Jack Minker (1927- ) Papers
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the collection represents Dr. Jack Minker's work in human rights during the 1970s through the early 1990s. The documents include manuscripts, correspondence, memos, notes, publications, news clippings and photographs.
Dates
- Papers, undated, 1962, 1972-1997, 2002-2003, 2005-2006, 2008-2011
Creator
- Minker, Jack (Person)
Access Restrictions
The collection is open to all researchers, except items that may be restricted due to their fragility, or privacy.
Use Restrictions
No permission is required to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection, as long as the usage is scholarly, educational, and non-commercial. For inquiries about other usage, please contact the Director of Collections and Engagement at mmeyers@ajhs.org.
For reference questions, please email: inquiries@cjh.org
Biographical and Historical Note
Professor Emeritus, Department of Computer Science, UMIACS, University of Maryland, Dr. Jack Minker is a widely-published expert in artificial intelligence, deductive databases, logic programming and nonmonotonic reasoning.
While researching the works of foreign computer scientists, Dr. Minker became acutely aware that the scientific freedom and human rights of scientists in non-democratic societies were systematically violated. He decided to take up the cause of scientific freedom and human rights and became Vice-chair, Computer Science for the Committee of Concerned Scientists (CCS), shortly after it was founded in 1972. In addition to his activities in the CCS, Dr. Minker worked with other organizations with similar missions: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) as Vice-chair for the Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights; Scientists for Sakharov, Orlov, and Sharansky; and the International Coalition in Support of Sakharov. He also became involved in the Soviet Jewry movement on a broader scale by serving as an Honorary Board member of the Washington Committee for Soviet Jewry, and collaborating with the Union of Council for Soviet Jews.
With the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Dr. Minker published four reports that listed over 300 computer scientists whose human rights had been violated. The reports pertained predominantly to Soviet Jewish scientists, but also featured scientists from Argentina, Chile, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Iran, Kenya, Pakistan, the Peoples Republic of China, Poland, Romania, South Africa, and Uruguay.
Dr. Minker is a laureate of several awards for his work in human rights, including the ACM’s Outstanding Contribution Award in Human Rights, and the New York Academy of Sciences Human Rights Committee’s Heinz R. Pagels Award. In 2012 Jack Minker published his book Scientific Freedom and Human Rights: Scientists of Conscience During the Cold War (IEEE Computer Society Press).
References
- Biographic sketch of Jack Minker. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://prism.cs.umd.edu/people/minker.html
- Minker, J. (2012). Scientific freedom and human rights: scientists of conscience during the Cold War. Los Angeles: IEEE Computer Society.
Extent
11.5 Linear Feet (21 manuscript boxes, 1 bankers box)
Language of Materials
English
Russian
Abstract
The collection documents the activism of Dr. Jack Minker, a leading authority in artificial intelligence, on behalf of foreign scientists whose human rights and scientific freedom were violated. The bulk of the collection focuses on Soviet Jewish Refuseniks, such as cyberneticist Alexander Lerner, mathematicians Victor Brailovsky and Anatoly Sharansky, and a dissident human rights activist, nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov. The documents include manuscripts, correspondence, memos, notes, publications, news clippings, and photographs.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into five series as follows:
- Series I: Correspondence, undated, 1974-1978, 1980-1988, 1993-1997, 2006, 2010-2011
- Series II: Human Rights Chronological File, undated, 1972-1990, 1992-1994, 2005-2006
- Series III: Alexander Lerner, undated, 1974-1986, 1988-1989, 1996
- Series IV: Subject Files, undated, 1967, 1973-1990, 1992, 1996-1997, 2002-2003, 2005-2006, 2009
- Series V: Publications, 1971, 1974-1978, 1981-1992, 1996, 2008, 2010-2011
Physical Location
Located in AJHS New York, NY
Provenance
Donated by Jack Minker in 2013.
- Antisemitism
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Committee of Concerned Scientists
- Correspondence
- Emigration and immigration
- Human rights
- Jews, Soviet
- Memorandums
- Newsletters
- Notes (documents)
- Pamphlets
- Photographs
- Political activists
- Press releases
- Publications (documents)
- Refuseniks
- Reports
- Sakharov, Andreĭ, 1921-1989
- Shcharansky, Anatoly
- Soviet Union
- Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1953-1985
- United States
- Title
- Guide to the Jack Minker (1927- ) Papers, undated, 1962, 1972-1997, 2002-2003, 2005-2006, 2008-2011 *P-975
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Andrey Filimonov
- Date
- © 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
Revision Statements
- November 2020: RJohnstone: post-ASpace migration cleanup.
Repository Details
Part of the American Jewish Historical Society Repository