George Ross "Kirk" Kirkpatrick (February 24, 1867 – March 23, 1937) was an American anti-militarist writer and political activist. He is best remembered as the

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

Vice Presidential nominee of 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 ...

. He was briefly the Executive Secretary of that organization from November 1925 until May 1926.

Biography

Early years

George Ross Kirkpatrick was born February 24, 1867, in West Lafayette, Ohio, the son of a farmer.Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole (eds.), ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 126. He attended Allegheny College Preparatory School before enrolling in

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

. He received his bachelor's degree from Albion College and did graduate coursework at Vanderbilt University and the University of Chicago. Upon graduation, Kirkpatrick worked as a teacher at Kansas Methodist College and Ripon College for 4 years before moving to the Socialist Party-affiliated Rand School of Social Science in New York City.

Political career

Kirkpatrick joined the

in 1903. For nearly 20 years thereafter Kirkpatrick traveled across America as a lecturer for the party, speaking to general audiences on the topic of militarism and other political and economic questions. In 1910 he self-published his first full-length book, a blistering attack on militarism called ''War — What For?'' The first printing of 2500 copies sold out almost immediately and the book was subsequently reprinted many times over the course of the decade. Kirkpatrick's book would be his best known, touted by Socialist journalist

William M. Feigenbaum William Morris Feigenbaum (December 25, 1886 – April 23, 1949) was an American statistician, journalist and politician from New York. Life He was born on December 25, 1886, in Antwerp, Belgium, the son of Benjamin Feigenbaum (1860–1932)

"one of the really great works of the spirit in American history."William M. Feigenbaum, "G. Kirkpatrick, Veteran Socialist, Dies in California," ''The New Leader'' ew York vol. 20, no. 12 (March 27, 1937), pg. 2. Feigenbaum recalled:

"Written and widely circulated before the outbreak of the World War, it had an important influence on the American people. It struck with sledgehammer blows, it marshaled facts and figures, seasoned them with irony and fierce earnestness, and flung the challenge of its title into a world that would be infinitely better off today if it had been heeded."

The work catapulted Kirkpatrick to prominence in the ranks of the Socialist Party of America. In

, a mail referendum of Socialist Party members elected Kirkpatrick as the party's Vice Presidential nominee, topping St. Louis feminist Kate Richards O'Hare in the contest. Kirkpatrick appeared on the ballot along with Presidential hopeful

Allan L. Benson Allan Louis Benson (November 6, 1871 – August 19, 1940) was an American newspaper editor and author who ran as the Socialist Party of America candidate for President of the United States in 1916 United States presidential election, 1916. Biogra ...

and he toured extensively in support of the ticket. In 1924, Kirkpatrick was in Chicago on the payroll of the Socialist Party as the manager of its "Department of Literature." In that capacity he prepared several propaganda leaflets which were distributed in quantity by the party during the 1924 campaign season: a first on the growing wealth of the capitalist class (a four-page leaflet entitled ''Silence!),'' another detailing the party's opposition to the then-booming

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

, and a third on unemployment. He also edited the party's monthly magazine, ''The Socialist World,'' with Executive Secretary

Bertha Hale White Bertha Hale White, was a teacher and journalist, and a prominent functionary of the Socialist Party of America. After serving for more than a decade in the party's National Office, in February 1924 White was named Executive Secretary of the SPA, b ...

's name appearing on the masthead of the publication as "Business Manager." From November 15, 1925, Kirkpatrick served a brief stint as acting Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party, following the resignation of

, herself a former teacher and journalist. Kirkpatrick, who had been serving as Organization Director, was elected Assistant Executive Secretary by the National Executive Committee at its meeting of October 10, on the heels of White tendering of her resignation effective in a month. Kirkpatrick's time at the helm of the declining organization was short, however, as William H. Henry of Indiana was chosen as a permanent Executive Secretary following the party's May 1–3, 1926 National Convention held in Pittsburgh. Kirkpatrick later ran for U.S. Senate from Illinois on the Socialist Party ticket in 1928, and for the U.S. Senate from California in 1932 and Governor in 1934.Larry Kestenbaum (ed.)
"Kirkpatrick, George R.,"
political graveyard.com Retrieved March 6, 2010. In his final campaign Kirkpatrick garnered 110,000 votes. Kirkpatrick was a delegate to the 1934 National Convention of the Socialist Party, held in Detroit, Michigan, at which he lined up with the Old Guard faction in opposition to the radical "Declaration of Principles" passed by the Militant faction.

Death and legacy

George Kirkpatrick died in California in March 1937, three weeks after his 70th birthday.

Works

Books and pamphlets

* ''Mental Dynamite, or Little Lessons to Learn.'' 1906.
''War — What For?''
West LaFayette, OH: George Kirkpatrick, 1910. —Reissued in multiple editions, including Lithuanian and Finnish translations. * ''For the Educated Proletariat: Some Questions.'' New York: Cooperative Press, n.d. . 1911 * ''Think, or Surrender.'' Pittsburgh, PA: The Collectivist Press, 1916. * ''The Socialists and the Sword.'' Chicago: Socialist Party, n.d. . 1916 * ''War and the Working Class.'' n.c.: George R. Kirkpatrick, n.d. . 1916
''The Slander of the Toilers.''
Pittsburgh, PA: The Collectivist Press, 1919. * ''Silence!'' Chicago: Socialist Party, n.d. ay 1924 * ''The Socialist Party and the Ku Klux Klan.'' Chicago: Socialist Party, 1924. * ''Out of Work.'' Chicago, IL: Socialist Party, National Headquarters, eptember 1924
''Is Plenty Too Much for the Common People? The Hottest Question that Ever Stung a Statesman or a Slave. Question! Question! Question! I Call for the Question!''
Illustrations by

Art Young Arthur Henry Young (January 14, 1866 – December 29, 1943) was an American cartoonist and writer. He is best known for his socialist cartoons, especially those drawn for the left-wing political magazine ''The Masses'' between 1911 and 1917. B ...

. San Gabriel, CA: Florence H. Kirkpatrick, 1939.

Articles

* "The Priceless Remnant," ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 5, no. 4 (April 1924), pg. 5. * "Fall In or Fall Out," ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 5, no. 5 (May 1924), pp. 1, 3. * "On to Cleveland Gladly — And Carefully," ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 5, no. 6 (June 1924), pg. 14. * "The Enemy Opens Fire Upon the Workers — With Lies," ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 5, no. 7 (July 1924), pp. 6–7. * "One Hundred Days!" ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 5, no. 8 (August 1924), pp. 1–3. * "Our Charter of Liberties," ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 5, no. 11 (November 1924), pp. 5–6. * "Looking Ahead," ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 5, no. 11 (November 1924), pp. 10, 15. * "The Crucifixion of the Children," ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 5, no. 12 (December 1924), pp. 5–6. * "Certain Difficulties," ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 6, no. 1 (January 1925), pp. 15–16. * "The Proletariat and the Right of Revolution," ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 6, no. 2 (February 1925), pp. 12–14. * "'Taken!'" ''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 6, no. 5 (May 1925), pp. 5–6.
"Join the Army,"
''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 6, no. 6 (June 1925), pp. 1–3.
"The Significance of Youth in Social Progress,"
''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 6, no. 6 (June 1925), pp. 10–11.
"Christ in China, or — Why Hesitate?"
''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 6, no. 7 (July 1925), pp. 1–2.
"The International and Labor Congress of 1925,"
''The Socialist World'' hicago vol. 6, no. 7 (July 1925), pg. 7.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick, George Ross 1867 births 1937 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century Methodists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century Methodists Activists from Ohio Albion College alumni American anti-war activists American Christian socialists Methodists from Ohio American pacifists American political activists American political writers Executive Secretaries of the Socialist Party of America Methodist socialists People from Coshocton County, Ohio Ripon College (Wisconsin) faculty Socialist Party of America politicians from Illinois Socialist Party of America vice presidential nominees 1916 United States vice-presidential candidates University of Chicago alumni Vanderbilt University alumni 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers