Clayton Van Lydegraf

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Clayton Van Lydegraf (1915 - 1992) was a writer and activist of significant influence on the New Left in the 1960s.

Expanding on his Old Left background Van Lydegraf was involved with young Seattle activists by 1966. His articles, "The Movement and the Workers" and "The Object is to Win" were particularly influential. This latter article is a noteworthy piece in the development of the ideas of the Weather Underground.

Over the years he was active in a number of groups and causes including the Communist Party, the Progressive Labor Party, Draft Resistance- Seattle, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), American Friends Service Committee, Anti-Fascist Front, Seattle Committee to End the War in Vietnam, and trade unions. He was also an advocate of working class power, Marxism, revolutionary organization and the Black Panthers.

Papers from Van Lydegraf dated 1945-70 are housed at the University of Washington Special Collections Library. The papers include:

"Excerpt from appearance before House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearing", December 13, 1956, Seattle.
"U.S. Imperialism and the Fascist Danger", 1967. Second edition, 1969.
"The Object is to Win", 1967. Third edition, 1971.
"The Movement and the Workers", 1969. Second edition, 1972.
"Statement to the San Francisco Grand Jury" January – February 1973.
"Our Constitutional Rights- A written statement submitted to the San Francisco Grand Jury", January - February 1973.