Earl Browder
Encyclopedia
Earl Russell Browder was an American
communist and General Secretary
of the Communist Party USA
from 1934 to 1945. He was expelled from the party in 1946.
on May 20, 1891, the eighth child of an American-born father sympathetic to populism
. He joined the Socialist Party of America
in Wichita in 1907 at the age of 16 and remained in that organization until the party split of 1912, when many of the group's syndicalistically oriented members exited the organization in response to the addition of an anti-sabotage
clause to the party constitution and the recall of National Executive Committeeman William "Big Bill" Haywood. Historian Theodore Draper notes that Browder "was influenced by an offshoot of the syndicalist movement which believed in working in the AF of L (American Federation of Labor
)." This ideological orientation brought the young Browder into contact with William Z. Foster
, founder of an organization called the Syndicalist League of North America
which was based upon similar policies and James P. Cannon
, an IWW adherent from Kansas.
Browder moved to Kansas City and was employed as an office worker, entering the AF of L union of his trade, the Bookkeepers, Stenographers and Accountants union. In 1916 he took a job as manager of the Johnson County Cooperative Association in Olathe, Kansas
.
Browder was aggressively opposed to World War I
and publicly spoke out against it, characterizing the fighting as an imperialist conflict. After the United States joined the war in 1917, Browder was arrested and charged under the Espionage Act conspiring to defeat the operation of the draft law and nonregistration. Browder was sentenced to 2 years in prison for conspiracy and 1 year for nonregistration, sitting in jail from December 1917 to November 1918.
In 1919, Browder, Cannon, and their Kansas City associates started a radical newspaper, The Workers World, with Browder serving as the first editor. In June of that year Browder was jailed again on a conspiracy charge, however, with Cannon taking over as editor. Browder's second prison stint, served at Leavenworth Penitentiary, lasted until November 1920, putting him out of circulation during the critical interval when the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
quit the SPA to form the Communist Party of America and the Communist Labor Party
. A series of splits and mergers followed, with the two Communist parties formally merging in 1921.
Released from prison at last, Browder lost no time in joining the United Communist Party (UCP), as well as the fledgling Trade Union Educational League
(TUEL) being launched by his old associate William Z. Foster. Browder found employment as the managing editor of the monthly magazine of TUEL, The Labor Herald.
In 1920 the Communist International (Comintern) headed by Grigory Zinoviev
decided to establish an international confederation of Communist trade unions, the Red International of Labor Unions
(RILU, or "Profintern"). A founding convention was planned to be held in Moscow in July 1921 and an American delegation was gathered, including members of the American Communist Parties and the Industrial Workers of the World
. Earl Browder was named to this delegation, ostensibly representing Kansas miners, with the non-party man Foster attending as a journalist representing the Federated Press
. This trip to Soviet Russia incidentally proved decisive in bringing the syndicalist Foster over to the Communist movement.
Throughout the early 1920s, Browder and Foster worked together closely in the TUEL, trying to win over the support of the Chicago Federation of Labor
in the establishment of a new mass Farmer-Labor Party
that would be able to challenge the electoral hegemony of the Republican
and Democratic
parties.
In 1928, the estranged Browder and his lover Kitty Harris
went to China
and lived in Shanghai
where they worked together on behalf of RILU's Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat, a Comintern organization engaged in clandestine labor organizing. The pair returned to the United States in 1929.
suffered a heart attack
. During his term as General Secretary, Browder embraced the popular front
tactic and led the CPUSA's tactic of expressing support for the New Deal
of Franklin D. Roosevelt
, while demanding that it should go much farther in terms of restructuring the capitalist system. Browder was the party's candidate for President of the United States
in the 1936 presidential election but received only 80,195 votes. During this time, Browder made at least one and possibly two trips to the Soviet Union on a false U.S. passport. After admitting he had traveled on a false passport in a public statement, he was tried and sentenced to prison in 1940 for passport violations. Browder was released after 14 months when the United States joined World War II
and became an ally of the Soviet Union
.
In 1944, perceiving the end of the war and the possibility of postwar tension between Washington and Moscow, Browder made moves to distance the CPUSA from the Soviet Union, declaring that communism
and capitalism
could peacefully co-exist. This policy became known in the Party as Browderism. However, the CPUSA followed Stalin's instructions to reconstitute itself as the Communist Political Association.
In 1938 Rudy Baker
(Venona code name: SON) was appointed to head the CPUSA underground apparatus to replace J. Peters
, after the defection of Whittaker Chambers
, allegedly at the request of Browder (Venona code name: FATHER). According to self-confessed NKVD
recruiter Louis Budenz, he and Browder participated in discussions with Soviet intelligence officials to plan the assassination of Leon Trotsky
.
Browder himself ran an agent network, which he turned over to Jacob Golos
after being sentenced to prison; Elizabeth Bentley
ran the network after Golos.
While in custody, Browder never revealed his status as an agent recruiter to U.S. authorities, and was never prosecuted for espionage. Venona decrypt #588 April 29, 1944 from the KGB New York office states “for more than a year Zubilin
(station chief) and I tried to get in touch with Victor Perlo
and Charles Flato
. For some reason Browder did not come to the meeting and just decided to put Bentley in touch with the whole group. All occupy responsible positions in Washington, D.C.
” Soviet intelligence thought highly of Browder's recruitment work: in a 1946 OGPU memorandum, Browder was personally credited with hiring eighteen intelligence agents for the Soviet Union.
Members of Browder's family were involved in work for Soviet intelligence. According to a 1938 classified letter from Browder to Georgi Dimitrov
, in the Soviet archives, Browder’s younger sister Marguerite was an agent working in various European countries for the NKVD
. Browder expressed concern over the effect it would have on the American public if his sister’s secret work for Soviet intelligence were to be exposed: “In view of my increasing involvement in national political affairs and growing connections in Washington political circles”...“it might become dangerous to this political work if hostile circles in America should obtain knowledge of my sister’s work.” He requested she be released from her European duties and returned to America to serve “in other fields of activity.” Browder’s request was followed in short order by a classified letter from Dimitrov to “Comrade Yezhov,” (Nikolai Yezhov
, then head of the NKVD) requesting Marguerite Browder’s transfer. Browder's niece, Helen Lowry
, (aka Elza Akhmerova, also Elsa Akhmerova) worked with Iskhak Akhmerov
, a Soviet NKVD espionage controller from 1936 - 1939 under the code name ADA(?) ADA was Kitty Harris
(later changed to ELZA)). In 1939, Helen Lowry married Akhmerov. Lowry was named by Soviet intelligence agent Elizabeth Bentley
as one of her contacts; she and Akhmerov and their actions on behalf of Soviet intelligence are referenced in several Venona project
decryptions as well as Soviet KGB
archives.
, a leader of the French Communist Party
, published an article denouncing Browder's policy. With the Comintern
having been dissolved during the war, the "Duclos letter
" was used to informally communicate Moscow's views. William Z. Foster
, Browder's predecessor and a staunch Marxist-Leninist, led the opposition to Browder within the party and replaced him as party chairman in 1945, with Eugene Dennis
taking over as General Secretary. Browder was expelled from the party in 1946.
Browder continued to campaign for his views outside the Party and criticized the CPUSA's domination by Moscow, writing that "The American Communists had thrived as champions of domestic reform. But when the Communists abandoned reforms and championed a Soviet Union openly contemptuous of America while predicting its quick collapse, the same party lost all its hard-won influence. It became merely a bad word in the American language."
In April 1950, Browder was called to testify before a Senate Committee investigating Communist activity. Questioned by Joseph McCarthy
, Browder was willing to criticize the American Communist Party but refused to answer questions that would incriminate former comrades. He also lied under oath that he had never been involved in espionage activities. Browder was charged with contempt of Congress, but Judge F. Dickinson Letts ordered his acquittal because he felt the committee had not acted legally. Browder was never prosecuted either for his perjury before the committee or for his spying on behalf of the Soviet Union.
In March 1950, Browder shared a platform with Max Shachtman
, the dissident Trotskyist
, in which the pair debated socialism. Browder defended the Soviet Union while Shachtman acted as a prosecutor. It is reported that at one point in the debate Shachtman listed a series of leaders of various Communist Parties and noted that each had perished at the hands of Stalin; at the end of this speech, he remarked that Browder too had been a leader of a Communist Party and, pointing at him, announced: "There-there but for an accident of geography, stands a corpse!"
An unsuccessful attempt was made to reinstate Browder to the good graces of the CPUSA following the Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
in 1956, a period in which some within the American Communist Party briefly sought to exert its independence from Moscow. This effort at liberalization
was soon defeated, however.
On June 2, 1957, Browder appeared on the television program The Mike Wallace Interview
, where he was grilled for 30 minutes about his past in the Communist Party. Host Mike Wallace
quoted Browder as having recently said "Getting thrown out of the Communist Party was the best thing that ever happened to me" and asked for elaboration. Browder replied:
"I was involved in no conspiracies," Browder adamantly declared to Wallace and his television audience.
on June 27, 1973. He was survived by three sons, Felix
, William
, and Andrew, all distinguished research mathematicians who have been leaders in the American mathematical community.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
communist and General Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
of the Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
from 1934 to 1945. He was expelled from the party in 1946.
Early years
Earl Browder was born in Wichita, KansasWichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
on May 20, 1891, the eighth child of an American-born father sympathetic to populism
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
. He joined the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
in Wichita in 1907 at the age of 16 and remained in that organization until the party split of 1912, when many of the group's syndicalistically oriented members exited the organization in response to the addition of an anti-sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
clause to the party constitution and the recall of National Executive Committeeman William "Big Bill" Haywood. Historian Theodore Draper notes that Browder "was influenced by an offshoot of the syndicalist movement which believed in working in the AF of L (American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
)." This ideological orientation brought the young Browder into contact with William Z. Foster
William Z. Foster
William Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician, whose career included a lengthy stint as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA...
, founder of an organization called the Syndicalist League of North America
Syndicalist League of North America
The Syndicalist League of North America was an organizations led by William Z. Foster that aimed to "bore from within" the American Federation of Labor to win that trade union center over to the ideals of revolutionary syndicalism.- Background :...
which was based upon similar policies and James P. Cannon
James P. Cannon
James Patrick "Jim" Cannon was an American Trotskyist and a leader of the Socialist Workers Party.Born on February 11, 1890 in Rosedale, Kansas, he joined the Socialist Party of America in 1908 and the Industrial Workers of the World in 1911...
, an IWW adherent from Kansas.
Browder moved to Kansas City and was employed as an office worker, entering the AF of L union of his trade, the Bookkeepers, Stenographers and Accountants union. In 1916 he took a job as manager of the Johnson County Cooperative Association in Olathe, Kansas
Olathe, Kansas
Olathe is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. Located in northeastern Kansas, it is also the fifth most populous city in the state, with a population of 125,872 at the 2010 census. As a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, Olathe is the fourth-largest city in the...
.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and publicly spoke out against it, characterizing the fighting as an imperialist conflict. After the United States joined the war in 1917, Browder was arrested and charged under the Espionage Act conspiring to defeat the operation of the draft law and nonregistration. Browder was sentenced to 2 years in prison for conspiracy and 1 year for nonregistration, sitting in jail from December 1917 to November 1918.
In 1919, Browder, Cannon, and their Kansas City associates started a radical newspaper, The Workers World, with Browder serving as the first editor. In June of that year Browder was jailed again on a conspiracy charge, however, with Cannon taking over as editor. Browder's second prison stint, served at Leavenworth Penitentiary, lasted until November 1920, putting him out of circulation during the critical interval when the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
The Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party was an organized faction within the Socialist Party of America in 1919 which served as the core of the dual communist parties which emerged in the fall of that year — the Communist Party of America and the Communist Labor Party of America.-Precusors:A...
quit the SPA to form the Communist Party of America and the Communist Labor Party
Communist Labor Party
The Communist Labor Party of America was one of the organizational predecessors of the Communist Party USA. The group was established at the end of August 1919 following a three-way split of the Socialist Party of America...
. A series of splits and mergers followed, with the two Communist parties formally merging in 1921.
Released from prison at last, Browder lost no time in joining the United Communist Party (UCP), as well as the fledgling Trade Union Educational League
Trade Union Educational League
The Trade Union Educational League was established by William Z. Foster in 1920 as a means of uniting radicals within various trade unions for a common plan of action. The group was subsidized by the Communist International via the Communist Party of America from 1922...
(TUEL) being launched by his old associate William Z. Foster. Browder found employment as the managing editor of the monthly magazine of TUEL, The Labor Herald.
In 1920 the Communist International (Comintern) headed by Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev , born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky Apfelbaum , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician...
decided to establish an international confederation of Communist trade unions, the Red International of Labor Unions
Profintern
The Red International of Labor Unions , commonly known as the Profintern, was an international body established by the Communist International with the aim of coordinating Communist activities within trade unions...
(RILU, or "Profintern"). A founding convention was planned to be held in Moscow in July 1921 and an American delegation was gathered, including members of the American Communist Parties and the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
. Earl Browder was named to this delegation, ostensibly representing Kansas miners, with the non-party man Foster attending as a journalist representing the Federated Press
Federated Press
The Federated Press was a left wing news service established in 1920 that provided daily content to the radical and labor press in America.-History:...
. This trip to Soviet Russia incidentally proved decisive in bringing the syndicalist Foster over to the Communist movement.
Throughout the early 1920s, Browder and Foster worked together closely in the TUEL, trying to win over the support of the Chicago Federation of Labor
Chicago Federation of Labor
The Chicago Federation of Labor is an umbrella organization for unions in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is a subordinate body of the AFL-CIO, and as of 2011 has about 320 affiliated member unions representing half a million union members in Cook County....
in the establishment of a new mass Farmer-Labor Party
Farmer-Labor Party
The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. Economic dislocation caused by American entry into World War I put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail prices during the war years, and farmers and workers sought...
that would be able to challenge the electoral hegemony of the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
parties.
In 1928, the estranged Browder and his lover Kitty Harris
Kitty Harris
Kitty Harris was a Soviet secret agent. Born to a poor Russian Jewish family in London that emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada, she became a dedicated socialist, active in the Industrial Workers of the World and a leader of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. After the IWW was crushed by the U.S....
went to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and lived in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
where they worked together on behalf of RILU's Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat, a Comintern organization engaged in clandestine labor organizing. The pair returned to the United States in 1929.
CPUSA leadership
Browder became General Secretary of the Communist party in 1930 and took over the top position of party chairman in 1932 after William Z. FosterWilliam Z. Foster
William Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician, whose career included a lengthy stint as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA...
suffered a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. During his term as General Secretary, Browder embraced the popular front
Popular front
A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
tactic and led the CPUSA's tactic of expressing support for the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, while demanding that it should go much farther in terms of restructuring the capitalist system. Browder was the party's candidate for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in the 1936 presidential election but received only 80,195 votes. During this time, Browder made at least one and possibly two trips to the Soviet Union on a false U.S. passport. After admitting he had traveled on a false passport in a public statement, he was tried and sentenced to prison in 1940 for passport violations. Browder was released after 14 months when the United States joined World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and became an ally of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
In 1944, perceiving the end of the war and the possibility of postwar tension between Washington and Moscow, Browder made moves to distance the CPUSA from the Soviet Union, declaring that communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
could peacefully co-exist. This policy became known in the Party as Browderism. However, the CPUSA followed Stalin's instructions to reconstitute itself as the Communist Political Association.
Espionage activities
The 1995 release of Soviet Venona documents confirmed that Browder was involved in espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union, including recruiting potential espionage agents for Soviet intelligence.In 1938 Rudy Baker
Rudy Baker
Rudy Baker , a Communist Party USA official, is today best known for his alleged role as head of the CPUSA's underground secret apparatus. He succeeded to the position in 1938, after the removal of J. Peters....
(Venona code name: SON) was appointed to head the CPUSA underground apparatus to replace J. Peters
J. Peters
J. Peters was the most commonly known pseudonym of a man who last went by the name "Alexander Stevens" in 1949. Peters was an ethnic Jewish journalist and political activist who was a leading figure of the Hungarian language section of the Communist Party USA in the 1920s and 1930s...
, after the defection of Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers was born Jay Vivian Chambers and also known as David Whittaker Chambers , was an American writer and editor. After being a Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, he later renounced communism and became an outspoken opponent later testifying in the perjury and espionage trial...
, allegedly at the request of Browder (Venona code name: FATHER). According to self-confessed NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
recruiter Louis Budenz, he and Browder participated in discussions with Soviet intelligence officials to plan the assassination of Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
.
Browder himself ran an agent network, which he turned over to Jacob Golos
Jacob Golos
Jacob Golos, , was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary of ethnic Jewish heritage who became a secret police operative on behalf of the USSR in the United States...
after being sentenced to prison; Elizabeth Bentley
Elizabeth Bentley
Elizabeth Terrill Bentley was an American spy for the Soviet Union from 1938 until 1945. In 1945 she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intelligence and became an informer for the U.S. She exposed two networks of spies, ultimately naming over 80 Americans who had engaged in espionage for...
ran the network after Golos.
While in custody, Browder never revealed his status as an agent recruiter to U.S. authorities, and was never prosecuted for espionage. Venona decrypt #588 April 29, 1944 from the KGB New York office states “for more than a year Zubilin
Vasily Zarubin
Vasily Mikhailovich Zarubin Василий Михайлович Зарубин was a Soviet intelligence officer. In the United States, he used the cover name Vasily Zubilin and served as Soviet intelligence Rezident from 1941 to 1944. Zarubin's wife, Elizabeth Zubilin, served with him.Zarubin was born in Moscow...
(station chief) and I tried to get in touch with Victor Perlo
Victor Perlo
Victor Perlo was a Marxist economist, government functionary, and a longtime member of the governing National Committee of the Communist Party USA...
and Charles Flato
Charles Flato
Charles S. Flato was an American writer, American Communist Party member and a Soviet agent....
. For some reason Browder did not come to the meeting and just decided to put Bentley in touch with the whole group. All occupy responsible positions in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
” Soviet intelligence thought highly of Browder's recruitment work: in a 1946 OGPU memorandum, Browder was personally credited with hiring eighteen intelligence agents for the Soviet Union.
Members of Browder's family were involved in work for Soviet intelligence. According to a 1938 classified letter from Browder to Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov Mikhaylov , also known as Georgi Mikhaylovich Dimitrov , was a Bulgarian Communist politician...
, in the Soviet archives, Browder’s younger sister Marguerite was an agent working in various European countries for the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
. Browder expressed concern over the effect it would have on the American public if his sister’s secret work for Soviet intelligence were to be exposed: “In view of my increasing involvement in national political affairs and growing connections in Washington political circles”...“it might become dangerous to this political work if hostile circles in America should obtain knowledge of my sister’s work.” He requested she be released from her European duties and returned to America to serve “in other fields of activity.” Browder’s request was followed in short order by a classified letter from Dimitrov to “Comrade Yezhov,” (Nikolai Yezhov
Nikolai Yezhov
Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov or Ezhov was a senior figure in the NKVD under Joseph Stalin during the period of the Great Purge. His reign is sometimes known as the "Yezhovshchina" , "the Yezhov era", a term that began to be used during the de-Stalinization campaign of the 1950s...
, then head of the NKVD) requesting Marguerite Browder’s transfer. Browder's niece, Helen Lowry
Helen Lowry
Elza Akhmerova, also Elsa Akhmerova was an American citizen, born Helen Lowry. She was a niece of Earl Browder, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the United States . Died of leukemia...
, (aka Elza Akhmerova, also Elsa Akhmerova) worked with Iskhak Akhmerov
Iskhak Akhmerov
Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov was a Soviet spy of Tatar ethnicity who joined the Bolshevik Party in 1919. Akhmerov attended the Communist University of Toilers of the East and the First State University, where he graduated from the School of International Relations in 1930...
, a Soviet NKVD espionage controller from 1936 - 1939 under the code name ADA(?) ADA was Kitty Harris
Kitty Harris
Kitty Harris was a Soviet secret agent. Born to a poor Russian Jewish family in London that emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada, she became a dedicated socialist, active in the Industrial Workers of the World and a leader of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. After the IWW was crushed by the U.S....
(later changed to ELZA)). In 1939, Helen Lowry married Akhmerov. Lowry was named by Soviet intelligence agent Elizabeth Bentley
Elizabeth Bentley
Elizabeth Terrill Bentley was an American spy for the Soviet Union from 1938 until 1945. In 1945 she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intelligence and became an informer for the U.S. She exposed two networks of spies, ultimately naming over 80 Americans who had engaged in espionage for...
as one of her contacts; she and Akhmerov and their actions on behalf of Soviet intelligence are referenced in several Venona project
Venona project
The VENONA project was a long-running secret collaboration of the United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies involving cryptanalysis of messages sent by intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union, the majority during World War II...
decryptions as well as Soviet KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
archives.
Expulsion and after
With the end of the Great Power alliance at the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, "Browderism" came under attack from the rest of the international Communist movement. In 1945, Jacques DuclosJacques Duclos
Jacques Duclos was a French Communist politician who played a key role in French politics from 1926, when he entered the French National Assembly after defeating Paul Reynaud, until 1969, when he won a substantial portion of the vote in the presidential elections.During World War I, Duclos fought...
, a leader of the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
, published an article denouncing Browder's policy. With the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
having been dissolved during the war, the "Duclos letter
Jacques Duclos
Jacques Duclos was a French Communist politician who played a key role in French politics from 1926, when he entered the French National Assembly after defeating Paul Reynaud, until 1969, when he won a substantial portion of the vote in the presidential elections.During World War I, Duclos fought...
" was used to informally communicate Moscow's views. William Z. Foster
William Z. Foster
William Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician, whose career included a lengthy stint as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA...
, Browder's predecessor and a staunch Marxist-Leninist, led the opposition to Browder within the party and replaced him as party chairman in 1945, with Eugene Dennis
Eugene Dennis
Francis Xavier Waldron , best known by the pseudonym Eugene Dennis was an American communist politician and union organizer, best remembered as the long-time leader of the Communist Party USA and as named party in Dennis v...
taking over as General Secretary. Browder was expelled from the party in 1946.
Browder continued to campaign for his views outside the Party and criticized the CPUSA's domination by Moscow, writing that "The American Communists had thrived as champions of domestic reform. But when the Communists abandoned reforms and championed a Soviet Union openly contemptuous of America while predicting its quick collapse, the same party lost all its hard-won influence. It became merely a bad word in the American language."
In April 1950, Browder was called to testify before a Senate Committee investigating Communist activity. Questioned by Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
, Browder was willing to criticize the American Communist Party but refused to answer questions that would incriminate former comrades. He also lied under oath that he had never been involved in espionage activities. Browder was charged with contempt of Congress, but Judge F. Dickinson Letts ordered his acquittal because he felt the committee had not acted legally. Browder was never prosecuted either for his perjury before the committee or for his spying on behalf of the Soviet Union.
In March 1950, Browder shared a platform with Max Shachtman
Max Shachtman
Max Shachtman was an American Marxist theorist. He evolved from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL-CIO President George Meany.-Beginnings:...
, the dissident Trotskyist
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
, in which the pair debated socialism. Browder defended the Soviet Union while Shachtman acted as a prosecutor. It is reported that at one point in the debate Shachtman listed a series of leaders of various Communist Parties and noted that each had perished at the hands of Stalin; at the end of this speech, he remarked that Browder too had been a leader of a Communist Party and, pointing at him, announced: "There-there but for an accident of geography, stands a corpse!"
An unsuccessful attempt was made to reinstate Browder to the good graces of the CPUSA following the Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
in 1956, a period in which some within the American Communist Party briefly sought to exert its independence from Moscow. This effort at liberalization
Liberalization
In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. In some contexts this process or concept is often, but not always, referred to as deregulation...
was soon defeated, however.
On June 2, 1957, Browder appeared on the television program The Mike Wallace Interview
The Mike Wallace Interview
The Mike Wallace Interview is a series of 30-minute television interviews conducted by host Mike Wallace in 1957-60. Before The Mike Wallace Interview was televised nationally on prime-time in 1957, the host of the show had risen to prominence a year earlier with Night-Beat, a television interview...
, where he was grilled for 30 minutes about his past in the Communist Party. Host Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace (journalist)
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
quoted Browder as having recently said "Getting thrown out of the Communist Party was the best thing that ever happened to me" and asked for elaboration. Browder replied:
"That's right. I meant that the Communist Party and the whole communist movement was changing its character, and in 1945, when I was kicked out, the parting of the ways had come, and if I hadn't been kicked out I would have had the difficult task of disengaging myself from a movement that I could no longer agree with and no longer help."
"I was involved in no conspiracies," Browder adamantly declared to Wallace and his television audience.
Death and legacy
Although remaining committed to the cause of socialism, Earl Browder remained outside of the Communist Party until his death in Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
on June 27, 1973. He was survived by three sons, Felix
Felix Browder
Felix E. Browder is a United States mathematician.Felix Browder received his doctorate from Princeton University in 1948. He is known for his research in nonlinear functional analysis, including the theory of semigroups, monotone operators, and fixed points of Cesàro sums of non-expansive operators...
, William
William Browder (mathematician)
William Browder is an American mathematician, specializing in algebraic topology, differential topology and differential geometry...
, and Andrew, all distinguished research mathematicians who have been leaders in the American mathematical community.
Material by Browder
- A system of accounts for a small consumers' co-operative New York : Cooperative League of America, 1918.
- Unemployment, why it occurs and how to fight it Chicago, Ill. : Literature Dept., Workers Party of America, 1924.
- Class Struggle vs. Class Collaboration. Chicago: Workers Party of America, 1925. (The little red library #2)
- Civil War in Nationalist China. Chicago: Labor Unity Publishing Association, 1927. alternate link
- China and American imperialist policy Chicago: Labor Unity Pub. Association, 1927.
- Out of a job New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1930.
- War against workers' Russia! New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1931.
- Secret Hoover-Laval war pacts New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1931.
- The fight for bread: keynote speech New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1932.
- The Meaning of Social-Fascism: Its Historical and Theoretical Background. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933.
- What every worker should know about the N.R.A New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933.
- Is planning possible under capitalism? New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933.
- What is the new deal? New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933.
- http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&forebear_coll=&user=GUEST&pds_handle=&pid=671924&con_lng=ENG&search_terms=WCR%20=(%20browder)&adjacency=N&rd_session=http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/BK8JFVKCNI7SRGYFLMLEAUQ4Y5IGJVK7LKLSK1SYUT7E9JMBY8-02532Report of the Central Committee to the Eighth Convention of the Communist Party of the USA, Held in Cleveland, Ohio, April 2–8, 1934.] New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1934.
- The Communist party and the emancipation of the Negro people New York, N.Y. : Harlem section of the Communist Party, 1934.
- Communism in the United States. New York: International Publishers, 1935.
- Unemployment insurance: the burning issue of the day New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1935.
- http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&forebear_coll=&user=GUEST&pds_handle=&pid=1212805&con_lng=ENG&search_terms=browder&adjacency=N&rd_session=http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/F9GQR8CFL95IAFMEPVYN5S3R4D5X57LRETLVPE5UIQJPT4IEQI-01312New steps in the united front; Report on the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International,] New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1935.
- Religion and communism New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1935.
- Security for Wall Street or for the masses Philadelphia: Communist Party of the U.S.A., 1935.
- The people's front in America New York City : Published for the State Campaign Committee of the Communist Party by Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&forebear_coll=&user=GUEST&pds_handle=&pid=368038&con_lng=ENG&search_terms=browder&adjacency=N&rd_session=http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/F9GQR8CFL95IAFMEPVYN5S3R4D5X57LRETLVPE5UIQJPT4IEQI-01457Report of the Central Committee to the ninth National Convention of the Communist Party of the U.S.A.] New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- Democracy or Fascism: Earl Browder's Report to the Ninth Convention of the Communist Party. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- Zionism: address at the Hippodrome meeting Jun 8, 1936 New York: Yidburo Pub., 1936.
- Foreign policy and the maintenance of peace: radio speech of Earl Browder, Communist Party candidate for U.S. President, delivered over a coast-to-coast network of the National Broadcasting Company, August 28, 1936. New York: Communist Party of U.S.A., 1936.
- Lincoln and the Communists New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- Who are the Americans? New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- To all sympathizers of the Communist Party. [New York] n.p. 1936.
- The Landon-Hearst threat against labor: a Labor-Day message New York : National Campaign Committee Communist Party, 1936. (Communist Party Broadcasts #2)
- Old age pensions and unemployment insurance: radio address New York : National Campaign Committee Communist Party, 1936. (Communist Party Broadcasts #4)
- Hearst's "secret" documents in full New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- Acceptance speeches: Communist candidates in the presidential elections. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- The Communist position in 1936: radio speech broadcast March 5, 1936 New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- Build the united people's front: report to the November Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the U.S.A., New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&forebear_coll=&user=GUEST&pds_handle=&pid=671487&con_lng=ENG&search_terms=WCR%20=(%20browder)&adjacency=N&rd_session=http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/BK8JFVKCNI7SRGYFLMLEAUQ4Y5IGJVK7LKLSK1SYUT7E9JMBY8-01115The results of the elections and the people's front: report delivered December 4, 1936 to the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the U.S.A.] New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
- What Is Communism? New York: Vanguard PressVanguard PressThe Vanguard Press was a United States publishing house established with a $100,000 grant from the left wing American Fund for Public Service, better known as the Garland Fund. Throughout the 1920s, Vanguard Press issued an array of books on radical topics, including studies of the Soviet Union,...
, 1936. - Trotskyism Against World Peace. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1937.
- Talks to America New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1937.
- Lenin and Spain New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1937. alternate link
- North America and the Soviet Union: the heritage of our people New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1937.
- The 18th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party; radio address delivered over a cost-to-coast network of the National Radio Broadcasting Company, September 1, 1937 New York: Central Committee Communist Party, 1937.
- The communists in the people's front, report delivered to the Plenary meeting of the Central committee of the Communist party, U.S.A. held June 17-20, 1937. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1937.
- China and the U. S. A. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1937.
- New steps to win the war in Spain (with Bill Lawrence) New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1938.
- Social and national security New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1938.
- The Nazi pogrom, an outcome of the Munich betrayal, New York, N.Y., State Committee, Communist Party, 1938.
- Unite the people of Illinois for jobs, security, peace and democracy: report to the Illinois State Convention of the Communist Party Chicago : Issued by Illinois State Committee of the Communist Party, 1938.
- Attitude of the Communist Party on the subject of public order [Michigan?] : Chevrolet Branch of the Communist Party, 1938.
- http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&forebear_coll=&user=GUEST&pds_handle=&pid=671323&con_lng=ENG&search_terms=WCR%20=(%20browder)&adjacency=N&rd_session=http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/BK8JFVKCNI7SRGYFLMLEAUQ4Y5IGJVK7LKLSK1SYUT7E9JMBY8-00180Report to the Tenth National Convention of the Communist Party on Behalf of the Central Committee.] New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1938.
- The democratic front for jobs, security, democracy, and peace: report to the tenth national convention of the Communist Party of the U.S.A. on behalf of the National Committee, delivered on Saturday, May 28, 1938, at Carnegie Hall, New York New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1938.
- Traitors in American History: Lessons of the Moscow Trials. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1938.
- A message to Catholics. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1938.
- The People's Front. New York: International Publishers, 1938. (a collection of speeches and articles)
- Concerted action or isolation: which is the road to peace? New York: International Publishers, 1938.
- The economics of communism: the Soviet economy in its world relation New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1939.
- Religion and Communism. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1939
- The 1940 elections: how the people can win New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1939.
- Theory as a Guide to Action. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1939.
- Unity for peace and democracy New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1939.
- Whose war is it? New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1939.
- Socialism, war, and America New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1939.
- Stop the war New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1939.
- Finding the road to peace: radio address, Aug. 29, 1939. New York: Communist Party, 1939.
- America and the second imperialist war, New York, New York State Committee, Communist Party, 1939.
- Communist leader says: "Protect Bill of Rights to keep America out of war" San Francisco : Communist Party, 1939.
- Remarks of the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Earl Browder, made at the enlarged meeting of the State Committee of the Communist Party of California on May 28, 1939 [Los Angeles, Calif.?] : California Organization and Educational Departments, Communist Party, U.S.A.,
- Speech of Earl Browder, auspices of Yale peace council, New Haven, Conn., Nov. 28, 1939. Communist Party of America.; National Committee.; Publicity Dept.
- The People's Road to Peace. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1940. — Speech to 11th Convention.
- The people against the war-makers New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1940.
- The Jewish people and the war New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1940.
- Internationalism, results of the 1940 election; two reports New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1940.
- Earl Browder takes his case to the people. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1940.
- An American foreign policy for peace New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1940.
- Earl Browder talks to the senators on the real meaning of the Voorhis "blacklist" bill. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1940.
- The most peculiar election; the campaign speeches of Earl Browder. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1940.
- Study guide and outline for the People's Front New York: Educational and Literature Departments, New York State Committee, Communist Party, 1940.
- A letter from Earl Browder. New York City : Communist Party of U.S.A., 1940.
- A message from Earl Browder to the youth of America New York : National Election Campaign Committee, Youth Division, 1940.
- United front against fascism and war: how to achieve it! : A serious word to the Socialist Party New York City : New York District Committee, Communist Party of U.S.A., 1940.
- The new moment in the struggle against war New York City: New York State Committee, Communist Party U.S.A., 1940.
- Mr. Browder goes to Washington.[New York, N.Y.]: Browder for Congress Campaign Committee, 1940.
- The communists on education and the war. New York : Young Communist League, 1940.
- A message to California educators; Some inner contradictions in Washington's imperialist foreign policy Calif. : The Committee, 1940.
- The message they tried to stop! the most peculiar election campaign in the history of the Republic : speech delivered by electrical transcription at Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, September 8th and at San Francisco, California, September 11, 1940 New York : National Election Campaign Committee, Communist Party USA, 1940.
- The Second Imperialist War. New York: International Publishers, 1940.
- The way out. New York: International Publishers, 1940.
- http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&forebear_coll=&user=GUEST&pds_handle=&pid=2683378&con_lng=ENG&search_terms=WCR%20=(%20browder)&adjacency=N&rd_session=http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/BK8JFVKCNI7SRGYFLMLEAUQ4Y5IGJVK7LKLSK1SYUT7E9JMBY8-00313The Communist Party of the USA: Its History, Role and Organization.] New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1941.
- Communism and culture New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1941.
- Earl Browder says. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1941.
- The way out of the imperialist war New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1941.
- The road to victory New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1941.
- A different kind of party: Earl Browder tells how the Communist Party is distinguished from all other parties [U.S.? : s.n., 1941.
- Victory--and after. New York: International Publishers, 1942.
- Production for victory New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1942.
- Victory must be won: Independence Day speech, Madison Square Garden, July 2, 1942 New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1942.
- Earl Browder on the Soviet union. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1942.
- The economics of all-out war New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1942.
- One year since Pearl Harbor New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1942.
- When do we fight? New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1942.
- 2nd front now!: this is the will of the people. S[an] F[rancisco]: Issued by California Communist Party, 1942.
- Free the anti-fascist prisoners in North Africa: address New York, N.Y. : Communist Party, U.S.A., 1942.
- The future of the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition New York: Workers Library Publishers 1943.
- George Dimitroff New York: International Publishers, 1943.
- Policy for victory New York: Workers Library Publishers 1943.
- Wage policy in war production New York: Workers Library Publishers 1943.
- Make 1943 the decisive year New York: Workers Library Publishers 1943.
- The mine strike and its lessons New York City: New York State Committee, Communist Party, 1943.
- A conspiracy against our Soviet ally; a menace to America Chicago : Distributed by Illinois State Committee of the Communist Party, 1943.
- A talk about the Communist Party. New York: Workers Library Publishers 1943.
- Hitler's secret weapon: the bogey of communism San Francisco, Calif. : California Communist Party, 1943.
- Browder hits anti-Soviet Plot speech of Earl Browder, at Aperion Manor, Brooklyn, N.Y., April 1, 1943. Baltimore? : Communist Party and Young Communist League of Baltimore?, 1943.
- A Lincoln's birthday message to you [U.S.? : Communist Party?, 1944
- The meaning of the elections New York: Workers Library Publishers 1944.
- Moscow, Cairo, Teheran New York: Workers Library Publishers 1944.
- http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&forebear_coll=&user=GUEST&pds_handle=&pid=891960&con_lng=ENG&search_terms=Economic%20problems%20of%20the%20war%20and%20peace&adjacency=N&rd_session=http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/F9GQR8CFL95IAFMEPVYN5S3R4D5X57LRETLVPE5UIQJPT4IEQI-02579Economic problems of the war and peace,] New York: Workers Library Publishers 1944.
- The road ahead to victory and lasting peace, New York: Workers Library Publishers 1944.
- Teheran: Our Path in War and Peace. New York: International Publishers, 1944.
- Teheran and America; perspectives and tasks, New York: Workers Library Publishers 1944.
- Shall the Communist Party change its name? New York: Workers Library Publishers 1944.
- America's decisive battle New York, N.Y: New Century, 1945
- Why America is interested in the Chinese Communists New York, N.Y: New Century, 1945
- The press and America's future New York, N.Y: Daily WorkerDaily WorkerThe Daily Worker was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, some attempts were made to make it appear that the paper reflected a...
, 1945 - Browder's speech to National Committee San Francisco [Calif.] : California State Committee CPA, 1945 Discussion bulletin #9
- Appeal of Earl Browder to the National Committee C.P.U.S.A. against the decision of the National Board of February 5th, 1946 for his expulsion. Yonkers: The author?, 1946
- The writings and speeches of Earl Browder: from May 24, 1945 to July 26, 1945. Yonkers?: The author?, 1947
- War or Peace with Russia? New York: A.A. Wyn, 1947.
- Soviet book news, literature, art, science. New York: 1947.
- The Decline of the Left Wing of American Labor. Yonkers, NY: [Earl Browder], 1948.
- Answer to Vronsky [New York? : s.n., 1948.
- Labor and socialism in America Yonkers, N.Y: E. Browder 1948.
- The "miracle" of Nov. 2nd: some aspects of the American elections New York? : s.n., 1948.
- World Communism and US Foreign Policy: A Comparison of Marxist Strategy and Tactics: After World War I and World War II. New York: Earl Browder, 1948.
- "Americus" [pseudonym], Where Do We Go From Here? An Examination of the Record of the 14th National Convention, CPUSA. n.c.: Earl Browder, 1948.
- "Americus" Parties, issues, & candidates in the 1948 elections: brief review and analysis Yonkers, N.Y.: Earl Browder, 1948.
- The coming economic crisis in America New York? : s.n., 1949
- More about the economic crisis New York? : s.n., 1949
- War, peace and socialism, New York? : s.n., 1949
- U.S.A. & U.S.S.R.: their relative strength S.l. : s.n., 1949
- How to halt crisis and war: an economic program for progressives S.l. : s.n., 1949
- Chinese Lessons for American Marxists. n.c. Yonkers, NY: Earl Browder, 1949.
- In defense of communism: against W.Z. Foster's "new route to socialism. Yonkers, NY: s.n., 1949.
- Keynes, Foster and Marx. Yonkers, N.Y 1950
- Earl Browder before U.S. Senate: the record and some conclusions. Yonkers, N.Y 1950
- "Is Russia a socialist community?": affirmative presentation in a public debate Yonkers, N.Y: The author 1950
- Language & war : letter to a friend concerning Stalin's article on linguistics Yonkers, N.Y: The author 1950
- Modern resurrections & miracles Yonkers, N.Y: Earl Browder, 1950
- Toward an American peace policy Yonkers, N.Y: The author 1950
- "Should Soviet China be admitted to the United Nations?" debate. s.l. : s.n., 1951
- The meaning of MacArthur: letter to a friend s.l. : s.n., 1951
- Contempt of Congress; the trial of Earl Browder. Yonkers, N.Y: E. Browder 1951
- Four letters concerning peaceful co-existence of capitalism and socialism: together with speech of June 2, 1945 on the same question Yonkers, N.Y. : Issued for private circulation only by E. Browder, 1952
- Should America be returned to the Indians? Yonkers, N.Y. : The author, 1952
- A postscript to the discussion of peaceful co-existence Yonkers, N.Y: E. Browder 1952
- Marx and America: A Study in the Doctrine of Impoverishment. New York: Duell, Sloan and PearceDuell, Sloan and PearceDuell, Sloan and Pearce was a publishing company located in New York City. It was founded in 1939 by C. Halliwell Duell, Samuel Sloan and Charles A. Pearce. It initially published general fiction and non-fiction, but not westerns, light romances or children's books...
, 1958. - Socialism in America Yonkers, N.Y.: Browder, 1960.
Introductions, contributions, etc.
- Andrés NinAndrés NinAndreu Nin i Pérez was a Spanish Communist revolutionary.- Early life :...
Struggle of the trade unions against fascism (introduction) Chicago : The Trade Union Educational League, 1923. (Labor Herald Library #8) - Solomon LozovskySolomon LozovskySolomon Lozovsky was a prominent Bolshevik revolutionary, a high official in various parts of the Soviet government, including as a Presidium member of the All-Union Central Council of Soviet Trade Unions, a Central Committee member of the Communist Party, a member of the Supreme Soviet, a deputy...
The world's trade union movement (introduction) Chicago : The Trade Union Educational League, 1924. (Labor Herald Library #10) - Trade unions in America (with James CannonJames CannonJames Cannon may refer to:*James P. Cannon , American Communist and Trotskyist leader*James Cannon , Scottish-born mathematician who was one of the principal authors of Pennsylvania's 1776 Constitution...
and William Z. FosterWilliam Z. FosterWilliam Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician, whose career included a lengthy stint as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA...
) Chicago, Ill. : Published for the Trade Union Educational League by the Daily worker 1925 (Little red library #1) - Technocracy and Marxism (with William Z. Foster and Vyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
) New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933. - Karl Marx, 1883-1933 (with Max BedachtMax BedachtMax Bedacht Sr. was a German-born American revolutionary socialist political activist, journalist, and functionary who helped establish the Communist Party of America. Bedacht is best remembered as the long-time head of the International Workers Order, a Communist Party-sponsored fraternal benefit...
and Sam Don) New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933. - How do we raise the question of a labor party? (with Jack StachelJack StachelJacob Abraham "Jack" Stachel was an American Communist functionary who was a top official in the Communist Party from the middle 1920s until his death in the middle 1960s...
) New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1935. - Debate: Which Road for American Workers — Socialist or Communist? with Norman Thomas, New York: Socialist Call, 1936.
- Organize mass struggle for social insurance: tasks of the American Communist Party in organizing struggle for social insurance (with Sergei Ivanovich Gusev) New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933.
- The meaning of the Palestine partition (with John Arnold) [New York, N.Y. State Jewish Buro, Communist Party, 1937.
- Red baiting: enemy of labor; with a letter to Homer Martin by Earl Browder by Louis Budenz New York : Workers Library Publishers, 1937
- The Constitution of the United States: with the amendments ; also, the Declaration of Independence New York: International Publishers, 1937.
- The Path of Browder and Foster. (with others) New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1941.
- A discussion of people's war policies: Vice President Henry Wallace's May 8, 1942 speech, Asst. Secretary of State Sumner Welles' May 30, 1942 speech, Earl Browder's June 7, 1942 article in "The Worker", the Atlantic Charter. New York : Workers School, 1942.
- Speed the second front (with others) New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1942.
- Anti-semitism: what it means and how to combat it (with William Gallacher) New York: Workers Library Publishers 1943.
- Is communism a menace? A debate between Earl Browder and George E. Sokolsky. New York: New masses 1943.
- Choose between Teheran and Hitler: extracts from the report by Earl Browder to the National Convention of the U.S.A. Communist Party, May 20, 1944. SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
: Central Committee of the Australian Communist Party, 1944. - The heritage of Jefferson (with Claude BowersClaude BowersClaude Gernade Bowers was an American writer, Democratic politician, and ambassador to Spain and Chile.-Biography:...
and Francis Franklin) New York : Workers School, 1943. - Jew-baiting is cannibalism (with William Gallacher) Sydney: Current Book Distribution, 1944.
- http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&forebear_coll=&user=GUEST&pds_handle=&pid=671927&con_lng=ENG&search_terms=WCR%20=(%20browder)&adjacency=N&rd_session=http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/BK8JFVKCNI7SRGYFLMLEAUQ4Y5IGJVK7LKLSK1SYUT7E9JMBY8-03195Communists and national unity: an interview of PM with Earl Browder.] with Harold Lavine New York: Workers Library Publishers 1944.
- On the dissolution of the Communist Party of the United States by Jacques Duclos San Francisco, Calif. : State Committee, Communist Political Association of California, 1945 (foreword)
- Browder's position on the resolution (with William Z. Foster) San Francisco [Calif.] : California State Committee CPA, 1945 Discussion bulletin #1
- How can Soviet Russia and the United States keep the peace? with Theodore Granik and George SokolskyGeorge SokolskyGeorge Ephraim Sokolsky was a weekly radio broadcaster for the National Association of Manufacturers and a columnist for The New York Herald Tribune, who later switched to The New York Sun and other Hearst newspapers.-Biography:...
Washington, D.C: RansdellRansdellRansdell is a surname, and may refer to:* Joseph Morton Ransdell, philosopher* Joseph E. Ransdell, Louisiana senator. In 1930 he sponsored the Ransdell Act which turned the 1887 Laboratory of Hygiene into the National Institutes of Health....
, 1946 - Communists in the struggle for Negro rights (with James FordJames FordJames Ford may refer to:*James A. Ford, American archaeologist*James Ford , benefactor of the Ford Lectures at Oxford University*James Ford , cricketer*James Ford , American newsreader and journalist for WPIX...
, Benjamin DavisBenjamin DavisBenjamin Davis may refer to:* Benjamin Franklin Davis , American cavalry officer notable for leading his regiment from capture before the Battle of Antietam* Benjamin G. Davis, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Toledo College of Law...
and William PattersonWilliam PattersonWilliam Patterson may refer to:* William Patterson , 19th century engineer and boat builder* William Patterson , U.S. Representative from New York* William Patterson , U.S...
) New York, N.Y: New Century, 1945
Articles
- Browder, Earl, "Review of American Communism in Crisis, 1943-1957, by Joseph R. Starobin." Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 88, No. 1 (Mar., 1973), pp. 94–97.
- Browder, Earl and Max Shachtman. Is Russia a Socialist Community? The Verbatim Text of a Debate. March 1950 debate moderated by C. Wright MillsC. Wright MillsCharles Wright Mills was an American sociologist. Mills is best remembered for his 1959 book The Sociological Imagination in which he lays out a view of the proper relationship between biography and history, theory and method in sociological scholarship...
. Published in The New International: A Monthly Organ of Revolutionary Marxism, Vol.16 No.3, May–June 1950, pp. 145–176. Retrieved June 6, 2005.
Contemporary material about Browder
- Citizens's Committee to Free Earl Browder, A Comparative Study of the Earl Browder and Other Passport Cases. New York: n.d. [1941?].
- Citizens's Committee to Free Earl Browder, http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&forebear_coll=&user=GUEST&pds_handle=&pid=674802&con_lng=ENG&search_terms=WCR%20=(%20browder)&adjacency=N&rd_session=http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/BK8JFVKCNI7SRGYFLMLEAUQ4Y5IGJVK7LKLSK1SYUT7E9JMBY8-00059The Browder case: a summary of facts: a brief for justice and fair play in America] New York: Citizens' Committee to Free Earl Browder, 1941
- Citizens's Committee to Free Earl Browder, The Campaign to free Earl Browder: A Report. New York: The Committee, 1942. OCLC: 27833380.
- Communist Party of the United States of America Material for discussion leaders on the fight against Browderism.
- Flynn, Elizabeth Gurley.Elizabeth Gurley FlynnElizabeth Gurley Flynn was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World . Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a visible proponent of women's rights, birth control, and women's suffrage...
Earl Browder: the man from Kansas New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1941. - Foster, William Z.On the struggle against revisionism New York : National Veterans Committee of the Communist Party 1956
- Foster, William Z.; Duclos, Jaques; Dennis, Eugene; and Williamson, John, Marxism-Leninism vs. Revisionism New York: New Century Publishers, 1946.
- Gates, JohnJohn GatesJohn "Johnny" Gates, born Solomon Regenstreif was a prominent American Communist journalist, best remembered as one of the individuals spearheading a failed attempt at liberalization of the Communist Party USA in 1957.-Early years:...
On Guard against Browderism, Titoism, Trotskyism. New York: New Century Publishers, 1951. - Green, GilGil Green (politician)Gil Green was a leading figure in the Communist Party of the United States of America until 1991. He is best remembered as the leader of the party's youth section, the Young Communist League, during the tumultuous decade of the 1930s....
Browder's "coalition" - with monopoly capital [S.l. : Communist Party of the United States of America?, 1949. - Thompson, RobertRobert ThompsonRobert or Bob Thompson may refer to:*Bob Thompson , American orchestra leader, arranger, composer*Bob Thompson , American figurative painter*Bob Thompson , British producer and writer...
. The path of a renegade : why Earl Browder was expelled from the Communist Party New York: New Century Publishers, 1946. - Thompson, Robert. The convention unanimously rejects Browder's appeal New York: New Century Publishers, 1948.
- Time Magazine, Children of Moscow, Time, September 18, 1939.
Secondary sources
- Haynes, John Earl, "Russian Archival Identification of Real Names Behind Cover Names in VENONA." Cryptology and the Cold War, Center for Cryptologic History Symposium, October 27, 2005.
- Haynes, John Earl and Klehr, Harvey, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
- Haynes, John Earl; Klehr, Harvey; and Igorevich, Fridrikh I., The Secret World of American Communism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
- Isserman, Maurice, Which Side Were You On? The American Communist Party During the Second World War. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1982.
- Klehr, Harvey, The Heyday of American Communism: The Depression Decade. New York: Basic Books, 1984.
- Ottanelli, Fraser M., The Communist Party of the United States: From the Depression to World War II. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1991.
- Ryan, James Gilbert, Earl Browder: The Failure of American Communism. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2005.
- Ryan, James G., "Socialist Triumph as a Family Value: Earl Browder and Soviet Espionage," American Communist History, v. 1, no. 2 (December 2002).
- Schecter, Jerrold and Schecter, Leona, Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History. Potomac Books, 2002.
- Starobin, Joseph R., American Communism in Crisis, 1943-1957. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972.
- Sudoplatov, Pavel Anatoli; Schecter, Jerrold L.; and Schecter, Leona P., Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness — A Soviet Spymaster. Boston: Little Brown, 1994.
- Trahair, Richard C.S. and Robert Miller, Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations. New York: Enigma Books, 2008. ISBN 978-1-929631-75-9
- Weinstein, Allen and Vassiliev, Aleksandr, The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America — The Stalin Era. New York: Random House, 1999.
Archival material
- Earl Browder Papers 1879-1967. Syracuse University Library Special Collections. Collection # (NXSV403-A). 52.0 linear ft. Online guide retrieved June 6, 2005.
- Earl Browder Papers, 1891-1975: A Guide to the Microfilm Edition. Edited by Jack T. Ericson. 36 reels of 35mm microfilm.
- Online guide retrieved June 6, 2005.
- Sam Adams Darcy Papers, 1924-1985 (Bulk 1930-1945). NYU Bobst Library Special Collections. Tamiment 124. 4 linear feet (4 boxes). Online guide. Retrieved September 24, 2006
- Francis Franklin Marxist Historical-Philosophical Manuscripts: 1920-1985. NYU Bobst Library Special Collections. Tamiment 182. 6 linear feet (6 boxes). Online guide. Retrieved September 24, 2006.
External links
- "The Mike Wallace Interview. Guest: Earl Browder," Links to video of TV interview of June 2, 1957 and printed transcript. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
- Duclos, Jacques. "On the Dissolution of the Communist Party of the United States.". First published in Cahiers du Communisme, April 1945. Reprinted in William Z. Foster et al., Marxism-Leninism vs. Revisionism.. New York: New Century Publishers, Feb. 1946; pp. 21–35. Retrieved June 6, 2005.
- Constitution of the Communist Political Association: Adopted by the Constitutional Convention, May 20-22, 1944 PDF document. Published in The Path to Peace, Progress and Prosperity: Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of the Communist Political Association, New York, May 20–22, 1944. New York: CPA, 1944. pp. 47–51. Retrieved June 6, 2005.
- Earl Browder Papers at Syracuse University Library.
- Newspaper articles on Earl Browder from the Kansas State Historical Society. Source: Vertical File microfilm reel MF 251. Retrieved August 26, 2006.
See also
- History of Soviet espionage in the United StatesHistory of Soviet espionage in the United StatesSince the late 1920s, the Soviet Union, through its OGPU and NKVD intelligence services, used Russians and foreign-born nationals as well as Communist, and people of American origin to perform espionage activities in the United States. These various espionage networks eventually succeeded in...
- Popular FrontPopular frontA popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
- Jacob GolosJacob GolosJacob Golos, , was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary of ethnic Jewish heritage who became a secret police operative on behalf of the USSR in the United States...