Introduction

The Haldeman-Julius Collection contains primarily biographical information about Emanuel Haldeman-Julius. It includes 58 articles type written by him, many of which were written under his original name of Emanual Julius before his first marriage to Marcet Haldeman. The articles were written in New York City and Los Angeles. There are other articles in the collection were written under the names of Emanuel Haldeman-Julius (after his marriage), Marcet Haldeman-Julius (his first wife), or a combination of the two.

In addition to the articles are several folders containing hand written documents that Sue Haldeman-Julius (Emanuel's second wife) created for a biography of Emanuel's life. These writings include descriptions of events in his life, as well as his home, business, indictment for fraud and activities surrounding the trial, and, most notably, his death. There are also newspaper clippings that Sue collected about these and related events.

The collection was purchased by the K-State Libraries in 2004 and processing was completed by Christy Birney in November of that year. The accession number of the collection is P2004.11.

Biographical Sketch

Emanuel Julius was born July 30,1889 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Russian immigrants and upon arriving in the United States had to change their surname from Zalujetzski to Julius, which was easier to pronounce. Emanuel's father was a book binder but was unable to provide enough for the family thus, at age 13, Emanuel was forced to quit school in order to work.

After he quit school Emanuel worked in a toy factory (a sweat shop) making only three dollars a week. After that he held many odd jobs including: usher in a theater; bellhop in a private school for girls in Terrytown, New York; and, occasionally, boxing. Emanuel enjoyed school and he decided to enroll in night classes at Brown Prep School while working. However, due to trouble with algebra and Latin, he quit Brown and enrolled in night school at a local high school.

Emanuel soon decided he wanted to publish books that were affordable for most people. This interest lead to jobs in the journalism industry. He worked for the Milwaukee Leader; Philadelphia Daily as a copy reader; Daily Leader as a feature writer and City Hall reporter in Milwaukee; Chicago Evening World as courtroom and police reporter until 1912; Western Comrade in Los Angeles as a copy writer; New York Call as Sunday editor and dramatic critic from 1914-1915; and Appeal to Reason as editor in 1918. Emanuel's first publication, "Mark Twain-Radical," appeared in The International Social Review. He also had his own monthly publication called American Freedom as well as his own magazine, Life and Letters. He wrote two autobiographies, My First 25 Years (published in 1949), and My Second 25 Years (also published in 1949).

On June 1, 1916, Emanuel married his first wife, Marcet Haldeman, and the two decided to legally combine there names to Haldeman-Julius, the name that Emanuel became famous under. The two bought the Appeal's printing factory and together their publishing industry flourished and many pieces they wrote were published by their company.

Emanuel became famous for the books that he published. First called the "Appeal Pocket Series", then the "People's Pocket Series" and, finally, the "Little Blue Books", the name for which they are best known. These books sold for five to twenty five cents and were considered a university in writing owing to the classical literature printed within the pages of these pocket books. They enabled those with little money to afford such classics as Shakespeare and Voltaire which they might otherwise have not been able to read. The title of the first publication in the blue book series,"The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" was published in 1919. Emanuel's dream had been realized and, not only were these books popular in the United States, they had appeal throughout the world.

Emanuel died July 31, 1951 at his home in Girard, Kansas. He was found drowned in his own swimming pool by his second wife of nine years, Sue Haldeman-Julius. Suspicion surrounded his death and rumors of involvement by J. Edgar Hoover and the F.B.I. spread because of Emanuel's socialist beliefs and his dislike for Hoover and his "tyrannical tactics against perceived enemies".

Biographical Information for this sketch was compiled from several Internet sources and the contents of this collection.

Scope and Contents Note

The Haldeman-Julius Collection documents the business and personal life of Emanuel Haldeman-Julius, especially through the biographical information compiled by his second wife, Sue.

Along with Emanuel, there is considerable information about Marcet (Emanuel's first wife) and her family, including her aunt Jane Addams (1931 Nobel Peace Prize winner), as well as several close friends and relatives.

There is little correspondence in the collection, instead the majority of the material consists of biographical information that Sue Haldeman-Julius created for a biography she was writing about Emanuel which included drafts of chapters. Newspaper clippings of events that took place, many after Emanuel's death in remembrance of him, as well as clippings on people he knew, are also included.

Other contents of interest include the short stories and articles that were written by Emanuel, Marcet, or both. Several of the articles indicate that they were written for the Appeal to Reason, a socialist newsletter that Emanuel was editor and owner of.

The collection consists of five series:

1. Contains essays and short stories written by Emanuel, Marcet, or were written by both of them together. There are 46 essays and short stories in this series.
2. Contains family documents from family members on both the Haldeman and the Julius side. This series also includes newspaper clippings regarding social events, friends of the Haldeman-Julius', and also clippings that interested one of Emanuel's wives (such as health).
3. Contains the biographical information compiled and type written by his second wife, Sue, for a biography she was writing; includes drafts on various topics and events.
4. Contains printed material that was published in Emanuel's personal magazine E. H-J. Magazine and other literary works by different authors.
5. Contains photographs and art including: two family photographs of the Addams family; one photograph of Jane Addams' casket being carried; one photograph of Emanuel; one color print o the Haldeman-Julius home in Girard, KS (1942), and: an original pencil drawing of Abraham Walkowitz by Sue Haldeman-Julius;

The Morse Department of Special Collections houses a comprehensive run of Haldebman-Julius publications ("Little Blue Books") and Emanuel's two autobiographies, My First 25 Years and My Second 25 Years.

Container List

Box  Folder  Literary Works

01   01        Untitled
     02        A Great Composer's View
     03        A Classic Bit of Literature
     04        Krepotkin's Amusing Experience With Spies
     05        Spartacus
     06        The Agitator That Didn't Stop
     07        The Gracchi-Fighters for Land and Liberty
     08        The Old Haters (incomplete)
     09        The Short Short Story (Thanks For The Ride)
     10        The Super Hottentott
     11        Wat Tyler's Peasant Revolt
     12        Wolves
     13        Attitude
     14        Cogs
     15        Extremes
     16        One of the Maximums
     17        The Man Who Out-Shawed Shaw
     18        The Paperweight
     19        The Red Flag
     20        Anatalie
     21        Anatalie
     22        Anatalie
     23        As In A Short Story
     24        Disillusioned
     25        Home
     26        Interview With a Lady Author
     27        Just Women
     28        Misunderstood
     29        On Throwing Things Away
     30        Page One, Column One
     31        Sentimentality
     32        Somewhere in Europe
     33        Eternal Wrangle
     34        The Hero's Boss
     35        The Hoaxmobile Four vs. Troglodytes Six
     36        The Hoaxmobile Four vs. Troglodytes Six
     37        The Meeting
     38        The Pauper
     39        The Professor
     40        The Revolution
     41        The Ring
     42        The Voice
     43        The Voice (expanded)
     44        Titles for Nut Writers
     45        Unconventional
     46        Undroving the Drove

             Relatives and Friends

02   01        Correspondence
     02        Haldeman Family Clippings
     03        Marcet Haldeman Clippings
     04        Marcet Papers 1
     05        Marcet Papers 2
     06        Marcet Papers 3
     07        Event Clippings
     08        Haldeman-Julius Family Clippings
     09        Emanuel Haldeman-Julius Clippings 1
     10        Emanuel Haldeman-Julius Clippings 2
     11        Emanuel Haldeman-Julius Clippings 3
     12        Addams Clippings
     13        Sarah Alice (Addams) Haldeman Papers 1
     14        Sarah Alice (Addams) Haldeman Papers 2
     15        Addams Family 
     16        Miscellaneous Clippings
     17        Health Clippings
     18        Luther Burbank Article
     19        Gene DeGrusen Clippings 1
     20        Gene DeGrusen Clippings 2

             Biographical Information

03   01        Preface 
     02        Early Years
     03        Girard Home
     04        Little Blue Books
     05        Communism 
     06        Religion
     07        Ku Klux Klan
     08        Companionate Marriage 1
     09        Companionate Marriage 2
     10        Companionate Marriage 3
     11        First Flight
     12        Sue Haney Literary Works
     13        Stock Market Crash
     14        Postal Inspector
     15        Trial
     16        FBI
     17        Last Summer
     18        Last Christmas
     19        Last Birthday
     20        Last Day
     21        Emanuel Haldeman-Julius Death/Last Events
     22        Oral Interviews
     23        Literary Words, Post Card
     24        Miscellaneous Literary Works
     25        Written Articles (for E. H-J Weekly?)
     26        Articles from E. H-J Magazine
     27        U.S. Supreme Court on Sex (for E. H-J. Magazine)
     28        Socialism (for E. H-J. Magazine)
     29        U-Bang (for E. H-J. Magazine)
     30        Communism and Russia (for E. H-J. Magazine)
     31        Religion (for E. H-J. Magazine)
     32        Literary Fragments
     33        Lists/Chronologies  
               Deck of Cards
               "Midstream"

             Photographs & Art

     01        Addams family, including Jane Addams
     02        Addams family dinner in Cedarville, IL
     03        Casket of Jane Addams at her funeral
     04        Emanuel Haldeman-Julius
     05        Haldeman-Julius home in Girard, KS (color), 1942
     06        Drawing of Abraham Walkowitz by Sue Haldeman-Julius