Ed and Jean Yellin HUAC Papers, 1948-2019
4.5 Linear Feet (9 manuscript boxes)
The Ed and Jean Yellin HUAC Papers (1948-2019) consist of materials relating to the Yellins' legal battles against the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The materials detail the effects on the Yellins' lives during and after their battle to defend Ed's First Amendment rights, and their later decision to publish a memoir about their experiences. The collection consists of five series: Correspondence, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Files, Newspaper Clippings, Research Files, and In Contempt Manuscript Drafts and Notes.
The Correspondence series consists of detailed correspondence between Ed Yellin and various parties. The bulk of the correspondence is from 1957-1965, beginning with Yellin's HUAC hearing in Gary, Indiana. The series includes correspondence with attorney Victor Rabinowitz, letters regarding Yellin's suspension from the University of Illinois and revocation of his NSF grant and subsequent academic reinstatement, correspondence with supporters and other First Amendment defendants, graduate fellowship and postdoctoral applications, correspondence with Johns Hopkins University, support from previous professors, and correspondence with organizations such as the ACLU and the New York Council to Abolish HUAC.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Files series consists of records the FBI compiled on Ed and Jean Yellin. There are files specifically for Jean Fagan Yellin and Ed Yellin, as well as some combined files. These records document the FBI's surveillance of the Yellins as early as 1950. The records were obtained by a Freedom of Information Privacy Act request in the 1980s. Some documents have redacted information.
The Newspaper Clippings series consists of original newspaper articles, primarily from 1958-1963, that relate to Ed Yellin, his legal battles with HUAC, and with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the University of Illinois over his academic suspension. There are also articles detailing other HUAC and First Amendment cases and anti-HUAC sentiment.
The Research Files series consists of documents collected by Ed Yellin in the course of his contempt of Congress trial, subsequent appeals, and battle for academic reinstatement. These documents are case notes and briefs, court transcripts, press releases, publications by the ACLU and other organizations, anti-HUAC newsletters and pamphlets, journal articles, and notes about his defense.
The In Contempt Manuscript Drafts and Notes series consists of materials relating to the Yellins' process of publishing a memoir of their experiences in the 1950s and 1960s against HUAC. The materials begin with the genesis of the idea of publishing a book, early interview transcripts, and other information gathering, and progress to chapter drafts, revisions, notes, archival material requests, illustrations, and chronologies.