University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries Special Collections and University Archives

Lillian Hyman Katzman Papers, 1952-1989

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When Lillian Hyman Katzman volunteered to work with the Democratic Party in New York City in 1948, she was sent over to the office of W.E.B. Du Bois to assist him with some secretarial work. From that beginning, she was hired as a secretary, remaining in Du Bois's employ for several years until she, regretfully, left for higher pay. Hyman later earned her masters degree and taught in the public schools in New York, starting the first class for children diagnosed with brain injury. The Katzman Papers contains a series of letters and postcards sent by Du Bois during the early 1950s when Katzman worked as his secretary. Friendly and informal, they concern lecture tours by Du Bois and his wife, Shirley Graham, out west, and arrangements for his home at Grace Court in Brooklyn. The collection also includes a handful of publications by Du Bois, newspaper clippings, and some congratulatory letters to Katzman on her marriage.