As the second volume of a trilogy, Trinity of Passion overlaps considerably with the first volume with respect to foundational source materials and classroom experiences as well as consultation with friends, students, and scholars. The “Acknowledgments and Sources” page of Exiles from a Future Time should therefore be consulted by anyone wishing to gain a comprehensive grasp of the influences on my work and the debts that I have incurred. Moreover, the first volume’s “A Note on Terminology and Illustrations” still applies, especially in regard to the capitalization of “Communist,” “Black,” “Party,” and “Left” and to citation of periodicals. Here I will primarily offer augmentation concerning specific information in Trinity of Passion.
From the very outset of this volume, I have received emotional support and rigorous intellectual exchange from my partner, Angela Dillard. For nearly five years she has tolerated a house overflowing with old books and journals, file boxes of correspondence and photocopies, scattered tapes, and all-night work marathons, not to mention endless monologues and even rants about the contradictions of the Popular Front, the tragic nobility of the socialist dream, and the fascinating (for me, at least) features of the lives and writing of many neglected and forgotten authors. All the while, Angela has worked away diligently on her own pathbreaking scholarship about conservatism, religion, and the history of Detroit.
A second special debt is owed to my friend and comrade of more than three decades, Patrick Quinn of the Northwestern University Archives. At a crucial moment, when I first assembled my argument and evidence into a sprawling narrative, Patrick went through my rough-draft chapters line by line. Using his extraordinary knowledge of the politics, culture, and history of the twentieth century, Patrick not only pointed out all my missteps in writing and documentation but in almost every such instance he preternaturally proposed a more effective way for me to express my own intention. Only after Patrick’s intervention did I feel confident in sharing the manuscript with three other scholars who provided much-appreciated additional feedback—Howard Brick, Laurence Goldstein, and Angela Dillard.
As always, financial support has been crucial. In this instance, I am grateful to the University of Michigan for a semester leave and research funds in connection with my directorship of the Program in American Culture (2000–2003) and a sabbatical in the fall of 2003. I am also grateful for receiving the Resident Fellowship for Manuscript Research, Longfellow House, Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 2004. In the spring of 2005 I received a research partnership grant from the Rackham Graduate School; my research partner, Rachel Peterson, was a fabulous colleague who went above and beyond the call of duty locating materials that no one else could find, and often in providing insightful observations. Portions of Trinity of Passion were presented as lectures delivered at or sponsored by the following venues: American Literature Seminar, Harvard University; American Civilization Program, Brown University; English Department, University of Massachusetts, Boston; English Department, Tufts University; English Department, University of California, Berkeley; the conference “The Legacy of the British Marxist Historians” at Edgehill College, Ormskirk, England; the conference “Capitalism and Its Culture,” Santa Barbara, California; the conference “Outside American Studies,” Dartmouth Summer Institute, Hanover, New Hampshire; the conference “The Noise of History,” Dylan Thomas Center, Wales, November 2003; Tamiment Library, New York University; several events sponsored by the Future of Minority Studies at the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, and Cornell University; and the English Department, the Program in Modern Thought, African American Studies, and Jewish American Studies, Stanford University. Portions of the manuscript were also presented at national conventions of the Modern Languages Association, the American Studies Association, and the Organization of American Historians. I appreciate the critical comments and suggestions from fellow panelists and audience participants on those occasions.
In Trinity of Passion, I cite materials from the following libraries and institutional collections, and I am grateful for assistance and in some instances for permission to quote from letters and manuscripts: FBI Reading Room (for the FBI files of Chester Himes, John Oliver Killens, and Irwin Shaw); Fisk University; Labadie Collection, University of Michigan; George Arents Research Library, Syracuse University; Library of Social History, Los Angeles; Mugar Memorial Library, Boston University; Harry Ransom Research Center, University of Texas; Walter Reuther Archives, Wayne State University; Schomburg Center for the Study of Black Culture; State Historical Society of Wisconsin; Tamiment Library, New York University; University of California at Los Angeles Oral History Collection (for the history of Albert Maltz); and University of California at Los Angeles Research Library. The following individuals gave me access to material from their private collections: Daniel Aaron, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Michel Fabre, Paris, France; Henry Gilfillan, Occidental, California; Robert Hethmon, Los Angeles; Aaron Kramer, Long Island, New York; Dan Levin, Long Island, New York; and Bill Mardo, New York City.
I cannot possibly list all the individuals who afforded me stimulating conversation and information that have variously worked their way into the making of this volume. Daniel Aaron has remained my foremost mentor in the field, and the time I spent with him in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the fall of 2002 and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the spring of 2004 will always be remembered. Fredric Jameson has long been an inspirational figure, and his visit to the University of Michigan in the fall of 2004 came at a critical time in my thinking. Paula Rabinowitz is usually two steps ahead of me in contemplating new connections between gender and culture, and I am especially indebted to her for drawing my attention to the writings of Lauren Gilfillan. Likewise, it was Gay Wilentz who first pointed out to me Jo Sinclair’s association with the Left; her unexpected death in February 2006 was a stunning loss to scholars working in the borderlands of African and Jewish diaspora cultures. Keith Gilyard has been extraordinarily generous in sharing his work on John Oliver Killens and in commenting on my own. Dick Meisler (who read a draft of my chapter on Arthur Miller) and Miriam Meisler have been the most faithful of friends, without whom I simply could not have survived the hard times in order to appreciate the good ones. Michael Löwy and Eleni Varikas, whose wide reading and imaginative perspectives are a reliable source of intellectual invigoration, accompanied me to the Greek Islands and housed me in Athens and Paris during a crucial period of reading for the project. Lewis Pepper and Moira Cunningham housed and fed me during a research period in the Boston area. My colleagues at the University of Michigan have always been available to provide insight and information helpful to my work, most recently Paul Anderson, Enoch Brater, Kevin Gaines, Sandra Gunning, James McIntosh, Gina Morantz-Sanchez, Tobin Siebers, Penny Von Eschen, and John Woodford, as well as members of the American Culture Faculty Reading Group, who have tolerated my ornery responses to many of our monthly readings over the years. Scholars in the field of the U.S. cultural Left comprise a generous community, always available to share ideas and information: Stanley Aronowitz, Graham Barnfield, Paul Buhle, Michael Denning, Brian Dollinar, Peter Drucker, Al Filreis, Barbara Foley, Jim Hall, Robert Hethmon, Rob Kauffman, Robbie Lieberman, William Maxwell, James Miller, Bill Mullen, Cary Nelson, Aldon Nielsen, Christopher Phelps, Mark Pittenger, Arnold Rampersad, David Roessell, Rachel Rubin, E. San Juan Jr., James Smethurst, Jon Christian Suggs, Michael Szalay, Harvey Teres, Alan Trachtenberg, Zaragosa Vargas, Doug Wixon, and Richard Yarborough. Associates on the editorial boards of Against the Current and Science & Society have also left their imprint on my thinking. It was an extraordinary honor to be able to meet and talk with a number of writers featured in this volume, especially Louis Falstein, Howard Fast, Aaron Kramer, Dan Levin, Henry Roth, John Sanford, and Morris Schappes. Correspondence with William Herrick, Joseph Vogel, and Milton Wolff was also prized. Family members of Benjamin Appel, Alvah Bessie, Lauren Gilfillan, John Oliver Killens, and Ann Petry were enormously obliging. My daughters, Sarah and Hannah, are the loves of my life. Angela is my angel.
For material used in this volume, the following people participated in personal interviews of varying degrees of formality, some of which were tape-recorded: Irving Adler, Ruth Adler, Willa Appel, Phillip Bonosky, Lloyd Brown, Alex Buchman, Victor Burch, Ben Burns, Marvel Cooke, Harold Cruse, Peter Filrado, Hy Fireman, Franklin Folsom, Sender Garlin, Henry Gilfillan, Erika Gottfried, Louis Harap, Esther Jackson, James Jackson, Paul Jarrico, Howard Johnson, Barbara Killens, Grace Killens, Aaron Kramer, Dan Levin, Deena Levitt, A. B. Magil, Bill Mardo, Elizabeth Petry, Norman Rosten, Henry Roth, Muriel Roth, Annette T. Rubinstein, John Sanford, Alexander Saxton, Morris U. Schappes, Janet Sillen, Barbara Snoek, Saul Wellman, B. J. Widick, Tiba Wilner, Helen Yglesias, and Barbara Zeluck.
The following people shared information with me, usually through discussions, correspondence (including e-mail), and phone conversations: Bill Bailey, Dan Bessie, Martin Buchman, Paul Buhle, Jeff Cabusao, Michel Fabre, Milt Felsen, Dan Georgakas, Marvin Gettleman, Margaret Goostray, Julie Herrada, Mary Janzen, Alan Johnson, Andrew Lee, Maria Morelli, Steve Nelson, Sean Noel, Donald Pease, Christopher Phelps, Philip Sharnoff, Mark Solomon, Maynard Solomon, Joseph Vogel, Seama Weatherwax, Tom Weather-wax, and Eben Wood.
Once again I am grateful to the entire staff of the University of North Carolina Press, but especially Sian Hunter, Stephanie Wenzel, and the two readers of the manuscript.
This book is dedicated to my older sister and younger brother, Sharon and Michael, who have always supported me and my work over the years. They and their partners, children, and pets have often opened their doors and shared their hospitality during my research trips. None of these individuals or anyone else who was interviewed or who rendered assistance is in any way liable for the opinions or judgments expressed in this book.