George Mason University Libraries
2006 By George Mason University Libraries. All rights reserved.
Processed by: Special Collections and Archives Staff
With the exception of Series 9, there are no access restrictions.
There are restrictions on some correspondence.
Roy Rosenzweig papers, C0038, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.
Donated by Deborah Kaplan in 2008-2009.
Processed by Kate Grauvogel in 2010-2011. EAD markup completed by Kate Grauvogel and Jordan Patty in 2011.
This collection was processed in 2010-2011 using funds from a Research Library Program Grant provided by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
Roy Alan Rosenzweig received his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1978. In 1981, Rosenzweig accepted a position in the George Mason University History Department and became one of the most popular professors at the university until his untimely death in 2007. He was a prolific writer, not only in print but also in many other forms of media, such as CD-ROMs, documentary film, and the Internet. In 1994, his strong interest in technology led to his founding of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, widely recognized in the history and humanities fields for producing ground-breaking educational and research communication technologies.
The collection largely documents his research and writing through articles, notes, and correspondence on New York Central Park, Worcester (Massachusetts), labor, and digital humanities work. In addition, the collection contains almost complete runs of rare history and humanities periodicals such as Radical History Review Newsletter, Historical Methods Newsletter, History Microcomputer Review, Radical Teacher, Cultural Correspondence, and Radical America. His interest and work with oral history is reflected in the Northern Virginia Oral History Project files. Although the collection dates from 1934, there are many facsimilies of documents, particularly on Central Park, that contain information prior to 1934.
Series 1 contains Roy Rosenzweig's academic correspondence from 1969-2007. Much of the series consists of correspondence regarding collaboration, panels, papers, letters of recommendation, awards, research permissions and conferences. This series is arranged alphabetically and then by date.
Series 2 contains books, pamphlets, newsclippings, papers, xeroxes, magazines and other research materials on labor history. This series contains the book Eight Hours for What We Will: Workers and Leisure in an Industrial City, 1870-1921. In addition to research about labor and leisure, this series contains research about the 1930s such as unemployment and The New Deal and Works Progress Administration (WPA). Topics such as unions, general worker's rights and radicalism also appear in this series. The series is arranged alphabetically and then by date.
The largest series in the collection, Series 3 contains magazines, pamphlets, government documents, books, newsclippings, papers, xeroxes and note cards about New York City and Central Park. A large portion of this research focuses on entertainment, public works, budgets, planning, landscape architecture, jobs, crime and events in Central Park and surrounding areas. This research culminated in Rosenzweig's acclaimed 1992 book (with co-author Elizabeth Blackmar) The Park and the People: A History of Central Park. This series is arranged alphabetically and then by date.
Series 4 contains research that culminated in Rosenzweig's 1998 book (with co-author David Thelen) The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life. Survey data regarding demographics, papers, reports, variables, public history, and information and research regarding the ways in which Americans interpret and apply the past is found in this series. This series is arranged alphabetically and then by date.
Series 5 contains pamphlets, guides, papers, articles, xeroxes and magazines about oral history such as oral history interviewing guides, recording guides, plans for oral history courses and the Northern Virginia Oral History Project. This series is arranged alphabetically and then by date.
Series 6 contains information about the Center for History and New Media as well as an array of research which culminated in Rosenzweig's 2006 book (with co-author Daniel Cohen) Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web. In addition to research used for the book, the series contains both guides and ideas for using technology in the classroom and to enhance academic and popular research. This series is arranged alphabetically and then by date.
Series 7 contains CDs, DVDs, cassettes and computer disks used by Rosenzweig both to save writing and for instructional purposes. This series is arranged alphabetically and then by date.
Series 8 contains oversized materials such as photographs, prints, posters and an atlas. Of note in this series is a 1934 photograph of Franklin Roosevelt in leg braces. This series is arranged alphabetically and then by date.
Series 9 consists of three folders of electronic files that date from 1995-2007. The first folder "files archived 2003-2006" contains files on his work at the Center for History and New Media, including digital history projects, grant proposals, and materials for Clio Wired, the digital history course he taught. There is also a folder of attachments that appears to be documents that were attached to email messages. The second folder consists of research and drafts for a book project "The Future of the Past" that was published posthumously. The third file contains "writings," and the files mostly consist of research for publications, both digital and hardcopy, There are also a number of documents on the functioning of the CHNM, including meetings, budgets, and presentations. These files are restricted.
Organized into eight series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1969-2007 Series 2: Labor History, 1960-1990 Series 3: The Park and the People, 1980s-1990s Series 4: The Presence of the Past, 1990-1999 Series 5: Oral History, 1970-2007 Series 6: Digital History, 1988-2007 Series 7: Media, 1980s-2007 Series 8: Oversize, 1934-1972 Series 9: Electronic Files, 1995-2007Special Collections and Archives also holds oral history collections as well as the George Mason University records.
There are several runs of rare history and humanities periodicals from the Rosenzweig collection that can be found through the GMU Libraries online catalog.
Academic correspondence arranged alphabetically and then by date.
Labor History research generated mostly in the 1980s.
Research on New York City and Central Park generated in the 1980s and 1990s.
This series contains research related to the book The Presence of the Past.
Series 5 contains pamphlets, research, papers, notes and publications about oral history, specifically interviews and local VA history. This series also contains many how-to guides and information about classes regarding oral history.
The Digital History Series contains information about new media and how it can both change and enhances classroom, research, and teaching experiences.
Contains CDs, VHS, cassettes and computer disks.
Slides of historical images of the New York Central Park area and photographs of park activity in the 1980s.
Oversized Material such as photographs, prints and an atlas.