The University Record, October 18, 1999 By Joanne Nesbit
News and Information Services
The Labadie Collection has acquired letters written to Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski since he was incarcerated in April 1996. The Labadie Collection is part of the Special Collections Library housed at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library.
Hundreds of letters were sent to Kaczynski from people worldwide. The acquisition, which will serve as a resource for researchers and scholars, also contains a sampling of letters from Kaczynski.
This material does not include anything from Kaczynski’s cabin or anything that is considered “evidence.” That material is being held by the court system until Kaczynski exhausts all opportunity for appeal. After that time, the University may initiate negotiations for that material.
Archivists have been working with the letters since their arrival, and the material will not be available to researchers until that process is completed. Then, photocopies, which will not reveal the names of the correspondents, will be made of the originals.
The acquisition of the letters is the result of nearly two years of negotiations with Kaczynski and his lawyers.
The Labadie Collection was established in 1911 when Joseph Labadie, a prominent Detroit anarchist, donated his library to the U-M. The collection is internationally renowned for its materials on anarchy and social protest.
