Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

The Correspondence series is comprised of three subseries: Poets and Writers, Permissions to Reprint, and General Correspondence. The Poets and Writers and Permissions to Reprint subseries are arranged alphabetically, and within folders, chronologically. The poets and writers collection includes letters written by Gwendolyn Brooks, Etheridge Knight, Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde, and Dudley Randall. The most prolific correspondents were Gwendolyn Brooks and James Emanuel. The General Correspondence subseries is arranged chronologically.

The Correspondence series consists of handwritten letters betweeen Bloor and her family, and correspondence between Bloor and her colleagues.

The majority of the family letters are to/from her children. Her letters, written during her travels, provide information about individuals and events associated with her work. Most of the family letters include the month and day written, but not the year. As a result, the letters are arranged in random order.

Bloor's correspondence with colleagues and organizations are arranged chronologically. Included are letters from various Socialist societies, state and local government offices, newspapers, and labor unions, such as the New York State Committee Socialist Party, United Cloth and Cap Makers, Tailors' Union. In addition, there are handwritten letters from other activists involved in socialist and labor causes (e.g., letter from Joseph W. Sharts, counsel for Eugene V. Debs in his trial at Cleveland, Ohio; Theodore H. Lunde, officer of the Peace Council in Chicago).

Letters of note:

1. "Max" (possibly Max Eastman, January 18, 1918)
2. Eugene V. Debs (copies, September 20, 1918)
3. Theodore Debs (brother of Eugene V. Debs, June 18, 1919)
4. Ernest Untermann (socialist author, translator, newspaper editor, February 1, 1920)
5. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (labor leader, activist, and feminist, April 11,1920)
6. Earl Browder (political activist, January 3, 1921)

The Correspondence series includes one folder of personal correspondence, which is primarily letters written to a 1968 love interest.  The Press folder contains various letters and responses--from the obscene to the mundane -- to articles written about Rock.  The primary portion of the Correspondence series is made up of letters separated from the litigation files which recount decisions and court actions.  These are divide into two sub-series:  non- Rock related cases and Rock.  The non-Rock cases include all correspondence which came into Rock's possession from the cases of Dubbs, Fultun, Gayer, Kovalich, Preston, and Tabler.  The Rock correspondence consists of 5 folders of material, is organized chronologically, and includes all correspondence between Rock and those involved in his litigation process.  The Correspondence series provides a thorough chronological account of all legal actions and documents Rock's reactions to each of the cases.

The Correspondence and Name File series consists of correspondence and writings from those in David Cope's circle. Writings range from handwritten drafts to typescripts to photocopies of published work. Materials in this series are arranged alphabetically. Although the bulk of the material in the series is correspondence, manuscripts and other material created by or related to the person listed may also be found in the files. In cases where large amounts of material related to a person exist in the collection, the type of material has been grouped by genre and is indicated separately in the finding aid. In cases where the type of material is not listed separately, the file contains mainly correspondence, but may also include small amounts of other material, most likely manuscripts. Much of the correspondence, in fact, includes manuscript enclosures. This is particularly the case for the files of frequent correspondents such as Antler, Jeff Poniewaz, Jim Cohn, Bob Rixon, and to a lesser extent, Allen Ginsberg. The researcher should note that some manuscripts submitted to Cope, plus a small amount of correspondence related to Cope's editing and publishing activities, are to be found in the Writing series and Editing Materials series.

The Correspondence Files series, 1992-1995 consists of Jacobsen's correspondence regarding the exhibit and the controversy. Major correspondents in the files include Marjorie Heins of the ACLU and Dean Lee Bollinger of the University of Michigan Law School.