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Noyma Appelbaum Papers and Collection on Communism
Notifications
Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Noyma Appelbaum was born in 1928 in Philadelphia to Meyer Appelbaum and Esther Kaminsky. Meyer immigrated to the United States from Lithuania as a child and worked in several professions, beginning as an apprentice to a carriage maker at only nine years old. Meyer was heavily involved in labor movements and the Communist Party. Esther worked in the garment industry like many Jewish immigrants in the beginning of the 20th century, and in the 1920s became involved in the women's labor movement as well as feminist movements. Noyma began his lifelong career as a labor organizer and political activist as a child when he joined the Young Pioneers of America, a children's organization affiliated with the Communist Party of the United States. Noyma detailed in an article for People's World—formerly the Daily Worker—that the family's communist affiliation led to their eviction in 1934.
Noyma stayed in Philadelphia into adulthood and attended Temple University as a journalism major. He wrote many papers on the impacts of unions on the labor force and on United States politics, and on the Communist Party's role in the United States. After he graduated with his bachelor's degree, he worked in Philadelphia and New York with the intention of unionizing the workers, including working for shipyards and as a steel worker. In 1955, he became the editor-in-chief of The Daily Worker's Pennsylvania edition, continuing to write about communist and labor causes. He then returned to Temple University and earned his Doctor of Education in 1972 and worked until his retirement as a teacher and principal, returning to lecture at his alma mater on occasion.
Noyma met his wife, Ellen Tecosky, at a Communist Party meeting. The couple raised their three children in Trevose, Pennsylvania, and Ellen ran a restaurant in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia in the 1980s. Because of their open affiliation with the Communist Party of the United States, the FBI kept close records on both through the Red Scare of the 1950s and 1960s. Noyma passed away on May 21, 2023, at 95 years old.
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Noyma Appelbaum, as well as his collection of published material relating to communism, which includes pamphlets, newsletters and magazines, and articles.
Series 2: Published materials, 1922-2013, undated
Donated by Noyma Appelbaum in 2013 and (via Applebaum's son in law, Phillip Seitz) 2023.
In series 1, the unpublished memoir titled "Where Were You on May Day? Transitions in Red: 1930s-1960s A Memoir by Noyma Appelbaum," has been migrated from original storage media to a library server, and digital use copies can only be accessed onsite in the SCRC reading room. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
Collection processed and finding aid begun in June 2024 by Sarah DeRupo, Project Archivist. Finding aid completed in May 2025 by Emily Rice, Project Archivist.
People
Organization
- American Communist Workers Movement (Marxist-Leninist)
- American Youth for Democracy
- United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Young Communist League of the U.S
Subject
- Communism
- Iron and steel workers
- Jewish communists
- Jews--United States--Memoirs and biographies
- Journalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- Labor unions--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
- School management and organization--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
- Socialism
Place
- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Jessica M. Lydon, Associate Archivist
- Finding Aid Date
- July 2024
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
The Noyma Appelbaum Papers and Collection on Communism are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. The donor has assigned their rights to Temple University Libraries. Other creators' intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to them or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.
Collection Inventory
Series 1 contains materials regarding Appelbaum's family, education, political action, and career, among other records.
Physical Description3.5 Linear Feet3 boxes
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Series 2 contains materials published by Appelbaum as well as his personal collection of pamphlets, articles, and booklets regarding the Communist Party, communist ideology, and labor organizing, among other topics.
Physical Description7.5 Linear Feet7 boxes
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