Background on Sidney Walter Finkelstein
Sidney Finkelstein, born in Brooklyn, New York on July 4, 1909, received his Bachelor's degree from City College in New York in 1929 and his A.M. from Columbia University in 1932 before he became a renowned critic of music, literature, and the arts. In 1955, he earned a second master's degree from New York University. During the 1930s he served as a book reviewer for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and worked for the United Postal Service. In the 1940s he joined the music staff of the Herald Tribune and also served as a music reviewer for several other publications including New Masses, Masses and Mainstream. Finkelstein became active in the Communist Party U.S.A. (CPUSA) where he served as the party's leading musical and cultural theoretician. Finkelstein applied his interpretation of Socialist Realism in several books on arts and culture, the most famous being Jazz, a People's Music (1948). Between 1951 and 1973 he served on the staff of Vanguard Records, a New York based record label that specialized in jazz and classical recordings. In 1957 he was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee for his Communist party affiliation. Finkelstein died in Brooklyn, New York on January 14, 1974.
1909
Born July 4, Brooklyn, NY
1930s
Book reviewer, Brooklyn Daily Eagle
1932
A.M., Columbia University
1940s
Music staff, The Herald Tribune; also music
reviewer, New Masses, Masses and Mainstream, and other
publications
1951-1973
Staff, Vanguard Records
1955
M.A., New York University
1957
Called to testify before House Un-American
Activities Committee
1974
Died, January 14, Brooklyn, NY; survived by two
brothers
Scope of collection
The Sidney Finkelstein Papers (1914-1974) are organized
into 3 series: Biographical (1914-1969), Correspondence
(1934-1974), and Writings (1949-1973, n.d.). Biographical
materials include legal documents, educational, military, and
personal records, financial papers and contracts,
photographs, and lecture and course notes. Correspondence
includes letters both to and from Mr. Finkelstein and
consists primarily of informal discussions of his works and
the writings of others on related topics. Finkelstein's
writings constitute the bulk of the collection and include
original manuscripts of reviews, articles, essays and books
he wrote during his career. Finkelstein's writings cover a
broad array of topics and include discussions of jazz,
classical music, music criticism, aesthetics, literary
criticism, profiles of the work of individual artists, and
Socialist Realism and its relevance and application to
cultural studies.
Partial List of Correspondents
1970
Cameron, Angus--of Knopf
1964
Cohen, Robert Sonné--physicist
1955, 1956
Downes, Olin--critic
1964
Gelbin, Gertrude--editor, Seven Seas
1956, 1965
Kent, Rockwell and Sally
1948
Lask, Tom--New York Times Book Review
1965, 1966
Lawson, John Howard
1964
Lumer, Hyman--editor, Political Affairs
1966
Selsam, Millicent and Howard
1947
Siegmeister, Eliew--composer
1948
Smith, Harrison--Saturday Review
1948
Thomson, Virgil--composer
1959
Veiaus, Abraham--Syracuse Univ.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into three series:
Inventory
Series 1: Biographical
1914-1969
Legal documents and other personal records
1914-1957
Box 1: 1
Education, records of
1925-1955
Box 1: 2
Military records
1942-1947
Box 1: 3
Publishing contracts and related materials
1947-1969
Box 1: 4
Course outline: Philosophy of
Art
Box 1: 6
Lecture notes and course outline
Box 1: 7
Series 2: CorrespondenceSee attached partial list of correspondents
1934-1974
Letters from SF
1949-1966
Box 1: 8
Letters to SF
1934-1954
Box 1: 9
Letters to SF
1955-1964
Box 1: 10
Letters to SF
1965-1974
Box 1: 11
Series 3: Writings
1949-1973
Student paper by SF: The Imagery of
Picasso's Blue Period
Box 1: 12
Student paper by SF: The Philosophy of Art
of Frank Lloyd Wright
Box 1: 13
Masters thesis: Picasso
(fragment)
Box 1: 14
Melville/Pierre notes
Box 1: 16
Book reviews by SF
Box 1: 17-24
(Combined with folder 16)
Box 1: 25
Is Jazz a National Expression or an
International Folk Music?
Box 1: 26
On jazz (fragment)
Box 1: 27
On American music
Box 1: 28
Music and Music Criticism: A New
Look
Box 2: 30
Myths and Realities of the Arts
c. 1949
Box 2: 31-33
Psychoanalysis and the Arts
1951
Box 2: 34
On realism, especially Charles White
(fragment)
Box 2: 35
On Charles White's paintings
Box 2: 36
Realism in Art, review of
c. 1954
Box 2: 37
Realism in Art, article about & SF
response
Box 2: 38
On Arnold Hauser's "The Social History of
Art" (fragment)
Box 2: 39
Dialectical Materialism and the
Arts
Box 2: 40
On John Dewey's "Art as
Experience"
Box 2: 41
On Tagore's play "The King of the Dark
Chamber" (fragment)
Box 2: 42
On two articles regarding young
intellectuals
Box 2: 43
The Art and Science of C.P. Snow
c. 1961
Box 2: 44
Composer and Nation, letters re: review of
1961
Box 2: 45
Dialectics of Art/Form and
Freedom
Box 3-5: 46-71
Notes on Greece/Spain: High Renaissance
architecture, Spanish Colonial architecture, Romanesque
sculpture
Box 6: 72-73
On Henry James' "The Sacred Fount"
1960
Box 6: 74
James: Introduction to Princess
Cassanassima
Box 6: 75
Dialectical materialism & Art/ What Is
Art?
Box 7: 76-84
The Literary Influence of Existentialism/
The Literature of Alienation
1965
Box 8-10: 85-93
Media & the Arts: The Sense and Nonsense
of McLuhan
1968
Box 8-10: 94-95
McLuhan Book - published
versions
Box 8-10: 96
On Beauty and Truth
Box 8-10: 97
How Music expresses Ideas
1970
Box 11: 98
Who Needs Shakespeare?
1973
Box 11: 99-100
Administrative information
Search terms
Subjects
- Art criticism--United States--History--20th century--Sources.
- Cohen, R. S. (Robert Sonné)--Correspondence.
- Communism--United States--History--Sources.
- Communist Party of the United States of America--History--20th century--Sources.
- Communist aesthetics--History--Sources.
- Criticism--United States--History--20th century--Sources.
- Critics--United States--Archives.
- Culture--Study and teaching--United States--History--20th century--Sources.
- Finkelstein, Sidney Walter, 1909-1974--Archives.
- Finkelstein, Sidney Walter, 1909-1974--Correspondence.
- Gorton, Sally Kent, 1915-2000--Correspondence.
- Hille, Waldemar, 1908- --Correspondence.
- Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971--Correspondence.
- Lawson, John Howard, 1894- --Correspondence.
- Music--History and criticism--Sources.
- Musical criticism--United States--History--Sources.
- Richmond, Al, 1913-1987--Correspondence.
- Selsam, Millicent Ellis, 1912- --Correspondence.
- Siegmeister, Elie, 1909- --Correspondence.
- Socialist realism--History--Sources.
- Thomson, Virgil, 1896- --Correspondence.
- Veinus, Abraham--Correspondence.
Contributors
- Finkelstein, Sidney Walter, 1909-1974 [main entry]
- Cohen, R. S. (Robert Sonné)
- Hille, Waldemar, 1908-
- Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971.
- Gorton, Sally Kent, 1915-2000.
- Lawson, John Howard, 1894-
- Richmond, Al, 1913-1987.
- Selsam, Millicent Ellis, 1912-
- Siegmeister, Elie, 1909-
- Thomson, Virgil, 1896-
- Veinus, Abraham.
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