Charles H. Kerr

For other people named Charles Kerr, see Charles Kerr (disambiguation).

Charles Hope Kerr (April 23, 1860 – June 1, 1944),^[1] was an American publisher, editor and writer. A son of abolitionists, he was a vegetarian and Unitarian in 1886 when he established Charles H. Kerr & Co. in Chicago. His publishing career is noted for his views' leftward progression toward socialism and support for the Industrial Workers of the World.

Charles H. Kerr
Kerr c. 1895
Born	Charles Hope Kerr (1860-04-23)April 23, 1860 LaGrange, Georgia, U.S.
Died	June 1, 1944(1944-06-01) (aged 84)
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Publisher, editor, writer
Known for	Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company

Biography

Early life

Charles Hope Kerr was born in LaGrange, Georgia, on April 23, 1860, the son of Alexander Kerr, a Scotsman who immigrated to the United States.^[2]

Career

Kerr started his career at a Unitarian publisher and joined the staff of the Unity magazine in the mid-1880s. To support the magazine, he eventually established his own publishing house Charles H. Kerr & Co. in 1893. Influenced by the US People's Party, Kerr began to publish more political works on topics like land reform, including a new monthly magazine New Occasions.

In January 1900, Algie Martin Simons was hired by Kerr to launch a new, more explicitly socialist magazine, what would become the International Socialist Review. Over the years, Kerr's company became a leading publisher of socialist, communist, anarchist, and Wobbly works.^[3] In 1908, Kerr fired Simons and assumed responsibility for the International Socialist Review when it was a major left-wing voice within the Socialist Party of America.

 

Industrial Socialism by Bill Haywood, published by Charles Kerr in 1911

Kerr was noted for his translation from the French of the radical workers' anthem, "The Internationale;" his version became the English words sung in the United States (although a different, anonymous English translation is sung in Britain and Ireland).^{[citation needed]} Kerr's version was widely circulated in the Little Red Songbook of the Industrial Workers of the World.^{[citation needed]}

Kerr was active in partisan politics as well. He was on the National Campaign Committee of the Social Democratic Party of America and later the Socialist Party of America. He was on the executive committee of the Socialist Party of Chicago, including a brief stint as treasurer. He was secretary of the Socialist Party of Illinois in 1902.^[4]

Vegetarianism

Kerr was a vegetarian and his company published J. Howard Moore's The Universal Kinship.^[5][6]

Works

Articles:

• "What Socialism Is," International Socialist Review, (1917)^[7]

Compilations:

• Unity songs resung (1884)^[8]

Translations:

• The right to be lazy, and other studies (1907)^[9]

References

1. Charles H. Kerr & Co., Encyclopedia of Chicago
2. Ruff, Allen (2011-07-01). "Charles H. Kerr: Early Years, Early Influences". "We Called Each Other Comrade": Charles H. Kerr & Company, Radical Publishers. PM Press. ISBN 978-1-60486-572-1.
3. Ruff, Allen (2011). We called each other comrade : Charles H. Kerr & Company, radical publishers. Oakland, CA: PM Press. ISBN 9781604864267.
4. We Called Each Other Comrade: Charles H. Kerr & Company, Radical Publishers. PM Press. 2011-07-01. pp. 21–. ISBN 9781604865721.^{[permanent dead link]}
5. Buhle, Mari Jo; Buhle, Paul; Georgakas, Dan. (1990). Encyclopedia of the American Left. Garland Publishing. p. 41. ISBN 9780824047818
6. Gregerson, Jon. (1994). Vegetarianism: A History. Jain Publishing Company. p. 94. ISBN 978-0875730301
7. Kerr, Charles H. (October 1917). "What Socialism Is". International Socialist Review: 197–200.
8. Charles H. Kerr, ed. (1885). Unity songs resung. Colegrove book company. LCCN 34040195.
9. Lafargue, Paul (1907). The right to be lazy, and other studies. Translated by Charles H. Kerr. C. H. Kerr & Company. LCCN 07023081.

Bibliography

• The International Socialist Review (ISR), 1900
• The Militant Proletariat
• Tim Dayton, "Red Ink: The Charles H. Kerr Story"
• H.L. Green, "Charles H. Kerr," The Free Thought Magazine [Chicago], vol. 14, no. 1 (Jan. 1896), pp. 1, 48-50.

External links

 

Wikisource has original works by or about:
Charles Hope Kerr

• Works by or about Charles H. Kerr at Internet Archive
• Tim Davenport (ed.), "Publications by Charles H. Kerr & Co. (1885-1940s): Listed Alphabetically by Author," Corvallis, OR: Early American Marxism website, 2014.
• Charles H. Kerr Company Records at the Newberry Library
• Charles H. Kerr at Library of Congress, with 13 library catalog records (previous page of browse report as 'Kerr, Charles H., 1860–' without '1944')
• Charles H. Kerr Company at LC Authorities, 5 records, and at WorldCat
• May Walden Papers at the Newberry