Proletarian Party of America
Encyclopedia
The Proletarian Party of America (PPA) 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 forward Charles H. Kerr & Co., the oldest publisher of Marxist
books in America.
, based in Detroit
in 1920, but the organization's story dates to a few years prior to this event. The Michigan party, the state affiliate of the Socialist Party of America
(SPA), was won over to a unique Left Wing ideology during the years of American participation in World War I
.
The key figure in the Michigan organization which later became the PPA was a Scottish born shoe store owner named John Keracher
, in association with a tool and die maker named Dennis Batt and radical activists Al Renner and H. M. Wicks. At Keracher's behest, the Socialist Party of Michigan eschewed all participation in electoral politics, instead favoring Marxist theoretical study to prepare the working class for the task of revolutionary leadership. Throughout the years of 1918 and 1919, the party established a network of Marxist study circles called "Proletarian Universities," with the movement particularly strong in Detroit, Chicago, and Rochester, New York
.
At the 1919 State Convention of the Socialist Party of Michigan, Keracher was elected head of the state organization and an amendment was adopted by the assembled delegates calling for the expulsion from the Socialist Party of Michigan of anyone who engaged in electoral politics. Keracher, Batt, and other Michiganders were prominent as well in the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
, a formal faction deeply inspired by the Russian Revolution which was engaged in the attempt to "win the Socialist Party for the Left Wing."
The Left Wing Section organized candidate slates for each of the electoral districts of the SPA and made use of bloc voting by sympathetic branches of the party's language federation
s to achieve results. The outgoing National Executive Committee of the SPA cried election fraud, however, and refused to tally the results of the 1919 party election or to leave office on July 1, the appointed date. Instead, the outgoing NEC went on the offensive with a series of suspensions of language federations and the expulsion of the Michigan party, ostensibly for violation of the national constitution of the SPA for the anti-political provisions adopted at the 1919 state gathering.
Keracher and the Michigan socialists allied with the suspended language federations in calling for immediate formation of a Communist Party of America, as opposed to the tactics advocated by Alfred Wagenknecht
and L.E. Katterfeld
of the NEC of continuing the fight to its conclusion at the 1919 Emergency National Convention
of the SPA, scheduled for August 30 in Chicago. Wagenknecht, Katterfeld, and their associates wound up bolting the Emergency National Convention to establish the Communist Labor Party of America
, while Keracher, Batt, and the federations formed a rival Communist Party of America. Two years of bitter struggle followed between these competing Communist organizations.
The idiosyncratic Michiganders were a poor match for the disciplined and highly orthodox Communists of the federations led by Alexander Stoklitsky, Oscar Tyverovsky, and Nicholas Hourwich of the Russian Communist Federation
and Joseph Stilson of the Lithuanian Communist Federation. Early in 1920, a split ensued, due in part to the decision of the Michigan group to continue the public operation of the Proletarian Universities and to publish their monthly journal, The Proletarian, outside of the control of the Central Executive Committee. The Communist Party's Executive Secretary, C.E. Ruthenberg, recalled the necessary change of the Communist Party to an underground organization after the Palmer Raids
of January 1920 as the root cause of the problem:
The expelled Michigan "Proletarian University" would soon establish themselves as the Proletarian Party of America.
The new party attempted without success to gain affiliation with the Communist International for a few years before eventually abandoning the mission. In 1922, the unified CPUSA attempted to recruit the PPA into its legal arm, the Workers Party of America
and the Trade Union Educational League
on its own terms, to no avail.
, the largest Marxist publishing house in the United States. Keracher became a member of the Kerr Board of the Directors in 1924 and in 1928 Charles Kerr sold him the bulk of his controlling shares in the firm. Thereafter, the Proletarian Party controlled the operations of Kerr & Co., publishing a number of Keracher's works, including How the Gods Were Made (1929), Producers and Parasites (1935), The Head-Fixing Industry (1935), Crime: It's Causes and Consequences (1937), and Frederick Engels (1946).
Owing to poor finances, few other new Kerr titles were ever published by the PPA, although the backlist of the company was no doubt invaluable in maintaining the organization's solvency.
H. M. Wicks wound up returning to the Communist Party of America, where he was known as a bitter factionalist. Dennis Batt retired from radical politics after a time, to become a labor journalist and staunch supporter of the American Federation of Labor
. The banner of the PPA and Charles H. Kerr & Co. was carried forward by Al Wysocki following Keracher's retirement as National Secretary in 1954.
. The Proletarian launched in May 1918 and continued to be issued each month until July 1931, when it was superseded by Proletarian News, which was launched in 1932 and terminated in July 1960. Both publications were monthlies.
In 1923 the party briefly experimented with a four page weekly Labor Digest: Devoted to the Working Class Struggle for Power. The newspaper last twelve issues from June 2, 1923 to September 22, 1923.
Throughout its history, the group also published an irregular mimeographed internal discussion newsletter called Proletarian Bulletin, as well as a short-lived publication for its youth section, Proletarian Youth.
. In 1937 a group disagreeing with its attitude toward the Soviet Union split and formed the Marxist Workers Party
.
In 1953, Al Wysocki succeeded John Keracher as National Secretary of the PPA. The organization remained based in Chicago, but showed a steady decline in interest and participation, withering to the point that by 1964 only two locals remained — Chicago and Flint, Michigan
.
The Proletarian Party was effectively terminated with the death of National Secretary Wysocki in 1971.
at Ann Arbor
. Over 20 linear feet of material is included in the collection, including correspondence files, newspaper clippings, financial documents, publications, and printer's slugs for original artwork.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 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 forward Charles H. Kerr & Co., the oldest publisher of 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...
books in America.
Formation
The Proletarian Party of America (PPA) emerged from the Socialist Party of MichiganSocialist Party of Michigan
The Socialist Party of Michigan is the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Michigan.-Formation:The Socialist Party of Michigan was the state affiliate of the Socialist Party of America , established in the summer of 1901...
, based in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 1920, but the organization's story dates to a few years prior to this event. The Michigan party, the state affiliate 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...
(SPA), was won over to a unique Left Wing ideology during the years of American participation in World War I
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...
.
The key figure in the Michigan organization which later became the PPA was a Scottish born shoe store owner named John Keracher
John Keracher
John Keracher was a Scottish-born American Marxist politician who founded the Proletarian Party of America in 1920.-Early years:...
, in association with a tool and die maker named Dennis Batt and radical activists Al Renner and H. M. Wicks. At Keracher's behest, the Socialist Party of Michigan eschewed all participation in electoral politics, instead favoring Marxist theoretical study to prepare the working class for the task of revolutionary leadership. Throughout the years of 1918 and 1919, the party established a network of Marxist study circles called "Proletarian Universities," with the movement particularly strong in Detroit, Chicago, and Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
.
At the 1919 State Convention of the Socialist Party of Michigan, Keracher was elected head of the state organization and an amendment was adopted by the assembled delegates calling for the expulsion from the Socialist Party of Michigan of anyone who engaged in electoral politics. Keracher, Batt, and other Michiganders were prominent as well in 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...
, a formal faction deeply inspired by the Russian Revolution which was engaged in the attempt to "win the Socialist Party for the Left Wing."
The Left Wing Section organized candidate slates for each of the electoral districts of the SPA and made use of bloc voting by sympathetic branches of the party's language federation
Language federation
Language Federations were formed in the late 19th and early 20th century by immigrants to the United States, primarily from Eastern and Southern Europe, who shared a commitment to some form of socialist politics...
s to achieve results. The outgoing National Executive Committee of the SPA cried election fraud, however, and refused to tally the results of the 1919 party election or to leave office on July 1, the appointed date. Instead, the outgoing NEC went on the offensive with a series of suspensions of language federations and the expulsion of the Michigan party, ostensibly for violation of the national constitution of the SPA for the anti-political provisions adopted at the 1919 state gathering.
Keracher and the Michigan socialists allied with the suspended language federations in calling for immediate formation of a Communist Party of America, as opposed to the tactics advocated by Alfred Wagenknecht
Alfred Wagenknecht
Alfred Wagenknecht was an American Marxist activist and political functionary. He is best remembered for having played a critical role in the establishment of the American Communist Party in 1919 as a leader of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party...
and L.E. Katterfeld
L.E. Katterfeld
Ludwig Erwin Alfred "Dutch" Katterfeld , most commonly known as L.E. Katterfeld, was an American socialist politician, a founding member of the Communist Labor Party of America, a Comintern functionary, and a magazine editor.-Early life:L.E...
of the NEC of continuing the fight to its conclusion at the 1919 Emergency National Convention
1919 Emergency National Convention
The 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party of America was held in Chicago from August 30 to September 5, 1919. It was a seminal gathering in the history of American radicalism, marked by the bolting of the party's organized left wing to establish the Communist Labor Party of...
of the SPA, scheduled for August 30 in Chicago. Wagenknecht, Katterfeld, and their associates wound up bolting the Emergency National Convention to establish the Communist Labor Party of America
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...
, while Keracher, Batt, and the federations formed a rival Communist Party of America. Two years of bitter struggle followed between these competing Communist organizations.
The idiosyncratic Michiganders were a poor match for the disciplined and highly orthodox Communists of the federations led by Alexander Stoklitsky, Oscar Tyverovsky, and Nicholas Hourwich of the Russian Communist Federation
Russian Socialist Federation
The Russian Socialist Federation was a semi-autonomous American political organization which was part of the Socialist Party of America from 1915 until the split of the national organization into rival socialist and communist organizations in the summer of 1919...
and Joseph Stilson of the Lithuanian Communist Federation. Early in 1920, a split ensued, due in part to the decision of the Michigan group to continue the public operation of the Proletarian Universities and to publish their monthly journal, The Proletarian, outside of the control of the Central Executive Committee. The Communist Party's Executive Secretary, C.E. Ruthenberg, recalled the necessary change of the Communist Party to an underground organization after the Palmer Raids
Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer...
of January 1920 as the root cause of the problem:
"The Proletarian group was still part of the Communist Party in January 1920 after the raids. I personally went to Detroit to reorganize the CP and conferred with [Al] Renner, [A.J.] MacGregor, and [John] Keracher. They refused to become part of an underground party. They were dropped out of the CP in February of 1920 because they refused to have any part in the reorganization."
The expelled Michigan "Proletarian University" would soon establish themselves as the Proletarian Party of America.
The new party attempted without success to gain affiliation with the Communist International for a few years before eventually abandoning the mission. In 1922, the unified CPUSA attempted to recruit the PPA into its legal arm, the Workers Party of America
Workers Party of America
The Workers Party of America was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from the last days of 1921 until the middle of 1929. As a legal political party the Workers Party accepted affiliation from independent socialist groups such as the African Blood Brotherhood,...
and the 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...
on its own terms, to no avail.
The Proletarian Party and Charles H. Kerr & Co.
Keracher's work with Detroit's Proletarian University had brought him into close contact with Charles H. Kerr, founder of Charles H. Kerr & Co.Charles H Kerr Company Publishers
Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company was established in Chicago, Illinois in 1886 by Charles Hope Kerr, originally to promote his Unitarian and vegetarian views. As Kerr's personal interests moved from religion to Marxism and he became interested in the labor movement, the company's publications took...
, the largest Marxist publishing house in the United States. Keracher became a member of the Kerr Board of the Directors in 1924 and in 1928 Charles Kerr sold him the bulk of his controlling shares in the firm. Thereafter, the Proletarian Party controlled the operations of Kerr & Co., publishing a number of Keracher's works, including How the Gods Were Made (1929), Producers and Parasites (1935), The Head-Fixing Industry (1935), Crime: It's Causes and Consequences (1937), and Frederick Engels (1946).
Owing to poor finances, few other new Kerr titles were ever published by the PPA, although the backlist of the company was no doubt invaluable in maintaining the organization's solvency.
H. M. Wicks wound up returning to the Communist Party of America, where he was known as a bitter factionalist. Dennis Batt retired from radical politics after a time, to become a labor journalist and staunch supporter of the 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...
. The banner of the PPA and Charles H. Kerr & Co. was carried forward by Al Wysocki following Keracher's retirement as National Secretary in 1954.
Publications
The official organ of the PPA was a monthly magazine called The Proletarian, which originally served a newsheet for the left wing inside the Socialist Party of MichiganSocialist Party of Michigan
The Socialist Party of Michigan is the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Michigan.-Formation:The Socialist Party of Michigan was the state affiliate of the Socialist Party of America , established in the summer of 1901...
. The Proletarian launched in May 1918 and continued to be issued each month until July 1931, when it was superseded by Proletarian News, which was launched in 1932 and terminated in July 1960. Both publications were monthlies.
In 1923 the party briefly experimented with a four page weekly Labor Digest: Devoted to the Working Class Struggle for Power. The newspaper last twelve issues from June 2, 1923 to September 22, 1923.
Throughout its history, the group also published an irregular mimeographed internal discussion newsletter called Proletarian Bulletin, as well as a short-lived publication for its youth section, Proletarian Youth.
Decline and demise
The party suffered two known splits in the 1930s. During one in the early 1930s a faction of the parties youth group split off to join with a group of German Left Communists to form the United Workers Party, which soon changed its name to the Council CommunistsCouncil communists (US organization)
In 1934 a group of left communists within the IWW joined with a dissident faction of the Proletarian Party to form the United Workers Party. The group soon changed its name to Groups of Council Communists or simply the Council Communists....
. In 1937 a group disagreeing with its attitude toward the Soviet Union split and formed the Marxist Workers Party
Marxist Workers Party
The Marxist Workers Party was a communist party in the United States active in the late 1930s.The MWP was a splinter group of the Proletarian Party, which left in 1937 because they disapproved of the PP vacillating line concerning the USSR and the popular front...
.
In 1953, Al Wysocki succeeded John Keracher as National Secretary of the PPA. The organization remained based in Chicago, but showed a steady decline in interest and participation, withering to the point that by 1964 only two locals remained — Chicago and Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
.
The Proletarian Party was effectively terminated with the death of National Secretary Wysocki in 1971.
Legacy
The papers of the Proletarian Party of America are housed in the Special Collections department of the University of MichiganUniversity 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...
at Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
. Over 20 linear feet of material is included in the collection, including correspondence files, newspaper clippings, financial documents, publications, and printer's slugs for original artwork.
Prominent Members
- Dennis E. BattDennis E. BattDennis E. Batt was an American political journalist and trade union activist. Best remembered as the first editor of The Communist, the official organ of the Communist Party of America and leading member of the Proletarian Party of America, in later years Batt's political views became increasingly...
- Milton V. Breitmayer
- Christ Jelset
- Oakley C. JohnsonOakley C. JohnsonOakley 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.-Early years:Oakley Calvin Johnson was born on...
- John KeracherJohn KeracherJohn Keracher was a Scottish-born American Marxist politician who founded the Proletarian Party of America in 1920.-Early years:...
- A.J. MacGregor
- Charles M. O'Brien
- Al Renner
- Alexander M. Rovin
- H. M. Wicks
- Al Wysocki
Additional reading
- Tim Davenport, "Formation of the Proletarian Party of America, 1913-1923: Part 1: John Keracher's Proletarian University and the Establishment of the Communist Party of America," Corvallis, OR: author, May 2011.
- Warren W. Grimes, "The Proletarian Party of America." Department of Justice/Bureau of Investigation memorandum, July 20, 1921. Corvallis, OR: 1000 Flowers Publishing, 2006.
- Oakley C. Johnson, Marxism in United States History Before the Russian Revolution (1876–1917). New York: Humanities Press, 1974.
- "The Early Socialist Party of Michigan: An Assignment in Autobiography," Ann Arbor, MI: The Centennial Review, v. 10, no. 2 (Spring 1966), pp. 147–162.
- Allen Ruff, "We Called Each Other Comrade": Charles H. Kerr & Company, Radical Publishers. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois PressUniversity of Illinois PressThe University of Illinois Press , is a major American university press and part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic projects...
, 1997.
External links
- The Proletarian Party (1920 - 1930), Early American Marxism website. Retrieved July 4, 2010.