The Luke W. Wilson papers, which date approximately from 1933-1977, with the majority of the documents dating 1936-1954, contain information on California labor issues and strikes; investigations of the Senate Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, including violation of civil liberties and rights to free assembly; Army Morale Services Division publications; the Progressive Party's 1948 Presidential campaign and the Party itself; New York's 1949 mayoral third party campaign and the American Labor Party; and Senate hearings from 1954 documenting the investigation into Communist activity in the government.
The types of documentation contained in the collection include handwritten notes; testimonies; newspaper articles, leaflets, bulletins, flyers, and other publications; memorandum; newsletters; speeches; press releases; correspondence; bills and reports. There are some photographs and posters and a large amount of voter ephemera.
The collection is arranged into seven series based on a chronology of Wilson's activities: SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, ARMY MORALE SERVICES DIVISION, PROGRESSIVE PARTY, AMERICAN LABOR PARTY, SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNAL SECURITY, NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE, and VISUAL MATERIALS. Within each series, files are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR series, related to Wilson's investigation for the Committee (1936-1940), documents the way in which the government handled its investigation of labor practices and violation of civil liberties in the late 1930s. Wilson was responsible for collecting evidence for the Senate hearings in the San Francisco, California area. All of the evidence was related to the activities of unions and organizations, in this area, and the corporations which employed the people of the unions. Organizations represented include: Associated Farmers; United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers; Farm Research Committee; National Labor Relations Board; Longshoremen and Warehouse Union; National Federation for Constitutional Liberties and Civil Rights Council. Evidence included printed materials; interviews of witnesses; testimonies and court proceedings; photographs; information on unions and farm companies; information on labor camps.
There is extensive background material documenting California strikes, during the time between 1933-1939, with the greatest amount of documentation for the years 1938-1939. The strikes affecting San Francisco, Madera, Yuba City, Marysville, Stockton, Salinas, Nevada City, and Westwood, is documented by firsthand and secondhand witness reports about strikebreaking activities and labor meetings. This portion of the collection shows who was being investigated, what practices were being employed, who the victims were, and the relationship between the committee and its members, both in the field and in Washington. These activities are documented by correspondence, memorandum, and the background materials. That Wilson was an integral part of this process is demonstrated in the collection through his notes and reports to Washington.
This series also includes notes, and chapter outlines (perhaps for a book) written by Wilson regarding the LaFollette Committee and labor practices. Also included are Oppressive Labor Practices Bill and Record (1939, undated). There are a few pieces of correspondence (1953-1956), mostly requesting Senate materials. In addition, there is an article written by Jerold Auerbach, titled, “LaFollette Committee the CIO”, published in Wisconsin History Magazine, with a letter from Auerbach (1964). These files were created later in Wilson's life when he was a freelance writer and researcher.
The ARMY MORALE SERVICES DIVISION series documents Wilson's service in the Army (1942-1946) with the Army Morale Services Division, which later became the Army Information and Education Division. The materials are dominated by Army publications, including orientation and education materials. There is also a file of Henry Morganthau speeches and a few Army manuals. There is little evidence of particular duties performed by Wilson while he worked for the Army and little documentation. What is significant about this aspect of the collection, is the number of publications published by the Army Information and Education (I. and E.) Division, which document one way the Government went about indoctrinating soldiers during World War II. There are several volumes (I-V) of Army Talks in the collection, ranging from 1943-1946. Also present, are several information bulletins and orientation fact sheets (1945-1946) concerning the I. and E. Division's orientation program, some of which Wilson either researched or contributed. There is a copy of Program in Three Parts (circa 1943), which relates to the Re-enforcement Orientation Program, and a copy of The Nazi Record (1945). Lastly, there are some GI Roundtable Series publications, used as education materials for soldiers (1944-1945).
The PROGRESSIVE PARTY series documents, primarily, the 1948 Presidential Campaign of Henry Wallace, former Secretary of Agriculture and Vice-President to Roosevelt. It also documents the founding of what is referred to as the third Progressive Party. Wallace played a role in founding the Progressive Citizens of America (PCA) in 1946, which merged with the National Citizens Political Action Committee (NCPAC) to become the Progressive Party in 1948. During the campaign, Luke Wilson was a Washington Representative for the Party. He was responsible for informing Party Headquarters of which Bills were on the Floor and which Senators and Representatives were in favor or opposed to such Bills. This is evidenced by memorandum sent from Wilson to Party Headquarters in New York. He and his wife were also the Massachusetts state delegates for the party in 1948.
With regard to the Progressive Party (1948-1953) and the Wallace campaign there are press releases; campaign materials, including Wallace songbook, flyers, booklets, fundraising notices; National Committee meeting minutes and Party delegate lists; New Party Convention materials and plans (1948, 1950); Wallace speeches and public opinion polls; Party memos, bulletins, fact sheets; voting records; a Manual of Political Action, published by the NCPAC about how to campaign and a copy of the party paper-The Citizen (1948). There is also a small portion of the collection dedicated to other Progressive candidates, such as Vincent Hallinan for president (1952) and his running mate Charlotta Bass, the first African-American woman to run for national office.
Lastly, there is material documenting anti-Progressive sentiments. There were many people opposed to Wallace, because of his Communist sympathies. In upstate New York, citizens voiced their opposition in the Adirondack Observer. Wilson's wife had the radio air advertisements for Wallace, for which she paid. The controversy which ensued is documented in the Observer.
The AMERICAN LABOR PARTY series includes Vito Marcantonio campaign material (1946-1950) and Party information (1948-1949). The materials largely document the 1949 mayoral campaign and Marcantonio's career for the time immediately before the campaign and through his re-election campaign (1950), up until his death (1953). There is little documentation on the Party as an organization, but more as a presence in the campaign. Similar to the Progressive Party material, there are news clippings; press releases; speeches given by Marcantonio including, I Vote My Conscience; legislative bulletins; flyers, booklets, fundraising notices, party brochures and large amounts of voter ephemera; voting records; and Marcantonio's Congressional record (1935-1949). There are campaign materials which show the candidate’s influence with and support from minorities, including Italian, Puerto Rican and African-American populations. In addition, there are files of special topics which represent the issues Marcantonio fought to support, including housing and rent, naturalization, education, and foreign born. Related to Wilson's involvement in the campaign, there are assignments of canvassers to his district, records of canvassers and their votes; a notice on how to canvass; Marcantonio form letters and one personalized letter to Wilson; other election voter material and information, including pledge cards and voter cards. This part of the collection does not shed much light on the extent to which Wilson played a role in the campaign for Marcantonio. There is hardly any personalized correspondence and little to document what Wilson’s duties were outside of managing the 8th Assembly District.
The SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNAL SECURITY series documents a portion of the Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security, also referred to as the Jenner Committee, the purpose of which was to expose anyone remotely associated with Communism in America. The Committee's stated goal was to investigate un-American and subversive activities in the Government. Wilson was subpoenaed, in 1954, to appear before the Committee to determine if he was a member of the Communist Party before, during, or after his service in the Army. Wilson's involvement is documented by news clippings, correspondence with his lawyer, background materials, and a copy of the Senate Hearing (with his testimony). The significance of this portion of the collection is that it documents the Red Scare and the means by which the Government went about abolishing Communism.
The NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE series contains one folder, with correspondence to Luke and his wife Ruth from the NCI and a copy of “The Record”. In the 1939, Luke's mother donated a portion of their estate, in Bethesda, Maryland to the NCI, after Luke's father died of cancer in 1937. The letter is sent on the 40th anniversary of his father's death, stating that Luke and his wife were missed at the celebration.
Included in the VISUAL MATERIALS series are photographs related to the Committee on Education and Labor series. There is one photograph for the Farm Research Committee, used in one of their newsletters. There are 20 photographs of a strike by cannery workers, which took place in Stockton, California (circa 1939). Accompanying the photographs, is a list describing each photograph, numbered 1 to 20. Another photograph is related to the Progressive Party materials and shows a banner for the New Party Convention, held in Philadelphia (1948). In addition there are 4 posters for the American Labor Party, 3 of which are for Marcantonio's campaign; the last poster is for the release of Willie McGee.
