Frank Krasnowsky papers, approximately 1940-1990

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Krasnowsky, Frank
Title
Frank Krasnowsky papers
Dates
approximately 1940-1990 (inclusive)
Quantity
28.86 cubic feet (26 boxes)
Collection Number
5876 (Accession No. 5876-001)
Summary
Papers of Frank Krasnowsky
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all users but is currently unprocessed and no inventory exists.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Frank Krasnowsky is a labor, political, and civil rights activist. Krasnowsky was an organizer and health and safety committee officer for the United Steelworkers of America in the Bethlehem Steel plant in Tacoma, Washington. There, he worked with other union activists including Eugene Dennet to make the existing union contract more powerful for the union members at Bethlehem--particulary in regards to health and safety.

At one time, Krasnowsky was married to fellow socialist Clara Fraser. They divorced, and she left the SWP to form the Freedom Socialist Party.

Krasnowsky's mother was a Jewish and Yiddish anarchist and his father, Harry Paxton Howard, was from an old American family and a member of the Industrial Workers of the World. His parents met in Chicago, where his mother was a garment worker and they were part of the same IWW/anarchist circles. When they left the US together in 1917 for Russia to aid the Russian Revolution, and en route Frank took his mother's name--Krasnowsky--rather than his father's to allow them to get back into Russia more easily. Instead of staying in Russia, they lived in Yokahama, Japan for 4 years where Krasnowsky's father worked as an editor of the newspapers Russia Today and New Russia.

Krasnowsky is also a member of the local Jewish American community. He co-chaired the Seattle chapter of the National Yiddish Club and performed as part of the musical duo Chutzpah. He is also the published author of short stories and poems.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Correspondence, biographical materials, speeches, article texts, and collected subject files of Frank Krasnowsky gathered and created in his roles as union officers and organizer for the United Steelworkers of America, his role in the Socialist Workers Party, and his organizing in the civil rights, labor, and antiwar movements. Much of the collection includes publications for which Krasnowsky was a writer or editor as well as much reference material for popular, left, and radical publications from the 1940s-1980s.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Krasnowsky, Frank--Archives

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington) (creator)