Oakley C. Johnson
Encyclopedia
Oakley C. Johnson was an American
socialist political activist and writer. A founding member of both the Communist Party of America and the Proletarian Party of America
, Johnson is best remembered as a historian of the radical politics of that era.
. He was the oldest of five children.
Oakley's mother, the former Elizabeth Jane Gibbon, was herself a native Michigander, born in Bay City
in 1867. His father, Calvin Henry Johnson, was born in 1858 near Chateaugay, New York and died of Addison's Disease
in 1904 at the age of 46, when Oakley was just 14. Both of his parents were of mixed ethnic stock, hailing from English, Irish, Scottish, and German ancestry.
Johnson read extensively as a boy and was drawn to academic pursuits. Upon graduation from high school, Johnson worked in a series of posts as a school principal in various districts in rural Michigan
.
Johnson attended Michigan State Normal School in Ypsilanti, Michigan
, from which he graduated in 1917.
After finishing at Michigan State Normal School, Johnson took a position as a principal at Grant High School in Ypsilanti. Midway through the school year, Johnson was pulled right from a classroom by representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice, who took him away to Grand Rapids, Michigan
to interrogate him about his nationality and the reason he had contributed money to the legal defense fund established to aid members of the Industrial Workers of the World
undergoing prosecution.
Johnson refused to be bullied and the next day he called a school assembly at which he told the whole story, writing up the same for publication in the local newspaper.
"From that day, the atmosphere changed," Johnson later recalled:
Johnson graduated with his Bachelor's degree
from the University of Michigan
in 1920 and received his Master's degree
the following year. In 1928 he was awarded a Doctorate degree in English from the same institution.
Johnson starting teaching at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in October 1920, as an Instructor in Rhetoric. He remained at that institution until June 1928. Johnson received his doctorate degree in that same year.
While at Michigan, Johnson was the faculty advisor to the Negro-Caucasian Club, a student organization which aimed to promote interracial understanding through common activities. The club was organized about 1923 and was granted formal recognition by the administration in March 1926.
The Negro-Caucasian sponsored a series of speakers on campus who discussed relevant topics in public lectures and gave black and white students an opportunity to meet and socialize.
In the fall of 1928, the new Dr. Johnson left Michigan in favor of a position as an Assistant Professor of English at Long Island University
, where he remained until 1930. For the next two years, Johnson taught evenings at College of the City of New York
.
in 1912. Johnson later recalled that he came to the socialist movement through his participation in school debates — assigned to argue a position of the Democratic Party
, Johnson had prepared by reading the perspectives of other organizations, including the Socialists. Soon he was immersed in Marxist
literature and subscribing to the major socialist periodicals of the day, including the Appeal to Reason, the National Rip-Saw, and the International Socialist Review
.
In 1919, Johnson was elected State Secretary of the Socialist Party of Michigan, remaining in that position until October, when he accepted a job as a librarian at the University of Michigan.
In June 1919, Johnson was a delegate to the National Left Wing Convention held in New York City by the organized Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
, which he attended along with fellow members of the Socialist Party of Michigan John Keracher
, Dennis Batt, Al Renner, and A.J. MacGregor .
Afterwards, Johnson became a member of the Communist Party Organizing Committee, the group which handled the arrangements for the founding convention of the Communist Party of America, held in Chicago
from September 1 to 7, 1919.
Johnson was a fraternal delegate to the founding convention of the Proletarian Party of America
in June 1920.
to accept a post as Docent
in the Department of English at the Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, leaving at the end of the academic year in 1936. During his stay in Moscow, Johnson also worked on the staff of the Moscow Daily News.
After his return from the USSR, Johnson returned to the New York Workers School, where he remained until 1942.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Johnson spent the next six years teaching at historically black universities in the deep South, including Talladega College
in Talladega, Alabama
, Dillard University
in New Orleans
, and Tillotson College in Austin, Texas
.
Johnson returned to New York City in the fall of 1952 to accept a position at Brooklyn College
to replace a professor to had resigned. He was summarily fired by the college president after just two days on the job due to his political beliefs, however.
After that date, Johnson continued to teach as a tutor, "confining himself to giving private lessons to those with a foreign background who wish to study the English language," as he himself noted.
Other material is held by the New York Public Library
in New York City, available on 5 reels of microfilm.
A smaller collection, heavily skewed towards matter dealing with his participation in the "Negro-Caucasian Club" which existed at the University of Michican from 1926 to 1927, is housed in the Special Collections Library of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Included in this material is an unpublished autobiography by Johnson, written for his grandchildren in 1965 and entitled Trying to Live "Really Human."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
socialist political activist and writer. A founding member of both the Communist Party of America and the Proletarian Party of America
Proletarian Party of America
The Proletarian Party of America was a small communist political party in the United States, originating in 1920 and terminated in 1971. Originally an offshoot of the Communist Party of America, the group maintained an independent existence for over five decades. It is best remembered for carrying...
, Johnson is best remembered as a historian of the radical politics of that era.
Early years
Oakley Calvin Johnson was born on March 24, 1890 in a log cabin on a farm near the hamlet of Jarvis Centre, Michigan in Arenac CountyArenac County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 17,269 people, 6,710 households, and 4,717 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 9,563 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
. He was the oldest of five children.
Oakley's mother, the former Elizabeth Jane Gibbon, was herself a native Michigander, born in Bay City
Bay City, Michigan
Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North...
in 1867. His father, Calvin Henry Johnson, was born in 1858 near Chateaugay, New York and died of Addison's Disease
Addison's disease
Addison’s disease is a rare, chronic endocrine disorder in which the adrenal glands do not produce sufficient steroid hormones...
in 1904 at the age of 46, when Oakley was just 14. Both of his parents were of mixed ethnic stock, hailing from English, Irish, Scottish, and German ancestry.
Johnson read extensively as a boy and was drawn to academic pursuits. Upon graduation from high school, Johnson worked in a series of posts as a school principal in various districts in rural Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Johnson attended Michigan State Normal School in Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,362. The city is bounded to the north by the Charter Township of Superior and on the west, south, and east by the Charter Township of Ypsilanti...
, from which he graduated in 1917.
After finishing at Michigan State Normal School, Johnson took a position as a principal at Grant High School in Ypsilanti. Midway through the school year, Johnson was pulled right from a classroom by representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice, who took him away to Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
to interrogate him about his nationality and the reason he had contributed money to the legal defense fund established to aid members of 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...
undergoing prosecution.
Johnson refused to be bullied and the next day he called a school assembly at which he told the whole story, writing up the same for publication in the local newspaper.
"From that day, the atmosphere changed," Johnson later recalled:
"The students and the farmers round about were on my side. In June, on the day before graduation, an out-of-town mob gathered at the school house to get me, but my students spirited me and my young wife out the back way, where farmers in automobiles rescued us and gave us hospitality for the night. The next day Professor Hoyt of Ypsilanti gave the graduating address, and expressed regret, I was told, that the mob on the preceding night had to go home empty handed. My graduating class refused to sit on the platform because I was not there. They picked up their diplomas later, after the 'exercises' were over."
Johnson graduated with 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 the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in 1920 and received his Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
the following year. In 1928 he was awarded a Doctorate degree in English from the same institution.
Johnson starting teaching at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in October 1920, as an Instructor in Rhetoric. He remained at that institution until June 1928. Johnson received his doctorate degree in that same year.
While at Michigan, Johnson was the faculty advisor to the Negro-Caucasian Club, a student organization which aimed to promote interracial understanding through common activities. The club was organized about 1923 and was granted formal recognition by the administration in March 1926.
The Negro-Caucasian sponsored a series of speakers on campus who discussed relevant topics in public lectures and gave black and white students an opportunity to meet and socialize.
In the fall of 1928, the new Dr. Johnson left Michigan in favor of a position as an Assistant Professor of English at Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
, where he remained until 1930. For the next two years, Johnson taught evenings at College of the City of New York
College of the City of New York
The College of the City of New York is the former name of New York University's undergraduate college when the university was named "University of the City of New York"....
.
Political career
Johnson 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 1912. Johnson later recalled that he came to the socialist movement through his participation in school debates — assigned to argue a position of the Democratic Party
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...
, Johnson had prepared by reading the perspectives of other organizations, including the Socialists. Soon he was immersed in Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
literature and subscribing to the major socialist periodicals of the day, including the Appeal to Reason, the National Rip-Saw, and the International Socialist Review
International Socialist Review (1900)
The International Socialist Review was a monthly magazine published in Chicago, Illinois by Charles H. Kerr & Co. from 1900 until 1918. The magazine was chiefly a Marxist theoretical journal during its first years under the editorship of A.M. Simons. Beginning in 1908 the publication took a turn to...
.
In 1919, Johnson was elected State Secretary of the Socialist Party of Michigan, remaining in that position until October, when he accepted a job as a librarian at the University of Michigan.
In June 1919, Johnson was a delegate to the National Left Wing Convention held in New York City by the organized 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...
, which he attended along with fellow members of the Socialist Party of Michigan John Keracher
John Keracher
John Keracher was a Scottish-born American Marxist politician who founded the Proletarian Party of America in 1920.-Early years:...
, Dennis Batt, Al Renner, and A.J. MacGregor .
Afterwards, Johnson became a member of the Communist Party Organizing Committee, the group which handled the arrangements for the founding convention of the Communist Party of America, held in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
from September 1 to 7, 1919.
Johnson was a fraternal delegate to the founding convention of the Proletarian Party of America
Proletarian Party of America
The Proletarian Party of America was a small communist political party in the United States, originating in 1920 and terminated in 1971. Originally an offshoot of the Communist Party of America, the group maintained an independent existence for over five decades. It is best remembered for carrying...
in June 1920.
Later years
Johnson taught in the Communist Party's educational institution in New York City, the New York Workers School, from 1934 to 1935. The next year, Johnson traveled to the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to accept a post as Docent
Docent
Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...
in the Department of English at the Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, leaving at the end of the academic year in 1936. During his stay in Moscow, Johnson also worked on the staff of the Moscow Daily News.
After his return from the USSR, Johnson returned to the New York Workers School, where he remained until 1942.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Johnson spent the next six years teaching at historically black universities in the deep South, including Talladega College
Talladega College
- External Links :* -- Official web site*...
in Talladega, Alabama
Talladega, Alabama
Talladega is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 15,143. The city is the county seat of Talladega County. Talladega is approximately 50 miles east of Birmingham, Alabama....
, Dillard University
Dillard University
Dillard University is a private, historically black liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 incorporating earlier institutions that went back to 1869, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church....
in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, and Tillotson College in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
Johnson returned to New York City in the fall of 1952 to accept a position at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
to replace a professor to had resigned. He was summarily fired by the college president after just two days on the job due to his political beliefs, however.
After that date, Johnson continued to teach as a tutor, "confining himself to giving private lessons to those with a foreign background who wish to study the English language," as he himself noted.
Death and legacy
Johnson's primary accumulation of papers are housed in the Special Collections Library at Stonybrook University in New York. As of July 2010, the collection is listed as being "unprocessed."Other material is held by the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
in New York City, available on 5 reels of microfilm.
A smaller collection, heavily skewed towards matter dealing with his participation in the "Negro-Caucasian Club" which existed at the University of Michican from 1926 to 1927, is housed in the Special Collections Library of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Included in this material is an unpublished autobiography by Johnson, written for his grandchildren in 1965 and entitled Trying to Live "Really Human."
Books and articles
- The Arguer's Handbook. Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Brothers, 1928.
- Preventive Remedial English in the Negro Secondary School. n.c.: n.p., n.d. [c. 1949].
- Art. New Orleans: Dillard University, n.d. [c. 1950].
- The Day is Coming: Life and Work of Charles E. Ruthenberg, 1882-1927. New York: International Publishers, 1957. —Also published in Russian.
- The Foreign Agent: Truth and Fiction. New York: Gus Hall-Benjamin J. Davis Defense Committee, 1964.
- Writings by and about Daniel de Leon: A Bibliography. With Carl Reeve. New York: American Institute for Marxist Studies, 1966.
- "The Early Socialist Party of Michigan: An Assignment in Autobiography," The Centennial Review, vol. 10, no. 2 (Spring 1966), pp. 147-162.
- "New Orleans Story." Centennial Review, 1968.
- My Grandson, Steve. New York: Oakley C. Johnson, 1970.
- Marxism in United States History Before the Russian Revolution (1876-1917). New York: Humanities Press, 1974.
Edited titles
- An American Century: The Recollections of Bertha W. Howe, 1866-1966. New York: AIMS/Humanities Press, 1966.
- Robert Owen in the United States. New York: n.p., 1970.