Dr. John George Collection

About the Collection

This collection spans the years of 1938—1998, donated by Dr. John George, retired UCO Professor of Political Science and Sociology, is one of the region’s largest and most diverse, rivaled only by the Wilcox Collection in the Kenneth Spencer Library at the University of Kansas and The Political Ephemera Collection in the Manuscripts Department at Tulane University.

Dr. Treva George, wife of the late Professor Emeritus of Political Science Dr. John George, has donated 114 books to be added to the John George Collection. This collection originally donated by Dr. John George when he retired from teaching in 2000 after a career of more than 30 years at UCO is one of the region's largest and most diverse on political extremist groups. Dr. George known as a superb teacher and insightful, productive scholar was an acknowledged expert on political extremism and terrorism, testifying before a congressional committee on the subject. Dr. George retired with his wife Treva to Carlsbad, CA. where he lost his battle with cancer on November 21, 2008.

Included in the John George collection are an extensive library of over 600 volumes, 235 serial titles many of which are very rare, and 4 linear feet of vertical files. The collection contains materials on both "Right Wing" and "Left Wing" groups. Newsletter and journal s identified with the "Right Wing" include the Conservative, Patriotic, Anti-Communist, Libertarian, Pro-Family, Anti-abortion, Ethnic (White) Nationalist, Gun Rights, Free Market and many others too numerous to mention. The "Left Wing" materials while not as extensive express the values, opinions and beliefs of such groups as the Liberals, Socialists, Radicals, Revolutionaries, Feminists, Gays, Marxists, Anti-War, Environmentalists, and Ethnic (Minority) Nationalist.

Scope and Content

The Dr. John George Collection documents American extremist groups representing both far-left and far-right political ideologies, with materials dating from the 1960s to the 1990s. Most of the items were collected by Dr. George himself, while some were sent to him directly. A political science professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, Dr. George focused on collecting materials relevant to the political movements and extremist rhetoric of his time.

The collection includes periodicals, magazines, newspapers, newspaper clippings, audio recordings, VHS tapes, and pamphlets. Topics covered include antisemitism, white power, Black power, evangelical Christianity, socialism, communism, workers' rights, LGBTQ+ issues, and more.

Organizations and individuals represented in the collection include the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, the American Nazi Party, far-right Christian groups, the Socialist Workers Party, the Communist Party, the Jewish Defense League, the Ku Klux Klan, among others.

Provenance

The Dr. John George Collection was generously donated to Chambers Library's Special Collections & University Archives by Dr. John and Treva Geroge.