[ANARCHISM] The Original Mailing List of the Libertarian League, 1954

New York, NY: Unpublished, 1954-1955. Over hundreds of 3 x 5 cards, contained in the original 12î (l) x 12î (w) x 5î (h) metal box belonging to Sam Dologoff, founder of the Libertarian League. A complete list of the members of the League, including addresses. A one of a kind relic from the short-lived, anarchist Libertarian League.

The Libertarian League was founded in July 1954 by a group of anarchists, Russell Blackwell ((long time revolutionary aka Rosalio Negrete), Sam and Esther Dologoff (aka Weiner - long time anarchists and I.W.W.), Murray Bookchin (former Communist Party, former Trotskyist, then anarcho- communist), Dave Van Ronk (folksinger, IWW affiliated, Trotskyist), and Enrico Arrigoni (Stirnerite anarchist). The League never had too much of a presence outside the NYC area though there were small groups in a few midwestern industrial areas, including Detroit. Many of the other people around the League were, like Arrigoni, veterans of the anarchist movement in other countries - some were here illegally under pseudonyms. Members of the Libertarian League were expected to also belong to the IWW. Most Wobblies were anarchists anyway but this code ensured that there would always be an anarchist presence in the IWW.

There was no money to establish their own center and the founders were in desperate need of a place where they could hold meetings, forums, socials and dispense literature. The LL was rescued by the solidarity of their Spanish comrades in Cultura Proletaria, who offered to share their center.

With an increasing nationwide interest in anarchism, a number of young people joined the LL. The round-table discussions were all spontaneously participated and were far more effective than organized forums, where speakers talked at the people. But these discussions necessarily confined to a narrow circle, inhibited the expansion of the group. The LL gradually faded away as people aged and fewer young people joined. By 1966 they were out of business.

This mailing list includes not just anarchists but just about any one that had expressed an interest in the journal VIEWS AND COMMENTS OF THE LIBERTARIAN LEAGUE or the League. The founders were always loathe to take someone off the mailing list so this can be considered the complete, official mailing list of the Libertarian League.

Provenance: Dologoff moved out of NYC and sold his apartment to a friend and fellow anarchist, Bill Goring. Dologoff had left the mailing list in his apartment and told Goring that anything left behind was his. Goring is currently a book dealer and colleague, and the mailing list was among his inventory.

Item #1790.

Price: $3,500.00