Aptheker, Herbert, 1915-2003
Herbert Aptheker: Papers, 1842-2005, (bulk 1934-2002)
Physical Description: 122 linear ft.
Correspondence (1934-2002), manuscripts, personal diaries, publications, research files, ephemera, and books relating to
Aptheker's lifelong work fighting racism against African Americans and in support of the American Communist Party. The
research files relate primarily to African American history, with some material on American Labor/Radical History.
Noted Marxist scholar Dr. Herbert Aptheker was born in New York City in 1915. His more than thirty published books
include such titles as THE ERA OF McCARTHYISM (1957), THE WORLD OF C. WRIGHT MILLS (1960), THE URGENCY OF MARXIST-
CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE (1970), but he is best known for his work in the area of Black history. Here his books include
AMERICAN NEGRO SLAVE REVOLTS (1943), TO BE FREE : STUDIES IN AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORY (1948), and AFRO-AMERICAN : THE
MODERN ERA (1971).
Note: Dr. Aptheker edited the posthumously published AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF W.E.B. DU BOIS (1968) and was selected by the
late Dr. Du Bois as the Editor of his papers and their custodian. He was a co-founder and Director of the American Institute
for Marxist Studies from its inception in 1964 through its demise in 1985.