Series documents the early years of the communist movement and contains 90 pamphlets dated between 1912 and 1920 collected by S.A. Rochlin and published by or on behalf of various organizations, committees, and unions. Organizations, committees, and unions include: Communist Party of South Africa, African Workers' Club, Building Workers Industrial Union of South Africa, Workers' International League, African National Congress, National Union of South African Students, Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union, South African Native Congress, South African Native Delegation, International Socialist League, All African Convention, and United Party.

Series contains 471 documents of all types dated between 1915 and 1954 organized into folders, probably by S.A. Rochlin. Documents include minutes, agendas, accounts, manuscripts, poems, leaflets, flyers, pamphlets, posters, newspaper clippings, manifestos, petitions, reports, speeches, constitutions, telegrams, press releases, applications, invitations, correspondence, and handbills. Documents concern the South African Labour Party, Workers’ International League, South African Labour Defence, Irish Republican Association of South Africa, South African Labour Defence, African National Congress, Communist Party of South Africa, African National Improvement Movement, Congress of the People, United Communist Party, United Communist Party of South Africa, South African Section of the Communist International, International Socialist League, Communist Propaganda Group, and Youth League of South Africa, among others.

Series contains microfilmed copies of pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, flyers, broadsides, manuscripts, press clippings and other miscellaneous documents in this collection.

Series contains 46 periodicals and newspapers dated between 1919 and 1957 collected by S.A. Rochlin published by the Communist Party of South Africa, South African Labour Party, the Socialist Workers’ League, Labour League of the Youth of South Africa, Anti-Nazi Vigilance Committee, League for the Maintenance of Democracy, Industrial Socialist League, South African Labour Defence, Youth League of South Africa, Young Communist League of South Africa, and Young Communist International, among others.

Newspapers and periodicals include: Labour's Voice, Socialist Action, The Revolutionary Communist: a journal, of Marxist-Leninism, Anti-Nazi, The Democrat, The Bolshevik: official organ of the Industrial Socialist League of South Africa, Umvikeli-Thebe/The African Defender, The African World: the mouthpiece of the Cape African National Congress, South African Young Communist, organ of the Young Communist League, The Torch: the organ of the unemployed of South Africa, The Workers' Dreadnought for International Communism, and The Workers' Voice, among others.

This collection contains documents collected by S.A. Rochlin in the course of his activities as a historian, archivist, and researcher. The documents in this collection were mainly created in South Africa between 1912 and 1960. This collection contains the documents of communist and labor organizations active in South Africa during the 1920s through the 1940s, including the Communist Party of South Africa, United Communist Party, South African Labour Party, Industrial Socialist League, South African Trades Union Congress, and South African Association of Employees Organizations. This collection also contains the papers of Cecil Frank Glass, a member of the Industrial Socialist League in Cape Town and the Communist Party of South Africa. C.F. Glass’s documents were given to Rochlin around 1939 by Glass’ first wife Fanny Klenerman.

Collection consists of 607 documents, including 90 pamphlets, 46 newspaper or periodical titles, and folders containing 471 miscellaneous documents, including minutes, accounts, flyers, news clippings, correspondence, and handbills. Many of the documents in this collection are unique. As a result of their ephemeral nature it is unlikely that they are to be found elsewhere.

This collection is organized according to the following series:
C009/A Pamphlets
C009/B Periodicals and newspapers
C009/C Folders
C009/D Microfilm reels