William James Bailey (January 23, 1910 – February 27, 1995) was an

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

labor activist who fought in the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

of the Republican Army during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

(1936–1939).

Early life

Bailey was born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family and grew up in the working class neighborhoods of

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

and

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

. He dropped out of school in the fifth grade and began sailing around the age of 15. He also worked briefly as a longshore worker in New York City. Bailey stated that he was initially drawn to sailing because he has grown up in poverty and the job guaranteed regular meals while he was growing.

Career and Activism

Bailey stated that his first exposure to radical ideas was when he met a

Wobbly The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

while sailing in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Motivated by his desire to fight poverty, he joined the

Marine Workers Industrial Union The Marine Workers Industrial Union (MWIU) was a short-lived union (1930-1935), initiated by the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA). History In 1927, CPUSA member George Mink traveled to the USSR, attended the fourth congress of the Profintern, ...

(MWIU) in 1932 and the Communist Party in the same period. After the

1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike The 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike (also known as the 1934 West Coast Longshoremen's Strike, as well as a number of variations on these names) lasted 83 days, and began on May 9, 1934 when longshoremen in every US West Coast port walked out ...

, the MWIU disbanded and Bailey joined the

International Seamen's Union The International Seamen's Union (ISU) was an American maritime trade union which operated from 1892 until 1937. In its last few years, the union effectively split into the National Maritime Union and Seafarer's International Union. The early yea ...

(ISU). In 1935, Bailey participated in an anti-Nazi demonstration against the '' SS Bremen'' in New York and was expelled from the ISU for being a communist. After being expelled from the ISU in New York, Bailey sailed to the West Coast and served on the strike committee during the 1936 Pacific Maritime Strike. Following the strike, Bailey was sent by the Communist Party to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

. In Hawaii, he helped

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

sugar workers on Maui organize an unsuccessful strike. Bailey fled Hawaii to avoid being charged with

criminal syndicalism Criminal syndicalism has been defined as a doctrine of criminal acts for political, industrial, and social change. These criminal acts include advocation of crime, sabotage, violence, and other unlawful methods of terrorism. Criminal syndicalism la ...

for his role in the strike, which likely would have landed him in prison for life. After leaving Hawaii, Bailey went on to fight

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

during the

. He joined the

Abraham Lincoln Brigade The Abraham Lincoln Brigade ( es, Brigada Abraham Lincoln), officially the XV International Brigade (''XV Brigada Internacional''), was a mixed brigade that fought for the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War as a part of the Internationa ...

, the American contingent of the

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Bailey served as a business agent for the Marine Firemen, Oilers and Watertenders Union (MFOW), before he himself joined the war effort during the invasion of the Philippines. He attended school to become a

U. S. Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

.Gillen, Michael, ''Merchant Marine Survivors of World War II: Oral Histories of Cargo Carrying Under Fire'', McFarland & Company, Inc. Jefferson, North Carolina, 2015, pages 7-10. (softcover), (ebook) He became a third assistant engineer and served on

liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

s during the war, including the SS John Paul Jones, SS Samuel Gompers, and the SS George Powell, as well as the

victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slight ...

SS Laredo Victory. His wartime service brought him to

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

at the conclusion of the war. Bailey was critical of the political positions taken by the Communist Party during the war, described by himself and other critics as class collaborationist, but he remained a Party member. After World War II, Bailey returned to working as a marine electrician but was blacklisted as a communist and unable to continue sailing after the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

broke out. He was expelled from the MFOW during the

McCarthy era McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...

, and briefly edited ''The Black Gang News'' before moving to longshore work. After talking to Louis Goldblatt, Bailey found work in longshoring first in Eureka, California, and later in San Francisco. He later became the vice president of ILWU, local 10. Bailey left the Communist Party around 1956 due to a growing culture of paranoia caused by the

Red Scare A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...

. He remained active in the labor movement and left-wing politics.

Later life and death

Bailey retired in 1975. On February 27, 1995, he died of a long-lasting pulmonary condition caused by asbestos exposure during his work as a seaman.

Works and features

Bailey's autobiography, ''The Kid from Hoboken'', was written with Lynn Damme and published in San Francisco by Circus Lithographic Prepress in 1993. The full text is available online. Bailey was interviewed in 1981 by sociologist Howard Kimeldorf for his book ''Reds or Rackets?''. The full interview is available on the Internet Archive. Bailey was featured in the film documentaries ''Seeing Red'' (1983) and ''The Good Fight: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War'' (1984). Bailey's story is told in "The Agitator: William Bailey and the First American Uprising against Nazism" by Peter Duffy (PublicAffairs, March 2019).

References

External links