Harry Golden Papers, 1910-1988
Content Description
This collection contains papers belonging to Harry Golden (1902-1981), a well-known journalist and founder of the Carolina Israelite, best-selling author, and civil rights advocate for the oppressed. Many of Golden’s original papers were destroyed in a fire; consequently, a number of the items in this collection are copies. Collection materials are divided into three main series: Manuscripts, Working Papers, and Audio/Visual.
Series 1: Manuscripts, 1910-1972, contains manuscripts, photostats, research, correspondence, proofs (galley, negative) and other materials relating to his manuscripts. Materials are arranged into sub-series alphabetically by title.
Series 2: Working Papers, c1960-c1988, contains articles and essays on a variety of topics. Materials are arranged alphabetically by title.
Series 3: Audio/Visual, c1960-c1966, includes audio-visual materials (mostly cassette tapes) with recorded interviews, addresses, essays, official transcripts, and the Eichmann Trial. Materials do not seem to be arranged in a specific order.
Materials are in good condition and dated 1910-1988, with the bulk of the collection dated 1960-1978.
Dates
- 1910 - 1988
- Majority of material found within 1960 - 1978
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open to the public without restriction. The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to duplicate or publish material from this collection must be obtained from the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.
Biographical / Historical
Harry Golden (1902-1981) was born Harry Goldhirsch on May 6, 1902 in eastern Galicia. In 1905, he immigrated to America with his parents Leib and Anna Klein Goldhirsch. The family settled in the Lower East Side of New York City and changed their last name to Goldhurst. Leib Goldhurst worked as a teacher and later served as the editor of the Jewish Daily Forward.
Harry was an excellent scholar and equally well read in areas of literature, history and philosophy. During the day, Harry peddled newspapers and clerked for Oscar Geiger’s Fur Manufacturing Company. At night, he attended East Side Evening High School and graduated in 1921. For the next three years, he attended night classes at the City College of New York, but left before graduating. From 1918-1921 while working for Oscar Geiger, he became involved with the Round Table Literary Club. It was through this organization that Harry rounded off his education and became a public speaker for the Socialist Party and social reforms.
After leaving college, Harry worked as a stockbroker and by 1926 he was the head of the firm Kable and Company. That same year he married Genevieve Alice Marie Gallagher, a schoolteacher. The couple had four sons, Richard (b. 1927), Harry Jr., (b. 1927), William (b. 1929) and Peter (1938-1957).
In 1929, Harry’s brokerage firm filed bankruptcy and he was charged with mail fraud. Found guilty, Harry spent three and half years in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. He returned to New York in 1933 and worked for his brother, Jacob, who ran a hotel. However, Harry’s new aspiration was to become a journalist. Between 1939 and 1941, he sold advertisements for the New York Daily Mirror and the New York Post. It is reported that he worked at a number of southern newspapers at this time, but there is no verification of the exact locations.
By late 1941 after a stint in Norfolk, Virginia, Harry settled permanently in Charlotte. He changed his last name to Golden to protect his prison record, which was later revealed in the late 1950s. His first job was selling advertising and writing editorials for the Charlotte Labor Journal and the Charlotte Observer. It was in Charlotte that Harry Golden’s reputation as a defender of civil rights and social justice solidified.
In October 1942, he worked with the Charlotte News to print his own newspaper, the Carolina Israelite. Two years later Harry assumed all publishing and printing duties, which enabled him to publish the Carolina Israelite on a regular basis. The paper was solely Golden’s creation--he sold advertisements, wrote articles, and built an international circulation of 30,000. In 1958, a fire destroyed his subscription lists. This event was soon followed by the publication of his criminal record. However, Harry and the Carolina Israelite persevered until it folded in 1968.
Harry Golden became the spokesperson for the rights of the oppressed, whether by race, religion, or economic status. His articles, although satirical in nature, raised subjects that were often taboo in the south, including equal rights for the Black community and discrimination against Jewish people. Harry wrote for the Nation, Commentary Life, and Congress Weekly, and in 1961, he covered the infamous Eichmann Trial.
In 1958, Golden became a best-selling author with the publication of his essays entitled Only in America. One year later the book was adapted by famed playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee and presented on Broadway. Other works by Golden include Jews in American History: Their Contributions of the United States of America with Martin Rywell (1950), Jewish Roots in the Carolinas: A Pattern of America Phil-Semitism (1955), For 2 cents Plain (1959), Enjoy, Enjoy! (1960) Carl Sandburg (1961), Five Boyhoods (edited by Martin Levin, 1962), You’re Entitle’ (1962), The Harry Golden Omnibus (1962), Mr. Kennedy and the Negroes (1964), So What Else is New? (1964), Ess, Ess, Mein Kindt (1966), The Best of Harry Golden (1967), The Right Time; an Autobiography; an Autobiography (1969), So Long As You’re Healthy (1970), The Israelis; Portrait of a People (1971), The Golden Book of Jewish Humor (1972), The Greatest Jewish City in the World (1972), Travels through Jewish America (with Richard Goldhurst, 1973), Our Southern Landsmen (1974) and Long Live Columbus (1975). At the time of his death, Golden left an unpublished manuscript, “America, I Love You.”
In addition to his career in journalism, he was also a member of the American Jewish Congress, NAACP, Southern Regional Council, the Catholic Interracial Council, and B’nai B’rith.
On October 2, 1981, Harry Golden died in his beloved, adopted city of Charlotte, and is buried at the Hebrew Cemetery.
Extent
0.0 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Harry Golden (1902-1981) was a well-known journalist, founder of the Carolina Israelite, best-selling author, and civil rights advocate for the oppressed. After a rocky career as a stockbroker, Golden moved to Charlotte in 1941 to pursue a career in journalism. This collection contains materials relating to his professional career, to include original manuscripts, photostats, research, correspondence, essays and articles on various subjects, and audio/visual materials. Materials are in good condition and dated 1910-1988, with the bulk of the collection dated 1960-1978.
Arrangement
Collection materials are divided into three main series: Manuscripts, Working Papers, and Audio/Visual.
Series 1: Manuscripts, 1910-1972, contains manuscripts, photostats, research, correspondence, proofs (galley, negative) and other materials relating to his manuscripts. Materials are arranged into sub-series alphabetically by title.
Series 2: Working Papers, c1960-c1988, contains articles and essays on a variety of topics. Materials are arranged alphabetically by title.
Series 3: Audio/Visual, c1960-c1966, include audio-visual materials (mostly cassette tapes) with recorded interviews, addresses, essays, officialy transcripts, and the Eichmann Trial. Materials do not seem to be arranged in a specific order
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The immediate source and date of acquisition for this collection is unknown.
Condition Description
Materials are in good condition.
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of this collection was completed by Chris Bates and Dick Ridley.
- Audio-visual materials Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Authors Subject Source: Local sources
- Charlotte Publications Subject Source: Local sources
- Civil rights Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Essays Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Golden, Harry, 1902-1981
- Immigrants Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Jewish authors Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Jewish newspapers Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Journalism Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Manuscripts Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Newspaper archives Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Newspaper clippings Subject Source: Local sources
- Photographs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Proofs (Printing) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Publications Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Race relations Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967
- Southern States--History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Harry Golden Papers, 1910-1988
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Chris Bates and Dick Ridley
- Date
- 2021-11-30
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
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Repository Details
Part of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Repository
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library-Main
310 N. Tryon Street
Charlotte NC 28202 USA
carolinaroom@cmlibrary.org
