Philip M. Hamer and Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award: The Emma Goldman Papers Project

The Emma Goldman Papers Project (EGPP) of the University of California, Berkeley, is the 2014 recipient of the Philip M. Hamer–Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award. The award recognizes individuals or institutions that have increased public awareness of archives documents.

The EGPP has collected and published tens of thousands of documents by and about American social and political activist Emma Goldman (1869–1940). A leading figure in anarchism, radicalism, and feminism in the United States, Goldman dedicated her life to the creation of a radically new social order rooted in absolute freedom. An eloquent immigrant, she championed universal justice unconfined by national boundaries and passionately advocated for free speech, women’s independence, birth control, workers’ rights, and “everybody’s right to beautiful, radiant things.” In the spirit of Goldman, the EGPP has extended its scholarly research to serve the community and educate the public about the complexity of engagement in social and political transformation. It has published a microfilm edition of the papers and is currently working on a four-volume selective book edition, Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of The American Years (1890–1919).  

The Hamer-Kegan Award Subcommittee selected the EGPP for its efforts in “making the activism, voice, connections, and struggles of this important American heard.” The award will be accepted by Candace Falk, director and editor of EGPP.

The Hamer-Kegan Award was established in 1973 and is named for two SAA Fellows and former presidents. Past recipients include Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project,  the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, March On Milwaukee Civil Rights History Project team (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Libraries), and the Giza Archives at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.