Abstract
During the Great Depression, the United States witnessed a revival of the socialist movement. Although its membership had declined during WWI, upheavals of the late 1920s and early 1930s created a moment in which socialist ideology inspired intellectuals and activists. Socialists showed signs of success, as capitalist institutions were initially unable to offer adequate solutions for the crisis facing the United States. Socialists, especially Norman Thomas, the Socialist Party’s perennial presidential candidate, provided a viable alternative that was attractive to those suffering from unemployment and its accompanying upheavals. New York City was a focal point for both the crisis and the revitalized movement. It was here that Norman Thomas voiced opposition to establishment politics and young leaders began to form their own political consciousness.
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Notes
- 1.
Stanley G. Payne, Spain’s First Democracy: The Second Republic, 1931–1936 (University of Wisconsin Press, 1993), 50–51.
- 2.
Ben Pimlott, Labour and the Left in the 1930s (Cambridge University Press, 1977), 1, 12–13.
- 3.
William Brustein, Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust (Cambridge University Press, 2003), 315.
- 4.
“9 Socialists Win Seats in Roumania,” The New Leader, 12 January 1929, 3.
- 5.
Franz Soukop, “Big Victory for Czech Socialists,” The New Leader, 5 January 1929, 2.
- 6.
“Socialists Make Notable Gains in Finnish Cities,” The New Leader, 5 January 1929, 2.
- 7.
Gertrude Weil Klein, “Socialism in the Holy City: Socialist Mayor Bloch Tells of Administration’s Progress and Problems,” The New Leader, 5 January 1929, 4. Goldie Meyerson was future prime minister of Israel Golda Meir.
- 8.
James Oneal, “Workers Hold Celebration at Inauguration,” The New Leader, 7 January 1928, 1. In November 1930, the SP took complete control over the council when the remaining non-Socialist council members were defeated; For a full accounting of socialism in Reading see William Pratt’s “‘Jimmie Higgins’ and the Reading Socialist Community” in Socialism and the Cities, ed. Bruce Stave (Kennikat Press, 1975).
- 9.
“Party Organization Made Victory Possible Is Mayor Stump’s Word to Comrades,” The New Leader, 7 January 1928, 1.
- 10.
Oneal, “Workers Hold Celebration at Inauguration,” 1.
- 11.
Oneal, “Workers Hold Celebration at Inauguration,” 1; “Reading Labor Lyceum Petitions to End 60-Year History and Divide $75,000,” Reading Eagle, 5 June 1964, 34.
- 12.
James Oneal, “Workers Hold Celebration at Inauguration,” The New Leader, 7 January 1928, 1.
- 13.
“Made Success Ruling City: Reading Has Confidence in Socialists,” The Florence Times-News, 15 January 1931; “Socialists in Power in Reading City Government,” The Lewiston Daily Sun, 3 January 1928, 7; and “Firing of Old Party Assessor of Taxes Is First Official Action by Mayor Stump,” The New Leader, 7 January 1928, 2.
- 14.
James Hudson Maurer, It Can Be Done: The Autobiography of James Hudson Maurer (New York: The Rand School Press, 1938), 297–298.
- 15.
“Socialist Sweep in Milwaukee: Hoan Wins Record Majority—Party Elects Treasurer and City Attorney, Gains Nine Local Seats,” The New Leader, 9 April 1932, 1.
- 16.
Norman Thomas, “Timely Topics,” The New Leader, 7 January 1928, 1.
- 17.
Ibid.
- 18.
Norman Thomas, “Timely Topics,” The New Leader, 11 February 1928, 1.
- 19.
“Washington Discovers Unemployment,” The New Leader, 18 February 1928, 8.
- 20.
Norman Thomas, “Timely Topics,” The New Leader, 4 February 1928, 1.
- 21.
Norman Thomas, “Timely Topics,” The New Leader, 7 January 1928, 1.
- 22.
“Socialist NEC in Session in Philadelphia,” The New Leader, 14 January 1928, 1.
- 23.
“Washington Discovers Unemployment,” The New Leader, 18 February 1928, 8.
- 24.
Murray E. King, “Worst Depression in Years Stalks the South-West,” The New Leader, 4 February 1928, 1.
- 25.
“Jobless, Starves to Death,” New York Times, 17 February 1928, 3.
- 26.
“Starvation Kills Two Jobless Men,” New York Times, 6 March 1928, 2.
- 27.
“Seized as Purse Snatcher: Prisoner, Captured After 2-Mile Chase, Says He Was Jobless,” New York Times, 5 February 1928, 27; “78, Jobless, Admits Stealing Coat,” New York Times, 5 January 1928, 60.
- 28.
“Starved Six Weeks, Dies,” New York Times, 29 July 1928.
- 29.
“Reports More Jobless: Bowery Y.M.C.A. Aided 600 More Men in 1927 than in 1926,” New York Times, 15 January 1928, 7.
- 30.
“City Seeks Source of Homeless Here: Charities Aid in Survey to Determine Whence Comes Army of Unemployed,” New York Times, 15 February 1928.
- 31.
“November Record for Unemployment: Jobless Most Numerous and Payrolls Smallest Since 1924,” New York Times, 26 January 1928, 38.
- 32.
“State and City Act to Aid Jobless,” New York Times, 9 February 1928, 26.
- 33.
“Call for Breadlines Longest Since 1916,” New York Times, 13 February 1928, 21; “Ranks of Jobless Found on Rise Here,” New York Times, 6 February 1928, 25.
- 34.
“Weisbord Rallies Jobless in Passaic,” New York Times, 5 February 1928, 2.
- 35.
“Free Bed Seeks Under Official Fire,” New York Times, 5 January 1928, 24.
- 36.
Ibid.
- 37.
“Families of 800 Miners Are Evicted,” The New Leader, 7 January 1928, 1; “Berger Assails Pennsylvania Coal Barons,” The New Leader, 28 January 1928, 4.
- 38.
Irwin M. Marcus, James P. Dougherty, and Eileen M. Cooper, “Confrontation at Rossiter: The Coal Strike of 1927–1928 and Its Aftermath,” Pennsylvania History 59, no. 4 (October 1992), 315–316, 322–323.
- 39.
“Free Bed Seekers Under Official Fire,” New York Times, 5 January 1928, 24.
- 40.
Ibid.
- 41.
“Asks Davis Inquiry on Unemployment,” New York Times, 16 February 1928, 2.
- 42.
“Davis Asks Labor to Uphold Tariff,” New York Times, 17 February 1928, 21.
- 43.
“How Not to Do It,” New York Times, 18 February 1928, 16.
- 44.
“Wagner Hits Figure Repeated by Davis,” New York Times, 23 July 1928, 36. The cautious language of Secretary of Labor Davis throughout 1928 makes apparent that he, too, regarded unemployment and its larger economic implications from a position of grave concern. He was likely constrained from presenting a worrying picture by others members of the Coolidge administration, who put forward much more hopeful visions of the American future. This group included Secretary of Commerce Hoover.
- 45.
“Calls Davis Wrong on Unemployment,” New York Times, 21 April 1928, 16.
- 46.
“8,000,000 Jobless, Shipstead Asserts,” New York Times, 3 April 1928, 8.
- 47.
Ibid.
- 48.
“Sees Jobless Crisis Slowly Improving,” New York Times, 12 March 1928, 10.
- 49.
“Municipal Housing Urged by Thomas,” New York Times, 12 December 1930, 37; “Thomas Plea for Housing Called ‘Red’,” The New Leader, 25 February 1928, 1.
- 50.
“Socialist Peak Set by Thomas’s Vote,” New York Times, 6 November 1929, 5.
- 51.
“Socialists Winning New Party Members,” New York Times, 8 November 1929, 12; “Socialist Peak Set by Thomas’s Vote,” 5.
- 52.
“Final Results of the Election on Tuesday,” New York Times, 7 November 1929, 20.
- 53.
“Eight Girls Found Living on Bananas,” New York Times, 19 March 1931, 6; Melvyn Dubofsky, Hard Work: The Making of Labor History (University of Illinois Press, 2000), 16.
- 54.
“City’s Relief Fund in Held Inadequate,” New York Times, 25 October 1931, 3.
- 55.
“Mayor and Thomas Clash on Jobs Plans,” New York Times, 26 March 1930, 1.
- 56.
Ibid.
- 57.
Ibid.
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Altman, J. (2019). Prologue: The Promise of Revival. In: Socialism before Sanders. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17176-6_2
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