New York) -- This past Friday (3-23-07), hundreds of people gathered at the Tamiment Library at New York University to welcome the transmission of hundreds of thousands of archival pieces from the Communist Party USA to the library.

Michael Nash, the library's director, praised the process by which the extremely valuable book, document, photo, and film collection dating from about 1921 to the present was released by the Communist Party. 'I and my staff were given complete access to the archives,' said Nash. According to him, Tamiment's professional staff of archivist and curators were allowed to select the items without restriction or barriers.

'The way this was conducted,' Nash added, 'will make this collection even more valuable.' In his decades-long experience, Nash said, owners of collections of this size and scope very rarely allow libraries such unhindered access.

The collection contains thousands of books, films that may be among the one or two copies of their kind in existence, and as many as one million photos taken mainly by the various newspapers and magazines that have expressed the Party's views since its founding.

“This donation will ensure that the history of the Communist Party and its impact on American politics will be preserved for future generations,” said Sam Webb, National Chair of the Communist Party USA, in a prepared press statement prior to the event. “Tamiment library will make this history available to a wider audience.”

Teresa Albano, the editor of the People's Weekly World, the newspaper that expresses the views of the Party, pointed out that with its rich history, many people tend to view the Party as a relic of the past. But the Party's continued involvement in struggles to organize workers, in the peace movement, in the fight for civil rights and full equality, as advocates of women's rights, LGBT equality, and for a clean environment, and in struggles to protect public schools and to win universal health care, not to mention for socialism, show that the Party's history did not end in the 1930s. 'As long as capitalism is around, there is going to be a Communist Party,' she said.

University of Houston history professor and Political Affairs contributing editor Gerald Horne echoed this view. 'The whole 'death of communism' school,' he remarked, 'is like the man who jumps off of the Empire State Building and as he passes the 40th floor says, 'so far so good.''

Referring to Cold War era anti-Communist historical accounts of the Party, Horne stated that the opening of this archive will bring a balance to the history of the Party. 'One of the reasons why this archive is so important is that the history of the Communist Party has been so one-sided,' he added.

In his presentation, Political Affairs contributing editor and Rutgers University historian Norman Markowitz echoed this sentiment. Previous historians have distorted the past role of the Communist Party, he said, and have presumed it no longer exists. But 'The Communist Party lives,' Markowitz asserted. While great enemies of civil liberties, peace, and human rights such as Joseph McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover, and Ronald Reagan have passed, the Party continues to play a positive role.

'This collection,' he said, in paraphrasing Karl Marx, 'will help scholars, students, and activists both better understand the world and change it for the better.'

Other speakers at the event included Jarvis Tyner, Executive Vice Chair of the Communist Party, Steve Kramer, organizer with SEIU Local 1199, Dan Leab, editor of the journal American Communist History, New York State Assemblyman Dick Gottfried, whose district includes the Communist Party's national center, New York State Senator Bill Perkins, Leslie Cagan, national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, the country's largest coalition of peace organizations, and former New York State Supreme Court Justice Frank Barbaro.

In his remarks, Barbaro stated, 'wherever you look where there was a struggle for peace and justice you will find the Communist Party. [This archive] is our vindication. The archive proves that capitalism doesn't work. It's evil in its nature. And the answer is socialism.'

The program, which was organized by the Tamiment Library, also included a special performance by the Puerto Rican dramatic group Pregones of 'Jesus Colon and the Communist Party.' The event was co-sponsored by the Labor and Working Class History Association.