The Archie Brown collection includes items from the 1930s and 1960s, but the majority of materials date from the 1970s, and document Brown's active role in the ILWU, the Communist Party, and a host of progressive organizations. The many pamphlets and broadsides testify to his commitment to social justice and also give an idea about the issues of importance to San Francisco leftists in the 1970s. Other activities of which there is less documentation include economic issues, such as the Coalition to Fight the High Cost of Living. He also supported struggles of other unions and their strikes.

Archie Brown was born in Sioux City, Iowa in 1911. In his early teens he rode the rails to the Bay Area. At age 14, he lost his job as a newsboy for organizing a newsboys' strike. During the 1930s, he belonged to the Young Communist League, helped organize California agricultural workers, and became a longshoreman, part of San Francisco's thriving waterfront union movement.

2.25 cubic ft. (5 boxes)

Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives & Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Labor Archives & Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Collection is open for research.