Adoph F. Germer (15 January 1881 – 26 May 1966) was an American
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
political functionary and
union organizer
A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers.
In some unions, the orga ...
. He is best remembered as National Executive Secretary of the
Socialist Party of America from 1916 to 1919. It was during this period that the
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 ...
emerged as an organized faction. Germer was instrumental as one of the leaders of the SPA's "Regular" faction in orchestrating a series of suspensions, expulsions, and "reorganizations" of various Left Wing states, branches, and locals and thereby controlling the pivotal
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 lef ...
of the SPA, and thus forcing the Left Wing to establish new organizations of their own, the
Communist Labor Party of America
The Communist Labor Party of America (CLPA) 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. Although a legal ...
and the
Communist Party of America
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
.
Biography
Early years
Adolph F. Germer was born January 15, 1881, in Welan, East Prussia, Germany the son of a miner.
[Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole (eds.), ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 84.] Germer emigrated to the United States with his family in December 1888 and attended
public school in
Braceville, Illinois
Braceville is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States, with a portion in Grundy County. The population was 793 at the 2010 census.
History
Braceville was founded under the name "Sulphur Springs" by Reverend L. S. Robbins in 1834. In ...
. He also attended a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
parochial school and completed his high school coursework via
correspondence school
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
.
Germer also did course work at
LaSalle Extension University
La Salle Extension University (LSEUDe Sola, Ralph (1981). ''Abbreviations dictionary.'' Elsevier, ), also styled as LaSalle Extension University,The university styled its name as both "La Salle" and "LaSalle" in print mediahttp://aycu21.webshots.c ...
.
Germer went to work in the mines like his father at a very early age, first working as a trapper at a coal mine near Staunton, Illinois, at age 11.
He was a member of the
United Mine Workers of America
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...
(UMWA) from 1894.
Germer escaped a life in the mines by working as a union official. He was elected Secretary of UMWA Local 728 in 1906 and its state legislative committeeman in 1907.
That same year he was elected a sub-district vice president of the union.
The next year he was elected secretary-treasurer of the sub-district of the UMWA, a position which he retained until 1912.
That final year he was also elected representative of the United Mine Workers to the World Miners' Congress in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
.
Political career
Germer joined the
Social Democratic Party of America, forerunner of the
Socialist Party of America (SPA) in 1900.
In 1912 Germer was a candidate of the
Socialist Party of Illinois for the Illinois legislature.
In 1913, Germer was elected to the governing National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party. At that same time, he worked as an organizer for the UMWA. In December of that year, Germer was arrested while getting off a train at
Walsenburg, Colorado
The City of Walsenburg is the Statutory City that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,049 at the 2020 census, down from 3,068 in 2010.
History
Walsenbur ...
, the site of an
ongoing mine strike. Germer was held
incommunicado in the local jail for nearly a week in
solitary confinement and his papers searched. HIs wife, Mabel Germer, was also briefly arrested.
["Germer in Jail," ''The Party Builder,'' whole no. 59 (December 20, 1913), pg. 1.] Upon his release, Germer continued to work as a UMWA organizer in the bitterly fought Colorado coal strike.
In 1914 Germer was elected Vice President of the Illinois Mine Workers, the state affiliate of the UMWA.
He also ran for
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
from
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
as a Socialist in
the election
''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...
held in fall of that year.
From 1916 through 1919, Germer served as National Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of America, being twice elected by referendum votes of the party membership. His 1916 victory over
Carl D. Thompson was made possible by staunch support from the SPA's
language federations, many branches of which voted for Germer ''en bloc,'' enabling him to defeat the more conservative Thompson.
A staunch
antimilitarist and unflinching adherent of the party's anti-World War policies established at its
1917 Emergency National Convention held in St. Louis, Germer was indicted in Chicago by a grand jury under the
Espionage Act
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War ...
on Feb. 2, 1918. This secret indictment was made public on March 9 and a trial of Germer and 4 other top members of the Socialist Party began before Judge
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis (; November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a United States federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death. He is remembered for his ...
on Dec. 6, 1918. The trial ended Jan. 4, 1919, and on the 9th day of that same month the jury found Germer and his associates (
Victor L. Berger,
J. Louis Engdahl
John Louis Engdahl (November 11, 1884 – November 21, 1932) was an American socialist journalist and newspaper editor. One of the leading journalists of the Socialist Party of America, Engdahl joined the Communist movement in 1921 and continued t ...
,
Irwin St. John Tucker, and
William F. Kruse) guilty. Landis sentenced each to 20 years in the Federal penitentiary, a sentence which was appealed and later overturned on the basis of judicial bias.
Germer was freed on $25,000 bail pending appeal, a sum put up by a man who was soon to be a political nemesis, the millionaire left wing socialist
William Bross Lloyd
William Bross Lloyd (February 24, 1875 – June 30, 1946) was an American attorney and political activist. The oldest son of the muckraking journalist Henry Demarest Lloyd and Jessie Bross, daughter of ''Chicago Tribune'' founder William B ...
.
Germer was instrumental in guiding the National Executive Committee in 1919, a group which invalidated the party elections of that year on charges of electoral fraud, and which suspended a number of language federations and reorganized state organizations for purported violations of the SPA's national constitution. It was Germer who organized a caucus of loyal SPA Regulars prior to the opening of the convention on Aug. 30, 1919, and Germer who gaveled that gathering open.
After the bitter 1919 convention, Germer resigned his post as Executive Secretary of the SPA and was replaced by his friend
Otto Branstetter. Germer continued to draw a salary from the SPA, working as a National Organizer for the party from October 1919 through 1920.
In that year he left the nearly bankrupt national party to work for the relatively more prosperous Local New York as an organizer, a position which he retained through 1922.
Germer was also Assistant Secretary of Local New York, working under his friend and ally
Julius Gerber from August 1921.
In November 1921, Germer stood as a Socialist candidate for the
New York State Assembly in the 16th A.D.
After the 1921 election, Germer moved to Massachusetts, where he served as State Secretary of the Socialist Party of Massachusetts, starting in December.
["Adolph Germer Papers, 1898-1966: Biography/History,"](_blank)
Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison. He remained in that position until some time the next year.
Return to union organizing
Thereafter, he left the employment of the Socialist Party, obtaining a job as a worker in the oil industry in California in 1923, where he was a member of the
Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers Union.
He later worked as an organizer for that union.
Germer was active in the 1924 Presidential campaign of
Robert M. La Follette
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his ...
.
In 1926, Germer returned to Chicago, where he worked for a large real estate firm, remaining in that occupation until the onset of the depression in 1930.
In 1930, Germer was elected a vice president of the reorganized United Mine Workers of America.
The following year, he returned to his hometown of Mt. Olive, Illinois and went to work again as a miner until the mine was closed due to the economic downturn.
In June 1931, Germer took a position as editor of the ''Rockford Labor News,'' remaining in that role until the end of 1933.
In November 1935, Germer was appointed by
John L. Lewis
John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the history of coal mining, he was the d ...
as the first field representative for the
Congress of Industrial Organizations. It this capacity, Germer was a participant in the organizing campaigns and strike activities of the auto and rubber workers of the upper Midwest.
Germer was particularly important as a key organizer in the 1937
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) ...
strike against General Motors.
Germer officially retired from the AFL-CIO on April 1, 1955, but he continued to serve the organization on special assignments.
Death and legacy
After retirement, Germer moved back home to Illinois, dying in Rockford, IL in May 1966.
The main part of Germer's papers are held by the
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...
located at
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
and are available on microfilm. Another smaller assortment, relating to his activity from 1945 to 1947 with the
World Federation of Trade Unions
The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade unions established in 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the International Federation o ...
, reposes at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
in
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...
.
An
oral history interview was conducted with Germer on his experience as a United Auto Workers organizer in 1959. That material rests at the Reuther Library of
Wayne State University
Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
, located in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
.
Footnotes
Works
"Report to the National Executive Committee,"''The American Socialist,'' Special Business Supplement, circa January 1, 1917.
''Organize or Pay!''Organizational leaflet no. 1. Chicago: National Office of the Socialist Party, Jan. 1917.
* ''Report of Executive Secretary
o the
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...
Emergency National Convention, St. Louis, April 7, 1917.'' St. Louis: n.p., 1917.
''Not Guilty: Charge of Federal Judge Clarence W. Sessions in the Conspiracy Case against Adolph Germer et al. in the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division, Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 9, 1917, to October 18, 1917.''Chicago: National Office of the Socialist Party, 1917.
* ''Defeated?'' Organizational leaflet no. 13. Chicago: National Office of the Socialist Party, 1918.
"Report of Executive Secretary to National Executive Committee,"August 8, 1918. Published by 1000 Flowers Publishing, Corvallis, OR, 2007.
* ''In the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. October term, A.D. 1918. Victor L. Berger, Adolph Germer, William F. Kruse, Irwin St. John Tucker and J. Louis Engdahl, plaintiffs in error, vs. United States of America, defendant in error. Error to the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, K.M. Landis, Judge ... Brief for the plaintiffs in error.'' With Messrs. Berger, Kruse, Tucker, and Engdahl. Chicago: The Court, 1919.
''100 years — For What? Being the Addresses of Victor L. Berger, Adolph Germer, J. Louis Engdahl, William F. Kruse and Irwin St. John Tucker to the Court that Sentenced Them to Serve 100 years in Prison.''With Messrs. Berger, Kruse, Tucker, and Engdahl. Chicago: National Office, Socialist Party, n.d.
919
__NOTOC__
Year 919 ( CMXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By Place
Byzantine Empire
* March 25 – Romanos Lekapenos, admiral (''droungarios'') of the ...
"Letter to Morris Hillquit in Upstate New York from Adolph Germer in Chicago,"March 22, 1919. Corvallis, OR: 1000 Flowers Publishing, 2005.
"A Report to NEC,"''The Socialist,'' June 4, 1919. Corvallis, OR: 1000 Flowers Publishing, 2005.
"National Secretary Germer's Letter of Resignation,"''New York Call,'' vol. 12, no. 261 (Sept. 18, 1919).
Further reading
* Randolph Boehm and Martin Paul Schipper, ''A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Adolph Germer Papers.'' Frederick, MD: University Publications of America, 1987.
* John H.M. Laslett (ed.), "End of an Alliance: Selected Correspondence Between Socialist Party Secretary Adolph Germer, and UMW of A Leaders in World War One," ''Labor History,'' vol. 12, no. 4 (Fall 1971), pp. 570–595.
* Lorin Lee Cary, ''Adolph Germer: From Labor Agitator to Labor Professional.'' Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1968.
* Lorin Lee Cary, "Adolph Germer and the 1890s Depression," ''Illinois State Historical Society Journal,'' vol. 68 (1975), pp. 337–343
In JSTOR* Lorin Lee Cary, "Institutionalized Conservatism in the Early CIO: Adolph Germer, a Case Study," ''Labor History,'' Vol. 13, no. 4 (Fall 1972), pp. 475–504.
External links
*
Early American Marxism website. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
"Finding Aid for the Adolph Germer Papers,"University of Wisconsin. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Germer, Adolph
1881 births
1964 deaths
American Marxists
American trade union leaders
German emigrants to the United States
Activists from Chicago
Socialist Party of America politicians from Illinois
United Mine Workers people
People acquitted under the Espionage Act of 1917
Socialist Party of America politicians from Massachusetts
Executive Secretaries of the Socialist Party of America
Progressive Era in the United States
Trade unionists from Massachusetts
Trade unionists from Illinois