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Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm2016086071
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Seymour Martin Lipset, sociologist and political theorist, were given to the Library of Congress by the estate of Seymour Martin Lipset in 2015.
The papers of Seymour Martin Lipset were arranged and described by Pang H. Xiong with the assistance of Rosa Hernandez in 2018.
Copyright in these papers is reserved. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for further information.
The papers of Seymour Martin Lipset are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Seymour Martin Lipset Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Seymour Martin Lipset (1922-2006) span the years 1824-2013, with the bulk of the material dating from 1985 to 2001. The papers pertain to Lipset's career as a sociologist and political theorist and his body of work, including his work on American exceptionalism, democracy, Judaism in America, political extremism, the politics of academe and intellectuals, social mobility and stratification, socialism, and trade unions. He was most recognized for his comparative studies of democracy and its relationship with economic development. A son of Jewish Russian immigrants, Lipset grew up immersed in the political discussions of his Bronx neighborhood. This environment along with his continuing political interests would later affect the substance of his academic career and interests. Included in the papers are correspondence, writings, speeches, teaching material, notes and notebooks, photographs, projects and studies, printed matter, and other papers. The papers are in English and are organized into the following series: Correspondence, Speech and Engagement File, Subject File, and Writings.
The Correspondence series primarily documents the range of Lipset's activities after his appointment as the Virginia E. Hazel and John T. Hazel Jr. Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. in 1990. Correspondence include exchanges between Lipset and colleagues, government officials, publishers, students, various organizations, and the public. In some cases, Lipset's handwritten draft of a letter or response is accompanied by the typed version along with supporting material. Topics include academe, the American Jewish community and history, Canada, political extremism, neoconservatism, socialism, and other various aspects of sociology or political science. Correspondents include Amitai Etzioni, Larry Jay Diamond, Drora Kass, Everett Carll Ladd, Juan J. Linz, Noah M. Meltz, Earl Raab, David Riesman, and many others. The majority of the correspondence in the collection is professional in nature, but some letters provide insight into the Lipset's mentorship of students and collaborative attitude with other colleagues. Additionally, some of Lipset's letters to publishers show his keen interest in the production and distribution of his books.
The Speech and Engagement File consists of speeches, published and unpublished conference papers, correspondence, printed matter, and other complementary material pertaining to Lipset's many engagements, lectures, and talks. The progression of Lipset's speeches and papers are represented by handwritten, typed, and edited drafts along with final versions of papers or speeches in the collection. Topics featured are American exceptionalism, the American Jewish identity and community, comparative studies of the United States and Canada, democracy, presidential elections, socialism, social mobility, the state of sociology, and student involvement in politics.
The Subject File series includes awards, clippings, correspondence, interviews of Lipset by others, notes, photographs, project files, proposals, teaching material, and printed matter relating to Lipset's career and research interests. Files document Lipset's thoughts about the controversial elections of Samuel P. Huntington to the National Academy of Sciences in 1986 and 1987; involvement and affiliations with different professional organizations; projects and studies, particularly his multi-year project with Drora Kass to study Israelis in America; research interest in social mobility and stratification; and teaching files, primarily from his tenure at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. Also included are a report, transcript, correspondence, and other documentation of Lipset's involvement in two federal cases related to the Canadian Wheat Board in 1996 and 1998.
The Writings series consists of the bulk of the papers. During Lipset's academic career, he authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited over fifty books and 500 articles. He wrote prolifically to contribute a wide range of ideas and findings and to have an intellectual impact in the fields of sociology and political science. The series is comprised of abstracts, articles, books, notes and notebooks, reprints for the Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World, and writings by others.
In 1992, a festschrift,
The collection also contains published and unpublished articles which were not included in the festschrift appendix. These articles are housed under Other articles. Another category of articles in the series reflects Lipset's interest in academia and intellectuals, a topic which dominated much of his research agenda in the 1970s. Lipset and Everett Carll Ladd conducted national surveys of college and university faculty in 1969, 1975, and 1977 and gathered information about the educational, social, and political perspectives of professors. The surveys were usuallly referred to as the Ladd-Lipset surveys, and Lipset and Ladd wrote two series of articles about their 1975 and 1977 findings for the
The book file contains reviews of most of Lipset's books from the 1950s to the 1980s. For books published in the 1990s and 2000s, more complete files containing handwritten drafts; typescripts; galleys; correspondence with publishers and collaborating authors or editors; material relating to studies and projects conducted for the books; and other research material are available. Prominent in the series are files related to
Lipset's other topics of interest are also featured in the book file. His career-long interest in comparing the United States and Canada is reflected in
This collection is arranged in four series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm2016086071
Handwritten and typed correspondence, including supporting material, between Lipset and colleagues, government officials, publishers, students, and the public.
Arranged alphabetically by name of person or chronologically.
Speeches, papers, correspondence, printed matter, and other supporting material.
Arranged chronologically.
Correspondence, clippings, interviews, notes, photographs, printed matter, projects file, teaching material, and other papers.
Arranged alphabetically by topic or type of material.
Handwritten drafts, typescripts, galleys, printed copies of writings, correspondence, notes and notebooks, research material, reviews, printed matter, and other supporting material.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein alphabetically or chronologically.