IRENE PAULL:

Born in Duluth, Minnesota, on April 18, 1908, Irene (Levine) Paull was a writer and radical labor activist who married Henry Paull, a Duluth attorney who was retained as counsel in multiple cases involving radical labor and political groups. The collection consists of Paull's personal papers, as well as material she collected about progressive politics and Minnesota labor movements.

Her personal papers consist of primarily photocopied correspondence (1964-1966, 1972-1977, 1980?); literary notebooks (1958-1975); published works (1937-1981); typescripts of prose, poetry, and acting skits; a memorial program and condolence letters upon her death (August 12, 1981); material on William Heikkila (1959-1960), a Finnish immigrant and ex-communist; material on Martin Mackie (1967), a communist labor and political leader from the Mesabi Iron Range; poetry of Arnold E. Johnson; and a forty-eight page transcript of Paull's interview (May 1972) with Stanley Volansky, a survivor of a Nazi-run Polish ghetto.

The correspondence is primarily between herself and Morris U. Schappes, editor of Jewish Currents. Other correspondents include Peter Werner and William Jones, civil rights activists who worked with Paull in Hattiesberg, Mississippi, and Carol Jochnowitz, another Jewish Currents editor. Topics include a discussion of German and Jewish character based on a critical article Paull wrote about Werner's German background (March 26-June 10, 1965); her friendship with Fannie Lou Hamer and her assistance in Hamer's book writing (1965); her fight against cancer and its interference with her writing (1965-1966); jobs she held other than writing; a discussion of Black and Jewish relations resulting from an anti-Semitic hate letter Paull received (June 3-July 25, 1966); her views on charges of Jewish nationalism and Zionism brought by the leaders of the U.S. Communist Party in an effort to expel Paul Novick, editor of the Yiddish-language Morning Freiheit (March 9, 1972); her relationship with her children; and Jewish Currents' presentation of the Joseph Shachnow Prize to Paull, including an article from the magazine containing a tribute to Paull, along with her response (June 1977).

The notebooks are typed and handwritten and contain prose portions, occasional correspondence, journal entries, and passages from others' published work. Her own published works appear in magazines, in particular Jewish Currents (October 1958-March 1979), and pro-labor newspapers, in particular The Worker, Midwest Labor (written pseudonymously as "Calamity Jane"), and Minnesota Labor. Among the prose typescripts are two self-reflective pieces (ca. 1980), precursors to an anthology of her work, Irene, that was ultimately published by Midwest Villages & Voices (1996). Upon Paull's death, friends and family held a memorial service (October 11, 1981), for which there is a printed program. There are also numerous condolence letters and cards addressed to Paull's daughter, Bonnie, including one from folk singer Pete Seeger recalling the time he and Woody Guthrie stayed over with the Paulls in their Duluth home in 1941.

The material on progressive politics and labor movements in Minnesota is concentrated in three areas: Chester Watson and Workers Alliance (1934-1940), International Woodworkers of America, Local 12-29 (1944-1959), and mining and farm strikes (undated, 1907, 1947).

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here].Irene Paull Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Provenance:

Portions of the Irene Paull papers were donated by Meridel Le Sueur, Paull's friend and literary peer.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 11,008; 12,214; 14,525; 15,631

Processing Information:

Processed by: Frank Hennessy, November 1991, and Christopher G. Welter, February 2009.

Catalog ID number: 990017310350104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

African Americans -- Relations with Jews.

Agriculture -- Minnesota -- Economic aspects.

Civil rights workers -- United States.

Communists -- Minnesota.

Deportation -- United States.

Farm foreclosures -- South Dakota -- Sisseton.

Finnish Americans -- Minnesota.

Iron mines and mining -- Minnesota.

Jewish authors.

Jewish communists.

Jews, American -- Political activity.

Iron miners -- Labor unions -- Minnesota.

Loggers -- Minnesota.

Lumbermen -- Labor unions -- Minnesota.

Political activists -- Minnesota.

Radicals -- Minnesota.

Strikes and lockouts -- Iron mining -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Hamer, Fannie Lou.

Heikkila, William Kaino, 1906-1960.

Johnson, Arnold E.

Mackie, Martin, 1906-1967.

Novick, P., 1891-.

Paull, Henry, ca. 1900-1947.

Schappes, Morris U. (Morris Urman), 1907-.

Watson, Chester.

Organizations:

Industrial Workers of the World.

International Woodworkers of America. Local 12-29 (Duluth, Minn.).

People's Lobby (Minn.).

Timber Producers Association.

United States. Work Projects Administration.

Western Federation of Miners.

Workers' Alliance of Minnesota.

Places:

Arrowhead Region (Minn.).

Sisseton (S.D.) -- Trials, litigation, etc.

Document Types:

Plays (document genre).

Poetry.

Titles:

Jewish currents.

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