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Henry Clay East Papers

Correspondence and Printed Materials, 1934-1973

Manuscript Collection 189

• Information about Henry Clay East
• Information about the Collection
• Contents of the Collection

INFORMATION ABOUT HENRY CLAY EAST

Henry Clay East (1900-   ) of Oracle, Arizona, donated his papers to Special Collections on December 18, 1973.

East co-founded the Southern Tenant Farmers Union in Tyronza, Arkansas, in 1934.  Born in eastern Arkansas, East attended Blue Mountain Academy and Gulf Coast Military School but returned to
Tyronza to operate a gasoline station.  In 1932 he was elected township constable and named deputy sheriff and town marshall.  East was an active member of the Socialist Party in Arkansas and
helped establish the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU) in 1934 with his friend, H.L. Mitchell.  After serving as the STFU president for a short period, East left the union in 1937 and moved to
Arizona.  During World War II, he helped organize a union at an aircraft plant in Phoenix.  East spent the next thirty years operating gasoline stations and grocery stores in Arizona until his retirement in the early 1970's.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLECTION

Most of the papers in this collection comprise correspondence from H.L. Mitchell to East regarding Mitchell's union work after the STFU merged with other labor unions.  Some correspondence
concerns East's personal and political activities.  Other materials include clippings, pamphlets, brochures, and newsletters that East either obtained himself or received from Mitchell.

Numbers written on the top right corner of the papers concern a previous inventory and are of no use to the researcher.

RESTRICTION.  To protect the privacy of certain individuals, some items have been replaced by positive photocopies with names and sentences obliterated.  The original material is restricted until
the deaths of the principal parties.

Prepared by Susan Lynn Parks, Special Collections Division, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas, in January 1988.

CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION (316 items)
 
Box 1

 1.  Correspondence, Feb 19, 1934 - Nov 23, 1959.
 2.  Correspondence, Feb 4, 1960 - Dec 25, 1967.
 3.  Correspondence, Jan 17, 1968 - Dec 27, 1971.
 4.  Correspondence, Jan 16, 1972 - Sept 19, 1973.
 5.  Correspondence, n.d.
 6.  Copy of manuscript: "Southern Radicalism in the Thirties: Commonwealth College and the Southern Tenant Farmers"  William H. Cobb and Donald H. Grubbs.
 7.  Book reviews of writings on the STFU and other topics.
 8.  Press releases and memorandums, Jan 13, 1947-Apr 26, 1973.
 9.  The Arkansas Advocate, June 1972, article on H.L. Mitchell.
 10.  Newsletters on politics and unions, Aug 1965-Feb 1971.
 11.  Personal items, pamphlets, and brochures, 1940-1973.
 12.  Clippings; Oct 18, 1934-Nov 8, 1973.