Albert Rhys Williams (September 28, 1883 – February 27, 1962), commonly known by his middle name, pronounced "Reece," was an American journalist, labor organizer, and publicist. He is most famous for writing memoirs in favor of the 1917
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...
in Russia: he had been both a witness and a participant.
Early life
He was born in
Greenwich, Ohio, on September 28, 1883, to David Thomas Williams, a
Congregationalist minister, and Esther Rees (Rhys). Both of his parents were immigrants from
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. All of Rhys's brothers (he was the second of four) followed in the footsteps of their father and became ministers. Of them,
David Rhys Williams (one of two youngest) had a long and distinguished career in the Unitarian ministry.
At the end of the 1880s the family settled in the New York State resort community. In 1897, Albert graduated from high school in
Hancock, New York
Hancock is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The town contains a village, also named Hancock. The town is in the southwest part of the county. The population was 3,224 at the 2010 census. The town is the largest by area in Dela ...
. Then, he worked for some time in a lumber yard in
Apex, New York. Later, he moved to
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
where he worked at a clothing store until he was old enough to enter college.
In 1900, he went to a college in
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Ma ...
, where he studied until 1904. At Marietta College, he made his first steps in journalism, being an editor of the college newspaper. Also, he helped to organize a union for retail clerks in Marietta.
In 1904 to 1907 Williams studied at the
Hartford Theological Seminary
The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut.
History
Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connectic ...
, having graduated it with a license to preach. There, he also edited a labor column for the Hartford Evening Post. With a preacher's license in the summer of 1907, Williams worked at the Settlement House of the Spring Street Presbyterian Church, in New York City. In New York, Rhys met
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.
Early years
Thomas was the ...
(later the Socialist Party presidential candidate), who was then a Presbyterian seminarian. In those years, they both organized men's club debates.
In 1907 to 1908 Williams was studying on a fellowship at Cambridge University and the University of Marburg. There, he met members of the British Labour Party and other socialists. On his return to the United States, Williams worked for the 1908 presidential campaign of Socialist
Eugene Debs
Eugene may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...
. Then, Williams returned to his main profession as a minister of the
Maverick Square Maverick Square is a section of the neighborhood of East Boston in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is East Boston's oldest commercial center. At the heart of the square is Maverick Station, which is part of the Blue Line of the MBTA.
In ...
Congregational Church in
East Boston
East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and d ...
(1908 to 1914). However he did not abandon the labor and social issues at all. In 1912, Williams raised money and spoke up for the workers during the 1912 textile strike in
Lawrence, Massachusetts. Williams first met
John Reed, whose acquaintance played a role in his upcoming interest in Russia and then his trip to this far overseas country.
World War I
In 1914, however, upon outbreak of war in Europe, he went to Belgium, originally to perform relief work for civilian refugees. He later wrote a book about his early experiences during his stay in Belgium in 1914 was ''In the Claws of the German Eagle'', published in 1917. He joined a group of British reporters and cameramen and recounted somewhat humorously how some so-called 'action-photos' were taken at the time: bored soldiers willingly posed for simulated scenes of fighting. He himself was posed as a 'German spy' and photographed. The photograph later got printed and was used worldwide in the printed media as an authentic picture.
Soviet sympathizer
Williams first came into contact with the Bolsheviks in 1917 as a correspondent for the
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
. He attended the
Storming of the Winter Palace, met and became close friends with
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
, and stayed in the country until 1918. Upon his return to the United States, he worked as a pro-Soviet and Communist activist. Williams was a vocal opponent of the
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Leg ...
and deployment of American troops on Russian soil, stating, "I never ceased to feel shame for the role my country played in this joint effort to strangle bolshevism in its cradle and socialism for good and all."
He eventually volunteered for service in the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
, and was placed in charge of organizing an International Legion. Williams wrote of this, "If I helped in some small way to mitigate the guilt of being an American, I am satisfied."
Williams lived on and off in Russia, first moving there at the outbreak of the
Russian Civil War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Russian Civil War
, partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I
, image =
, caption = Clockwise from top left:
{{flatlist,
*Soldiers ...
and last leaving sometime after marrying
Lucita Squier
Lucita Squier (sometimes credited as Lucita Squier Williams) was an American screenwriter active during Hollywood's silent era. She wrote more than 50 scripts during the course of her career, working in the U.S., Britain, and Russia.
Biography ...
in 1923, thereafter only returning to visit in 1930, 1937, and 1959.
During his period of relations with the Soviets, he authored a number of related books and papers.
Though later personally critical of
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
, he refused to publicly criticize the Union itself, and maintained a pro-Soviet stance for the rest of his life.
Before his death, Williams wrote, "If I have remained true to the Revolution and still look forward to the final triumph of socialism in the world, it is because, like Lenin, I do believe in the essential goodness of man."
Works
* ''In the Claws of the German Eagle''. New York, E.P. Dutton and Co., 1917.
* ''Questions and Answers about Russia: An Extract from a Verbatim Report of a Conversation with Albert Rhys Williams, an American War Correspondent and Author Who Returned from Russia in the Autumn of 1918 as an Authorised Messenger from Lenin and the Soviet Government''. London: Workers' Socialist Federation, n.d.
918
__NOTOC__
Year 918 ( CMXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* December 23 – King Conrad I, injured at one of his battles with Arnu ...
* ''The Bolsheviks and the Soviets: Seventy-six Questions and Answers on the Workingman's Government of Russia''. Brooklyn, NY: Socialist Publication Society, 1918.
—Reprinted under various titles.
* ''The Bolsheviks and the Soviets: The Present Government of Russia, What the Soviets Have Done, Difficulties the Soviets Faced, Six Charges against the Soviets, the Soviet Leaders and the Bolsheviks, the Russians and America''. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1919.
* ''Soviet Russia and Siberia''. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr and Co., 1919.
* ''Soviet Russia: An Address''. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr and Co., 1919.
*
Lenin: the Man and His Work'. New York: Scott and Seltzer, 1919.
*
Through the Russian Revolution'. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1921.
* ''The Russian Land''. New York: The New Republic, 1927.
*
The Soviets'. New York, Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1937.
* ''The Russians: The Land, the People, and Why They Fight''. New York, Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1943.
* ''Journey Into Revolution; Petrograd, 1917-1918''. New York, Quadrangle Books, 1969.
*
Through the Russian Revolution'. Moscow:
Progress Publishers
Progress Publishers was a Moscow-based Soviet publisher founded in 1931.
Publishing program
Progress Publishers published books in a variety of languages: Russian, English, and many other European and Asian languages. They issued many scientific b ...
. 1973. (contains both ''Lenin: the Man and His Work'' and ''Through the Russian Revolution'')
References
Further reading
* Peter Hughes
"Albert Rhys Williams,"''Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography,'' uua.org/
* Boris Ivanov
From-Russia, November 1961. www.from-ussr.com/
(in Russian)
* Corliss Lamont (ed.), ''Albert Rhys Williams, September 28, 1883 - February 27, 1962: In Memoriam.'' New York: Horizon, 1962.
* Henry Slobodin, ''Questions on the Bolsheviks and the Soviets which Albert Rhys Williams Failed to Answer and the Answers.'' New York: American Labor World, 1919.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Albert Rhys
People from Huron County, Ohio
American male journalists
American political writers
American socialists
Hartford Seminary alumni
Writers from New York (state)
Writers from Ohio
1883 births
1962 deaths
American people of Welsh descent
Journalists from Ohio
Greenwich, Ohio