Ronald Aronson, a Detroit native, was educated at Wayne State University, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Michigan, and Brandies University, where he earned his PhD in the History of Ideas. A renowned expert on the work of Jean-Paul Sartre, Aronson’s has actively worked to study the New Left and the nature of hope and its relation to political commitment. Aronson taught at Wayne State University from 1968 to 2013 in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, during which time he was actively involved in the Center for Democratic Values, the writing of a number of books, and the creation of two feature-length documentaries, Professional Revolutionary: The Life of Saul Wellman (2004) and 1st Amendment on Trial: The Case of the Detroit Six (2005).

This collection consists of material from throughout Ronald Aronson’s professional career, including articles by and about him and his work; materials generated by the Center for Democratic Values; and research materials generated during the production of his two documentaries. The vast majority of the audio-visual materials included consist of interviews conducted for the documentaries, and a significant portion of the manuscript materials consist of interview transcripts. Other research materials include extensive copies of newspaper materials from the 1930s-50s, relating to Wellman and the Michigan Six trial.