Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

John E. Erb Papers, 1962-1976, Accession #10187-j, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was given to the Library by the Libertarian Party, Washington DC, on August 2, 1979.

Biographical/Historical Information

Erb was born in 1901 in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1923, as a metallurgical engineer. During the next thirty years (ca. 1928-1958) he worked for General Electric in Schenectady, New York, chiefly on military projects including the B-29 turret, the Polaris and Minuteman missles, and the Vulcan gun. From 1958-1961 he was employed by the Aerojet-General Corporation near Sacramento, California, but he retired in 1961, settled in Northville, New York, and began writing what he called his "two little books," for which he was eventually unable to find a publisher.

In 1966 Erb formed the Un-Political Party; after it failed to attract attention as a possible third party he joined the Libertarian Party in 1972. He worked for Libertarian candidates in local and state elections while continuing his correspondence with individuals and organizations concerning issues of the day. He was appointed party chairman for Fulton county by the Libertarian Party in 1974 but resigned at the end of the same year.

Erb's family consisted of his wife Margaret and his sons John, a San Francisco pharmacist, and Wayne, a pilot for United Airlines.

Scope and Content Information

The Erb Papers, 1962-1976, consist chiefly of political correspondence files of John E. Erb, a New York Libertarian Party member, in addition to printed materials, newspaper clippings, newsletters, and campaign literature.

Erb wrote letters to many prominent individuals, including members of Congress; media personalities; magazine editors; local, state, and national officials; black leaders; evangelical leaders; and other Libertarians. The collection consists chiefly of the carbons of these letters and of letters he wrote in response to newspaper and magazine articles, and letters to newspaper editors which interested him. Often these letters urged the recipient to join the Libertarian Party. Noted individuals to whom Erb wrote include Edmund Muskie, Robert F. Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, Robert C. Byrd, William F. Buckley, Jr., Milton Friedman, Gardner Ted Armstrong, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and John Chancellor. In most cases, Erb did not receive replies to his letters.

Among the topics discussed are Libertatians' campaigns for office, taxation, strip mining, nuclear power, the Vietnam War, capital punishment, population control, and educational and military spending.

Other items include issues of Libertarian newsletters such as LP News and Free Libertarian , circulars, news releases, and memoranda from Congressmen; miscellaneous writings by Erb; campaign literature for such Libertarian candidates as Roger MacBride, Jerome Tuccille, and Sanford Cohen; newspaper clippings; and miscellaneous printed material.

Organization

As the papers had no particular arrangement when they arrived at the Library the correspondence was placed in chronological order. When items of varying dates were clipped or stapled together they were filed according to the date of the foremost item. Non-correspondence items such as newspaper clippings were left attached to the letters when they had been so filed.

The correspondence is followed by several folders of printed material. Newspaper and magazine clippings have been organized into two separate folders: the first contains copies of some of Erb's letters to newspaper editors as well as clippings he annotated, and the second consists of miscellaneous clippings.