Overview
Papers of former American educator and publisher of The New Republic, Marty Peretz.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1914-2012
- Creation: Majority of material found in 1960-2010
Condition Description
In good condition generally. Audiovisual and born-digital material will need processing.
Conditions Governing Access
The bulk of the collection is open for research.
The bulk of this collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff for retrieval policies and times.
Restricted: unprocessed; consult curatorial staff (audiovisual and digital media).
Extent
45 linear feet (45 boxes, 1 folder, 1 frame)Collection includes correspondence, extensive subject files, political campaign material, articles, essays, speeches, student papers, teaching files, New Republic files, McCarthyism files, travel and event files, videotapes, audiotapes, and digital media.
Biographical / Historical
Martin H. Peretz (born December 6, 1938) is a former American magazine publisher and educator. Formerly an assistant professor at Harvard University, he purchased The New Republic in 1974 and assumed editorial control shortly afterwards. He founded the financial news website TheStreet.com in 1996 with personality and hedge fund manager Jim Cramer.
From 1967 to 2009, Peretz was married to Anne Devereux (Labouisse) Farnsworth Peretz, daughter of Henry Richardson Labouisse, Jr. and an heir to the Singer Sewing Machine Company fortune. Together they helped finance Ramparts magazine in the 1960s; when it published articles critical of Israeli policy, Peretz withdrew his own support and that of his wife. In 1974, Peretz purchased The New Republic from Gilbert Harrison with funds of $380,000 supplied by his wife.
He retained majority ownership of The New Republic until 2002, when he sold a two-thirds stake in the magazine to two financiers. Peretz sold the remainder of his ownership rights in 2007 to CanWest Global Communications, though he retained his position as editor-in-chief. In March 2009, Peretz repurchased the magazine with a group of investors led by ex-Lazard executive Laurence Grafstein. In late 2010, Peretz gave up his title of editor-in-chief at The New Republic, becoming instead editor emeritus, and terminated his blog The Spine, after colleagues at the magazine said they found it offensive. He no longer has any association with the magazine.
Over the course of his career, Peretz has drawn criticism from the media and fellow commentators and spawned controversy. He is known for his strong support of Israel as well as his approval of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Source: Wikipedia contributors, "Marty Peretz," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marty_Peretz&oldid=1112664013 (accessed October 17, 2022).
Arrangement
Arranged as received, in order created by the donor.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2023M-23. Gift of Martin Peretz, 2022 September.
Processing Information
The abbreviation "TNR" stands for The New Republic throughout this finding aid.
This collection was processed to a basic level with minimal rehousing, organization, and preservation. (Melanie Wisner, 2022)
- Title
- Peretz, Martin. Martin Peretz papers, circa 1914-2012 (MS Am 3418): Guide
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University
- Date
- 2022 October 17
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hou03508
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440
Houghton_Library@harvard.edu