American Nazi Party - Iowa papers, 1962-1976 and undated
Scope and Contents
The American Nazi Party - Iowa series, 1962-1976 and undated, contains papers related to the operations of the Davenport, Iowa, unit of the party. This series includes correspondence, clippings, artwork, posters, and newsletters.
Correspondence, 1962-1976 and undated, contains letters addressed to the Iowa unit received by Bishop and his lieutenant. Materials include letters from American Nazi Party founder and commander George Lincoln Rockwell and Matt Koehl, who took over as commander of the party after Rockwell was assassinated in 1967, having served as his second-in-command for many years. In 1962, Bishop wrote to Rockwell to propose establishing an Iowa unit and a Nazi radio station in the Upper Mississippi Valley, to which Rockwell responded positively. Soon after joining the party in 1964, Bishop began reaching out to like-minded individuals in the Quad Cities area, and he and Koehl regularly shared with each other names of potential candidates for membership. Like Bishop's personal correspondence, many letters in this series are written by students seeking advice on becoming involved with the party. One letter, 31 July 1966, proposes establishing an American Nazi Party unit for women students on the University of Iowa's campus. Correspondence noticeably lags in the early 1970s following the national unit's reidentification as the National Socialist White People's Party.
Other papers in this series include artwork, clippings, and cut-and-paste layouts used by Bishop to plan the Iowa unit's newsletter, "Attack!". There are some printed final copies of newsletters and pamphlets that the Iowa unit produced, but the bulk of the material in this series consists of drafts or pre-prints. Also included are three folders of clippings compiled by Bishop presumably for inclusion in "Attack!", primarily consisting of photographs and short articles, as well as two folders of clippings compiled by a man calling himself "Zorro," who clipped articles of interest to the Iowa unit and sent them to Bishop daily during the summer of 1969.
Dates
- Creation: 1962-1976 and undated
Creator
- From the Collection: Bishop, John Robert, Jr. (Person)
- From the Collection: Rock Island (Ill.). Fire Department (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Correspondence, 1962-1976 and undated, closed to researchers for 75 years from date of creation. Redacted copies of these materials have been made available for access in box 1.
Extent
0.5 Linear Feet (/ 16 folders)
Language of Materials
English
Repository Details
Part of the Augustana College Special Collections Repository
639 38th Street
Thomas Tredway Library
Rock Island Illinois 61201 United States
specialcollections@augustana.edu