when albert died (personal recollections)

It’s twenty years since Albert Meltzer died. Since Iwas there, I’d like to share what I remember. I went tothe Solidarity Federation conference in Weston-super-Mare in 1996. I had a book of Nestor Makhno’s essaysand a return ticket. I was there on the final morning, Ithink all the conference stuff had been done, andpeople were gathering in the lounge. Albert sufferedhis stroke. I went with him in the ambulance. Itseemed the obvious thing to do, since I’d known himfor several years.

The hospital was on the edge of town, low rise withsmall trees round it. I well remember the ward and itswaiting room. I went in everyday, I can’t rememberfor how many days. I remember eating in the canteen,so I assume there were morning and afternoon visitinghours. Albert never regained consciousness, but he’dmove in his sleep.

I also remember the hill over the road, which wasa bit of a refuge for me. There were cowslips in thegrass, a church and the stump of a windmill. The ridgeof rock carried on to make an island out in thechannel. I can hardly remember anything more aboutwhat else I did, though I did meet up with a localcomrade.

I looked at that book of Makhno essays recently.The bookmark was a single ticket back to Weston-super-Mare. I must’ve gone away to give in my noticeand move my stuff. The next day I got a phone call atbreakfast time from Stuart to say that Albert had died.That was the 7th of May. After that, I stayed in Albert’sflat in Lewisham and did whatever I could to helpStuart and Simon. They had their hands full, given thatthey had the funeral to organise – horse-drawn hearse,jazz band and all. And that was just the procession.

Inside: Anarchist Archives and Libraries

Number 86-87 £1 or two dollars May 2016When Albert died (personal recollections)

To Spread the RevolutionWe gave Albert exactly the send-off he wanted. A

full house, and no worthy cliches. The thing Iremember best is the comedian. Noel James did acomedy routine at the crematorium. I don’t know ifthis was planned, and he had nerves of steel, of if thiswas a beautiful ad lib. He turned his soft guitar caseinto an elephant’s head (the neck of the guitar makingthe elephant’s trunk) and launched into a long andvery involved anecdote, taking it to the point whereno-one knew what he was going on about. So hestopped. “If I’m going to die on stage, I’m in the rightplace, aren’t I?” That brought the house down.

Less amusing was the carping in print (or was itsniping?) from some of those associated withFreedom Press at that time. We probably shouldn’thave been surprised, given the long-standingdisagreements involved. It was distasteful and it feltto me that there was arrogance as well as bad timinginvolved. It was insinuated that Albert’s support forthe Spanish resistance, or Stuart Christie in particular,was imaginary. The Albert Memorial: the AnarchistLife and Times of Albert Meltzer by Phil Ruff withcontributions from other comrades (1997) correctssome of these ‘misunderstandings’.

Sometimes I regret that Albert isn’t around tolaugh at some of the epic missing-the-point that yousee in academic writing about anarchism. I’m surehe’d have been amused to hear a contemporaryprofessor tell him that as he’s not a philosopher, he’snot qualified to contribute to anarchist thinking! Ofcourse, his comrades – and those he has inspired –would beg to differ.

Though we miss him, we shouldn’t be sad. Helived – and enjoyed – a life devoted to a cause. Thetributes paid to him after his death give someindication of his contribution. And what did he leaveundone? His autobiography tells us (as with the sign-painter in Heinrich Heine’s short story): he never didpaint any golden angels. But who would have it anyother way?

John Patten

NoteA video of the funeral procession, service and wake ison Stuart Christie’s facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=512868175425287Photo cropped from: Red and black flags at AlbertMeltzer’s funeral by Col Longmorehttp://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/q83cvd

To Spread the Revolution:Anarchist Archives and LibrariesFor anarchists—those defined in the most generalterms as believing in a political and social theory ofsociety without government and through voluntaryrelationships—the written and published word hasbeen central to their movement. From early on,anarchists in the United States and Europe publishedand collected their ideas and written work. Thispublished literature was one of the main sources ofanarchist propaganda and a means to communicateand spread ideas. Newspapers, pamphlets, and, bookswere instrumental in sharing and documenting thephilosophies and actions of the anarchist movement;anarchist libraries were a natural continuation andfollowed shortly thereafter.

Many early English language anarchist periodicalsproduced pamphlet series, often with some sort ofanarchist library subtitle. For example, earlyAmerican journals such as Liberty, Free Society, andMother Earth had pamphlet series called the “LibertyLibrary,” “Free Society Library,” and the “MotherEarth Library.” The long-running English anarchistpaper Freedom also maintained a pamphlet seriescalled the “Freedom Library.” The collecting ofanarchist ideas in this format became a regularfeature of anarchist periodicals and publishers anddeveloped a body of knowledge—or library—usuallynot available elsewhere, that anarchists and thosecurious about anarchist ideas could draw from,discuss, and share.

But anarchists were not only interested inpublishing and distributing their ideas in pamphletand, later, book series; they were also interested inlibraries in the more traditional sense. InPhiladelphia, a Radical Library was established asearly as 1895 by the Ladies Liberal League ofPhiladelphia, a group that included anarchistsVoltairine de Cleyre and Natasha Notkin and whosemission was to “repair a deficit in the public librariesby furnishing radical works upon subjects atconvenient hours for working men and accessible toall at only a slight expense” (Falk, Pateman, &Moran, 2003, p. 459). This library would continue invarious forms for at least the next 20 years. It becamea social and political center for anarchists in thePhiladelphia area, with anarchist Joseph Cohentaking an active role in their activities throughout the1910s (Avrich, 2006, p. 60-61). Anarchists formedsimilar libraries and social centers in other majorcities, such as the Progressive Library in New YorkCity, where in 1906 a group of anarchists was

Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library www.katesharpleylibrary.net

To Spread the Revolutionarrested while holding a meeting to discuss LeonCzolgosz’s assassination of President WilliamMcKinley five years earlier (Falk et al., 2003, p.200).

In Europe, a similar interest in anarchist librarieswas present in the Spanish Modern Schools. TheModern Schools were a rational educational projectbegun by Spanish anarchist Francisco Ferrer, and aspart of this initiative, a publishing program andlibrary were created (Avrich, 2006, p. 19-23). TheseModern Schools spread to the United States afterFerrer’s death, and when a Ferrer Modern School wasfounded in New York City in 1910, it included notonly a school and meeting rooms, but also a library. AFrancisco Ferrer Club in Chicago contained a “freelibrary and reading room” (Avrich, 2006, p.78, 62).Later, in 1921, following Russian anarchist PeterKropotkin’s death, a new Kropotkin Library was builtin his honor at the Stelton Modern School in Stelton,New Jersey (Avrich, 2006, p. 304).

Anarchists saw their libraries as vital socialcenters for their movement. These libraries were notsimply places to collect social and political books thataddressed anarchism; they were active locations foranarchism. They were meeting places and spaces toshare, spread, and develop the ideas of the anarchistmovement. Yet anarchists have also wanted topreserve their written propaganda and politicalculture for the future, and they have used andparticipated in the resources of more traditionalinstitutional libraries. One of the oldest collections ofanarchist material in the United States wasestablished at the University of Michigan whenanarchist and labor activist Joseph Labadie donatedhis personal papers and library there in 1911. Thiscollection was later organized and further developedby anarchist Agnes Inglis, who was curator of theLabadie collection from 1925 until 1952 (Herrada,n.d.). The Labadie Collection today remains one ofthe most important collections of anarchist materialin the United States. Emma Goldman would establishher and Alexander Berkman’s archives at theInternational Institute of Social History (IISH) inAmsterdam in December 1938, a time when the IISHwas collecting the papers of labor activists and otherradical individuals throughout Europe as Nazismspread. Around the same time that Goldman wasdepositing her material, the IISH librarian smuggledanarchist Mikhail Bakunin’s papers (as part of MaxNettlau’s collection) out of Germany (InternationalInstitute of Social History, n.d.). In both of thesecases, anarchists recognized the importance of

preserving their collections of books, papers,pamphlets, and ephemera for future use. Thesecollections still exist and continue to be rich sourcesfor documenting anarchist history, though they areheld within larger institutions and among other non-anarchist collections. But they are the exception;most anarchist libraries and archives are located notwithin the boundaries of larger university orinstitutional walls, but very consciously outside them.

Anarchist libraries todayThe proliferation of anarchist libraries, infoshops, andarchives in the present day demonstrates thatanarchists have maintained that instinct to preserveand provide access to anarchist literature. In mostmajor cities, one can find at least some sort ofanarchist infoshop with a library attached, and thereare a growing number of online libraries andarchives. In many cases, these collections havedeveloped over time both as a continuation of ahistorical interest in using the written word andpublic space as propaganda to promote and explainanarchism, and also to fill a gap missing in moretraditional, mainstream, and institutionally-basedlibrary and archival collections. These collections arerooted in the belief that access to anarchist literaturewas an important component of the movement, and inthe reality that outside of the movement, anarchistliterature was difficult or impossible to find.Anarchists, by definition suspicious of the state andits institutions, have also wanted to protect their ownhistorical writings and culture. As others have noted,“While there are of course some very notablecollections in both state and university collections,the majority of anarchist materials remain in thehands of the producing communities, preserved bythe people who participated in the very struggles thatare being documented” (Hoyt, 2012, p. 32).

In many ways, anarchist libraries and archivestoday fit within the larger umbrella of independentcommunity archives. Independent communityarchives should be seen as “social movements (or aselements of social movements)” that are part of the“development of subversive and counter-hegemonicsocial or public memories” according to AndrewFlinn and Mary Stevens (2009, p.4). Communityarchives can be defined broadly as the “grassrootsactivities of creating and collecting, processing andcurating, preserving and making accessiblecollections relating to a particular community orspecified subject” (Flinn & Stevens, 2009, p.5).These activities look different depending upon


To Spread the Revolutionindividual circumstances and communities, and oftenthe activities that define a “community archives” maytake place without the terms themselves ever beingused (Flinn, 2007, p. 152). Flinn (2007) writes that“community histories or community archives are thegrassroots activities of documenting, recording andexploring community heritage in which communityparticipation, control and ownership of the project isessential” (p. 153). Collections organized and createdaround a shared identity and interest in anarchism andthe anarchist movement situate anarchist libraries andarchives firmly within the independent communityarchives movement.

In reviewing the development of communityarchives in the U.K. in working class and ethnic andreligious minority communities, Flinn and Stevens(2009) suggest that these initiatives emerged out ofan activist or oppositional political community orculture: “[m]ost if not all community archives aremotivated and prompted to act by the (real orperceived) failure of mainstream heritageorganizations to collect, preserve and make accessiblecollections and histories that properly reflect andaccurately represent the stories of all society” (p. 6).These archives are often viewed not only as tools foreducation but also as weapons in struggle.Community archives should not be seen as vanityprojects, nor as alternatives to active struggle, butrather as acts of resistance, consciously made. Thiscontext helps explain why many community archivesprojects are hesitant or resistant to giving upautonomy over the management of the archives.

However, in maintaining full autonomy outside ofmainstream institutional control, independentcommunity archives are faced with many challengesto the sustainability of their projects. Financialstability, keeping the archives open, and managingthe long-term preservation of the archives becomeever-present and ever-increasing efforts. In one 2011study of New Zealand community archives, JoannaNewman (2011) concluded that in fact those archiveswithin a local council or other government institutionhad the most stable funding, skilled staff, andadequate space and materials to protect and preservethe archives. She further found that some of thecommunity archives continued to exist “only becauseof the passion and commitment of one or twoindividuals” (p. 37-45). Newman’s findings arerepresentative of community archives projects aroundthe world. In many cases, the archives project hasbeen developed and kept going through the deepenthusiasm and involvement of a few people;

however, maintaining such a project over the longterm becomes harder. As Flinn and Stevens (2009)note, “[i]f resources remain scarce and the energy ofkey figures begins to wane, maintainingindependence from the state and its institutions maybecome increasingly difficult for many independentcommunity archives to sustain” (p. 17).

Anarchist libraries and archives make up onesegment of community libraries and archives. Theycan range from a small collection of warped and dog-eared pamphlets and books, to a carefully curated andmanaged collection within a university setting, to acollection of links or PDF files on a website.Whatever the form these libraries take, they sharesome similarities. Like the independent communityarchives discussed above—with a few notableexceptions—most prefer to remain outside the scopeof larger governmental and nonprofit organizations,instead relying on the volunteer service of a fewcommitted individuals. These people see themselvesas keeping anarchist history alive and contributing tothe body of knowledge that makes up anarchism.These projects are not seen simply as an archive orlibrary for the archive or library’s sake, but rather aspart of the anarchist movement, and their work is acontribution to that movement. They are preservingthe history of the anarchist movement to correctabsences or mistakes in the historical record, as wellas to inform and potentially help direct the future ofthe movement.

Surveying anarchist archives and librariesIn preparing the research for this article, I sent out asurvey in 2012 and received responses from 26anarchist archives and libraries throughout NorthAmerica, Europe, South America, and Australasia. Iwas interested in questions of funding andsustainability, as well as staffing—how many peoplewere involved with a project, what their skills andexperiences were, and why they did the work theydid.

The results of my survey found that of the 26respondents, 14, or a little over half, are either fullyself-funded by workers in their respective libraries orarchives or funded through a combination of self-funding and donations. Of the rest, seven are fundedthrough membership or research/reading fees inaddition to fundraising. Only one archives, theArchivio-Biblioteca Enrico Travaglini in Italy,received any government money, and that was lessthan 1500 Euros per year; as they wrote, “funding isstill insufficient” and supplemented through self-


To Spread the Revolutionfunding. The four remaining respondents weresmaller anarchist collections within universitylibraries that are financed through their institutions.Excluding those collections within universitylibraries, all the libraries and archives depend entirelyon volunteer labor, with the exception of theInternational Centre for Research on Anarchism(CIRA) in Switzerland, which is formally registeredwith the Swiss government as an association and hasin the past been able to employ one person. CIRAalso uses the labor of young men completing civilianservice as an alternative to the military.

The size and scope of these archives vary widely,from collections of a few hundred books, pamphlets,and zines to those with over 20,000 items cataloged.Where collections are held also greatly varies, thoughthe majority seem to be either in private homes(seven) or as part of other anarchist or radical spaces(six). Other locations include university settings,rented locations, or online only. Outside of theuniversity setting, few appear to have purpose-builtor stable and secure long-term storage. Interestingly,a substantial number of those responding (12) had atleast one member within their group who worked in alibrary or archives or had library or archivalexpertise, though the major qualification for joiningany of the projects seemed to be a willingness to dothe work and an inclination toward or experiencewith anarchism and related social movements. Anumber of the more infoshop-type libraries,especially those with a lending library, offer somesort of formalized training program for newvolunteers. While all of those responding to thesurvey said that their collection’s focus wasanarchism and anarchist history, whether at the local,national, or international level, only about half hadany kind of articulated collection or acquisitionpolicy. Many explained that they rely largely ondonations and will accept anything that broadly fitsunder the definition of anarchism, excluding anarcho-capitalism/libertarianism. Some also made an explicitpoint about trying to keep state socialist and Marxistmaterial out of their collections, while at the sametime they maintained an agnostic position on themany strains and threads within the anarchistmovement.

When asked what they understood as the purposeof their library or archives, people’s responses rangedfrom some version of “preserving anarchist historyand making it available to the anarchist movement”to “spreading the revolution.” One wrote, “ourpurpose is to offer a lending library as well as a space

to archive independently-published materials.” Manyare interested in providing a place not just to preserveanarchist material, but to “promote libertarianthought” or to help people learn about anarchist ideas.Perhaps the Cowley Library best represents thenumber of different purposes that an anarchist librarycan have as they explain:

We initially conceived it as a sort of collectivizedliving room—a resource for the community ofpeople who use the Cowley Club—sharing books,magazines, films and computers to make themaccessible to everyone instead of just sitting inindividual people’s living rooms. The library alsofunctions as a meeting space for groups to use andadditionally aspires to function as an archive ofthe history of radical social struggles, especially inthe local area.Many of these libraries start as reading rooms and

small lending libraries, often with the organizers’hopes of creating a meeting and gathering space.Over time, they begin to document and collect theirown and their movements’ history. Most respondentssaw their projects as a combination of preservinganarchist history, helping to spread anarchist ideas,giving people the opportunity to learn about them,and participating in a concrete way in the anarchistmovement. As another wrote, “We want to givepeople the chance to read from an anarchistperspective; books and magazines you don’t find inthe ‘normal’ libraries. We want to preserve our ownhistory. Nobody else does...We see our library as 1part of all these little things that all together make abig counter-culture against the current fucked up stateof affairs.” In many ways, these contemporaryprojects are not so different from their counterparts ofa hundred years ago. Perhaps a member of theAustralian online anarchist archive The BastardArchive explained it most succinctly when he wrotethat he sees the purpose of his project as “[t]o notforget what's come before us, to remember bothvictories and failures, and to disseminate ideas thatmight unfuck the world.”

The Kate Sharpley LibraryMy interest in community archives generally andanarchist libraries and archives more specificallycomes out of my personal participation in the KateSharpley Library (KSL). The KSL is an anarchistlibrary and archive with its own very anarchisthistory. It was originally founded in 1979 as a radicallibrary to serve the anarchist community in Brixton,London, and was connected to the 121 Anarchist


To Spread the RevolutionBookshop. Only later, when it moved out of Londonin 1991, did its main purpose change, morphing froma resource center to a special collection (andeventually archives) that focuses on documenting thehistory of anarchism (Longmore, 2004). Since 1991,the KSL has been maintained in a private homebelonging to Barry Pateman. In 1999, Patemanmoved to the United States and brought along thelibrary. Over the next ten years, the collection hascontinued to grow and have a home with him. TheKSL is currently housed in its own space in a 1500square foot building and includes books, periodicals,pamphlets, articles, ephemera, manuscripts, andorganizational archives. The library, located inCalifornia, usually has one to two in-person visitorsper month, as well as regular research requests byemail.

My participation in the KSL began with myinterest in anarchist history and experience workingin libraries and archives. For me, it was a way to useskills I already had to help preserve what I see asimportant, including rare material that is not availableelsewhere. Other members of the KSL collective aretwo people in the U.K. with library training who helpcollect U.K. and European items, translate writing inforeign languages, and select and edit material that ispublished in periodic newsletters and pamphlets. Wealso have members in the U.S. who help with thetechnical side of things, from developing an opensource online catalog to maintaining our website andonline collections.

At the KSL, all work is voluntary and the formatfor participation is loose and informal. Peoplebecome involved because they want and are able tohelp. While people often express a desire to help inthe library, there are only about five who have a long-term involvement in the KSL. I have found in myown personal experience that the nature of the workis such that it is difficult for most people to sustainregular involvement in the project for a variety ofreasons. While there are some wonderfully interestingmaterials in the collection, anarchists are also quitegood at producing terrible materials, and beyond that,quite a bit of the general care and maintenance are therather repetitive tasks such as filing, arrangingmaterial into a predetermined order, and simplecataloging. However, we do get visitors who arehappy to help with some filing, shelving, or sortingfor an hour or two.

Within the KSL, there are no formal decision-making procedures, and apart from a strict policy tocollect only anarchist material or material that

substantially deals with anarchism, there are noformal collection policies. Perhaps our greatestcollection development discussions are centered onexactly what the often permeable and porousdefinition of “anarchism” is, and where to draw thelines. Decisions are usually made because onemember has the time and ability to carry through aproject, or when a group of members has a chance toget together either in person or through email. Allwork is voluntary and takes place during members’free hours, after work, on the weekends, or in otherstolen time. This freedom in participation is both abenefit of the project and a weakness. Work—whether it is cataloging a book or other item,accessioning an archival collection, translating anarticle, editing a pamphlet, or updating the website—gets done because it is seen as important andmembers enjoy it, but it often gets done slowly andmay not be members’ first priority, no matter howmuch they might wish it were.

Most funding for the project comes from the saleof pamphlets, duplicate books, and periodicals atanarchist bookfairs; subscribers to our bulletin; and afew sustaining members who send us $10-20 permonth in exchange for receiving the bulletin and anypamphlets we may publish. These funds never coverexpenses, which range from simple things likeprinting costs to much larger expenses, such asensuring the physical safety of the collections, buyingan adequate supply of acid free folders and boxes,paying for the shipping of large items donated to thelibrary, and having the funds available to purchaserare or expensive materials.

From its establishment, the KSL made theconscious decision that regardless of its financialsituation, it must remain in the hands of anarchistsand outside the hands of state institutions. That beliefwas present at its inception in 1991, when one of itsfounders, Albert Meltzer (1991), wrote in the firstissue of the KSL Bulletin:

Real Anarchism is not the cult of a few ‘wellknown’ quasi-father figures of the past, any morethan real Buddhism is the worship of GautamaBuddha as a god. Anarchists in practice do notmore care about what such persons said or wroteunless they happen to have said something withwhich they agree. The cult of researching theiracquaintanceships, personal life and influencesupon them is a deliberate ploy by State-sponsoredacademics, but it has nothing to do with us. Thepersonality cult, the worship of individuals and theimposition of bourgeois ideas lead to a phony


To Spread the Revolutionanarchism which may flourish but is not the realthing.The KSL has embraced a collection philosophy

that doesn’t simply see anarchism as a theoreticalidea or set of ideas but instead tries to recordanarchism from the bottom up, documenting theeveryday experiences and lives of anarchists. Thispolicy tries to preserve and make accessible thehistory of lesser-known or forgotten anarchists andevents. In rejecting “state-sponsored academics” and“the worship of individuals and the imposition ofbourgeois ideas,” Meltzer was alluding to the ideathat while many of the ideas and theories ofanarchism may have originally been articulated by afew authors, the key to understanding the anarchistmovement is to see it not as the ideas of a few greatmen, but rather as a community that shared, livedwith, and developed those ideas. Anarchism is aliving movement in which ideas move and spread,and adapt and develop over time, in and throughpractice. In an interview, Pateman (2010) explained:

Albert knew that anarchism was not justKropotkin or Stirner, or whoever. It was theputting into practice of it all that was important.He knew that this could be done by people whohad only a bare knowledge (if any!!) of our majorwriters and thinkers. He also knew that historiesof anarchism excluded countless people who hadbeen instrumental in its development and changes.Because these people often did not write theory orwere prominent speakers they were ignored.Our contention is that lesser-known anarchists and

events are just as, if not more, important than the“great” thinkers. In many ways, the KSL hasfollowed the general shift of institutional andmainstream archives in the last few decades towarddeveloping strategies to more systematicallydocument the undocumented, listen for the silences inthe archives, and widen the scope of collections toinclude people’s everyday lives.

Another expression of the collection policy andjustification for the work of the KSL read: “We dothis to preserve and promote anarchist ideas andanarchist history. Not in a vague and fuzzy ‘learningis good’ kind of way, but because if we don't do it,who will? [...] Anarchism is the sum of years ofstruggle of thousands of comrades. Ideas are honed inargument, and in practice” (Kate Sharpley Library,2004). Trying to document how anarchism was usedin discussions over time, and how ideas were put intopractice, explored, used, or rejected, allows for amuch deeper understanding of the political theories.

This article goes on to assert that while there willalways be someone interested in preserving a firstedition of Kropotkin, he isn’t the beginning and endof the anarchist movement. All the poorly printed,badly argued, or beautifully designed and articulatenewspapers, pamphlets, books, and more that makeup the anarchist movement help to shed light onanarchism as a human reality instead of a dead groupof ideas.

QuestionsThere are a number of questions my involvementwith the Kate Sharpley Library has led me to, not justpertaining to the sustainability of the KSL, but alsoabout anarchist and community archives collectionsmore generally. Some of this concern may simply bea matter of balancing my professional training andexperiences working in larger institution, with what ispossible and makes sense when working on avolunteer-run project with little to no funding. But Iworry about the proper care and handling ofcollections for preservation. I worry about thedifficulty or lack of good recordkeeping forcollections; as collections grow, institutional orpersonal memory isn’t enough, and it won’t beenough long-term. But I think my biggest worry, andperhaps the most important question, is that of thesustainability of the collections and the projects—how will they continue into the future? Will thesecollections of rare and important anarchist materialslast from generation to generation? Or even year toyear? How will they remain alive and relevant? Thereare anarchist libraries and archives of various kindsand at various stages of development throughoutEurope, the U.S., Latin America, and Australasia, butthey are small volunteer institutions, survivingthrough the sheer will and enthusiasm of a fewindividuals. Will they be available and useful topeople for the long haul? I don’t want them tobecome boutique vanity collections, open only to asmall number of people in the know, but I alsorecognize that serving large numbers of users is oftenimpossible with a small staff and limited time. Yet theanswer for these projects is rarely partnering with ortransferring the collections to a bigger institution. Theanarchist movement is a diverse and dispersed one,with no large organizations or centralizedorganizational culture. There are no long-lastinganarchist organizations, as are often found in othersocial movements. There are no organizations towhich an anarchist archive or library could be


To Spread the Revolutiondonated, nor any that has the ability to sponsor orsupport such a library or archive.

This is the tension for me. These collections holdmaterial that can be found not in your local publiclibrary, probably not at your local university library,and perhaps only at a few major research librarieswith one-of-a-kind manuscript and archivalcollections. There are a number of importantunpublished manuscripts and archival collections inthe KSL that you cannot find elsewhere, for example,the records of the long-running anarchist bookstoresBound Together Books and Left Bank Books in SanFrancisco and Seattle respectively, and the records ofthe support group for the 1979 U.K. PersonsUnknown Trial. I feel strongly as both an anarchistand an archivist that this material should be preservedand made accessible to those who want to use it. As amember of the KSL, I feel equally strongly that thematerial in this collection should not fall into thehands of a university or state-sponsored researchlibrary. That wasn’t what the donors to the collectionwanted, or what those who have given so much timeand effort to the project wanted. But neither do Ithink the collection can be given to some amorphous,undefined “anarchist movement.” The responsibilityis too great, and the work too important, not to havesome committed individual or group responsible andaccountable. But as far as I am aware, neither theKSL, nor any of the other anarchist libraries andarchives surveyed, have long-range plans forsurvival. What happens to these collections whenthose currently involved in the projects no longerhave the time, energy, or ability to be part of them? Indarker moments, I despair. But most of the time I amhopeful that the anarchist movement will remainrelevant to enough people to attract future generationswho will want to take up the mantle and care forthese collections—just as de Cleyre, Notkin, andCohen have influenced generations of people to keepthe tradition of anarchist libraries alive. In thesemoments, I believe in the spirit of anarchism thatinspires people to act for themselves and each otherand to protect, preserve, and continue these projectswithout any help from the state.

Jessica Moran

ReferencesAvrich, P. (2006). The modern school movement.

Oakland, CA: AK Press.Falk, C., Pateman, B., & Moran, J. (Eds.) (2003).

Emma Goldman: A documentary history of the

American years, volume 1: Made for America,1890-1901. Berkeley, CA: University ofCalifornia Press.

Flinn, A. (2007). Community histories, communityarchives: Some opportunities and challenges.Journal of the Society of Archivists, 28(2), 151-176. doi: 10.1080/00379810701611936

Flinn, A. and Stevens, M. (2009). “It is noh mistri, wimekin histri”: Telling our own story: Independentand community archives in the UK, challengingand subverting the mainstream. In J. Bastian & B.Alexander (Eds.), Community archives: Theshaping of memory (pp. 3-27). London, England:Facet Publishing.

Herrada, J. (n.d). History of the Labadie Collection.Retrieved from http://www.lib.umich.edu/labadie-collection/history

Hoyt, A. (2012). The international anarchist archives:A report on conditions and a proposal for action.Theory in Action, 5(4), 30-46.

International Institute of Social History. (n.d). Historyof the ISSH. Retrieved fromhttp://socialhistory.org/en/about/history-iish

Kate Sharpley Library. (2004). The Kate SharpleyLibrary: What and why. KSL: Bulletin of the KateSharpley Library, 40. Retrieved fromhttp://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/n2z41d

Longmore, C. (2004). Some notes on the founding ofthe Kate Sharpley Library. KSL: Bulletin of theKate Sharpley Library, 40. Retrieved fromhttp://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/rv16fn

Meltzer, A. (1991). The purpose of history. KSL:Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library, 1. Retrievedfrom http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/3tx9mw

Newman, J. (2011). Sustaining community archives.Aplis, 24(1), 37-45.

Pateman, B. (2010). The Kate Sharpley Library then,now, and next: An interview with Barry Pateman.KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library, 63-64.Retrieved fromhttp://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/0vt50w

Published in Informed Agitation: Library andInformation Skills in Social Justice Movements andBeyond, edited by Melissa Morrone. (pages 173-184)Sacramento, California : Library Juice Press, 2014.ISBN 9781936117871. Seehttp://informedagitation.info/ andhttp://libraryjuicepress.com/informed-agitation.php.


Anarchists in Egypt / On the run / FuterfasWhat? Anarchists in Egypt! [Before 1916]Over the past century and a half of the Italianlanguage anarchist movement, its militants andgroups migrated to all five continents. From the mid-19th to the start of the 20th century, it had a significantpresence in Cairo and in Alexandria in Egypt.

Around the middle of the 19th century, the flow ofimmigrant male and female European workers intothe countries of the Maghreb and the OttomanEmpire assisted the spread of internationalism andanti-authoritarian socialism, alongside other politicalpersuasions. Yet for a variety of reasons traceable totopics like “the decolonization of anarchism” orOrientalism, as well as the hegemony exercised bycertain schools of historiography, their history hasbeen of small concern to historians and activists andhas all but slipped into oblivion*, as witness the caseof Egypt, of which more below.

Anarchist ferment, 1860-1882Whilst the presence of European colonies onEgyptian soil dates back to the Middle Ages, it wasonly after Muhammad Ali came to power that theflood of migrants from Europe (and further afield)became impressive. Egypt’s rulers launched anintense process to modernize some of the institutionsand agencies in Egyptian society; in fact, thatprocess, opened the doors to the immigration ofEuropean technicians and a European workforce.Furthermore, up until the end of the 19th century atany rate, the viceroy of Egypt readily grantedhospitality to European political exiles who,elsewhere, were in danger of imprisonment ordeportation. At the same time, the system of‘concession’ (the right of foreigners to be answerableto the laws of their own country and judged byconsular judges) was often used by the states inEurope to keep individuals categorised as “seriouslydangerous” well away from their homelands. Againstthis backdrop, the early 1860s witnessed theformation of carbonari, republican and Mazziniangroups among the migrant workforce and politicalexiles, mainly in Alexandria – the key city and portfor communications in the Mediterranean – and thenin Cairo. By around ten years later, those groups werebeing invaded by internationalism with the arrival ofsurvivors of the Paris Commune and it is around thistime that one Ugo Icilio Parrini (d. 1906) aka“L’Orso” (The Bear) crops up; as early as 1870 Cairopolice had him classified as an internationalist. Hisname will be linked to thirty years of anarchistrevolutionary activism. Parrini himself, by the 1880s,

became the driving force behind unification of theItalian-language anarchist groups that had a presencein every major Egyptian city and which had a numberof chapters, including a women’s chapter. Egypttherefore joined the worldwide internationalist web,trading activists, ideas and publications.

In 1878 a number of internationalists fleeing therepression in the wake of the Benevento revoltarrived in Alexandria: these included the youngErrico Malatesta who was reunited there with hisbrother, Aniello. Errico Malatesta remained inAlexandria for only a short time but returned toEgypt in 1882 when anarchists tried, unsuccessfully,to support Ahmad Orubi’s nationalist unrest; thecrackdown on that unrest was followed by the Britishoccupation of Egypt.

From doldrums to a fresh boost for revolutionaryactivismIdeological and personal rifts, police repression and,above all, the constant to-ing and fro-ing of militantsled over the following decade to a paralysis in themovement, albeit that it never petered out entirely. Bythe end of the century, anarchists were reorganizingand playing a leading role in introducing radical ideasand practices to the main cities of Egypt. Ugo IcilioParrini and Luigi Losi in Cairo and Pietro Vasai,Francesco Cini and Roberto d’Angio in Alexandria,as well as dozens of other militants, gave aconsiderable boost to revolutionary activism, whichwas of some concern to the Italian, British andEgyptian authorities.

During the German Kaiser’s visit to Istanbul andJerusalem, an agent of the Italian consulate inAlexandria had bombs made that were smuggled intoParrini’s business-cum-political club, to bediscovered quickly thereafter by the police. Thatprovided the pretext for the arrest of thirty militants,including Parrini and Vasai; in the end, they were allacquitted on all charges, but only after they had spenta year in Muharram Bay prison. On their release andwith the aid of dozens of activists arrived fromabroad – including many returning from the Greco-Turkish war of 1897 – the anarchists embarked uponimpressive propaganda, political activity andagitational work among the working class. There wasa new dynamism in this. In 1900, Luigi Galleaniarrived in Alexandria. Promptly arrested while in hishospital bed, he was freed after a month under anamnesty. It seems that it was he that drafted thecharter of the Free University of Alexandria whichwas launched, mainly due to anarchists’ efforts, in


Anarchists in Egypt / On the run / Futerfas1901. The university which was supposed to becharacterized by “fraternity and mutual tolerance”was open to all, regardless of nationality, language,religion or gender.

At the same time, the activities of anarchists werefocused upon planning new form of organization,struggle and working class struggle virtuallyunprecedented in the Egypt of that time; newassociations and ‘resistance leagues’ orchestratedstrikes, marches and rallies. Anarchist propagandawas stepped up through the launching of study circlesand the publication of pamphlets, flyers andnewspapers. May Day, the anniversary of the ParisCommune and 20th September were consistently usedas opportunities to organize meetings and get-togethers of anarchists.

In Alexandria the writer Enrico Pea’s BarraccaRossa was launched. This was a magazine that wasalso a rallying point for male and female anarchistsand it later became famous for attracting the likes ofGiuseppe Ungaretti and the young Leda Rafanelli.

Controversies and Internal DisagreementsHowever, the movement was afflicted with disunityand very virulent internal differences. The launch inAlexandria of the syndicalist-inclined Tribuna Liberanewspaper, the creation of Pietro Vasai and JosephRosenthal, widened the gulf with Parrini’sindividuialistic anti-organiser current and the Cairocomrades. The latter, in fact, refused to collect fundsfor Tribuna Libera and instead opted to raise moneyfor the Era Nuova newspaper that Raffaele Valentehad launched in Naples. Later, when the decision wasmade in Alexandria to launch a paper calledL’Operaio, the Cairo group replied with Il domani.Periodico libertario. The differences spilled overfrom the ideological into occasional personal attacks.Even an “academic” round of lectures by Pietro Goriat the Free University of Alexandria in 1904 failed toalter that. The disputes and internal bickering wereobstacles to political and propaganda activity.

To complicate matter further, in 1906 Parrini (“thegreat sower” as Enrico Pea described him) diedunexpectedly; Parrini had been living in poverty forquite some time. With him perished what wasundoubtedly the inspiration behind Italian-speakinganarchism in Egypt.

New Anarchist Activism and Unity Achieved after1908Not until 1908 was there a resurgence in anarchistactivism. In January that year Vasai arrived in Cairo

as the representative of the Alexandria ResistanceLeague, meaning to raise money for striking workers.In November 1908, Vasai called a meeting in Cairo’sCivil Cemetery, at which approval was given for thepublication of a brand new anarchist propagandapaper, L’Idea, which published its first edition inMarch 1909. By that point, Vasai had moved to theEgyptian capital. It was no coincidence that theItalian consul reported to the Interior Ministry inRome a “degree of resurgence in the socialist andanarchist camp.”

The spring of 1909 saw the launch of an AtheistCircle in Cairo, the members of which (its charterreads) “mean to study, develop and spread all of thetruths demonstrated by science and contradictingreligious and deist principles”. At the same time, aFree-Thinkers Circle was launched in Alexandria:among its founders was another well knownanarchist, Umberto Bambini.

On 4 July 1909, in Cairo’s Eden theatre, socialistsand anarchists launched the International Federationfor Resistance Among Workers. Its aim, as stated inthe manifesto drafted also in Greek and Arabic was“the emancipation of the workers and the immediatebetterment of their conditions”. The organization, themanifesto stated “will stand outside of any political,national or religious camp.” Shortly after that, on 25July 1909, the Cairo and Alexandria anarchists,meeting in a bottle plant, decided to call a meeting“to lay the foundations for a final agreement withinthe anarchist movement in Egypt”. That meeting washeld on 1 August 1909 at the Alexandria AtheistCircle. After years of division, a sort of an agreedprogramme had been arrived at. Three hours ofproceedings led to the drafting of the final document,entitled Why We Are Anarchists – What We Want. Thetext afforded “reasonable freedom of action to bothorganized anarchists and those others who mean toengage in individualist propaganda”. At the sametime, it afforded “the possibility for anarchists to joinlabour organisations.”

Albeit short-lived, the unity thrashed out alsomade an impact through “practical propaganda”.When Francisco Ferrer was arrested, a Pro-FerrerCommittee was set up in Alexandria; it includedanarchists, socialists from the ‘Pisacane’ branch,members of the Atheist Circle and of the Free-Thinkers’ Circle. When the Spanish anarchist wassubsequently sent to the firing squad, a specialedition of Pro-Ferrer was issued, numerous publicdemonstrations were mounted and a stone erected inthe civil cemetery.


Anarchists in Egypt / On the run / FuterfasAnarchists also resumed organizing and getting

involved in labour struggles. The leagues bouncedback, especially those formed by the printworkersand cigarette-makers. There was a fresh emphasis onmarking anniversaries as a way of boostingpropaganda. Public events were organized to markMay Day in 1909 and 1910. In Alexandria, in 1910, aprocession making the anniversary of Ferrer’sexecution defied a ban imposed by the police and astrong police deployment managed only to have italter its route.

DeclineBut within a year, the movement began to declineagain. To quote Vasai’s words “the dissension andinternal warfare, a blight that especially infectsItaly’s anarchist camp” were to blame.

1913 saw publication of one last newspaper, thevery appearance of which generated a lot ofconsensus: L’Unione was anarcho-syndicalist andanti-militarist in persuasion. By that point theactivism of anarchist militants was being directedinto the workers’ movement and the promotion ofunity “the first step towards freedom and well-being”and into the foundation of a single workers’organisation.

Most likely because of the war, the paper was shutdown in 1914. Vasai was hauled before the courtsagain along with the anarchist Macri, for “defendingregicide”, on which charge he was acquitted beforehe quit Egypt, suffering from TB, on 7 July 1916.With his departure it can be argued that the history ofthe Italian-language anarchist movement in Egypthad reached an end. There were many reasons forthis.

The war led to a tightening-up of Britishsurveillance and put paid to the concessionaryarrangement. The rise of Egyptian nationalism (whichhad always been inimical to radicalism, especiallyclass-based radicalism), the launch of the SocialistParty (the creation of Joseph Rosenthal) or, after theRussian Revolution, of a Communist Party, as well asfascism’s accession to power in Italy, delivered thecoup de grace to the anarchist movement. In the1920s anarchists progressively withdrew frompolitical activity, many of them returning to theirhomelands; a few were expelled, like the syndicalistGiuseppe Pizzuto. Others, whilst not abjuring theirideals, retreated into private life.

Costantino Paonessa.Translated by Paul Sharkey

* See I K Makdisi’s interesting book The EasternMediterranean and the Making of GlobalRadicalism, 1860-1914 (University of CaliforniaPress, 2010)

Source: A Rivista Anarchica (Milan) Year 46, No 405,March 2016

The Princetown escapeeA short account of the case of Scots anarchist JohnKerr, war resisterOn May 7th 1917, PC Parker was on patrol in Exeter.Near the Exe Bridge, he spotted a man who heconsidered to be “dressed as a tramp”. Believing himto be of an age for military service, he confronted theman. This individual, who had a strong Scots accent,produced a document which identified him as JohnBerrick, employed under the Home Office scheme foremployment of Conscientious Objectors at thePrincetown Works Centre. This was in fact Dartmoorprison which had been converted in March 1917 intoa centre for conscientious objectors, housing up to1,200 men, ranging from religious objectors toSocialists and Anarchists. On the card was written“Special leave permitted to visit parents” and signedby the Princetown Director. PC Parker arrested theindividual.

The police believed the document was a forgeryand that the individual in question was one John Kerr,who had refused orders when sent into the RoyalScots Regiment. He was asked if he would volunteerinformation to facilitate enquiries. He replied that hewas an anarchist and therefore against all law andorder and that therefore it was his policy to give asmuch trouble as possible to the authorities. Herefused to volunteer any information and he wascharged as an absentee, appeared at Exeter PoliceCourt on the following day.

Kerr was described in court as being of a slightbuild and on “the younger side of thirty”. In court herefused to put in a plea as an absentee or to make apoint as a conscientious objector. He suggested thathe be handed over to the military authorities as anabsentee and let them investigate. He was thenremanded until the following Saturday.

Kerr had been called up to the Army Reserve andrefused to attend. He was then put into the RoyalScots barracks near Edinburgh. There he refused toobey orders, was sentenced to 56 days imprisonmentand then sent to Princetown, from where he hadescaped. At a subsequent hearing, Sergeant Furlongattended from the Royal Scots. By now complications


Anarchists in Egypt / On the run / Futerfashad arisen as the Governor of Exeter Prison refusedto hand over Kerr to Furlong without a magistrate’sorder.

Things got even more complicated when Sgt.Furlong fell ill himself and was confined to militaryhospital. In the meantime a private from the regimentwas sent down, but could not take the prisoner backon his own without the help of Furlong, and anothersoldier now needed to be sent! The Chief Constableasked in court that Kerr be remanded and handedover to the military escort. When asked by themagistrates whether he had objection to a remand,Kerr replied that he was not an absentee, but had noobjection to be handed over to the military. He addedthat: “I thought a man was treated as innocent inEngland until he was found guilty. At the prisonwhile under remand I have been kept in solitaryconfinement and fed on bread and water”.

This case illustrates the treatment dealt out toconscientious objectors and war resisters, particularlyif they had political convictions. Life at Princetownwas tough for the prisoners there, and Kerr as ananarchist had refused to submit and had escaped. Histreatment whilst under remand in Exeter Prison wasalso reprehensible, as Kerr himself had pointed out incourt.

Nick Heath

Sources:Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 9th May 1917.Western Times, 9th May, 10th May and 14th May1917http://libcom.org/history/princetown-escapee

Credit / extrasThis issue comes to you from the KSL collective inMay 2016. Hope you find it interesting. And don’tforget recent articles on Russian anarchists on thewebsite:Kolyada, Vasily Varfolomeyevich. The Soviet PenalColonies: Comrade Koliada’s letter.http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/j3tzpjGlushakov, Yuri. “Under the black flag of theoppressed”: Belarusian anarchist Vasily Kolyada(Korostelev).http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/9kd67rBaron, Aron Davidovich. A Letter of Aron Baronfrom Tashkent [1929].http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/31zdqbAttention, Anarchists from Byalistok! [Aron Dovid]http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/51c6ffIn the USSR [1934]http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/280hbd

Natan Futerfas (photo and brief notes)Natan Yakovlevich Futerfas (1896–1937) belonged toanarchist groups in Moscow during the Civil War. Hechaired the organizing committee of the “All-Russian Federation of Esperantists” (1918–1924),which brought together supporters of anarchists in theEsperantist milieu. Starting in 1924, he was arrestedon at least four occasions and found himself inprisons or in exile most of the time. Meanwhile, hecontinued to take part in the anarchist movement by,for example, being one of the leaders of the“Petrograd Group of Anarcho-Syndicalists” (1927)and by joining groups of exiled anarchists in theNarymsky district and in Arkhangelsk. It was in thelatter city that he was shot on October 27 1937.(Research by A. V. Dubovik.)http://katesharpleylibrary.pbworks.com/w/page/13175719/Russian%20Anarchist%20letters%20in%20Amsterdam

Futerfas was involved in the Moscow Esperantojournal Nova epoka (New era). Apparently heinspired the figure of Futer, the staunch opponent ofthe Soviet system in Eugène Lanti's Is socialism builtin the Soviet Union? (Ĉu socialismo konstruĝas ensovetio? / Euxgeno Lanti 1935).

The photo shows Lanti with the editors of NovaEpoka, Moscow, August 1922. For left to right:Valentin Poljakov, Natano [Natan] Futerfas, EugenoLanti, Nikolao Nekrasov, Gregoro Demidjuk

source: https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_nova_epoko


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