Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Marshall Bloom Papers, 1950-1999 (bulk 1962-1969)

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Peter Nelson.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2002

Biographical Note

Marshall Bloom (AC 1966), journalist, editor and key agent in the development of the alternative press in the United States in the 1960s, was born in 1944 in Denver, Colorado. As a child he was an accomplished student and was active in B'nai B'rith, school newspapers and other organizations. He entered Amherst College in 1962, majoring in American Studies and becoming involved in numerous campus activities, among them FORUM (the student lecture committee) and The Amherst Student. Under Bloom's leadership as Chairman of the Student in 1965, the newspaper dramatically increased its coverage of national issues. At graduation Bloom was awarded the Samuel Bowles Prize for proficiency in journalism. Bloom's affinity for social protest and controversy was evident in the 1966 Commencement ceremony, at which Bloom was one of 19 graduating seniors who walked out to protest the College's decision to award an honorary degree to Robert McNamara, then Secretary of Defense, for his role in the continuing Vietnam War.

Bloom's college years saw an awakening of his interest in the civil rights movement. He participated in marches in the South in 1964 and 1965, and was arrested. In 1965 he joined student editors from the Harvard Crimson to found the Southern Courier, an independent newspaper based in Selma that emphasized coverage of civil rights and black Southern life, issues largely ignored by the mainstream (white) Southern press. Bloom worked as staff writer and Montgomery, Alabama bureau chief in the summer of 1965. In his senior year at Amherst he wrote his thesis on the life of southern Jews in Selma, Alabama.

After graduating from Amherst Bloom attended the London School of Economics to study sociology for one year. He gained notoriety on both sides of the Atlantic for his involvement in student protests against the School's appointment of Walter Adams, then head of University College of Rhodesia, as its next director. The Socialist Society at LSE, in particular, was harshly critical of his appointment because of his role in promulgating the Rhodesian government's apartheid policy. Bloom, then president of the Graduate Students' Association, organized a meeting to protest this decision on January 31, 1967. LSE administrators banned the meeting on short notice, but it took place anyway; a university porter trying to maintain order in the crowded hall died of a heart attack. For their involvement in this tragic incident, Bloom and another student were suspended.

Back in the U.S. in 1967, Bloom returned to journalism. In mid-1967 he was appointed Executive Director of the United States Student Press Association, an organization sponsored by the National Student Association that operated Collegiate Press Service (CPS). In August Bloom attended the Sixth Congress of the Student Press at the University of Minnesota, where his appointment was to be confirmed. However, Bloom had recently courted controversy by denouncing the National Student Association for having accepted funds from the Central Intelligence Agency. Many delegates to the Congress of the Student Press, accordingly, voiced their objection to Bloom's appointment and it was eventually rescinded by USSPA's National Executive Board.

While still in Minneapolis, Bloom co-founded, with Raymond Mungo of Boston University, a news organization - at first called Resistance Press Service - whose purpose was to deliver feature stories and news to the "underground" press, student press, radio stations and independent weekly newspapers and magazines as an alternative to established news services such as AP and CPS. The name of the organization was soon changed to Liberation News Service (LNS). LNS achieved initial success and became firmly established after the October 1967 anti-Vietnam War protests at the Pentagon in Washington by reporting on aspects of the antiwar movement that had been ignored or misunderstood by mainstream media. The organization sent out inexpensively produced offset-printed "packets" to its subscribers generally two or three times a week. First based in Washington, D.C., where it received financial assistance from the Institute for Policy Studies, it moved to New York City near Columbia University in 1968. LNS eventually served as many as 400 subscribers throughout North America and Europe.

In 1968 an ideological split developed within LNS. Bloom and Mungo, representing one faction, wanted LNS coverage to emphasize the pacifist and cultural aspects of the radical counterculture, while an overtly Marxist political faction, headed by Allen Young and George Cavalletto, felt loyalty to Students for a Democratic Society and sought to run LNS in a more disciplined way to effect political change. On August 11, 1968 Bloom's faction moved from New York City to a farm in Montague, Massachusetts, north of Amherst, taking with them the LNS printing press, office equipment and several thousand dollars. (LNS published from the new location starting with issue #100.) Discovering the "heist," the New York faction traveled to Montague and accused Bloom and others of absconding with LNS funds and property that were rightfully theirs. The encounter became physically violent until the New York faction received a check for $6,000. For a time, the New York and Montague factions continued to produce LNS news packets simultaneously. Within a year, however, the Montague faction ceased publication, and oriented themselves increasingly toward agricultural subsistence and rural communal life. (LNS in Massachusetts seems to have ceased with issue #120, January 1969, while issues from New York City continued to be produced through 1981.)

In March 1969 Bloom traveled to California. Among the people he visited was Lisbeth (Liz) Meisner, formerly an editor and administrative coordinator in the LNS office in Washington. Correspondence in the collection indicates that the two discussed plans to marry.

Bloom's diaries during 1969 indicate that he was privately quite troubled about many things: debts, civil relationships and the sharing of labor among those on the Montague farm, the viability of the farm as an experiment in living, religious doubts, disagreements with his father, the Vietnam War, and the threat of Selective Service. (In October 1969, Bloom had received a notice from the Selective Service to report for a physical examination; this may have been only his most recent of a series of encounters with the military draft.) On November 1, 1969, Bloom unexpectedly took his life by carbon monoxide poisoning in his parked car on a wooded road in nearby Leverett. Bloom did not leave a suicide note, only a sheet of typewritten instructions that served as his Last Will and Testament. In subsequent years, several writers have pointed to the death of Marshall Bloom as a sign of the "failure" of the radical counterculture, while others simply were saddened by the passing of a talented and very charismatic but increasingly troubled man.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Marshall Bloom Papers consist of correspondence, diaries, unpublished writings, news clippings, publications, financial records, photographs and other materials that chiefly document Bloom's childhood, education, personal life and work as the founder of Liberation News Service and its larger role in the radical counterculture of the 1960s. In particular, the Papers document Bloom's chairmanship of The Amherst Student in 1965 and his other Amherst College activities. The Papers contain his thesis on Jews in Selma, Alabama, and information about the 1966 Commencement protest against the College's awarding of an honorary degree to Robert McNamara. The Papers document Bloom's controversial role in student protests at the London School of Economics in early 1967. Also included are correspondence and other records of the United States Student Press Association, ca. 1967; and records of Liberation News Service, chiefly 1967-1969, including correspondence, editorial subject files, financial records and issues of LNS mailings to subscribers. There is also a small amount of material relating to the Montague, Massachusetts communal farm that Bloom and others started in 1968. Correspondents include Ray Mungo and James Aronson.

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into fourteen series:

• 1. Personal Affairs, 1962-1991
• 2. Writings and Drawings, 1961-1969
• 3. General Correspondence, 1961-1976
• 4. Financial Records, 1966-1969
• 5. Denver Childhood, 1955-1963
• 6. Amherst College, 1962-1969 (bulk 1962-1966)
• 7. Southern Civil Rights Activities, 1964-1966
• 8. London, 1966-1967
• 9. United States Student Press Association, 1961-1967 (bulk 1967)
• 10. Liberation News Service (LNS), 1967-1999 (bulk 1967-1969)
• 11. Montague Farm, 1968-1994
• 12. Photographs, ca. 1950-1969
• 13. Miscellaneous Printed Matter, ca. 1967-1969
• 14. Books

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Series 1: PERSONAL AFFAIRS

Series 1, PERSONAL AFFAIRS, 1962-1991, contains biographical information, posthumous material such as eulogies and retrospective articles about Bloom, a variety of Bloom's personal identification cards, and an address book. This series is organized by material type.

Series 2: WRITINGS AND DRAWINGS

Series 2, WRITINGS AND DRAWINGS, 1961-1969, is divided into three sub-series:

A. Notes and Manuscripts for Possible Publication, 1965-1969 B. Personal Journals, 1961-1969 C. Plans and Drawings, ca. 1965-1968

Notes and Manuscripts for Possible Publication (sub-series A) consists chiefly of undated and unfinished typescript or manuscript drafts of articles that Bloom hoped to publish. A large amount of this material concerns "Moral Re-Armament," a conservative American youth organization that Bloom followed from 1966 to 1969. This sub-series is organized chronologically. See also Series 8, London School of Economics, sub-series B: Walter Adams Protest, for Bloom's typescript of his recollections of the student protests at the London School of Economics.

Personal Journals (sub-series B) are private notes and diaries kept by Bloom from ap-proximately 1961 to 1969. Some were written on loose sheets while others are in note-books. This sub-series includes diary entries written by Bloom very shortly before the end of his life, describing life on the farm in Montague. This sub-series is organized chronologically, with undated journals at the beginning.

Plans and Drawings (sub-series C) are two folders of architectural drawings of floor plans and building exteriors. They reflect Bloom's amateur interest in architectural and graphic design. Although most are undated and unidentified, one group appears to be Bloom's ideas for additions to existing residential buildings on the Amherst College campus in an area north of Lessey Street. This sub-series is organized by material type.

Sub-series A: Notes and Manuscripts for Possible Publication, 1965-1969

Sub-series B: Personal Journals, 1961-1969

Sub-series C: Plans and Drawings

Series 3: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE

Series 3, GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1961-1976, consists of incoming and outgoing cor-respondence, chiefly personal, arranged in loose chronological order. There is also one folder of posthumous family correspondence related to Bloom. Some folders are designated for specific individual correspondents, but generally each folder includes letters to and from a varie-ty of people and is arranged chronologically. Many items are undated, but in some cases an approxi-mate date has been inferred. For correspondence related to Bloom's activity in United States Student Press Associa-tion, see Series 9; for Liberation News Service correspondence, see Series 10, sub-series A.

Series 4: FINANCIAL RECORDS

Series 4, FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1966-1969, contains invoices, bank records and correspond-ence related to Bloom's personal finances and possibly also those of the Montague farm collec-tive-ly. This series is organized chronologically. For financial records of Liberation News Service, see Series 10, sub-series B.

Series 5: DENVER CHILDHOOD

Series 5, DENVER CHILDHOOD, 1955-1963, contains approximately 1 linear foot of material documenting Bloom's childhood and school days before attending Amherst College. It includes records of his activity in B'nai B'rith, Boys' State and Junior Red Cross, and of his junior high and high school academics; school newspapers, 1955-1962; yearbooks; and college applications, 1962. This series is organized by material type and within each section chronologically.

Series 6: AMHERST COLLEGE

Series 6, AMHERST COLLEGE, 1962-1969 (bulk 1962-1966), is divided into three sub-series:

A. Chairmanship of The Amherst Student, 1965 B. Academic Work, 1962-1966 C. Other Activities, 1962-1969

Chairmanship of The Amherst Student (sub-series A) consists chiefly of correspondence and issues of the student newspaper that Bloom chaired from January to December 1965. This sub-series is organized by material type.

Academic Work (sub-series B) includes notes and papers related to Bloom's course of study at Amherst, including his American Studies honors thesis entitled "The Attitude of Selma Jews Toward Integration." This sub-series is organized alphabetically by course name.

Other Activities (sub-series C) includes documentation of Bloom's various extra-curric-ular activities such as Forum (the College lecture committee), 1963-1965, and the protest at the 1966 Commence-ment exercises at which Amherst awarded an honorary degree to then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. There are also College publications and other material dating from as late as 1969 that are indicative of Bloom's active interest in the College as an alumnus. This sub-series is organized chronologically.

Sub-series A: Chairmanship of The Amherst Student

Sub-series B: Academic Work

Sub-series C: Other Activities

Series 7: SOUTHERN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVITIES

Series 7, SOUTHERN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVITIES, 1964-1966, documents Bloom's active participation in civil rights protests in Florida (1964) and Alabama (1965), and his role as co-founder and staff writer for The Southern Courier (1965-1966) a newspaper that reported on civil rights and black culture in the South. This series is organized chronologically; newspapers are stored separately in oversize flat boxes.

Series 8: LONDON, 1966-1967

Series 8, LONDON, 1966-1967, is divided into three sub-series:

A. London School of Economics - Academic Work, 1966-1967 B. London School of Economics - Walter Adams Protest, 1966-1967 C. Other London Material, 1966-1967

London School of Economics - Academic Work (sub-series A) includes course syllabi, notes and papers from Bloom's sociology coursework at LSE. This sub-series is organized by material type.

London School of Economics - Walter Adams Protest (sub-series B) consists of extensive British and U.S. press coverage of the protests of January 1967 in which Bloom, as president of the Graduate Students' Association, played a leading role. Also included are the official proceedings of an LSE Board of Discipline convened to investigate the matter, statements by Bloom, records of the Graduate Student Alliance, and undated retrospective writings by Bloom on the protest. This sub-series is organized by material type.

Other London Material (sub-series C) includes various newspaper clippings, personal records and ephemera related to Bloom's year in England. This sub-series is organized by material type.

Sub-series A: London School of Economics - Academic Work

Sub-series B: London School of Economics - Walter Adams Protest

Sub-series C: Other London Material

Series 9: UNITED STATES STUDENT PRESS ASSOCIATION

Series 9, UNITED STATES STUDENT PRESS ASSOCIATION, 1961-1967 (bulk 1967), consists of correspondence, mailing lists, bulletins and other administrative records and general files of the USSPA for the period before and during Bloom's tenure as General Secretary in 1967. Included are papers related to Bloom's ouster resulting from the Congress of the Student Press held in Minneapolis in July 1967. This series is organized by material type.

Series 10: LIBERATION NEWS SERVICE

Series 10, LIBERATION NEWS SERVICE, 1967-1999 (bulk 1967-1999), is organized into five sub-series:

A. Correspondence, 1967-1969 B. Memoranda and Other Internal Records, 1967-1973 (bulk 1967-1969) C. Subject Files for Stories, 1967-1969 D. Ray Mungo, 1967-1999 (bulk 1967-1969) E. LNS Issues, 1967-1969

Correspondence (sub-series A) contains mainly administrative correspondence, organized in loose chronological order with some folders for specific correspondents (James Aronson, Abbie Hoffman, Ray Mungo and Jerry Rubin).

Memoranda and Other Internal Records (sub-series B) contains organizational, financial, marketing and legal records of LNS; materials related to sponsored seminars, conferences and other programs; and notes and news clippings concerning the alternative press in general and LNS in particular. This sub-series documents how LNS was organized and managed, its various activities and programs, and the eventual internal divisions that led to its split. This sub-series is organized by material type.

Subject Files for Stories (sub-series C) comprises research material and drafts of articles that LNS staff writers were working on. Files are arranged alphabetically by subject, with a folder of miscellaneous subjects, a folder of AP wire reports and a folder containing one month of compiled mainstream news clippings placed at the end of the series. Subject headings include Columbia University student protests (May 1968), Draft Resistance and Military Desertion, Dick Gregory, Resurrection City (Washington, DC) photographs by Peter Simon, Riots Commission, and Jerry Rubin. The subject headings were created while organizing the Papers and were not assigned by Bloom. This sub-series is organized alphabetically by subject name.

Ray Mungo (sub-series C) contains clippings and articles about Bloom's friend and co-founder of LNS, manuscripts of stories written by Mungo for LNS, and two copies of a newsletter Mungo published from his Vermont farm. This sub-series is organized by material type. For Bloom-Mungo correspondence, see Series 3, box 2, folder 16. For letters written by Mungo to Bloom's parents after Bloom's death, see Series 2, box 2, folder 26.

LNS Issues (sub-series E) consists of office copies of LNS packets mailed to subscribers arranged chronologically from #1 (December 1967) through #120 (January 1969), with gaps. Also included are unnumbered LNS mailings. For a complete run of LNS issues, see the Marshall Bloom Alternative Press Collection.

Sub-series A: Correspondence

Sub-series B: Memoranda and Other Internal Records

Sub-series C: Subject Files for Stories

Sub-series D: Ray Mungo

Sub-series E: LNS Issues

Series 11: MONTAGUE FARM

Series 11, MONTAGUE FARM, 1968-1994, consists of legal documents, notes, clippings and newsletters related to the farm in Montague, Massachusetts, where Bloom and his LNS associates moved in 1968. One folder of posthumous material includes news clippings about the farm and a newsletter published by people associated with it. This series is organized by material type. For photographs of the farm, see Series 12.

Series 12: PHOTOGRAPHS

Series 12, PHOTOGRAPHS, ca. 1950-1969, contains portrait photographs of Bloom from childhood to adulthood, as well as snapshots of people and places at Montague Farm in 1969. Identified subjects include Verandah Porche and Harvey Wasserman. This series is organized alphabetically.

Series 13: MISCELLANEOUS PRINTED MATTER

Series 13, MISCELLANEOUS PRINTED MATTER, ca. 1967-1969, includes a small amount of publications on social and political issues from a variety of sources, possibly acquired by Liberation News Service for editorial use. This series is organized by material type.

Series 14: BOOKS

Series 14, BOOKS, is a collection of 54 books from Marshall Bloom's personal collection. They are chiefly paperbacks in American studies, sociology, psychology, history and literature that appear to have been used by Bloom for undergraduate courses at Amherst.