By Jutta Seibert

Scholars interested in US labor history will be delighted to learn that the Villanova community now has access to the archives of The Daily Worker Online (1922-1968), the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party of the United States of America from 1924 to 1958. A short history of the paper is available on the website of the Tamiment Institute Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives (New York University), which houses the archives of The Daily Worker, including original photographs and cartoon drawings.

The Daily, as it was commonly referred to, chronicles US labor history from the perspectives of the American worker. Contributing authors include Lester Rodney, Sports Editor of The Daily, John L. Spivak, Richard Wright, and Woody Guthrie. Readers may also be interested in a related collection of internal FBI documents about The Daily Worker, which were digitized through the FOIA program.

Curious to learn more about The Daily Worker? Here are two journal articles that take a closer look at The Daily’s comics and sports coverage:

Fetter, Henry D. “The Party Line and the Color Line: The American Communist Party, the ‘Daily Worker’, and Jackie Robinson.” Journal of Sport History 28, no. 3 (2001): 375-402. www.jstor.org/stable/43610199.

Brunner, Edward. “Red Funnies: The New York Daily Worker’s ‘Popular Front’ Comics, 1936—1945.” American Periodicals 17, no. 2 (2007): 184-207. www.jstor.org/stable/20770985.

Access to the archive is available via the catalog or the Journal and Article Finder on the Library’s homepage.

Jutta Seibert is Director of Research Services & Scholarly Engagement at Falvey Memorial Library.

The “Daily Worker” float makes its way through New York streets in the 1937 May Day parade.

Scholars interested in U.S. labor history will be excited to learn that the Library offers trial access to the complete archives of The Daily Worker Online (1922-1966) until September 21.

The Daily Worker was the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party of the United States of America between 1924 and 1958. A short history of the paper is available on the website of the Tamiment Institute Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives (New York University), which houses the archives of The Daily Worker including original photographs and cartoons. We invite you to explore U.S. labor history through the eyes of the working class. You will find articles by Lester Rodney, the sports editor of the paper, John L. Spivak, Richard Wright, and Woody Guthrie.

You may also be interested in the related collection of FBI documents about The Daily Worker which were released following FOIA requests.

Contact Jutta Seibert to recommend this resource for the collection.

Jutta Seibert is a Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.