Goldwater, Walter.

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BIOGHIST REQUIRED Walter Goldwater first opened the University Place Book Shop in 1932. He financed the Shop, situated in a loft at 821 Broadway at 12th Street, with the help of a six hundred dollar loan from "a Communist uncle by marriage." Goldwater specialized in African and African American literature, as well as old and rare books. As proprietor of University Place, Goldwater became part of the vibrant community of booksellers whose shops crowded Fourth Avenue from 9th to 14th Streets.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Walter Goldwater was a founding member of Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and spent much of his time in search of rare books. He married another bookseller, Eleanor Lowenstein, who specialized in rare cookbooks at her Corner Book Shop. Together, the Goldwaters traveled extensively in Europe, looking for stock for their respective shops. Walter Goldwater also maintained a web of contacts throughout Africa and the Caribbean who would send him books not readily accessible in the United States.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Initially catering to a specialized, left-wing audience, Goldwater's sales expanded during the later 1960s and 1970s as research universities developed their Black and Afro American Studies holdings. The University Place Book Shop became a key source of material on African, African American, and Caribbean literature for institutions including Yale and Columbia. Walter Goldwater also helped to broker the sale of many manuscripts and collections relating to labor and Left to NYU's Tamiment Library.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Along with African and Caribbean literature, the University Place Book Shop also offered literature on chess due to Goldwater's personal devotion to the game. At the time of his death, in 1985, Goldwater was the president of the Marshall Chess Club in Greenwich Village. He also helped to organize and promote chess tournaments in Harlem during the 1970s.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Goldwater willed University Place to a friend and employee, William French, who ran the Shop until 1988.

From the guide to the University Place Book Shop records, 1930-1994., (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967. Langston Hughes letters, 1936-1966. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
creatorOf Spargo, John, 1876-1966. John Spargo letter to Walter Goldwater, 1962 April 4. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
creatorOf Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967. Papers of Langston Hughes [manuscript], 1925-1982. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn University Place Book Shop (New York, N.Y.). Records, [ca. 1930]-1994. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
creatorOf Dos Passos, John, 1896-1970. John Dos Passos letters and biographical pamphlet, 1948-1964. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
creatorOf Farrell, James T. (James Thomas), 1904-1979. James Farrell letter to Walter [Goldwater], 1965 July 7. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
referencedIn J. B. Matthews Papers, 1862-1986 and undated David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
creatorOf University Place Book Shop records, 1930-1994. Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964. Carl van Vechten letter and postal cards to University Place Book Shop, 1946-1947. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
referencedIn Bontemps, Arna, 1902-1973. Letter to Walter Goldwater 18 June 1963. University of Toledo, William S. Carlson Library
creatorOf Brandeis University. Library. Radical Pamphlet Collection, 1900-1975. Brandeis University Library
creatorOf Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967. Langston Hughes letters, 1936-1966. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
creatorOf Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967. Letter, signed : New York, NY, to Walter Goldwater (New York, NY), 5 April 1960. University of Michigan
creatorOf Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo, 1938-. James Ngugi letter to [Walter Goldwater], Manager, University Place Bookshop, 1970 September 21. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Bontemps, Arna, 1902-1973. person
associatedWith Brandeis University. Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Dos Passos, John, 1896-1970. person
associatedWith Farrell, James T. (James Thomas), 1904-1979. person
associatedWith Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967. person
associatedWith Marshall Chess Club. corporateBody
associatedWith Matthews, J. B. (Joseph Brown), 1894-1966 person
associatedWith Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo, 1938- person
associatedWith Shachtman, Max, 1903-1972 person
associatedWith Spargo, John, 1876-1966. person
associatedWith University Place Book Shop (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
American literature
Booksellers and bookselling
Africa
Antiquarian booksellers
Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America
Blacks
Rare books
Bookstores
Chess
Chess clubs
Out-of-print books
Radicalism
Occupation
Authors
Businessmen
Chess players
Activity

Person

Birth 1907

Death 1985

Information

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