George Ross Kirkpatrick
Encyclopedia
George Ross "Kirk" Kirkpatrick (1867–1937) was an American anti-militarist writer and political activist. He is best remembered as the 1916 Vice Presidential
nominee of the Socialist Party of America
. He was briefly the Executive Secretary of that organization from November 1925 until May 1926.
, the son of a farmer. He attended Allegheny College Preparatory School before enrolling in Ohio Wesleyan University
. He received his Bachelor's degree
from Albion College
and did graduate coursework at Vanderbilt University
and the University of Chicago
.
Upon graduation, Kirkpatrick worked as a teacher at Kansas Methodist College and Ripon College
for 4 years before moving to the Socialist Party-affiliated Rand School of Social Science
in New York City
.
in 1903. For nearly 20 years thereafter Kirkpatrick traveled across America as a lecturer for the party, speaking to general audiences on the topic of militarism and other political and economic questions.
In 1910 he self-published his first full-length book, a blistering attack on militarism
called War — What For? The first printing of 2500 copies sold out almost immediately and the book was subsequently reprinted many times over the course of the decade.
In 1916, a mail referendum of the membership of the Socialist Party of America named Kirkpatrick as the party's Vice Presidential nominee, topping St. Louis feminist Kate Richards O'Hare
in the contest. Kirkpatrick appeared on the ballot along with Presidential hopeful Allan L. Benson
and he toured extensively in support of the ticket.
In 1924, Kirkpatrick was in Chicago on the payroll of the Socialist Party as the manager of its "Department of Literature." In that capacity he prepared several propaganda leaflets which were distributed in quantity by the party during the 1924 campaign season: a first on the growing wealth of the capitalist class (a four page leaflet entitled Silence!), another detailing the party's opposition to the then-booming Ku Klux Klan
, and a third on unemployment. He also edited the party's monthly magazine, The Socialist World, with Executive Secretary Bertha Hale White
's name appearing on the masthead of the publication as "Business Manager."
From November 15, 1925, Kirkpatrick served a brief stint as acting Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party, following the resignation of Bertha Hale White
, herself a former teacher and journalist. Kirkpatrick, who had been serving as Organization Director, was elected Assistant Executive Secretary by the National Executive Committee at its meeting of October 10, on the heels of White tendering of her resignation effective in a month. Kirkpatrick's time at the helm of the declining organization was short, however, as William H. Henry of Indiana
was chosen as a permanent Executive Secretary following the party's May 1–3, 1926 National Convention held in Pittsburgh
.
Kirkpatrick later ran for U.S. Senate from Illinois
on the Socialist Party ticket in 1928, and for the U.S. Senate from California
in 1932 and 1934.
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
nominee of 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...
. He was briefly the Executive Secretary of that organization from November 1925 until May 1926.
Early years
George Ross Kirkpatrick was born February 24, 1867 in West Lafayette, OhioWest Lafayette, Ohio
West Lafayette is a village in Coshocton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,313 at the 2000 census.-History:West Lafayette was laid out in 1850 by Robert Shaw and William Wheeler. In 1855, the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad was built through the new town...
, the son of a farmer. He attended Allegheny College Preparatory School before enrolling in Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
. He received his Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Albion College
Albion College
Albion College is a private liberal arts college located in Albion, Michigan. Related to the United Methodist Church, it was founded in 1835 and was the first private college in Michigan to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. It has a student population of about 1500.The school's sports teams are...
and did graduate coursework at Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
and the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
Upon graduation, Kirkpatrick worked as a teacher at Kansas Methodist College and Ripon College
Ripon College (Wisconsin)
Ripon College is a liberal arts college in Ripon, Wisconsin, USA. It offers small class sizes and intensive mentoring to students. Ripon has a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa--one of the nation's most prestigious honor societies. Alumni have high rates of success in the workforce as well as acceptance...
for 4 years before moving to the Socialist Party-affiliated Rand School of Social Science
Rand School of Social Science
The Rand School of Social Science was formed in New York City by adherents of the Socialist Party of America in 1906. The school aimed to provide a broad education to workers, imparting a politicizing class-consciousness, and additionally served as a research bureau, a publisher, and the operator...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Political career
Kirkpatrick joined the Socialist Party of AmericaSocialist 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 1903. For nearly 20 years thereafter Kirkpatrick traveled across America as a lecturer for the party, speaking to general audiences on the topic of militarism and other political and economic questions.
In 1910 he self-published his first full-length book, a blistering attack on militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
called War — What For? The first printing of 2500 copies sold out almost immediately and the book was subsequently reprinted many times over the course of the decade.
In 1916, a mail referendum of the membership of the Socialist Party of America named Kirkpatrick as the party's Vice Presidential nominee, topping St. Louis feminist Kate Richards O'Hare
Kate Richards O'Hare
Kate Richards O'Hare was an American Socialist Party activist, editor, and orator best known for her controversial imprisonment during World War I.-Biography:...
in the contest. Kirkpatrick appeared on the ballot along with Presidential hopeful Allan L. Benson
Allan L. Benson
Allan Louis Benson was an American newspaper editor and author who ran for President as the Socialist Party of America candidate in 1916.-Early years:Benson was born in Plainfield, Michigan on November 6, 1871. His father, Adelbert L...
and he toured extensively in support of the ticket.
In 1924, Kirkpatrick was in Chicago on the payroll of the Socialist Party as the manager of its "Department of Literature." In that capacity he prepared several propaganda leaflets which were distributed in quantity by the party during the 1924 campaign season: a first on the growing wealth of the capitalist class (a four page leaflet entitled Silence!), another detailing the party's opposition to the then-booming Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, and a third on unemployment. He also edited the party's monthly magazine, The Socialist World, with Executive Secretary Bertha Hale White
Bertha Hale White
Bertha Hale White, was a teacher and journalist, and a prominent functionary of the Socialist Party of America. After serving for more than a decade in the party's National Office, in February 1924 White was named Executive Secretary of the SPA, becoming the first woman to hold that position. She...
's name appearing on the masthead of the publication as "Business Manager."
From November 15, 1925, Kirkpatrick served a brief stint as acting Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party, following the resignation of Bertha Hale White
Bertha Hale White
Bertha Hale White, was a teacher and journalist, and a prominent functionary of the Socialist Party of America. After serving for more than a decade in the party's National Office, in February 1924 White was named Executive Secretary of the SPA, becoming the first woman to hold that position. She...
, herself a former teacher and journalist. Kirkpatrick, who had been serving as Organization Director, was elected Assistant Executive Secretary by the National Executive Committee at its meeting of October 10, on the heels of White tendering of her resignation effective in a month. Kirkpatrick's time at the helm of the declining organization was short, however, as William H. Henry of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
was chosen as a permanent Executive Secretary following the party's May 1–3, 1926 National Convention held in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
.
Kirkpatrick later ran for U.S. Senate from Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
on the Socialist Party ticket in 1928, and for the U.S. Senate from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1932 and 1934.
Books and pamphlets
- Mental Dynamite, or Little Lessons to Learn. 1906.
- War — What For? West LaFayette, OH: George Kirkpatrick, 1910. —Reissued in multiple editions, including Lithuanian and Finnish translations.
- For the Educated Proletariat: Some Questions. New York: Cooperative Press, n.d. [c. 1911].
- Think, or Surrender. Pittsburgh, PA: The Collectivist Press, 1916.
- The Socialists and the Sword. Chicago: Socialist Party, n.d. [c. 1916].
- War and the Working Class. n.c.: George R. Kirkpatrick, n.d. [c. 1916].
- The Slander of the Toilers. Pittsburgh, PA: The Collectivist Press, 1919.
- Silence! Chicago: Socialist Party, n.d. [May 1924].
- The Socialist Party and the Ku Klux Klan. Chicago: Socialist Party, 1924.
- Out of Work. Chicago,IL: Socialist Party, National Headquarters, [September 1924].
- Is Plenty Too Much for the Common People? The Hottest Question that Ever Stung a Statesman or a Slave. Question! Question! Question! I Call for the Question! Illustrations by Art YoungArt YoungArthur "Art" Young was an American cartoonist and writer. He is most famous for his socialist cartoons, especially those drawn for the left wing political magazine The Masses between 1911 and 1917.-Early Years:...
. San Gabriel, CA: Florence H. Kirkpatrick, 1939.
Articles
- "The Priceless Remnant," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 5, no. 4 (April 1924), pg. 5.
- "Fall In or Fall Out," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 5, no. 5 (May 1924), pp. 1, 3.
- "On to Cleveland Gladly — And Carefully," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 5, no. 6 (June 1924), pg. 14.
- "The Enemy Opens Fire Upon the Workers — With Lies," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 5, no. 7 (July 1924), pp. 6-7.
- "One Hundred Days!" The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 5, no. 8 (August 1924), pp. 1-3.
- "Our Charter of Liberties," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 5, no. 11 (November 1924), pp. 5-6.
- "Looking Ahead," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 5, no. 11 (November 1924), pp. 10, 15.
- "The Crucifixion of the Children," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 5, no. 12 (December 1924), pp. 5-6.
- "Certain Difficulties," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 6, no. 1 (January 1925), pp. 15-16.
- "The Proletariat and the Right of Revolution," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 6, no. 2 (February 1925), pp. 12-14.
- "'Taken!'" The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 6, no. 5 (May 1925), pp. 5-6.
- "Join the Army," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 6, no. 6 (June 1925), pp. 1-3.
- "The Significance of Youth in Social Progress," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 6, no. 6 (June 1925), pp. 10-11.
- "Christ in China, or — Why Hesitate?" The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 6, no. 7 (July 1925), pp. 1-2.
- "The International and Labor Congress of 1925," The Socialist World [Chicago], vol. 6, no. 7 (July 1925), pg. 7.