project on the History of the Menshevik Movement, he was a director of the International Project in Comparative Labor History, based at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (Paris), for almost two decades. He also served as co-chairman of the International Commission for Joint Projects in Modern Russian History. Starting in the 1960s, he became involved in Soviet academic life. His efforts to develop contacts between Soviet and American specialists in Russian history resulted in an extensive scholar exchange program between the Soviet Union and the United States. He helped organize a regular series of workshops in the form of international colloquia devoted to discussions of various historical problems in a comparative perspective that brought together American, European, and Russian scholars. He was also a visiting lecturer at Moscow University, at the Institute of History, and at the European University in St. Petersburg.
Haimson's scholarly interests include political culture, social and quantitative history, the dynamics of strike movements in a comparative perspective, as well as cultural anthropology and the application of its concepts and methodology to studies of the Soviet Union. Since the publication of his influential "The Russian Marxists and the Origins of Bolshevism" in 1955, Leopold Haimson has published many books and articles and edited volumes on Russian political, social, and intellectual life in late imperial and revolutionary Russia in English, French, and Russian.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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