Benjamin Gitlow (December 22, 1891 – July 19, 1965) was a prominent 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 e ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

of the early 20th century and a founding member of the

Communist Party USA 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 ...

. During the end of the 1930s, Gitlow turned to

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

and wrote two sensational exposés of American Communism, books which were very influential during the McCarthy period. Gitlow remained a leading

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

up to the time of his death.

Background

Benjamin Gitlow was born on December 22, 1891, in

Elizabethport, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

. His parents were

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrants from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

; his father, Lewis Albert Gitlow, moved to the United States in 1888, followed by his mother, Katherine, in 1889. In the United States, his father worked part-time for insufficient hours in various factories, while his mother helped the impoverished family to make ends meet by stitching

piecework Piece work (or piecework) is any type of employment in which a worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed, regardless of time. Context When paying a worker, employers can use various methods and combinations of ...

at home for garment factories. Radicalism seems to have run deeply in the family. Guests to the family home told stories about their personal and political experiences in Tsarist Russia. Gitlow later recalled this experience as formative to his own political development:

I would listen intently to the adventures of the Russian revolutionary leaders, of their experiences with the police, the days and years spent in prisons and their exile to the wastes of Siberia. I would grow indignant hearing how the Tsar mistreated the people. I thrilled at the stories of the underground movement, of the conspiring activities, how deeds of violence against the Tsarist oppressors were planned... The stories of personal experiences when raids were made by the secret police upon revolutionists' homes held me spellbound. I anticipated every incident that would be related. I also listened to discussions, very idealistic in their essence, in which the participants showed how Socialism would transform the world, and to arguments over methods of how Socialism would be achieved.

In later years, his mother achieved some notice as an important Communist women's leader, serving as Secretary of the Women's Committee of the

Workers Party of America The Workers Party of America (WPA) 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. Background As a legal political party, the Workers Party accepted affiliation fr ...

in 1924.

Career

Gitlow studied law while working as a

retail clerk A retail clerk, also known as a salesclerk, shop clerk, retail associate or (in the United Kingdom) shop assistant or customer service assistant, is a service role in a retail business. A retail clerk obtains or receives merchandise, totals bil ...

in a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Retail Clerks Union, political activity for which he was discharged from his job and

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

ed by the Merchants' Association. In June 1914, Gitlow testified before the US Commission on Industrial Relations on conditions prevalent in U.S. department stores. His testimony included descriptions of mandatory overtime, spying on workers, and

quid pro quo sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fr ...

. Following his blacklisting from the retail sales industry, Gitlow worked briefly as a cutter in the garment industry before entering the world of radical journalism in 1919.

Entry into radical politics

As soon as he turned 18 and became eligible for membership, Ben Gitlow joined the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a 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 of Ameri ...

. Gitlow was a committed and active member of the party and he was elected a delegate to the New York state convention of the SPA in 1910, the year after his joining. In the fall of 1917, Gitlow was elected on the Socialist ticket to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

(Bronx Co., 3rd D.), and sat in the

141st New York State Legislature The 141st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 13, 1918, during the fourth year of Charles S. Whitman's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the p ...

. He was one of 10 Socialists elected to the Assembly of 1918, all of them from New York City. Despite (or perhaps because of) his two years as a Socialist parliamentarian, Ben Gitlow professed a belief in

revolutionary Socialism Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolut ...

. From its earliest days in 1919, Gitlow was an adherent of the proto-Communist

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 a ...

, working closely with renowned radical

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and war correspondent John Reed. In April 1919, the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party of Local Greater New York established an official weekly newspaper called ''The New York Communist.'' Reed was named the editor of the new publication, with

Maximilian Cohen Maximilian "Max" Cohen was an American socialist politician of the early 20th century. Cohen held a series of important posts during the pivotal year of 1919, including Secretary of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party for Local Greater N ...

handling the day-to-day operations of the publication as its business manager. Effective with the June 14, 1919, issue, Max Cohen exited the scene and Ben Gitlow assumed the post of business manager. Following the Left Wing National Conference in June 1919, Reed's ''New York Communist'' was merged with the older and better established newspaper of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party, Local Boston, ''The Revolutionary Age,'' edited by

Louis C. Fraina Louis C. Fraina (October 7, 1892 – September 15, 1953) was a founding member of the Communist Party USA in 1919. After running afoul of the Communist International in 1921 over the alleged misappropriation of funds, Fraina left the organized ra ...

. This publication was moved to New York and thereafter recognized as the "National Organ of the Left Wing Section, Socialist Party," with the former New Yorker Fraina continuing as editor and Ben Gitlow taking over as business manager. John Reed was named the editor of the a new monthly labor magazine of the Left Wing Section, called ''Voice of Labor.'' Ben Gitlow also served as business manager of this publication, which was adopted by the Communist Labor Party in the fall, shortly before its termination due to lack of finances.

Arrest and trial

For his publicized connection on the staff of ''The Revolutionary Age'' Benjamin Gitlow was targeted for arrest during the coordinated raid of the Communist movement conducted by New York state authorities and the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

during the night of November 7/8, 1919. Gitlow was charged with violation of the New York

Criminal Anarchy In the United States, criminal anarchy is the crime of conspiracy to overthrow the government by force or violence, or by assassination of the executive head or of any of the executive officials of government, or by any unlawful means. The advocac ...

Law of 1902, which made it a crime to encourage the violent overthrow of government. It was contended that the publication of the

Left Wing Manifesto The Left Wing Manifesto is the name bestowed upon two distinct programmatic documents of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party during the factional war in the Socialist Party of America of 1919. The first document, the "Left Wing Manifesto ...

by ''The Revolutionary Age'' earlier that year constituted such illegal action. Ben Gitlow's widely publicized trial began in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on January 22, 1920, and went to the jury on February 5. Gitlow addressed the jury in his own defense in the case, saying:

I am charged in this case with publishing and distributing a paper known as ''The Revolutionary Age,'' in which paper was printed a document known as the Left Wing Manifesto and Program. It is held that that document advocates the overthrow of government by force, violence, and unlawful means. The document itself, the Left Wing Manifesto, is a broad analysis of conditions, economic conditions, and historical events in the world today. It is a document based upon the principles of socialism from their earliest inception. The only thing that the document does is to broaden those principles in the light of modern events.... The socialists have always maintained that the change from capitalism to socialism would be a fundamental change, that is, we would have a complete reorganization of society, that this change would not be a question of reform; that the capitalist system of society would be completely changed and that that system would give way to a new system of society based on a new code of laws, based on a new code of ethics, and based on a new form of government. For that reason, the socialist philosophy has always been a revolutionary philosophy and people who adhered to the socialist program and philosophy were always considered revolutionists, and I as one who maintain that, in the eyes of the present day society, I am a revolutionist.

The attempt of the Gitlow defense to declare the publication of the Left Wing Manifesto an expression of historical analysis rather than an act of practical advocacy was unsuccessful, however. Gitlow was convicted of the charge against him and on February 11, 1920, was sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison. He served over two years at

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

prison before being released on bail related to his filing of a

writ of error In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

. Gitlow's appeal motion was ultimately granted on December 13, 1922, followed by further hearings by the state.

Political activity after prison

Following his release from prison on bail in the spring of 1922, Ben Gitlow was made a full-time employee of the Communist Party of America. The governing Central Executive Committee named him as Industrial Organizer (party organizer in the unions) for a large area which stretched from New York City to Philadelphia and which encompassed the entire New England region. He was elected as a delegate to the Communist Party's ill-fated August 1922 convention held at

Bridgman, Michigan Bridgman is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,291 at the time of the 2010 census. History There was a place in this area known as Plummer's Pier. In 1856 lumbermen founded Charlotteville in this area. ...

, a gathering which was infiltrated by a Justice Department spy and raided by police. Gitlow was arrested and jailed in the aftermath, eventually released on bail. Ultimately only 2 of the delegates to this convention were tried, trade union leader

William Z. Foster William Zebulon Foster (February 25, 1881 – September 1, 1961) was a Political radicalism, radical American labor organizer and Communism, Communist politician, whose career included serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party US ...

(freed when the jury failed to agree) and Workers Party Executive Secretary

C.E. Ruthenberg Charles Emil Ruthenberg (July 9, 1882 – March 1, 1927) was an American Marxist politician and a founder and head of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Biography Early years Charles Emil Ruthenberg was born July 9, 1882, in Cleveland, Ohio, th ...

, who was convicted but who died before appeals were finalized and the sentence imposed. From May 1923 until early in 1924, Gitlow — a devoted partisan of the party faction headed by C.E. Ruthenberg and an opponent of the faction headed by William Z. Foster — was named the editor of the Workers' Party's

Yiddish language Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

daily, the ''

Morgen Freiheit Morgen Freiheit (original title: ; English: ''Morning Freedom'') was a New York City-based daily Yiddish language newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party, USA, founded by Moissaye Olgin in 1922. After the end of World War II the paper's pro- ...

'', this despite the American-born and educated Gitlow's faltering familiarity with the language. The appointment was political in nature and Gitlow was removed from the paper as soon as the Foster faction achieved majority control of the party apparatus. In 1924, Gitlow was named the candidate of the

for Vice President of the United States.

Return to prison

Three years after his release on bail, on June 8, 1925, the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

upheld his conviction in the case of ''

Gitlow v. New York ''Gitlow v. New York'', 268 U.S. 652 (1925), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court holding that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United S ...

,'' by a vote of 7 to 2, confirming that the publication of the Left Wing Manifesto in ''The Revolutionary Age'' did, in fact, constitute a punishable act under the law. As the legal wrangling and backstage politics continued, Ben Gitlow prepared to return to jail. In November 1925, Gitlow was ordered back to Sing Sing Prison by the court to finish his sentence. This would not be "hard time," however. Gitlow was immediately transferred to a new section of the prison located on a hill, a much more comfortable facility than that in which he had previously been confined. Gitlow was assigned to a cleaning detail that occupied only about one hour of his time. The cells had fresh air, a comfortable mattress, hot water in the basin, and clean, smoothly painted steel walls. Gitlow later recalled that "had a bath been included, it would have been equivalent to a good small room in a modern hotel." Gitlow anticipated a short stay in the facility as the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

assured him that it had obtained a verbal commitment from Governor Al Smith that Gitlow would be pardoned expeditiously. On December 11, 1925, Gitlow's first wedding anniversary, he was visited by his wife, who showed him a letter from an ACLU attorney stating that he would be free to leave Sing Sing on parole if he agreed to the conditions of his release. Gitlow considered this an unfortunate turn of events, as he sought freedom to continue his political activities without the constraint of parole supervision and the threat of a rapid return to jail. Gitlow's wife received word by telephone at that time that his decision on whether to accept a parole was moot, however, as the Governor had decided to grant him a full pardon. Freed from jail the next day, Gitlow arrived by train to a packed Grand Central Station, where he received a rousing hero's welcome from the assembled party members and friends. In

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

, Gitlow ran on the ticket of the

for

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

. In 1928, Gitlow was once again named the candidate of the Workers Party of America for Vice President of the United States, running for a second time on a ticket headed by

. Gitlow reached the summit of his political life as a Communist Party leader shortly after the conclusion of the 1928 campaign, when on March 16, 1929, Gitlow was named to the three-man Secretariat at the helm of the Communist Party, assuming the post of Executive Secretary. His time at the top proved to be momentary, however, as on March 23 he boarded an ocean liner for Moscow as part of a 10-person delegation seeking to appeal the Comintern's decision to expel

Jay Lovestone Jay Lovestone (15 December 1897 – 7 March 1990) was an American activist. He was at various times a member of the Socialist Party of America, a leader of the Communist Party USA, leader of a small oppositionist party, an anti-Communist and Centr ...

from the Communist Party. The job of Executive Secretary was turned over to factional ally

Robert Minor Robert Berkeley "Bob" Minor (15 July 1884 – 26 January 1952), alternatively known as "Fighting Bob," was a political cartoonist, a radical journalist, and, beginning in 1920, a leading member of the American Communist Party. Background Robe ...

in the interim.

Radical oppositionist

In 1929 Communist Parties around the world were purged of so-called "Right Oppositions" by the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

as the world Communist movement lurched towards the revolutionary left. Together with his factional co-thinker

, Ben Gitlow was expelled from the party as purported supporters of

Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...

in the USSR in opposition to the hardline faction 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 Secreta ...

. The expelled Communists followed Lovestone into a new organization, the so-called

Communist Party (Majority Group) The Lovestoneites, led by former General Secretary of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) Jay Lovestone, were a small American oppositionist communist movement of the 1930s. The organization emerged from a factional fight in the CPUSA in 1929 and un ...

, which actually included a small fraction of the membership of the regular Communist Party. Gitlow was named a member of the governing National Council of the CP(MG) in October 1929. At the 1st National Conference of the organization, held July 4–6, 1930 in New York City, Gitlow was elected Secretary of the Lovestone political organization, a role in which he continued at least through 1932. In the fall of 1930, Gitlow was sent on a month-long tour of the United States on behalf of the Lovestoneites, taking him to

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 th ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

, before returning to the east coast. Throughout the first 5 years of its existence the Lovestone organization continued to seek accommodation with the regular Communist Party. Gitlow's own views had gradually changed, however. In May 1933 he and Lazar Becker split from the Lovestoneites to found the Workers Communist League, which in turn merged with a group around B.J. Field to form the

Organization Committee for a Revolutionary Workers Party The Fieldites were a small leftist sect that split from the Communist League of America in 1934 and known officially as the Organization Committee for a Revolutionary Workers Party and then the League for a Revolutionary Workers Party. The name come ...

the next year.

Anti-Communist years

After briefly rejoining the Socialist Party in 1934, Gitlow became disillusioned with radicalism of all shades and emerged as an outspoken

. In 1939, he publicly rejected the Communist Party in testimony before the

House Committee on Un-American Activities The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

, chaired by Martin Dies, Jr. of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. In 1940, Gitlow published his first work of political

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''I Confess: The Truth About American Communism.'' The book was controversial and widely noticed, pushing Gitlow into the public eye as a leading opponent of American Communism. The book remains an important primary document for the study of American Communism in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1948, Gitlow followed his 1940 memoir with a steamier retelling of old tales called ''The Whole of Their Lives: Communism in America.'' Non-specialists should use the historical accounts in this later book, written as a

potboiler A potboiler or pot-boiler is a novel, play, opera, film, or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit, whose main purpose was to pay for the creator's daily expenses—thus the imagery of "boil the pot", which means "to provide one ...

for the popular market, with great caution as some of its details are at variance with the same stories told by the same author nearly a decade earlier. Also in 1948, he joined the

American Jewish League Against Communism The Joint Committee Against Communism, also known as the Joint Committee Against Communism in New York, was an Anti-communism, anti-communist organization during the 1950s. Origins Benjamin Schultz of Rochester, New York, had studied under Rab ...

. On

May 1 Events Pre-1600 * 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor. * 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. * 1169 &ndas ...

, 1950, in

Mosinee, Wisconsin Mosinee is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,988 at the time of the 2010 census. History Early history The traditional inhabitants of the area were ...

, a local

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

outpost staged a mock Communist takeover to illustrate what life under Soviet conquest might be like. Gitlow played the role of General Secretary of the "United Soviet States of America", while ex-Communist

Joseph Zack Kornfeder Joseph Zack Kornfeder (1898–1963), sometimes surnamed "Kornfedder" in the press, was an Austro-Hungarian-born American who was a founding member and top leader of the Communist Party of America in 1919, Communist Party USA leader, and Cominte ...

played the new commissar of the newly renamed town of "Moskva." A Soviet flag flew in front of the American Legion outpost. Ben Gitlow's final pamphlets, written in the early 1960s, were published by

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...

preacher

Billy James Hargis Billy James Hargis (August 3, 1925 – November 27, 2004) was an American Christian evangelist. At the height of his popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, his ''Christian Crusade'' ministry was broadcast on more than 500 radio stations and 250 te ...

's Christian Crusade Ministries, an organization committed to stopping the spread of Communism in the world.Some of Rev. Hargis's books include ''Communist America — Must It Be?'' (1960), ''The Facts About Communism and Our Churches'' (1962), ''Communism: The Total Lie'' (1963), ''The Real Extremists — The Far Left'' (1964), and ''Our Enemy in Vietnam is Russia!'' (1969).

Personal life and death

In 1924, Gitlow married Badana Zeitlin. Benjamin Gitlow died in

Crompond, New York Crompond is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Yorktown in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 2,292 at the 2010 census. Geography Crompond is located at (41.289126, -73.834385). Accord ...

, on July 19, 1965. Gitlow's papers are housed at the Hoover Institution Archives, located at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

, and at the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

Publications by Benjamin Gitlow

''The "Red Ruby": Address to the Jury; Also, Darrow; The Judge; Giovanitti.''
n.c. ew York

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 ...

, n.d.

920 __NOTOC__ Year 920 ( CMXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December 17 – Romanos I has himself crowned co-emperor of the Byza ...

''Acceptance speeches.''
With William Z. Foster. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1928.
''Some Plain Words on Communist Unity.''
New York: Workers Age Publishing Association, n.d.

932 Year 932 (Roman numerals, CMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Alberic II of Spoleto, Alberic II leads an uprising at Rome ag ...

br>alternate link''America for the People!: Why We Need a Farmer Labor Party.''
New York: Labor Party Association, 1933. *''Why the Boycott of Nazi Germany?'' London: British Section of the World Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi Council to Champion Human Rights, n.d. iddle 1930s *
I Confess: The Truth About American Communism.
' New York:

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American Publishing, book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton ( ...

, 1940.
''The Whole of Their Lives: Communism in America: A Personal History and Intimate Portrayal of Its Leaders.''
New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948.
''How to Think about Communism.''
Whitestone, N.Y., Graphics Group, 1949. — ''Illustrated reprint of selections from "The Whole of Their Lives."'' *''Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev and the Downgrading of Stalin.'' Tulsa, OK: Christian Crusade, n.d. . 1962 *''Communism — A World-Wide Failure?'' Tulsa, OK: Christian Crusade, n.d. . 1962 *''The Negro Question: Communist Civil War Policy.'' Tulsa, OK: Christian Crusade, n.d. . 1962

Related Publications

*''Women in politics'' by Kate Gitlow New York: United Council of Working Women, 1924
''Is the Stalin general line correct?''
New York, N.Y: Workers Communist League, 1933.

References

External links

*
Benjamin Gitlow Papers:
J. Murrey Atkins Library, University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

by

Max Shachtman Max Shachtman (; September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He went from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL–CIO President George Meany. Beginnings S ...

in ''New International'', Vol.4, No.12 (Dec. 1938), pp. 377–379. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gitlow, Benjamin 1891 births 1965 deaths 20th-century American politicians American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American state legislators in New York (state) Communist Party USA politicians Members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Elizabeth, New Jersey Retail clerks Right Opposition Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state) 1924 United States vice-presidential candidates 1928 United States vice-presidential candidates Former Marxists Politicians from the Bronx American anti-communists