Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Elmer Charles Kistler papers, 1917-1996
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Kistler, Elmer Charles
- Title
- Elmer Charles Kistler papers
- Dates
- 1917-1996 (inclusive)19171996
- Quantity
- .84 cubic feet, including textual materials, photographs, artifacts, and a sound cassette (3 boxes)
- Collection Number
- 5347 (Accession No. 5347-001)
- Summary
- Papers of a Seattle-area communist and labor union activist.
- 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 papers are open to all users.
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Elmer Charles Kistler was a long-time Washington State labor unionist and Communist Party activist committed to social justice, labor rights, and racial equality.
Kistler was born on January 17, 1915, in Cleveland, Wisconsin, and in 1926 his family moved to Longview, Washington. After graduating from high school in 1931, Kistler worked in a plywood mill at a time when there was no union organization in the industry. In 1934 he moved to Seattle to attend the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington. As a student, he helped organize a local chapter of the American Student Union, organized peace demonstrations, and picketed in support of union organization.
In 1940 Kistler began working at Boeing Aircraft Company as a union shop steward in the Clipper shop. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he worked in the shipyards and then entered the army as a volunteer officer candidate in July 1942. Kistler was commissioned in February 1943 and served in anti-aircraft until May 1944, when he was transferred to the infantry. Kistler was sent overseas in August 1944 with the 106th Division as a first lieutenant mortar platoon leader. He earned three battle stars, including the Ardennes for his service during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.
Kistler left the army in 1946 and returned to the University of Washington, where he helped organize the University District Post and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He served on the state board of Young Democrats from 1946 to 1947. Kistler left school in 1947 and worked in shipyards until 1951, when he went back to work in lumber mills. Kistler was later blacklisted from sawmill and construction jobs because of his affiliation with the Communist Party.
Kistler appeared at a hearing of the United States Subversive Activities Control Board in 1965. The hearing was part of an effort to prove that Kistler was a member of the Communist Party and in violation of the McCarran Act requirement that Communist Party members register with the attorney general. Robert W. Winsor, a Seattle attorney, served as Kistler's counsel. The Gus Hall-Benjamin J. Davis Defense Committee also assisted Kistler with legal defense.
Kistler ran unsuccessfully for elected office as a Communist Party candidate three times. These races included a run for Washington State's 35th legislative district representative seat in 1976 and again in 1984 for the 37th legislative district representative seat. In 1978 he challenged incumbent United States Representative Jack Cunningham on a platform of Native American land rights.
Elmer Charles Kistler died of cancer on November 28, 1996, at the age of 81.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Kistler papers contain correspondence, speeches, testimony, hearing notices, clippings, ephemera, pins and buttons, a sound cassette, and photographs regarding Kistler's military experience, work as a labor union activist, and activities as a Communist Party member and candidate for elected office. Correspondence and statements related to Kistler's hearing before the United States Subversive Activities Control Board in 1965 are included. The bulk of the material is from 1964-1984. Represented in the papers is 1985 Seattle Communist mayoral candidate B.J. Mangaoang.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
Literary rights have been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
Arranged in 4 series:
- Personal papers, 1917-1996
- Activism papers, 1966-1996
- Political campaign papers, 1972-1985
- Memorabilia, 1946-circa 1989
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Personal papers, 1917-1996, (bulk 1943-1964) Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/1 | Obituary and memorial service programs |
1996 |
United States Subversive Activities Control Board
subject files |
1964-1965 | |
Box/Folder | ||
1/2 | Statement on McCarran Act hearing |
1964 |
1/3 | General correspondence |
1964-1969 |
1/4 | Gus Hall correspondence |
1964-1965 |
1/5 | Clippings |
1965 |
Box/Folder | ||
1/6 | Photographs of childhood, family, and
friends 27 photographs
Includes a baby portrait and snapshots of Kistler as a child and
young adult. Also contains several vacation photographs including trips to
Devil's Lake,Wisconsin, Yellowstone National Park, and Mount Rainier National
Park.
|
1917-1976 |
1/7 | Birth and marriage certificates |
1917, 1950 |
1/8 | High school and university records |
1931, 1965 |
1/9 | Passports |
1971-1982 |
1/10 | Ina Mable Kistler estate correspondence |
1955-1956 |
1/11 | Cuba trips: ephemera, membership cards, and
photograph |
1986-1989 |
Military service papers |
1943-1947 | |
Box/Folder | ||
1/12 | Photographs 16 photographs
Contains portraits of Kistler in military uniform and
Kistler's U.S. War Department identification. Also includes snapshots,
including one taken at the Battle of the Bulge.
|
1944-1946 |
1/13 | Certificates and clippings |
1943-1947; undated |
1/14 | Correspondence
Contains official correspondence, handwritten letters to
Kistler's mother, telegrams, and a V-mail envelope.
|
1943-1947 |
1/15 | Picture frame |
undated |
Box/Folder | ||
1/16 | Miscellaneous personal papers
Includes cards and certificates relating to Kistler's hobbies
and non-professional affiliations.
|
1934-1996; undated |
Activism papers, 1966-1996Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Photographs |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1/17 | North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement
protest 1 photograph
|
1993 |
1/17 | March for Urban Aid, Washington, DC 1 photograph
Features Jesse Jackson, Jerry Brown, Maxine Waters, and other
politicians.
|
1992 |
1/17 | Unemployment Solidarity March, San Francisco,
California 2 photographs
|
1991 |
1/17 | Rally for Work, New York, New York 1 photograph
|
1991 |
1/17 | Anti-apartheid rally 1 photograph
|
1985 |
1/17 | GI Co-ordinating Committee Moratorium march, San
Antonio, Texas 7 photographs
|
1971 |
1/17 | General Electric boycott, Seattle,
Washington 2 photographs
|
1967 |
1/17 | Teamsters Local 743 rally 2 photographs
|
1964 |
1/18 | Communist Party |
|
Communist Party USA, 60th anniversary
meeting 1 photograph
|
1979 | |
Communist Party of Washington march, Seattle,
Washington 1 photograph
|
1972-1973 | |
Communist Party USA, 50th anniversary meeting,
Seattle, Washington 1 photograph
|
1969 | |
Communist Party |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1/19 | Speeches and statements
Contains a statement against the Interstate-90 bridge between
Seattle and Bellevue, a hearing before the Industrial Welfare Committee from
1975, an essay on "The Negro Question in the United States," and a statement on
"The Killing of John Rodney by Policeman Dennis Falk."
|
1975, undated |
1/20 | Notes on communist ideology and issues |
undated |
1/21 | Dues receipts and membership books |
1976-1982; 1979 |
1/22 | Convention ticket and agenda |
1966-1991, undated |
1/23 | Winter Soldier Celebration sound recording
Contains a sound cassette recording of a celebration of Elmer
Kistler and B.J. Mangoang's work as Communist Party activists.
|
1991 |
Puget Sound Council of Senior Citizens |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1/24 | Award |
1994 |
1/25 | Correspondence and invitation |
1994, 1996 |
Membership cards |
||
Box/Folder | ||
1/26 | District Council of Carpenters |
1968-1994 |
1/27 | Various unions
Includes membership cards for the United Brothers of
Carpenters and Joiners of America from 1956, 1958, and 1969. Also includes
membership cards from the King County Area C.O.P.E. of the AFL-CIO from 1962 to
1981 and the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union from 1958 to 1966.
|
1956-1981 |
Box/Folder | ||
1/28 | Labor union materials
Contains Kistler's certificate of withdrawal from the
International Union of the United Automobile Workers of America, cards from
Kistler's rank and file membership, wood rank and file statements and
materials, handwritten notes, and statements regarding the Unemployment Act of
1971.
|
1941, 1970-1972, undated |
1/29 | Miscellaneous ephemera, correspondence, and
clippings |
1960-1962, 1985, undated |
Political campaign papers, 1972-1985Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
2/1 | 37th Legislative District campaign
correspondence |
1984 |
2/2 | 7th District congressional campaign
materials |
1978 |
2/2 | 35th Legislative District campaign materials |
1975-1976 |
2/3 | Democratic convention delegate card |
1972 |
Memorabilia, 1946-circa 1989Return to Top
Container(s): Box 3
Consists of 32 pins, with text in Russian, most of which feature Moscow or Vladimir Ilich Lenin. 11 additional pins, including a 1946 pin from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, pins and buttons from the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, a pin from the 1962 Washington State Labor Council Convention, and other military and labor pins, also form part of the series.
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Armies--Officers--Photographs
- Communism--United States--1917-
- Communism--Washington (State)
- Communist trials--United States
- Communists--Washington (State)--Archives
- Demonstrations--United States--Photographs
- Demonstrations--Washington (State)--Photographs
- Labor leaders--Washington (State)--Archives
- Political campaigns--Washington (State)
- Political campaigns--Washington (State)--Photographs
- Political candidates--Washington (State)--Archives
- Subversive activities--United States
- Veterans--Washington (State)--Archives
Personal Names
- Kistler, Elmer Charles--Archives
- Kistler, Elmer Charles--Photographs
- Mangaoang, B. J
Corporate Names
- United States. Army--Officers--Archives
- United States. Army--Officers--Photographs
- United States. Subversive Activities Control Board
Geographical Names
- Seattle (Wash.)--Politics and government
- Washington (State)--Politics and government--1951-
Form or Genre Terms
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
- Membership cards
- Photographs
- Sound recordings
- Speeches, addresses, etc
- buttons (information artifacts)
- certificates
- correspondence
- ephemera
- lapel pins
- military records
- testimonies
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)