The collection consists mainly of documents belonging to and relating to Emma Goldman. Goldman was a close friend of the Langbord family, and upon her death the Langbords, through Jeanne Levey in Chicago, were given the personal documents Goldman considered important enough to carry with her. They included identification papers, publishing contracts, legal documents, and some letters. Additional material includes clippings saved by Eva Langbord, correspondence, and photographs. A few partial transcriptions of Goldman's letters to Berkman can be found in Goldman's correspondence file; the whereabouts of the originals are unknown. The collection, though small, is divided into four series: Clippings, Correspondence, Emma Goldman, and Misc. materials. The Clippings file contains newspaper articles saved by Eva Langbord, relating mainly to Emma Goldman. The Emma Goldman series includes Goldman's Russian passport, her U.S. citizenship document (signed 16 October, 1908), and various other identification cards from France, Germany, andEngland. This series also contains two affidavits signed by the Rabbi who performed the marriage ceremony between Goldman and Jacob Kerschner in February 1887. Also included are affidavits signed by Helene Hochstein and Sam Cominsky, who witnessed the marriage. The publishing contracts for Emma Goldman include those for The Autobiography of Emma Goldman, My Disillusionment in Russia, and The Voyage of the Buford. The Misc. materials series contains materials of Alexander Berkman, including his handwritten last will, signed 11/22/35. The series also contains three portraits of Goldman, including one taken by Eugene Hutchinson (Chicago) and one signed by S. Flechine (Paris). The third portrait is signed by Goldman. There is also a snapshot of Agnes Inglis (1928).
Eva Langbord was born in Toronto circa 1910. She was the eldest of the six children of Morris and Rebecca Langbord. She attended school at the Clinton Public School, Peretz Shule, and Harbord Collegiate. Langbord met Emma Goldman when she was a child and Goldman came to the Langbord house, as many radicals did, to visit or stay. A great friendship developed between the two, and Emma began to show a strong interest in Eva's budding acting skills, as well as taking Eva to all of her lectures and other radical events. Langbord began her stage career at the Standard Theatre and Hart House, in Toronto. Goldman, who also had a strong interest in theatre, encouraged her. Langbord won a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York in ca. 1933, and also studied dance under Martha Graham. She spent most of the 1930s and 1940s in New York, working to establish a career in theatre. After appearing opposite Burgess Meredith in Panic, her first lead role came in 1935 in Winterset at the Martin Beck Theatre. In 1945 she was assigned a role opposite Orson Welles in Suspect, and worked in summer stock with Lillian Gish in 1948. In the early 1950s Langbord returned to Canada to work at CBC television, setting up their casting and script bureau, which she ran until her retirement in 1974. She remained in the family home in Toronto until her death on May 5, 1999. Langbord's personal and professional papers are held by the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa.