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John Reed Clubs

January 07, 2023

"John Reed Club" redirects here. For the band, see Ivy League Records.

The John Reed Clubs (1929–1935), often referred to as John Reed Club (JRC), were an American federation of local organizations targeted towards Marxist writers, artists, and intellectuals, named after the American journalist and activist John Reed. Established in the fall of 1929, the John Reed Clubs were a mass organization of the Communist Party USA which sought to expand its influence among radical and liberal intellectuals. The organization was terminated in 1935.[1][2][3][4]

John Reed Club (JRC)
John Reed c. 1917 namesake of the John Reed Club
SuccessorAmerican Artists' Congress
FormationOctober 1929
Dissolved1935
Headquarters102 West 14th Street, NYC
Official language
English
Key people
Founders Mike Gold, Walt Carmon, William Gropper, Keene Wallis, Hugo Gellert, Morris Pass, Joseph Pass
Main organ
Left Front, Partisan Review
Parent organization
Workers Cultural Federation
Subsidiarieschapters in Boston, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Chapel Hill, Indianapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Los Angeles (Hollywood), Carmel, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle

History

1929

In October 1929, the John Reed Club was founded by eight staff members of the New Masses magazine to support leftist and Marxist artists and writers. They included: Mike Gold, Walt Carmon, William Gropper, Keene Wallis, Hugo Gellert, Morris Pass, and Joseph Pass.[1]

According to Alan M. Wald, The John Reed Clubs were not founded by the Communist Party. New Masses managing editor Walt Carmon became frustrated with a group of young writers who were hanging out in the office and getting in his way.[5] He told them to "go out and form a club" and "call it the John Reed Club."[5] The John Reed Clubs would be a constant source of drama within the New Masses family, and members of the Clubs would eventually found the Partisan Review, which became a main competitor to the New Masses.

 
New Masses cover by Hugo Gellert (May 1926)

The New Masses announced the new club in its November 1929 issue:

The radical artists and writers of New York have organized the John Reed Club. The group includes all creative workers in art, literature, sculpture, music, theater, and the movies...
The purpose of the Club is to bring closer all creative workers; to maintain contact with the American revolutionary labor movement.
In cooperation with workers groups and cultural organizations, discussion, literary evenings, and exhibits will be organized. Hopefully, the organization will be national in scope...
For the first time, a group of socially conscious creative workers has been organized in America to compare with existing groups in Europe. Steps have been taken to make immediate contact with writers, artists, and all creative workers in France, Germany, Russia, and Japan.[6]

1930

 
Mike Gold (here, 1930s before crowd in New York City) was a prominent JRC co-founder

In January 1930, Mike Gold described the JRC in the New Masses as a "small group" comprising writers,

artists, sculptors, musicians, and dancers "of revolutionary tendencies." They were already building a clubhouse. Harold Hickerson had a music school with 100 pupils. Gropper and Lozowick taught graphic arts to 30. Edith Siegel led a "worker's ballet" for a Lenin memorial. Em Jo Basshe directed a Jewish Workers' theatre. Others taught at the New York Workers School. They cooperated with Workers International Relief. Gold recommended that every writer-member work in industry. He cited as example Ed Falkowski (miner), Martin Russak (textile worker), H. H. Lewis (farmer), and Joe Kalar (lumberman).[7]

On May 19, 1930, the New York Times published "A protest against the imprisonment of men and women for expressing their political opinions, coupled with a warning that "Red-baiting" is rapidly becoming a permanent condition, was voiced in a statement issued yesterday by the John Reed Club.[8] The headlines of the article ran:

'RED SCARE' PROTEST ISSUED BY LIBERALS
100 Writers, Educators and Artists Warn of Dangers in 'Hysteria' and 'Persecution'
SEE CIVIL RIGHTS AT STAKE
Statement Says 1,600 Have Been Wrongfully Arrested In 2 Months-Aid of Press Asked

Signatories included:

In July 1930, Harry Alan Potemkin, JRC secretary, reported in the New Masses that the JRC had supported May Day as well as signed a petition for the International Labor Defense for prisoners of war. The club also collaborated with "Proletpen," a Jewish proletarian writing group. It also supported the "United Front Conference Against Lynching," created by the New York district of the Communist Party USA. Books published by member writers included: Charles Yale Harrison's General Die in Bed and Mike Gold's children's story Charlie Chaplin's Parde.[9]

By November 1930, although originally politically independent, the JRC and the New Masses officially affiliated with the Communist Party. This turn coincided with the JRC's participation in the Kharkov Conference of the International Union of Revolutionary Writers (IURW), November 6–15, 1930. The joint JRC-New Masses delegation included: Mike Gold, A.B. Magil, Fred Ellis, William Gropper, Harry Potamkin, Josephine Herbst, and John Herrmann. The conference led to a ten-point "Program of Action" to promote proletarian literature as an important part of promoting Marxism.[1]

1932

 
John Dos Passos was a prominent writer and JRC member

On January 1, 1932, Diego Rivera spoke before the John Reed Club's New York chapter. Later, when the JRC heard of Rivera's support for Leon Trotsky, they disavowed him and returned a $100 contribution he made.[1]

The JRCs held a national conference on May 29–30, 1932, in Chicago.[1] During the conference, the JRCs announced they were "an integral part of the "Workers Cultural Federation."[10]

Conference ("presidium") members elected included: Joseph Freeman, Jan Wittenber, Conrad Kmorowiski, Kenneth Rexroth, Charles Natterstad, Harry Carlisle, George Gay, Carl Carlsen, and Jack Walters. Honorary members included Maxim Gorki, Romain Rolland, John Dos Passos, Fujimori, Lo Hsun, Johannes Becher, Vallant-Couturier, and Langston Hughes, with Maurice Sugar as chairman and Oakley C. Johnson as secretary.[1]

Chapter reports consistently criticized the original New York City chapter of ignoring the others. Harry Carlisle of JRC Hollywood opposed Mike Gold of JRC NYC for falling down on principle when opening the JRC to non-Marxist writers and artists. Instead, Carlisle urged, the JRC should focus on "artists and writers of distinctly working class origin."[1][10]

The July 1932 issue of the New Masses included the "John Reed Club Resolution Against War," stating its stance against "imminent imperial war," noting that the Soviet Union "stands for peace," and calling on all writers, artists, and professionals to unite "in defense of the first workers' republic, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."[11]

In November 1932, JRC members who publicly endorsed the Communist Party's US presidential slate (William Z. Foster and James W. Ford) included: EmJo Basshe, Robert Cantwell, Orrick Johns, Grace Lumpkin, Langston Hughes, Mike Gold, and Louis Lozowick.[1]

1933

In early 1933, the JRCs took a strong stance against Hitler and the rising tide of Fascism in Europe.[1]

In mid-1933, the JRCs held a second national conference. Attendees include: Jack Conroy, Meridel Le Sueur, Alan Calmer, Orrick Johns, Joe Jones, Nelsen Algren, William Phillips, Philip Rahv, Alfred Hayes, Gilbert Rocke, Jan Wittenber, Mike Gold, Richard Wright, Alexander Trachtenberg, A.B. Magil, Jack S. Balch, Joseph North.[1]

1934

On August 25, 1934, speakers of the Carmel citizens' committee directly accused the JRC of being a communistic organization. Byington Ford chairman of the committee, read reports from the national committees and showed charts seized in recently raided communist headquarters. Ford headed the citizens' committee to oppose the JRC and their activities.[12][13]

Dissolution

In 1936, the John Reed Clubs dissolved into the American Artists' Congress by order of the Communist Party USA.[14]

Organization

The John Reed Club's slogan was "Art is a weapon in the class struggle."[1]

Headquarters

In May 1930, the headquarters for the John Reed Club was 102 West Fourteenth Street, New York City.[8] In 1932, its location was 63 West Fifteenth Street, New York City.[1][10]

Chapters

New York City and Los Angeles were the two centers of writer-members.[1]

In 1931, there were 13 JRC chapters.[1] Chapters peaked at thirty. From New York, it spread to Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, and other cities. The Boston chapter was cofounded by writer Eugene Gordon.[15]

John Reed Club School of Art

During the 1932 national convention, the JRCs announced the opening of a "John Reed Club School of Art" in New York City at 450 Sixth Avenue. Classes were to start on November 14, 1932, for Monday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Instruction was open beyond JRC members. Instructors included Hugo Gellert, William Gropper, Louis Lozowick, and William Siegel.[1] One of the students was Norman Lewis, studying from 1933–1935.[16]

People

By 1933, the New York chapter had 380 members, of whom some 200 were artists and the rest writers. The only paid job was secretary-treasurer at $15 per week.[1]

Officers

 
Whittaker Chambers (here in 1948) was a member of the JRC's 1932 National Executive Board

The 1932 national convention elected the following JRC officers from various chapters to a "National Executive Board":

Members

 
Meridel Le Sueur (between writers Audre Lorde left and Adrienne Rich right in Austin, Texas, in 1980) was a JRC member

The John Reed Club had a somewhat prestigious membership in its early days among leftist circles. Later, it was sometimes used in reference as badge of shame by anti-communists.

Prominent women writers who were JRC members include: Jan Wittenber, Grace Lumpkin, Tillie Lerner, Meridel Le Sueur, Josephine Herbst, and Clara Weatherwax.[1]

Prominent African-American writers who were JRC members include: Eugene Gordon, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Joe Jones.[1]

Assessment

In her 1977 work The John Reed Clubs, Laurie Ann Alexandre stated:

It would be inaccurate to call the John Reed Club a Marxist organization. Its charter simply stated that any member who recognized class struggle and wished to give it support would be welcomed. It cannot be said that the JRC was committed beyond that general point. Many of its members were not Marxists, and the Clubs spent little time educating its members in the theoretical underpinnings of Engels, Marx, or Lenin.[1]

Works

Books by the JRCs

  • Harlan Miners Speak: Report on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields (1932)[18]

Books by JRC members

Between 1929 and 1936, some 46 proletarian novels were published, in no small part supported by the John Reed Club.[1]

Books published by JRC members during JRC years include (novels unless otherwise noted):

Magazines

Catalogs

  • John Reed Club Art School Catalogue, 1934-1935 (1934)[1]

Art exhibitions

 
Eitaro Ishigaki (~1940 from Archives of American Art) was a JRC co-founder

Artistic members of the John Reed Club of New York began holding art exhibitions in late 1929, shortly after the club's formation:

The last known exhibition occurred at the ACA Gallery: its theme was "The Capitalist Crisis" and gained little notice outside of Communist press organs.

The site of the John Reed Club in New York held exhibitions of member work from the summer of 1930; it established a gallery there in 1932. Records are scarce for 1932–1935.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad Alexandre, Laurie Ann (1977). The John Reed Clubs: A Historical Reclamation of the Role of Revolutionary Writers in the Depression (Thesis). California State University, Northridge. pp. xvi (catalog), 56–111 (history), 59 (assessment), 60 (founding), 67 (IURW), 74 (new location), 75-77 (chapters), 76-90 (national convention), 80 (periodicals), 90-91 (school), 91-92 (Foster-Ford), 92 (publications), 93 (women members), 93-94 (African-Americans), 94 (size), 95 (slogan), 96-97 (Rivera), 101 (chapters), 101-103 (Hitler), 103-105 (2nd conference), 112–150 (proletarian literature), 127 (novels), 130 (anthologies), 133 (publications). hdl:10211.3/121674. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  2. ^ Hemingway, Andrew (July–August 2015). "John Reed Clubs, Part I". Solidarity. Retrieved 17 November 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ Hemingway, Andrew (September–October 2015). "Rise and Fall of "Proletarian Art," Part II". Solidarity. Retrieved 17 November 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ a b Hartman, Andrew (1 December 2012). "John Reed Clubs". Society for U.S. Intellectual History. Retrieved 17 November 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ a b Wald, Alan (2002). Exiles from a Future Time: The Forging of the Mid-Twentieth Century Literary Left. Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8078-5349-8.
  6. ^ "Workers Art" (PDF). New Masses: 21. November 1929. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  7. ^ a b Gold, Mike (January 1930). "Workers Art" (PDF). New Masses: 21. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  8. ^ a b c "'Red Scare' Protest Issued by Liberals: 100 Writers, Educators and Artists Warn of Dangers in 'Hysteria' and 'Persecution'". New York Times. 19 May 1930. p. 18. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  9. ^ Potamkin, Harry Alan (July 1930). "The John Reed Club" (PDF). New Masses: 20. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d Johnson, Oakley (July 1932). "The John Reed Club Convention" (PDF). New Masses: 14–15. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  11. ^ "John Reed Club Resolution Against War" (PDF). New Masses: 14. July 1932. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Carmel Citizens Attack Reed Clubs". Salinas Morning Post. Salinas, California. 1934-08-25. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  13. ^ Morris, Derek. "Derek Morris - Monterey Scrapbook". www.derekmo.net. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  14. ^ Marquardt, Virginia Hagelstein (1989). ""New Masses" and John Reed Club Artists, 1926-1936: Evolution of Ideology, Subject Matter, and Style". The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. 12 (Spring 1989): 56–75. doi:10.2307/1504057. JSTOR 1504057.
  15. ^ Elizee, Andre. "Eugene Gordon Papers". New York Public Library website, April 2006.
  16. ^ "Norman Lewis Biography". Artnet.com. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  17. ^ Seyersted, Per (2004). Robert Cantwell: An American 1930s Radical Writer and His Apostasy. Oslo: Novus Press. pp. 49–50 (members NYC). ISBN 978-82-7099-397-0.
  18. ^ Harlan Miners Speak: Report on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields. National Committee for the Defense. 1932. ISBN 9780813159843. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  19. ^ . George Washington University. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  20. ^ Wright, Richard (1940). Native Son. Harper & Brothers. p. 468. ISBN 9780060929800.
  21. ^ "Richard Wright: Chronology 1931–1935". George Washington University. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
  22. ^ John Logie (2005). "We Write for the Workers: Authorship and Communism in Kenneth Burke and Richard Wright". K. B. Journal. 1 (2).
  23. ^ . University of North Carolina: All American encyclopedia. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  24. ^ "Richard Wright: Chronology". University of Illinois at Champlain: Modern American Poetry. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  25. ^ Rubin Jr., Louis D. (Spring 1965). "Several Literary Magazines". Sewanee Review. 73 (2): 320–330. JSTOR 27541124.
  26. ^ Gilbert, James B. (1974). "Partisan Review: New York, 1934—". In Conlins, Joseph R. (ed.). The American Radical Press, 1880-1960. Greenwood Press. p. 548.
  27. ^ Eitaro Ishigaki, from the Federal Art Project, Photographic Division collection - Image Gallery | Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
  28. ^ a b c d e Hemingway, Andrew (2002). Artists on the Left: American Artists and the Communist Movement, 1926-1956. Yale University Press. pp. 47–48, 63, 67. ISBN 978-0-300-09220-2. JSTOR 1504057.
  29. ^ . ACA Galleries. Archived from the original on 2018-04-03. Retrieved 2010-05-27.

External sources

  • James Gilbert, "Literature and Revolution in the United States: The Partisan Review," Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 2, no. 2 (April 1967), pp. 161-176. In JSTOR.
  • Eric Homberger, "Proletarian Literature and the John Reed Clubs 1929-1935," Journal of American Studies, vol. 13, no. 2 (Aug. 1979), pp. 221-244. In JSTOR.
  • Walter B. Rideout, The Radical Novel in the United States: 1900-1954: Some interrelations of Literature and Society (New York: Hill and Wang, 1966).
  • Henry Hart, ed., The American Writers' Congress (New York: International Publishers, 1935).
  • partial text of "I Tried to be a Communist", by Richard Wright
  • Yale University Press: Artists on the Left by
  • NYU Grey Art Gallery: The Left Front: Radical Art in the "Red Decade," 1929–1940
  • Northwestern University: The Left Front: Radical Art in the "Red Decade," 1929–1940
  • Smithsonian Archives of American Art: Photo - Protest held by the John Reed Club and Artists' Union, 1934

January 07, 2023
john, reed, clubs, john, reed, club, redirects, here, band, league, records, 1929, 1935, often, referred, john, reed, club, were, american, federation, local, organizations, targeted, towards, marxist, writers, artists, intellectuals, named, after, american, j. John Reed Club redirects here For the band see Ivy League Records The John Reed Clubs 1929 1935 often referred to as John Reed Club JRC were an American federation of local organizations targeted towards Marxist writers artists and intellectuals named after the American journalist and activist John Reed Established in the fall of 1929 the John Reed Clubs were a mass organization of the Communist Party USA which sought to expand its influence among radical and liberal intellectuals The organization was terminated in 1935 1 2 3 4 John Reed Club JRC John Reed c 1917 namesake of the John Reed ClubSuccessorAmerican Artists CongressFormationOctober 1929Dissolved1935Headquarters102 West 14th Street NYCOfficial languageEnglishKey peopleFounders Mike Gold Walt Carmon William Gropper Keene Wallis Hugo Gellert Morris Pass Joseph PassMain organLeft Front Partisan ReviewParent organizationWorkers Cultural FederationSubsidiarieschapters in Boston New York City Newark Philadelphia Chapel Hill Indianapolis Chicago Detroit Milwaukee Grand Rapids Los Angeles Hollywood Carmel San Francisco Portland Seattle Contents 1 History 1 1 1929 1 2 1930 1 3 1932 1 4 1933 1 5 1934 1 6 Dissolution 2 Organization 2 1 Headquarters 2 2 Chapters 2 3 John Reed Club School of Art 3 People 3 1 Officers 3 2 Members 4 Assessment 5 Works 5 1 Books by the JRCs 5 2 Books by JRC members 5 3 Magazines 5 4 Catalogs 5 5 Art exhibitions 6 See also 7 References 8 External sourcesHistory Edit1929 Edit In October 1929 the John Reed Club was founded by eight staff members of the New Masses magazine to support leftist and Marxist artists and writers They included Mike Gold Walt Carmon William Gropper Keene Wallis Hugo Gellert Morris Pass and Joseph Pass 1 According to Alan M Wald The John Reed Clubs were not founded by the Communist Party New Masses managing editor Walt Carmon became frustrated with a group of young writers who were hanging out in the office and getting in his way 5 He told them to go out and form a club and call it the John Reed Club 5 The John Reed Clubs would be a constant source of drama within the New Masses family and members of the Clubs would eventually found the Partisan Review which became a main competitor to the New Masses New Masses cover by Hugo Gellert May 1926 The New Masses announced the new club in its November 1929 issue The radical artists and writers of New York have organized the John Reed Club The group includes all creative workers in art literature sculpture music theater and the movies The purpose of the Club is to bring closer all creative workers to maintain contact with the American revolutionary labor movement In cooperation with workers groups and cultural organizations discussion literary evenings and exhibits will be organized Hopefully the organization will be national in scope For the first time a group of socially conscious creative workers has been organized in America to compare with existing groups in Europe Steps have been taken to make immediate contact with writers artists and all creative workers in France Germany Russia and Japan 6 1930 Edit Mike Gold here 1930s before crowd in New York City was a prominent JRC co founderIn January 1930 Mike Gold described the JRC in the New Masses as a small group comprising writers artists sculptors musicians and dancers of revolutionary tendencies They were already building a clubhouse Harold Hickerson had a music school with 100 pupils Gropper and Lozowick taught graphic arts to 30 Edith Siegel led a worker s ballet for a Lenin memorial Em Jo Basshe directed a Jewish Workers theatre Others taught at the New York Workers School They cooperated with Workers International Relief Gold recommended that every writer member work in industry He cited as example Ed Falkowski miner Martin Russak textile worker H H Lewis farmer and Joe Kalar lumberman 7 On May 19 1930 the New York Times published A protest against the imprisonment of men and women for expressing their political opinions coupled with a warning that Red baiting is rapidly becoming a permanent condition was voiced in a statement issued yesterday by the John Reed Club 8 The headlines of the article ran RED SCARE PROTEST ISSUED BY LIBERALS100 Writers Educators and Artists Warn of Dangers in Hysteria and Persecution SEE CIVIL RIGHTS AT STAKEStatement Says 1 600 Have Been Wrongfully Arrested In 2 Months Aid of Press Asked Signatories included L Adohmyan Sherwood Anderson Emjo Basshe Helen Black Helen Marie Black Franz Boas Alter Brody Samuel Brody Fritz Brosius Jacob Burck David Burliuk Rev R B Callahan Walt Carmon Ralph Cheyney N Cikovsky Lydia Cinquegrana Sarah N Cleghorn Ann Coles Malcolm Cowley Franz E Daniel Miriam A DeFord Miriam Allen deFord Adolf Dehn Floyd Dell L A De Santes Babette Deutsch Carl Van Doren John Dos Passos Robert W Dunn Max Eastman Charles Ellis Fred Ellis Ernestine Evans Kenneth Fearing Sara Bard Field Waldo Frank Harry Freeman Al Frueh Hugo Gellert Michael Gold Floyd S Gove C Hartley Grattan Horace Gregory William Gropper Rose Gruening Carl Haessler E Haldeman Julius M Haldeman Julius Ruth Hale feminist Jack Hardy Minna Harkavy S R Harlow Charles Y Harrison Aline D Hays Aline Davis Hays Arthur G Hays Arthur Garfield Hays Lowell B Hazzard Josephine Herbst John Herrmann Harold Hickerson Grace Hutchins Eitaro Ishigaki Joseph Kaplan Ellen A Kennan Rev C D Ketcham Rev Frank Kingdon I Kittine I Klein Alfred Kreymborg Joshua Kunizz Melvin P Levy Louis Lozowick Grace Lumpkin Norman J Macleod A B Magil Jan Matulka H L Mencken Norma Millay Harriet Monroe Frank McLean Scott Nearing Alfred H Neumann Eugene Nigob Joseph North Harvey O Connor M J Olgin Joseph Pass Morris Pass Nemo Piccoli Harry A Potamkin John Cowper Powys Juanita Preval Walter Quirt Burton Rascoe Anton Refregier Philip Reisman Louis Ribak Boardman Robinson Anna Rochester Anna Rosenberg Julius Rosenthal Martin Russak Samuel Russak David Saposs E A Schachner Theodore Scheel Isidor Schneider Evelyn Scott Edwin Seaver Edith Segal Esther Shemitz William Siegel Upton Sinclair John Sloan John French Sloan Otto Soglow A Solataroff Walter Snow Raphael Soyer Herman Spector J M Stalnaker Genevieve Taggard Eunice Tietjens Carlo Tresca Jim Tully Louis Untermeyer Joseph Vogel Keene Wallis Frank Walts Prof R E Waxwell Rev C C Webber G F Willison Edmund Wilson Jr Adolf Wolff Charles E S Wood Art Young Stark Young Avrahm Yarmonlinsky William Zorach 8 In July 1930 Harry Alan Potemkin JRC secretary reported in the New Masses that the JRC had supported May Day as well as signed a petition for the International Labor Defense for prisoners of war The club also collaborated with Proletpen a Jewish proletarian writing group It also supported the United Front Conference Against Lynching created by the New York district of the Communist Party USA Books published by member writers included Charles Yale Harrison s General Die in Bed and Mike Gold s children s story Charlie Chaplin s Parde 9 By November 1930 although originally politically independent the JRC and the New Masses officially affiliated with the Communist Party This turn coincided with the JRC s participation in the Kharkov Conference of the International Union of Revolutionary Writers IURW November 6 15 1930 The joint JRC New Masses delegation included Mike Gold A B Magil Fred Ellis William Gropper Harry Potamkin Josephine Herbst and John Herrmann The conference led to a ten point Program of Action to promote proletarian literature as an important part of promoting Marxism 1 1932 Edit John Dos Passos was a prominent writer and JRC member On January 1 1932 Diego Rivera spoke before the John Reed Club s New York chapter Later when the JRC heard of Rivera s support for Leon Trotsky they disavowed him and returned a 100 contribution he made 1 The JRCs held a national conference on May 29 30 1932 in Chicago 1 During the conference the JRCs announced they were an integral part of the Workers Cultural Federation 10 Conference presidium members elected included Joseph Freeman Jan Wittenber Conrad Kmorowiski Kenneth Rexroth Charles Natterstad Harry Carlisle George Gay Carl Carlsen and Jack Walters Honorary members included Maxim Gorki Romain Rolland John Dos Passos Fujimori Lo Hsun Johannes Becher Vallant Couturier and Langston Hughes with Maurice Sugar as chairman and Oakley C Johnson as secretary 1 Chapter reports consistently criticized the original New York City chapter of ignoring the others Harry Carlisle of JRC Hollywood opposed Mike Gold of JRC NYC for falling down on principle when opening the JRC to non Marxist writers and artists Instead Carlisle urged the JRC should focus on artists and writers of distinctly working class origin 1 10 The July 1932 issue of the New Masses included the John Reed Club Resolution Against War stating its stance against imminent imperial war noting that the Soviet Union stands for peace and calling on all writers artists and professionals to unite in defense of the first workers republic the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 11 In November 1932 JRC members who publicly endorsed the Communist Party s US presidential slate William Z Foster and James W Ford included EmJo Basshe Robert Cantwell Orrick Johns Grace Lumpkin Langston Hughes Mike Gold and Louis Lozowick 1 1933 Edit In early 1933 the JRCs took a strong stance against Hitler and the rising tide of Fascism in Europe 1 In mid 1933 the JRCs held a second national conference Attendees include Jack Conroy Meridel Le Sueur Alan Calmer Orrick Johns Joe Jones Nelsen Algren William Phillips Philip Rahv Alfred Hayes Gilbert Rocke Jan Wittenber Mike Gold Richard Wright Alexander Trachtenberg A B Magil Jack S Balch Joseph North 1 1934 Edit On August 25 1934 speakers of the Carmel citizens committee directly accused the JRC of being a communistic organization Byington Ford chairman of the committee read reports from the national committees and showed charts seized in recently raided communist headquarters Ford headed the citizens committee to oppose the JRC and their activities 12 13 Dissolution Edit In 1936 the John Reed Clubs dissolved into the American Artists Congress by order of the Communist Party USA 14 Organization EditThe John Reed Club s slogan was Art is a weapon in the class struggle 1 Headquarters Edit In May 1930 the headquarters for the John Reed Club was 102 West Fourteenth Street New York City 8 In 1932 its location was 63 West Fifteenth Street New York City 1 10 Chapters Edit New York City and Los Angeles were the two centers of writer members 1 In 1931 there were 13 JRC chapters 1 Chapters peaked at thirty From New York it spread to Chicago Detroit San Francisco Boston and other cities The Boston chapter was cofounded by writer Eugene Gordon 15 John Reed Club School of Art Edit During the 1932 national convention the JRCs announced the opening of a John Reed Club School of Art in New York City at 450 Sixth Avenue Classes were to start on November 14 1932 for Monday evenings and Saturday afternoons Instruction was open beyond JRC members Instructors included Hugo Gellert William Gropper Louis Lozowick and William Siegel 1 One of the students was Norman Lewis studying from 1933 1935 16 People EditBy 1933 the New York chapter had 380 members of whom some 200 were artists and the rest writers The only paid job was secretary treasurer at 15 per week 1 Officers Edit Whittaker Chambers here in 1948 was a member of the JRC s 1932 National Executive Board The 1932 national convention elected the following JRC officers from various chapters to a National Executive Board Oakley C Johnson National Secretary New York Louis Lozowick International Secretary New York Harry Carlisle Hollywood Whittaker Chambers New York Joseph Freeman New York Eugene Gordon Boston William Gropper New York Conrad Komorowski Philadelphia Duva Mendelsohn Detroit Charles Natterstad Seattle Jan Wittenber Chicago 10 Members Edit Meridel Le Sueur between writers Audre Lorde left and Adrienne Rich right in Austin Texas in 1980 was a JRC member The John Reed Club had a somewhat prestigious membership in its early days among leftist circles Later it was sometimes used in reference as badge of shame by anti communists New York Samuel Lewis Shane Whittaker Chambers Meyer Schapiro Robert Cantwell Jack Conroy John Dos Passos Langston Hughes Kenneth Fearing Grace Lumpkin Joseph Freeman Mike Gold 17 Granville Hicks 4 Chicago Richard Wright and the artist Morris Topchevsky were members in Chicago In 1944 Wright distilled his uncomfortable experience in an Atlantic Monthly article I Tried to be a Communist Prominent women writers who were JRC members include Jan Wittenber Grace Lumpkin Tillie Lerner Meridel Le Sueur Josephine Herbst and Clara Weatherwax 1 Prominent African American writers who were JRC members include Eugene Gordon Langston Hughes Richard Wright and Joe Jones 1 Assessment EditIn her 1977 work The John Reed Clubs Laurie Ann Alexandre stated It would be inaccurate to call the John Reed Club a Marxist organization Its charter simply stated that any member who recognized class struggle and wished to give it support would be welcomed It cannot be said that the JRC was committed beyond that general point Many of its members were not Marxists and the Clubs spent little time educating its members in the theoretical underpinnings of Engels Marx or Lenin 1 Works EditBooks by the JRCs Edit Harlan Miners Speak Report on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields 1932 18 Books by JRC members Edit Between 1929 and 1936 some 46 proletarian novels were published in no small part supported by the John Reed Club 1 Books published by JRC members during JRC years include novels unless otherwise noted Jews Without Money by Mike Gold 1930 Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes 1930 To Make My Bread by Grace Lumpkin 1932 Success Story play by John Howard Lawson 1932 Pity Is Not Enough by Josephine Herbst 1933 Karl Marx s Capital in Lithographs illustrations by Hugo Gellert 1934 The Ways of White Folks short stories by Langston Hughes 1934 Mulatto play by Langston Hughes 1935 1 Magazines Edit Left Front 1933 1935 Magazine published by JRC s Chicago chapter and featuring Richard Wright 19 20 21 22 23 24 Red Pen later Left Review from Philadelphia 1 Cauldron from Grand Rapids 1 New Force periodical from Detroit 1 John Reed Club National Bulletin from Washington DC 1 Leftward from Boston 1 Partisan from Los Angeles 1 Anvil from Moberly Mississippi 1 Hammer from Hartford Connecticut 1 Partisan Review 1934 1936 1937 2003 Magazine launched by JRC s home New York City chapter suspended and then resumed by breakaway writers Philip Rahv William Phillips Dwight Macdonald F W Dupee 25 26 Catalogs Edit John Reed Club Art School Catalogue 1934 1935 1934 1 Art exhibitions Edit Eitaro Ishigaki 1940 from Archives of American Art was a JRC co founder Artistic members of the John Reed Club of New York began holding art exhibitions in late 1929 shortly after the club s formation 1929 The first art exhibition occurred at the United Workers Cooperative Apartments aka United Workers Cooperative Colony aka Commie Coops on Bronx Park East in December 1929 Artists included Jacob Burck Fred Ellis William Gropper Eitaro Ishigaki 27 Gan Kolski Louis Lozowick Jan Matulka Morris Pass Anton Refregier Louis Leon Ribak Esther Shemitz Otto Soglow and Art Young 7 28 1930 The second exhibition occurred in January 1930 42 drawings paintings and lithographs that traveled from the Borough Park Workers Club 43rd Street Brooklyn to other clubs in Brownsville Williamsburg the Bronx and Manhattan 28 1931 The third exhibition occurred in April 1931 with the Proletpen a Yiddish cultural group of the Communist Party it comprised some 100 paintings drawings and cartoons by some 30 artists 28 1932 Twenty John Reed Club Artists on Proletarian and Revolutionary Themes occurred at the American Contemporary Art ACA Gallery in November 1932 36 paintings drawings and lithographs by 21 artists Albert Abramowitz Bard Mark Baum Joseph Biel Jacob Burck Dehn Hugo Gellert William Gropper William Hernandez Eitaro Ishigaki Limbach Louis Lozowick Moses Oley Quirt Anton Refregier Philip Resman Louis Leon Ribak William Siegel Soglow Raphael Soyer and Max Spivach Four known works comprised Gellert s Karl Max Capital in Lithographs from a set of 60 lithographs 28 1935 Another exhibition occurred again at the ACA Gallery 29 in 1935 its theme was the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and included Roustabouts by Joe Jones The last known exhibition occurred at the ACA Gallery its theme was The Capitalist Crisis and gained little notice outside of Communist press organs The site of the John Reed Club in New York held exhibitions of member work from the summer of 1930 it established a gallery there in 1932 Records are scarce for 1932 1935 28 See also EditNew Masses Left Front Partisan Review American Artists Congress League of American Writers List of members of the League of American Writers Union of Soviet WritersReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad Alexandre Laurie Ann 1977 The John Reed Clubs A Historical Reclamation of the Role of Revolutionary Writers in the Depression Thesis California State University Northridge pp xvi catalog 56 111 history 59 assessment 60 founding 67 IURW 74 new location 75 77 chapters 76 90 national convention 80 periodicals 90 91 school 91 92 Foster Ford 92 publications 93 women members 93 94 African Americans 94 size 95 slogan 96 97 Rivera 101 chapters 101 103 Hitler 103 105 2nd conference 112 150 proletarian literature 127 novels 130 anthologies 133 publications hdl 10211 3 121674 Retrieved 10 October 2018 Hemingway Andrew July August 2015 John Reed Clubs Part I Solidarity Retrieved 17 November 2018 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Hemingway Andrew September October 2015 Rise and Fall of Proletarian Art Part II Solidarity Retrieved 17 November 2018 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help a b Hartman Andrew 1 December 2012 John Reed Clubs Society for U S Intellectual History Retrieved 17 November 2018 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help a b Wald Alan 2002 Exiles from a Future Time The Forging of the Mid Twentieth Century Literary Left Chapel Hill and London The University of North Carolina Press p 105 ISBN 978 0 8078 5349 8 Workers Art PDF New Masses 21 November 1929 Retrieved 10 October 2018 a b Gold Mike January 1930 Workers Art PDF New Masses 21 Retrieved 10 October 2018 a b c Red Scare Protest Issued by Liberals 100 Writers Educators and Artists Warn of Dangers in Hysteria and Persecution New York Times 19 May 1930 p 18 Retrieved 1 January 2018 Potamkin Harry Alan July 1930 The John Reed Club PDF New Masses 20 Retrieved 10 October 2018 a b c d Johnson Oakley July 1932 The John Reed Club Convention PDF New Masses 14 15 Retrieved 16 October 2018 John Reed Club Resolution Against War PDF New Masses 14 July 1932 Retrieved 16 October 2018 Carmel Citizens Attack Reed Clubs Salinas Morning Post Salinas California 1934 08 25 Retrieved 2020 06 09 Morris Derek Derek Morris Monterey Scrapbook www derekmo net Retrieved 2020 06 09 Marquardt Virginia Hagelstein 1989 New Masses and John Reed Club Artists 1926 1936 Evolution of Ideology Subject Matter and Style The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 12 Spring 1989 56 75 doi 10 2307 1504057 JSTOR 1504057 Elizee Andre Eugene Gordon Papers New York Public Library website April 2006 Norman Lewis Biography Artnet com Retrieved 2020 05 10 Seyersted Per 2004 Robert Cantwell An American 1930s Radical Writer and His Apostasy Oslo Novus Press pp 49 50 members NYC ISBN 978 82 7099 397 0 Harlan Miners Speak Report on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields National Committee for the Defense 1932 ISBN 9780813159843 Retrieved 16 November 2018 Richard Wright John Reed Club George Washington University Archived from the original on June 10 2010 Retrieved May 30 2010 Wright Richard 1940 Native Son Harper amp Brothers p 468 ISBN 9780060929800 Richard Wright Chronology 1931 1935 George Washington University Retrieved May 31 2010 John Logie 2005 We Write for the Workers Authorship and Communism in Kenneth Burke and Richard Wright K B Journal 1 2 Richard Wright University of North Carolina All American encyclopedia Archived from the original on June 13 2010 Retrieved May 30 2010 Richard Wright Chronology University of Illinois at Champlain Modern American Poetry Retrieved May 30 2010 Rubin Jr Louis D Spring 1965 Several Literary Magazines Sewanee Review 73 2 320 330 JSTOR 27541124 Gilbert James B 1974 Partisan Review New York 1934 In Conlins Joseph R ed The American Radical Press 1880 1960 Greenwood Press p 548 Eitaro Ishigaki from the Federal Art Project Photographic Division collection Image Gallery Archives of American Art Smithsonian Institution a b c d e Hemingway Andrew 2002 Artists on the Left American Artists and the Communist Movement 1926 1956 Yale University Press pp 47 48 63 67 ISBN 978 0 300 09220 2 JSTOR 1504057 About the ACA Galleries ACA Galleries Archived from the original on 2018 04 03 Retrieved 2010 05 27 External sources EditJames Gilbert Literature and Revolution in the United States The Partisan Review Journal of Contemporary History vol 2 no 2 April 1967 pp 161 176 In JSTOR Eric Homberger Proletarian Literature and the John Reed Clubs 1929 1935 Journal of American Studies vol 13 no 2 Aug 1979 pp 221 244 In JSTOR Walter B Rideout The Radical Novel in the United States 1900 1954 Some interrelations of Literature and Society New York Hill and Wang 1966 Henry Hart ed The American Writers Congress New York International Publishers 1935 partial text of I Tried to be a Communist by Richard Wright Yale University Press Artists on the Left by Andrew Hemingway NYU Grey Art Gallery The Left Front Radical Art in the Red Decade 1929 1940 Northwestern University The Left Front Radical Art in the Red Decade 1929 1940 Smithsonian Archives of American Art Photo Protest held by the John Reed Club and Artists Union 1934 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Reed Clubs amp oldid 1125194148, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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