Daniel Leab

Leab was born Daniel Joseph Liebeskind on 29 August 1936 in Berlin, German. His mother was Herta Marcus (1901–1981) from the East Prussian town of Gilgenburg (now Dąbrówno, Poland). His father was Leo Liebeskind (1897–1979) of Berlin. Although they had planned to leave Germany for Palestine, instead they emigrated to America in 1943, where they changed the surname from Liebeskind to Leab.

{{cite web

| title = Guide to the Papers of Herta (1901-1981) and Leo (1897-1979) Leab 1858-1981

| publisher = Leo Baeck Institute Center for Jewish Heritage

| url = http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=198559

| date = 2007

| access-date = 18 November 2016}}

In 1957, Leab obtained a BA from Columbia University. From 1957 to 1958, he attended Harvard Law School. Returning to Columbia, he obtained an MA in 1961 and PhD in 1969. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the formative years of the American Newspaper Guild (1933-1936).

File:Battle strike 1934.jpg clash with armed police during a Minneapolis 1934 strike.]] In 1966, Leab began teaching at universities. He first taught in the history department of his alma mater, Columbia University. Eventually, he served there as associate dean of Columbia College, a member of the university's central administration, and member of the executive committee of the university's senate.

In 1974, he began teaching at Seton Hall University. He began as an associate professor. By 1980, he had become a full professor. He taught 20th-century history for more than three decades there.

{{cite web

| title = Introducing The Daniel J. Leab Collection

| publisher = Seton Hall University

| url = http://blogs.shu.edu/archives/2016/03/introducing-the-daniel-j-leab-collection/

| date = 7 March 2016

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

Provost John Duff appointed him to oversee the university's American Studies Program. He served as acting chairman of the Department of History and two years as chair of University Rank and Tenure Committee. He created and directed its Multi-Cultural Program.

He wrote or edited seven books, published more than 90 articles, and lectured extensively in Europe and America.

{{cite web

| title = Daniel J. Leab

| publisher = C-SPAN

| url = https://www.c-span.org/person/?danielleab

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

Research topics included labor history, history in film, and cultural conflicts of the Cold War.

{{cite web

| title = Prof. Daniel J. Leab

| publisher = Beyond Enemy Lines

| url = http://beyondenemylines.co.uk/network/daniel-j-leab/

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

He was a senior Fulbright lecturer at the University of Cologne two times (1977 spring, 1986–1987) and in 2008 he was a visiting professor of history there.{{Cite book|last=Leab|first=Daniel J.|title=The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Thematic Encyclopedia|year=2009}} He was also visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania (1986 spring) and at the Heim-Hoch-Volksschule, in Falkenstein, Bavaria, Germany (June 1970, July 1972, July 1975).

In the 1960s, Leab served as an editorial assistant of and contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review.

{{cite journal

| title = Cold War Comics

| journal = Columbia Journalism Review

| url = https://www.cjr.org/fiftieth_anniversary/cold_war_comics.php

| date = 5 December 2011

| access-date = 18 November 2016}}

In 1974, Leab became managing editor of peer-reviewed Labor History journal and served for more than two decades, as well as editor of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television published by the International Association for Media and History (IAMHIST).

He was also publisher of American Books Prices Current, edited by his wife.

{{cite journal

| title = The Excellent Staff

| journal = American Book Prices Current

| url = https://www.bookpricescurrent.com/Home/AboutUs

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

In 1982, he was primary founder and long-time managing editor of American Communist History, peer-reviewed journal of the academic group Historians of American Communism (HOAC). He also served as HOAC secretary and treasurer, along with John Earl Haynes.

Leab helped administer both Seton Hall and Columbia universities:

• Seton Hall University:
• 2005–2006: Member of Faculty Committee on Criminal Justice and Faculty Rights
• 1996–1997: Chair of Program Review for Department of History
• 1990–1995: Creator and Initiator of Multi-Cultural Diversity Program
• 1990–1991: Chair of University Rank and Tenure Committee
• 1987–1989: Member of Educational Policy Committee
• 1974–1979: Director of American Studies Program
• Columbia University:
• 1973–1974: Special Assistant to Vice President and Provost
• 1972–1974: Member of Executive Committee of University Senate
• 1971–1972: Assistant Dean of Faculties of the University
• 1969–1971: Associate Dean of Columbia College

File:Maya_Angelou_speech_for_Barack_Obama_campaign_2008.jpg (here, speaking at a rally for then presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008)]]

Leab married Katharine Kyes, the editor of American Book Prices Current (published by Bancroft-Parkman, Inc.), in 1964. They had three children: Abigail Leab Martin, Constance Rigney, and Marcus Leab.

Leab quoted aphorisms to describe views on history with which he disagreed:

• Voltaire: "A pack of lies mutually agreed upon"
• Henry Ford: "More or less bunk"
• Truman Capote" History teaches us... nothing"

Leab held that such aphorisms merely pointed out "failings of History as a discipline and as a guide." Instead, he expressed his views on history with a quote from poet Maya Angelou:

History, despite its wrenching pain
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

He died on 15 November 2016, at his home in Washington, Connecticut, surrounded by his family.

Colleague David Culbert praised Leab's book Orwell Subverted as "masterly."

Leab's books include:

• A Union of Individuals: The Formation of the American Newspaper Guild, 1933-1936 (1970)

{{cite web

| first = Daniel J.

| last = Leab

| title = A Union of Individuals: The Formation of the American Newspaper Guild, 1933-1936

| publisher = Columbia University Press

| url = http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-02053-2.html

| date = 1970

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

{{cite book

| first = Daniel J.

| last = Leab

| title = A Union of Individuals: The Formation of the American Newspaper Guild, 1933-1936

| year = 1970

| publisher = Library of Congress

| isbn = 9780231033671

| url = https://lccn.loc.gov/75110603

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

• From Sambo to Superspade: The Black Experience in Motion Pictures (1975)

{{cite book

| first = Daniel J.

| last = Leab

| title = From Sambo to Superspade: The Black Experience in Motion Pictures

| url = https://archive.org/details/fromsambotosuper00leab

| url-access = registration

| publisher = Houghton Mifflin

| place = Boston

| date = 1975

| isbn = 9780395194027

| lccn = 75011948

}}

{{cite book

| first = Daniel J.

| last = Leab

| title = From Sambo to Superspade: The Black Experience in Motion Pictures

| publisher = Secker & Warburg

| place = London

| date = 1975

| lccn = 84672500

}}

• George Orwell : An Exhibition at the Grolier Club: Selections from the Collection of Daniel J. Leab (1996)

{{cite book

| first = Daniel J.

| last = Leab

| title = George Orwell : An Exhibition at the Grolier Club: Selections from the Collection of Daniel J. Leab

| place = Washington, Connecticut

| publisher = Cogswell Tavern Press

| date = 1996

| lccn = 98128327

}}

• I Was a Communist for the FBI: The Unhappy Life and Times of Matt Cvetic (2000) about FBI informant Matt Cvetic

{{cite web

| first = Daniel J.

| last = Leab

| title = I Was a Communist for the FBI: The Unhappy Life and Times of Matt Cvetic

| publisher = Penn State University Press

| url = http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-02053-2.html

| date = 2000

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

{{cite book

| first = Daniel J.

| last = Leab

| title = I Was a Communist for the FBI: The Unhappy Life and Times of Matt Cvetic

| publisher = Penn State University Press

| date = 2000

| lccn = 00035660

}}

• Orwell Subverted: The CIA and the Filming of Animal Farm (2007)

{{cite web

| first = Daniel J.

| last = Leab

| title = Orwell Subverted: The CIA and the Filming of Animal Farm

| publisher = Penn State University Press

| url = http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-02978-8.html

| date = 2007

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

{{cite book

| first = Daniel J.

| last = Leab

| title = Orwell Subverted: The CIA and the Filming of Animal Farm

| publisher = Library of Congress

| url = https://lccn.loc.gov/2006030316

| date = 2007

| isbn = 9780271029788

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

Leab co-wrote the following with his wife:

• The Auction Companion (1981)

{{cite book

| first1 = Daniel J.

| last1 = Leab

| author-link1 = Daniel Leab

| first2 = Katharine Kyes

| last2 = Leab

| author-link2= Katharine Kyes Leab

| title = The Auction Companion

| url = https://archive.org/details/auctioncompanion00leab

| url-access = registration

| publisher = Harper & Row

| date = 1981

| lccn = 80008208

}}

Leab edited or co-edited the following:

• American Working Class History: A Representative Bibliography (1983)

{{cite book

| title = American Working Class History: A Representative Bibliography

| url = https://archive.org/details/americanworkingc0000neuf

| url-access = registration

| editor1-first = Maurice F.

| editor1-last = Neufeld

| editor2-first = Daniel J.

| editor2-last = Leab

| editor3-first = Dorothy

| editor3-last = Swanson

| place = New York

| publisher = Bowker

| date = 1983

| isbn = 9780835217521

| lccn = 83011845

}}

• The Labor History Reader (1985)

{{cite book

| editor1 = Daniel J. Leab

| editor2 = Richard B. Morris

| title = The Labor History Reader

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XSybNRCfYn0C

| publisher = University of Illinois Press

| date = 1985

| isbn = 9780252011986

| access-date = 28 March 2020}}

• Federal Bureau of Investigation Confidential Files: Communist Activity in the Entertainment Industry [microform] : FBI Surveillance Files on Hollywood, 1942-1958 (1991)

{{cite book

| editor-first = Daniel J.

| editor-last = Leab

| title = Federal Bureau of Investigation Confidential Files: Communist Activity in the Entertainment Industry [microform] : FBI Surveillance Files on Hollywood, 1942-1958

| place = Bethesda, Maryland

| publisher = University Publications of America

| date = 1991

| lccn = 92037444

}}

• Labor History Archives in the United States: A Guide for Researching and Teaching (1992)

{{cite book

| editor1-first = Daniel J.

| editor1-last = Leab

| editor2-first = Philip P.

| editor2-last = Mason

| title = Labor history archives in the United States : a guide for researching and teaching

| place = Detroit

| publisher = Wayne State University Press

| date = 1992

| lccn = 91038550

}}

• The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Thematic Encyclopedia (2010)

{{cite book

| editor1-first = Daniel J.

| editor1-last = Leab

| title = The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Thematic Encyclopedia

| place = Santa Barbara, California

| publisher = ABC-CLIO

| date = 2010

| lccn = 2009031352

}}

• Red activists and black freedom: James and Esther Jackson and the long civil rights revolution (2010){{cite book |editor-last1 = Lewis | editor-first1 = David Levering |editor-link1= David Levering Lewis| editor-last2=Nash |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael H. Nash |editor-last3=Leab |editor-first3=Daniel J.|editor-link3=Daniel Leab | title = Red activists and black freedom : James and Esther Jackson and the long civil rights revolution |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ma_aAAAAQBAJ | access-date =26 February 2021| publisher = Routledge | location = London New York | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-0415637428| oclc=467738365}}
• Encyclopedia of American Recessions and Depressions (2014)

{{cite book

| title = Encyclopedia of American Recessions and Depressions

| editor-first=Daniel J.

| editor-last=Leab

| place = Santa Barbara, California

| publisher = ABC-CLIO

| date = 2014

| lccn=2013023216

}}

Leab edited the following:

• American Communist History (published by Historians of American Communism, HOAC) (2001–2016)
• CLOSEUPS: The IAMHIST Bulletin quarterly (1999–2002): created, edited, contributed
• Film History (1996–2016)
• Historical Journal of Film, Radio & TV (1993–2016)
• Washington Rod and Gun Club Bulletin (1996–1998)
• Columbia Journalism Review (1960–1978):
• Contributing editor (1972–1978)
• Research associate (1964–1968)
• Assistant editor (1962–1964)
• Editorial assistant (1960–1962)
• Labor History (1974-1999)

Leab contributed the following:

• Enclycopedia of the American Left (1986): "Herbert Benjamin," "David Lasser"
• Encyclopedia of World Biography (1987, 1988 1990, 1995): "Orson Welles," "Spencer Tracy," "Vanessa Redgrave," "Bing Crosby," "Clint Eastwood"
• Dictionary of American Biography (Supplements): "Louis Boudin" (1977), "Jesse Lasky" (1980), "Joseph von Sternberg" (1988), "Siegfried Kracauer" (1988), "Louella Parons" (1994), "A.A. Berle, Jr." (1994), "Lowell Weicker, Sr." (1995)
• Scibner's Encyclopedia of American Lives: "Burr Tilstrom" (1998), "Gordon Ray" (1999), "Jose Ferrer" (2001), "Dorothy Buffum Chandler" (202), "Huntley Brinkley" (2003), "Sports Figures" (2003)
• American National Biography: "Heywood Broun" (1999), "Matt Cvetic" (1999), "Greta Garbo" (1999), "William Grant Still" (1999), "Louis Ludlow" (2004)

Leab received the following awards and recognition.

• 2005: Award for best article by senior scholar in 2005 volume of Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television
• 1997: John Commerford Prize of the New York State Labor History Association
• 1991-1992: Grant for Implementation of Pilot Multi-Media Core Course from New Jersey Department of Higher Education (Co-Principal Investigator)
• 1989: Grant from Seton Hall University Research Council
• 1986: Fulbright Senior Lectureship to University of Cologne
• 1980: National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship
• 1977: Fulbright Senior Lectureship to University of Cologne

In 1987, Leab and his wife established and endowed the annual "Katharine Kyes Leab & Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Catalogue Awards" for excellence in publishing of catalogs and brochures that accompany exhibitions of library and archival materials, plus accompanying digital exhibitions. The Exhibition Awards Committee of the ALA/ACRL Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) administers the awards.

{{cite web

| title = The Katharine Kyes Leab & Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Catalogue Awards: Guidelines and Rules for Submissions

| date = 29 August 2014

| publisher = Rare Books & Manuscripts Section of the American Library Association

| url = https://rbms.info/committees/exhibition_awards/submission-rules/

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

{{cite web

| title = The Katharine Kyes Leab & Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Awards

| date = 29 August 2014

| publisher = Rare Books & Manuscripts Section of the American Library Association

| url = https://rbms.info/committees/exhibition_awards/

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

{{cite web

| title = Katharine Kyes Leab & Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Awards

| publisher = American Library Association

| url = http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/katharine-kyes-leab-and-daniel-j-leab-american-book-prices-current-exhibition-catalogue-awards

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

{{cite web

| title = Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Catalogue Awards

| date = September 2006

| publisher = Association of College & Research Libraries

| url = http://www.ala.org/acrl/awards/publicationawards/leabawards

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

File:Animal Farm - 1st edition.jpg first edition cover.]]

Leab championed books in culture; an example was an exhibition of books by George Orwell held at Brown University in 1997, which featured books from Leab's personal collection. He gave the collection to Brown.

{{cite web

| title = George Orwell: An Exhibition from the Collection of Daniel J. Leab

| publisher = Brown University

| url = http://library.brown.edu/exhibits/archive/orwell/leab.html

| date = 1997

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

In addition to donating his collection of films and his extensive working library of printed books, magazines, catalogs and other ephemera on American and European Film and Cinema to the [https://www.moma.org/explore/collection/departments/film Film Department of the Museum of Modern Art, NY], in 2011, Leab left several collections of papers and books:

• Papers of Daniel J. Leab at National Library of Australia (since 1970s): Academic essays, masters and doctoral theses; academic papers, drafts, critiques and addresses by authors involved in film industry; printed matter; German language material including proceedings of film conferences, essays on film classification and film production, 1965 bibliography of films and producers, and articles

{{cite web

| title = Papers of Daniel J. Leab

| publisher = National Library of Australia

| url = http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2167254

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

• Daniel J. Leab Collection 1920-1977 at Center for Jewish History (since 1970s): Family scrapbooks and photo albums of parents Herta and Leo Leab plus travels of Leab, with annotations by Leab

{{cite web

| title = Daniel J. Leab Collection 1920-1977

| publisher = Center for Jewish History

| url = http://search.cjh.org:1701/beta:CJH_SCOPE:CJH_ALEPH000367474

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

• Daniel J. Leab Collection - Papers, 1900–1975 at Wayne State University - Walter P. Reuther Library (since 1980): Materials used to research his doctoral dissertation, published A Union of Individuals: The Formation of the American Newspaper Guild, 1933-1936 (1970) and for From Sambo to Superspade: The Black Experience in Motion Pictures (1975)
• Daniel J. Leab papers 1950-2006 at Brown University (since 2010): Materials by and about George Orwell, collected by Daniel J. Leab in writing Orwell Subverted: the CIA and the Filming of Animal Farm

{{cite web

| title = Guide to the Daniel J. Leab papers 1950-2006

| publisher = Brown University

| url = http://library.brown.edu/riamco/xml2pdffiles/US-RPB-ms2010.011.pdf

| date = 2010

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

• Daniel J. Leab collection at Seton Hall University (since 2015): Materials used for research on topics that include: the Cold War, American communism, the American labor movement, the history of the FBI and the CIA, and the history of film.

{{cite web

| title = Daniel J. Leab collection

| publisher = Seton Hall University

| url = http://library.shu.edu/c.php?g=456878

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

• Katharine Kyes Leab
• Labor unions in the United States
• The Newspaper Guild
• George Orwell
• Matt Cvetic
• Historians of American Communism (HOAC)

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web

| title = Daniel J. Leab

| publisher = C-SPAN

| url = https://www.c-span.org/person/?danielleab

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

• {{cite web

| title = Papers of Daniel J. Leab

| publisher = National Library of Australia

| url = http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2167254

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

• {{cite web

| title = Daniel J. Leab Collection: Papers, 1900–1975

| publisher = Wayne State University - Walter P. Reuther Library (Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs)

| url = https://reuther.wayne.edu/files/LP000590.pdf

| date = May 1980

| access-date = 17 November 2016}}

• {{cite web

| title = Daniel J. Leab Collection 1920-1977

| publisher = Center for Jewish History

| url = http://search.cjh.org:1701/beta:CJH_SCOPE:CJH_ALEPH000367474

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

• {{cite web

| title = Guide to the Daniel J. Leab papers 1950-2006

| publisher = Brown University

| url = http://library.brown.edu/riamco/xml2pdffiles/US-RPB-ms2010.011.pdf

| date = 2010

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

• {{cite web

| title = Daniel J. Leab collection

| publisher = Seton Hall University

| url = http://library.shu.edu/c.php?g=456878

| access-date = 19 November 2016}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leab, Daniel J.}}

Category:1936 births

Category:2016 deaths

Category:Writers from Berlin

Category:Columbia University alumni

Category:20th-century American historians

Category:Historians of the United States

Category:Historians of communism

Category:Jewish American historians

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:Contemporary historians

Category:Seton Hall University faculty