Daniel Leab

Daniel Joseph Leab (29 August 1936 – 15 November 2016) was an American historian of 20th-century history. He made significant academic contributions to fields of American labor unions and anti-Communism. He was long-time editor of three journals and magazines.

Background

Leab was born Daniel Joseph Liebeskind on 29 August 1936 in Berlin, German.

In 1957, Leab obtained a BA from Columbia University. From 1957 to 1958, he attended Harvard Law School. Returning to Columbia, he obtained an MA in 1961 and PhD in 1969. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the formative years of the American Newspaper Guild (1933-1936).

Provost John Duff appointed him to oversee the university's American Studies Program. He served as acting chairman of the Department of History and two years as chair of University Rank and Tenure Committee. He created and directed its Multi-Cultural Program.

Research topics included labor history, history in film, and cultural conflicts of the Cold War.

He was a senior Fulbright lecturer at the University of Cologne two times (1977 spring, 1986–1987) and in 2008 he was a visiting professor of history there. He was also visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania (1986 spring) and at the Heim-Hoch-Volksschule, in Falkenstein, Bavaria, Germany (June 1970, July 1972, July 1975).

In 1974, Leab became managing editor of peer-reviewed Labor History journal and served for more than two decades,

In 1982, he was primary founder and long-time managing editor of American Communist History, peer-reviewed journal of the academic group Historians of American Communism (HOAC). From Sambo to Superspade: The Black Experience in Motion Pictures (1975) George Orwell : An Exhibition at the Grolier Club: Selections from the Collection of Daniel J. Leab (1996) I Was a Communist for the FBI: The Unhappy Life and Times of Matt Cvetic (2000) about FBI informant Matt Cvetic Orwell Subverted: The CIA and the Filming of Animal Farm (2007)

Books co-written

Leab co-wrote the following with his wife: The Auction Companion (1981)

Books edited

Leab edited or co-edited the following:

American Working Class History: A Representative Bibliography (1983) The Labor History Reader (1985) Federal Bureau of Investigation Confidential Files: Communist Activity in the Entertainment Industry [microform] : FBI Surveillance Files on Hollywood, 1942-1958 (1991) Labor History Archives in the United States: A Guide for Researching and Teaching (1992) The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Thematic Encyclopedia (2010) Red activists and black freedom: James and Esther Jackson and the long civil rights revolution (2010) Encyclopedia of American Recessions and Depressions (2014)

Journals edited

Leab edited the following: American Communist History (published by Historians of American Communism, HOAC) (2001–2016) CLOSEUPS: The IAMHIST Bulletin quarterly (1999–2002): created, edited, contributed Film History (1996–2016) Historical Journal of Film, Radio & TV (1993–2016) Washington Rod and Gun Club Bulletin (1996–1998) Columbia Journalism Review (1960–1978): Contributing editor (1972–1978) Research associate (1964–1968) Assistant editor (1962–1964) Editorial assistant (1960–1962) Labor History (1974-1999)

Encyclopedic articles

Leab contributed the following:

Enclycopedia of the American Left (1986): "Herbert Benjamin," "David Lasser" Encyclopedia of World Biography (1987, 1988 1990, 1995): "Orson Welles," "Spencer Tracy," "Vanessa Redgrave," "Bing Crosby," "Clint Eastwood" Dictionary of American Biography (Supplements): "Louis Boudin" (1977), "Jesse Lasky" (1980), "Joseph von Sternberg" (1988), "Siegfried Kracauer" (1988), "Louella Parons" (1994), "A.A. Berle, Jr." (1994), "Lowell Weicker, Sr." (1995) Scibner's Encyclopedia of American Lives: "Burr Tilstrom" (1998), "Gordon Ray" (1999), "Jose Ferrer" (2001), "Dorothy Buffum Chandler" (202), "Huntley Brinkley" (2003), "Sports Figures" (2003) American National Biography: "Heywood Broun" (1999), "Matt Cvetic" (1999), "Greta Garbo" (1999), "William Grant Still" (1999), "Louis Ludlow" (2004)

Awards and recognition

Leab received the following awards and recognition.

2005: Award for best article by senior scholar in 2005 volume of Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television 1997: John Commerford Prize of the New York State Labor History Association 1991-1992: Grant for Implementation of Pilot Multi-Media Core Course from New Jersey Department of Higher Education (Co-Principal Investigator) 1989: Grant from Seton Hall University Research Council 1986: Fulbright Senior Lectureship to University of Cologne 1980: National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship 1977: Fulbright Senior Lectureship to University of Cologne

Legacy

American Book Prices Current Exhibition Catalogue Awards

In 1987, Leab and his wife established and endowed the annual "Katharine Kyes Leab & Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Catalogue Awards" for excellence in publishing of catalogs and brochures that accompany exhibitions of library and archival materials, plus accompanying digital exhibitions. The Exhibition Awards Committee of the ALA/ACRL Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) administers the awards.

Book exhibitions

Leab championed books in culture; an example was an exhibition of books by George Orwell held at Brown University in 1997, which featured books from Leab's personal collection. He gave the collection to Brown.

Papers and collections

In addition to donating his collection of films and his extensive working library of printed books, magazines, catalogs and other ephemera on American and European Film and Cinema to the Film Department of the Museum of Modern Art, NY, in 2011, Leab left several collections of papers and books: Papers of Daniel J. Leab at National Library of Australia (since 1970s): Academic essays, masters and doctoral theses; academic papers, drafts, critiques and addresses by authors involved in film industry; printed matter; German language material including proceedings of film conferences, essays on film classification and film production, 1965 bibliography of films and producers, and articles Daniel J. Leab Collection 1920-1977 at Center for Jewish History (since 1970s): Family scrapbooks and photo albums of parents Herta and Leo Leab plus travels of Leab, with annotations by Leab

Daniel J. Leab Collection - Papers, 1900–1975 at Wayne State University - Walter P. Reuther Library (since 1980): Materials used to research his doctoral dissertation, published A Union of Individuals: The Formation of the American Newspaper Guild, 1933-1936 (1970) and for From Sambo to Superspade: The Black Experience in Motion Pictures (1975) Daniel J. Leab collection at Seton Hall University (since 2015): Materials used for research on topics that include: the Cold War, American communism, the American labor movement, the history of the FBI and the CIA, and the history of film.