Slim Brundage Papers

This series consists of materials pertaining to Brundage’s life which, for the most part, were created by persons other than Brundage. These materials include clippings of several newspaper articles about Brundage, as well as clippings of newspaper articles which mention Brundage, but do not discuss him in any depth. The “organizations” folders contain documents pertaining to organizations in which Brundage was active. “Tribute to a Man” is a list of words beginning with each of the letters of Brundage’s name which the author thought described Brundage and his ideals.

This series is the largest of the collection. It consists of a wide variety of materials authored by Brundage, the bulk of which are letters to the editor from 1956-1972, and drafts or clippings of articles that he wrote during the mid 1960's. In addition, this series also includes two attempts at an autobiography ( Luckiest and The Luckiest Man Alive), and Mine be the Dust, a novel about union politics and corruption based upon Brundage’s personal experiences with the house painter’s union in Chicago. The final two folders of The Luckiest Man Alive include a few comments on the book made by Joan Evashuk, Brundage’s literary editor at the time.

Roy Alexander, a friend and sometime agent of Brundage, collaborated with Brundage on the unfinished book Learn to Complain Without Suffering, as well as the play “Sex Probe From Outer Space.” Learn to Complain Without Suffering is a collection of poems by various authors, together with commentary by Brundage about what each poem meant to him, or about an experience of his that the poem brought to mind. Most of the poems and commentaries were never organized by Brundage or Alexander into any particular order, but according to their book proposal they intended to ultimately assemble the poems into chapters, with each chapter relating to a different decade of the Twentieth Century.

None of Brundage’s longer works were ever published, but several of Brundage’s articles appeared in the National Informer, a tabloid for which Brundage served as a columnist for a time beginning in 1964. In addition, “But There Was a Hobo College,” and “Step High, Stoop Low,” were published in the “Panorama” section of the Chicago Daily News. The designation “pub. article” in the folder headings indicates that the article was published and is in the form of a clipping.

Brundage’s unpublished articles were probably submitted to the National Informer or other periodicals for consideration, although to whom exactly they were submitted, if anyone, is not readily apparent. Edited versions of some of the draft articles appear to have been published under different titles than the ones that Brundage originally used. For example, “Step High, Stoop Low” is a modified form of the draft Brundage titled “College of Complexes.”

Despite the title, “College of Complexes” and “Step High, Stoop Low” are actually about the Dill Pickle Club and Bughouse Square. “My College Saloon” and “Name Dropping,” however, are about the College of Complexes. The poetry commentaries are Brundage’s thoughts on a collection of poems that he assembled, although these commentaries are generally shorter (in most cases only a couple of sentences, and some of poems are not commented upon at all), than those found in Learn to Complain Without Suffering.

In Brundage’s longer works (i.e., Luckiest, The Luckiest Man Alive, and Mine be the Dust), there are several pagination errors caused by page numbers occasionally being repeated or skipped. Furthermore, the first page of Luckiest is missing, and the final sections of Mine be the Dust are paginated differently than the earlier sections. Therefore, the final folders of Mine be the Dust have been listed by chapter number rather than page number to avoid confusion. (Note also that there is no chapter 32.) It is possible that some pages are missing from this work as well, as the transition from the last page in the first numbered sequence to the first page of the second numbering scheme is awkward.

Brundage’s personal incoming and outgoing correspondence is arranged in this series. Correspondence primarily relating to the College of Complexes or Culture Vulture is filed in Series 4 or Series 5, respectively. Series 6 also contains some pieces of correspondence pertaining to Brundage’s legal disputes.

The correspondence in this series covers a wide range of topics, from requests for information about health insurance, to scheduling a holiday party. A fair amount of the correspondence consists of cover letters for unsolicited articles, or ideas for articles, sent to various magazines for publication consideration, together with rejection letters from these same magazines. In addition, there is also a substantial amount of correspondence relating to Brundage’s efforts to find work as a painter in 1965 and 1972, and his dealings with the Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, and Chicago Painters and Decorators Union and Welfare Fund about his taxes and entitlement to benefits. The folder in this series labeled “Newberry Library” contains correspondence between Brundage and the Newberry Library relating to the donation of his personal papers to the institution, as well as a couple of letters to and from Roy Alexander, Brundage’s friend and sometime agent, concerning the same subject.

This series consists of materials relating primarily to the College of Complexes, which Brundage operated, with some interruptions, at several different locations throughout Chicago’s Near North Side from 1951 until 1972. Materials pertaining the Culture Vulture, a similar operation which operated from late-1961 until mid-1962 are arranged separately in Series 5.

The Curriculum was a monthly program of the speakers who were scheduled to appear at the College of Complexes, as well as any special programs or events planned for that month. Some early issues of The Curriculum also include a brief essay or two by Brundage on various topics. For most years only a few issues of The Curriculum are available. Brundage, however, often typed carbon copies of his outgoing correspondence on the back of old issues of The Curriculum, so it is possible that additional issues of The Curriculum might be found by examining the reverse sides of Brundage’s personal outgoing correspondence and the outgoing correspondence of the College. One should also note that several issues of The Curriculum from 1971 and 1972 have miscellaneous notes and drafts of other Curriculum issues on the reverse side as well.

Newspaper clippings pertaining to the College of Complexes are broken down into six different categories: advertisements, general articles, mentions, miscellaneous, New York City Branch, and speaker and program announcements. The “general articles” category consists of newspaper articles about the College of Complexes, whereas the “mentions” category consists of articles where the College of Complexes name appears, but there is no substantive discussion of the College. The latter category includes blurbs such as “Slim Brundage, the gruff and cynical dean of Chicago’s unique College of Complexes offers this timely pre-convention reminder: in any election picture, be on the lookout for the ‘frame!’” The reason why Brundage saved the articles in the “miscellaneous” category is not always clear at first glance, although some of the articles probably gave him ideas for speakers and debate topics. The “speaker and program announcements” category consists primarily of listings in newspaper nightlife sections of upcoming speakers at the College.

Many poets wrote and read poetry at the College of Complexes over the years. In 1966, a collection of these poems was compiled under the title, Poems From the College of Complexes. Poems belonging to this collection are arranged in folders under the chapter headings used in that work. Other poems from the College of Complexes that were not included in the Poems From the College of Complexes collection are filed under the heading “Poems, Miscellaneous.”

Initial requests by the College of Complexes asking people to appear at the College and speak are filed under the heading “Speaker Solicitations” and then arranged chronologically. Any further correspondence with the potential speaker (e.g., rejections, acceptances, and confirmations) are filed in the “General Correspondence” category under the speaker’s last name. A good deal of the material in the General Incoming Correspondence folder consists of letters from individuals asked to speak at the College.

This series consists of materials relating to the Culture Vulture, a nightspot similar to the College of Complexes, which Brundage operated from late 1961 until 1962. Because of the Culture Vulture’s short life there are far fewer documents contained within this series than in the previous series relating to the College of Complexes. Documents relating to Brundage’s dispute with Theodore Zimmerman over the ownership and operation of the Culture Vulture are located in Series 6 (Legal Matters).

The Waldo Walnut Society was a tongue-in-cheek organization formed by Brundage during the period when he operated the Culture Vulture which he described as a “poor man’s John Birch Society” of “200 percent Americans” who “hate everybody.”

This series primarily consists of materials relating to litigation in which Brundage was involved, including a number of claims by creditors and a dispute with Theodore Zimmerman over the ownership and operation of the Culture Vulture. The Henderson Draft Agreement is a proposed agreement between Brundage and Samuel Henderson pursuant to which Henderson was to re-write Brundage’s memoirs for him.

This series consists of a variety of documents pertaining to Brundage’s personal finances.

Audiovisual materials include an audio recording of a 1965 speech by Madalyn Murray O’Hair, presumably at the College of Complexes, and video recordings of the “Slim Brundage Remembered: From Bughouse Square to The Beat Generation - A College of Complexes Reunion” event held at Sulzer Regional Library in September 1997. Speakers reminisce and reflect on their connections to free speech, social action, and the labor movement. All audiovisual materials have been digitized and are available for use in the Special Collections reading room.