Crosby, Alexander L.

Active in union affairs of Local 3, New York City of the American Newspaper Guild in the late 1930s and early 1940s. On staff of the Labor Press and served several years as its unit chairman. He also served a term as vice-president of the Newark Guild, was a member of the New York Executive Committee, and was active in union negotiations.

Alexander L. Crosby (1906-1980) divided his working life into three segments: newspaperman, 1929-1942; pamphlet writer and editor, 1942-1959; and author of children's books, 1959-1980. Tying his working life together was a common thread--an insatiable need to express himself. This is shown through his published writings and his multitudinous correspondence.

Crosby's energy also found an outlet in political activism. His activism led him to be fired from his first newspaper job for attempting to organize a unit of the Newspaper Guild, the journalists' labor union. Further activism took Crosby into fields as diverse as housing for the poor, human rights, and the Vietnam War. He often joined with other activists of the left, such as Alger Hiss, Leonard Boudin, James Aronson, and Scott Nearing. The correspondence with these well-known "leftists" are a major strength of this collection.

Crosby became executive director of the National Housing Conference from 1942-1944, and was a free-lance writer of children's books and pamphlets from 1944-1980. His books include The Rio Grande and Steamboat Up the Colorado, which were included in Scientific American's list of best children's books of the year. Crosby died January 31, 1980, in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

A fairly detailed biographical sketch of Alexander Crosby can be found in Box 19 of this collection, folder number 4, entitled "Biography and obituary."