Henry Clay East Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 189

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

Most of the papers in this collection comprise correspondence from H.L. Mitchell to East regarding Mitchell's union work after the STFU merged with other labor unions. Some correspondence concerns East's personal and political activities. Other materials include clippings, pamphlets, brochures, and newsletters that East either obtained himself or received from Mitchell.

Dates

Creation: 1934-1973

Creator

East, Henry Clay, 1900-1993 (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

RESTRICTION. To protect the privacy of certain individuals, some items have been replaced by positive photocopies with names and sentences obliterated. The original material is restricted until the deaths of the principal parties.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Henry Clay East (1900-1993) co-founded the Southern Tenant Farmers Union in Tyronza, Arkansas, in 1934. Born in eastern Arkansas, East attended Blue Mountain Academy and Gulf Coast Military School but returned to Tyronza to operate a gasoline station. In 1932 he was elected township constable and named deputy sheriff and town marshall. East was an active member of the Socialist Party in Arkansas and helped establish the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU) in 1934 with his friend, H.L. Mitchell. After serving as the STFU president for a short period, East left the union in 1937 and moved to Arizona. During World War II, he helped organize a union at an aircraft plant in Phoenix. East spent the next thirty years operating gasoline stations and grocery stores in Arizona until his retirement in the early 1970s.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet (316 items in 1 box)

Additional Description

Arrangement of the Papers

Materials are arranged by type and date.

Numbers written on the top right corner of the papers concern a previous inventory and are not relevant to the current arrangement.