GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ESFL’s FOUNDING COLLECTIONS
The East Side Freedom Library currently holds books, journals, records, original works of art,
and posters. Some of the printed material is rare. Much of the printed material is well-used, in
the sense that the items have been used as teaching materials for the teachers, activists and artists
whose libraries form the foundational collection of ESFL.
The following themes are represented in the founding collection:
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labor and working-class history and literature;
U.S. immigration history;
African American and African diasporic history;
Asian American and Asian history;
Political-economic history, U.S. and global;
Women’s history and feminism(s);
Political philosophy;
Jazz and radical music history;
Historical methods and historiography, including oral history.
There are smaller sub-sections, such as Chicana/o & Latina/o History, South African political
history, which will also be labeled in the collection. The directors are in discussion with a
potential donor of a collection of community organizing and community development histories.
The collection(s) will grow, slowly, and through an application and selection process. The
ESFL’s directors are the chief curators of the collection.
The original art and corresponding art-book collection concentrates on work by artists of color
and their teachers. The following artists are featured in the collection (representative list):
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Camille Billops, African American sculptor, filmmaker, printmaker
Whitfield Lovell, African American painter/collage artist
Reggie Gaines, African American charcoal artist
Queenie McKenzie, Australian Aboriginal artist
David Fludd, African American painter
Albert Huie, Jamaican print master
Amiri Baraka, poet, playwright, activist – and printmaker
Michael Cummings, African American quilt artist
Ronald Joseph, African American printmaker
WHO WILL USE THE ESFL COLLECTIONS?
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Local and area students, Grade 7-12, seeking consultations and research materials for
History Day presentations;
High School and College students seeking mentorship in research methods in both
primary and secondary materials;
Students and scholars interested in the subject areas and their interrelationships;
Members of the general public – neighborhood residents, union members, Adult
Education enrollees – interested in the collections and curated art exhibits;
Students of art and artists drawn to the visual art works and art books.
HOW WILL ACCESS TO THE ESFL COLLECTIONS WORK?
The holdings in the ESFL are non-circulating. The ESFL will be a reading room and research
center, with all materials to be perused on-site.
In addition to programs initiated by the ESFL that invite people to use the collection’s materials
in educational programs, people can make appointments to browse, consult with an historian, and
do research.
HOW WILL COLLECTION EXPANSION and PROCUREMENT WORK?
The ESFL’s Directors, with advice from its Board of Directors, will devise an application,
selection and curation process maintained by the ESFL’s directors. No new collections will be
procured until 2015, although applications for collection adoption are welcome. A draft
application is attached. No decisions will be made about new collections until the ESFL’s doors
are open, and the Board has ratified policies for application and selection.
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EAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY,
Peter Rachleff and Beth Cleary, Co-Directors
APPLICATION for COLLECTION INCLUSION (draft, for discussion)
Applicants, please note: the ESFL’s Founding Collection is closed. We are glad to accept
applications for future collection procurement, which will re-commence in 2015. Please refer to our
website and our Mission Statement in considering how your collection will complement and deepen
the founding holdings. Your collection cannot require special handling or preservation. Your
collection, if accepted, is a permanent donation to the ESFL, and you relinquish your legal
ownership of the materials. The ESFL is a non-profit organization, and your donation is taxdeductible. Thank you for your interest in the ESFL.
1. Name(s) of Donors:
2. Name of your Proposed Collection:
3. Types of Materials and Display/Use Needs:
4. Describe your collection. Include details about duration of your collecting, methods
you have used to expand your materials, and the approximate amount of physical
space your collection would need at the ESFL.
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Provide a paragraph that describes how your collection complements and enriches
the Mission and collections of the ESFL. This may be used as a public description of
your donation and materials.
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Specific book, print, and archival collections accepted by ESFL as the “Founding Collections”
are described below. The collections are anchored by the first two collections listed:
Peter Rachleff Collection in Labor, Working Class, U.S. Immigration, African American
and African disaporic history – 6,000 volumes plus file cabinets of articles. Assembled over a
career of 35 years of college teaching and scholarly research.
Hmong Archives. Assembled over a twenty year period and curated by professional archivist
Marlin Heise and a team of Hmong scholars and students, this significant collection includes
books, documents, newspaper clippings, textiles, tools, musical instruments, and other material
objects which reflect Hmong experiences in southeast Asia and the United States.
These collections are complemented by:
David Bernstein Collection in Student Activism – documents, journals, and materials. A longtime participant in activist theater, including the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and a teacher in
the University of Minnesota’s Theater Department, Mr. Bernstein has offered the Freedom
Library his collection of Students for a Democratic Society materials, assembled while he was a
graduate student at the University of Michigan in the 1960s, an important center of student
activism and research.
Donna Gabaccia/Jeffrey Pilcher Collection in Immigration and Diasporic Italian History -200 volumes. Dr. Gabaccia was executive director of the University of Minnesota’s Immigration
History Research Center and a world-recognized scholar in Italian diasporic history. Dr. Pilcher
is a scholar of the role of food in immigration experiences. Professors Gabaccia and Pilcher now
teach at the University of Toronto.
Fred Ho Collection in African American and Afro-Asian music and cultural activism – 500
volumes and assorted materials. Mr. Ho (1957-2014) was a widely recognized composer,
baritone saxophonist, intellectual, and cultural/political activist who was brought to the Twin
Cities by the Walker Art Center, conducted residencies with students and listening sessions with
immigrants which became a concert at the Cedar Cultural Center. While living with a terminal
illness, Mr. Ho sent 100 boxes of his books and music to the ESFL.
Seitu Jones Collection of Theatre Design Drawings and Artifacts. The noted St. Paul visual,
landscape, and community artist has offered his archive of design drawings, renderings and
photographs, documenting 20 years of significant scenographic contributions to Twin Cities
theatres including Penumbra and Pangea World Theatre, among others.
Jaimie Markham Collection in Grassroots Community Development – books, journals, and
documents. Assembled over four decades of involvement and leadership in cooperative and
sustainable development projects across the U.S., with particular attention to labor responses to
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the challenges of deindustrialization and plant closings. Mr. Markham has served as a consultant
to many innovative projects, including the Freedom Library. He now lives in rural Wisconsin.
Doug McGilp Collection of Historical Labor Union Buttons – A long time activist in the
Teamsters Union, Mr. McGilp has collected and maintained a collection of more than 1,000
labor union buttons and other emphemera. He is now retired and lives in Minneapolis.
David Montgomery Collection in Labor History – 1,000 volumes. Considered the founder of
the modern study of labor history, Dr. Montgomery (1927-2011) blazed an influential career as a
factory worker in St. Paul, MN, and then at the University of Pittsburgh and Yale University. He
served as editor of LABOR HISTORY and INTERNATIONAL LABOR AND WORKING
CLASS HISTORY journals, and as president of the Organization of American Historians. His
professional papers are housed at the Tamiment Library of New York University; Martel
Montgomery has donated Dr. Montgomery’s personal library to the ESFL.
Larry Olds Collection in Critical Pedagogy and Community Activism – several file cabinets
of documents and materials. Now in his 70s and retired from Minneapolis Community and
Technical College, Olds has devoted his scholarly, teaching, and activist career to exploring and
practicing empowering pedagogies and exploring their presence not only in the classroom but
also within social movements.
Paula Rabinowotiz Collection in Women’s and Feminist History and Literature – 2,000
volumes. A widely recognized scholar in the field of feminist literary studies and a professor in
the English Department at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Rabinowitz has offered her entire
library in women’s and feminist history, fiction, theory and culture to the Freedom Library.
Rainbow Books Collection in Progressive Activism. Walter Ruff, founder of the widely
respected Madison, Wisconsin, Rainbow Books store, has offered 2,000 volumes in activist and
progressive history to the Freedom Library.
David Roediger Collection in Critical Race Studies – 100 volumes. The author of the pathbreaking study, The Wages Of Whiteness, Dr. Roediger taught at the University of Minnesota in the
1990s. He is now a professor of History and American Studies at the University of Kansas.
Salvatore Salerno Collection in Working Class Fiction and Poetry – 500 volumes.
Assembled over a 35 year career of college teaching and scholarly research which focused on
creative expression by immigrants and working people. Professor Salerno now teaches at
Minneapolis Community and Technical College.
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