Joseph Lash manuscript
MSS.110
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit
October 09, 2012
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Ball State University Archives and Special Collections
Alexander M. Bracken Library
2000 W. University Avenue
Muncie, Indiana, 47306
765-285-5078
libarchives@bsu.edu
Joseph Lash manuscript MSS.110
Table of Contents
Summary Information ................................................................................................................................. 3
Biographical Note.......................................................................................................................................... 4
Scope and Contents....................................................................................................................................... 4
Arrangement...................................................................................................................................................4
Administrative Information .........................................................................................................................5
Controlled Access Headings..........................................................................................................................5
Collection Inventory...................................................................................................................................... 7
- Page 2 -
Joseph Lash manuscript MSS.110
Summary Information
Repository
Ball State University Archives and Special Collections
Creator - Author
Lash, John
Title
Joseph Lash manuscript
Date
1987
Extent
0.4 Cubic feet 1 box
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Joseph Lash manuscript, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries
- Page 3 -
Joseph Lash manuscript MSS.110
Biographical Note
Joseph Lash was born on December 9, 1909 in New York City's Upper East Side. He attended City
College of New York where he wrote left-wing opinion pieces for the campus newspaper and chaired the
college's socialist organization. He became a leader in the Student League for International Democracy,
founded the Association of Unemployed College Alumni, and served as an officer in the American
Student Union. Lash was also responsible for organizing various anti-war demonstrations on college
campuses from 1934 to 1941.
In the late 1930's he briefly served with the Loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, and then later
decided that he could aid the cause better as a student leader. In 1939, due to his anti-communist stance
in the student movement, Lash was summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities
Committee to answer questions about communist infiltration of the American Youth Congress. It was
at this time that Lash and Eleanor Roosevelt first met and a friendship developed that would last until
Eleanor's death in 1962. Mrs. Roosevelt helped Lash get involved with FDR's 1940 presidential campaign
as the director of the Democratic National Committee's Youth Committee. In time Lash became one of
Mrs. Roosevelt's most trusted advisers, even though they were criticized for their unusual friendship.
In 1946 Lash helped Mrs. Roosevelt co-found Americans for Democratic Action before he went to work
for the New York Post from 1950-1966. In 1966, Elliott Roosevelt asked Lash if he would resign his
job at the New York Post so that he could serve as his mother's official biographer and in 1971 Lash
published, "Eleanor and Franklin." He later received the Pulitzer Prize for the aforementioned book and
spent the next sixteen years writing and editing books about the New Deal and the Roosevelt's. Through
the years he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Frances Parkman Prize.
His last book "Dreamers and Dealers" was published a year after his death on August 22, 1987 in a
hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains a manuscript titled, "Dreamers and Dealers."
Arrangement
- Page 4 -
Joseph Lash manuscript MSS.110
This collection is arranged by subject.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Ball State University Archives and Special Collections
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Archives and Special Collections, Ball State
University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to
Archives and Special Collections.
Custodial History
This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a donation.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Processing Information
EAD finding aid created 2012/10/05 by Julie Hausknecht. EAD finding aid revised 2012/10/09 by
Bethany Fiechter.
Controlled Access Headings
Genre(s)
• Documents
- Page 5 -
Joseph Lash manuscript MSS.110
• Manuscripts
• Publications
Geographic Name(s)
• New York (N.Y.)
Subject(s)
• Stoeckel Archives of Local History
- Page 6 -
Joseph Lash manuscript MSS.110
Collection Inventory
"Dreamers and Dealers" accompanying documentation, 1987
"Dreamers and Dealers" prologue, chapter 1-4, undated
"Dreamers and Dealers" chapter 5-12, undated
"Dreamers and Dealers" chapter 13-18, undated
"Dreamers and Dealers" chapter 19-24, undated
"Dreamers and Dealers" chapter 25-28, undated
- Page 7 -
Box
Folder
1
1
1
2
1
3
1
4
1
5
1
6