Isaac Edward "Ed" Ferguson (1888–1964) was a

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n lawyer and political activist. A founding member of the Communist Party of America, forerunner 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 ...

, Ferguson is best remembered a co-defendant and attorney in a highly publicized 1920 trial together with party leader

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, ...

for alleged violation of

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state law against so-called "criminal anarchism." Following conviction and a term served at Sing Sing prison, Ferguson withdrew from radical politics to become a prominent

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

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

attorney.

Biography

Early years

Isaac Edward Ferguson, known to his friends as "Ed," was born November 23, 1888 in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

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, Canada, the son of an

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rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

.Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole (eds.), ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 79. Ferguson moved to the

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as a boy. In 1905 he was on an AA registered basketball team with his four older brothers. He graduated from Mc Kinley high school in 1906 (Chicago tribune June 28, 1906 page9).He attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, from which he graduated with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1910 and a

Juris Doctor degree The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1912. During his time at the University of Chicago, Ferguson briefly became involved in radical politics, leaving the

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 ...

movement upon graduation.Marc Lendler, ''Gitlow v. New York: Every Idea an Incitement.'' Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2012; pg. 62. After graduation Ferguson spent four years in the Western state of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, where he ran for county attorney as a Republican.

Political career

Ferguson returned to Chicago in 1918 to take a position as a personal secretary to

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 ...

, a millionaire heir to the ''

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'' fortune who was running for

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on the ticket 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 ...

in the November 1918 election.Draper, ''The Roots of American Communism,'' pg. 138. Ferguson himself joined the Socialist Party at this time. Ferguson and Lloyd together felt an affinity for a

revolutionary socialist 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 revoluti ...

political program and were instrumental in launching the

Communist Propaganda League Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a Far-left politics, far-left Political sociology, sociopolitical, Political philosophy, philosophical, and Economic ideology, economic ideology and current within th ...

in Chicago — one of the first explicitly Bolshevik political organizations in the United States. Ferguson was early in casting his allegiance to 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 a ...

when it emerged early in 1919 and was a delegate to the faction's

National Conference of the Left Wing National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

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in June 1919. That gathering elected Ferguson as National Secretary of the Left Wing, a position which he formally retained until the establishment of the Communist Party of America (CPA) early in September. Ferguson joined his co-thinker,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Socialist Party leader

, as a charter member of the CPA and attended its founding convention in Chicago. He was elected the governing Central Executive Committee of the CPA and served on that body until leaving with Ruthenberg and his faction to join with the rival

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 ...

in establishing the

United 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 ...

at a secret convention held at the end of May 1920 in Bridgman, Michigan. As a radical attorney, Ferguson did legal defense work in a number of high-profile political cases of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

period and after, including work on the appeals of convicted

leaders

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialism, socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate ...

and

Rose Pastor Stokes Rose Harriet Pastor Stokes (née Wieslander; July 18, 1879 – June 20, 1933) was an American socialist activist, writer, birth control advocate, and feminist. She was a figure of some public notoriety after her 1905 marriage to Episcopalian mill ...

in 1918 as well as primary work on the case of

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Communist Party leader Walter Gabriel in 1920.

The Ruthenberg-Ferguson case

Ferguson was arrested in New York City, headquarters city of the Communist Party along with CPA Executive Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg on December 1, 1919. The pair were charged with violation of a previously unused 1902 New York law prohibiting the advocacy of "Criminal Anarchism," which had been passed in the aftermath of the assassination of President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

.Lendler, ''Gitlow v. New York,'' pg. 1. This law had made it a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

to advocate that "government should be overthrown by force or violence...or by any illegal means." Following a precedent set in a recent conviction of Irish radical

James Larkin James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim, was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party along with James Connolly and Willia ...

, it was alleged that through their membership on the National Council of the Left Wing, Ferguson and Ruthenberg had been responsible for the publication of an iteration 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 ...

, published in the official organ of the Left Wing Section, ''

The Revolutionary Age ''The Revolutionary Age'' was an American radical newspaper edited by Louis C. Fraina and published from November 1918 until August 1919. Originally the publication of Local Boston, Socialist Party, the paper evolved into the ''de facto'' nationa ...

,'' on July 5, 1919. The trial began in New York City on October 6, 1920, with Ferguson acting in the role of

defense attorney A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

for both defendants. Following a trial the pair were convicted on October 29 and immediately sentenced to a term of 5 years imprisonment. Ferguson and Ruthenberg were immediately jailed in The Tombs before being incarcerated at Sing Sing Prison at

Ossining, New York Ossining may refer to: * Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state *Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining * Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village * Ossi ...

. The pair would remain behind bars for approximately 18 months. Released on bail pending appeal, the case was eventually reversed by the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

in July 1922. It was the lack of proof of close ties between the two defendants and the publication of the Left Wing Manifesto that was the ultimate reason for the reversal.Lendler, ''Gitlow v. New York,'' pg. 52.

Legal career

Following his release from prison, Ferguson dropped out of direct political activity to concentrate on working as a lawyer full-time. Ferguson worked on the cases associated with the raided

1922 Bridgman Convention The 1922 Bridgman Convention was a secret conclave of the underground Communist Party of America (CPA) held in August 1922 near the small town of Bridgman, Michigan, about outside of the city of Chicago on the banks of Lake Michigan. The conventi ...

of the Communist Party and on criminal syndicalism cases in the state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1924.

Death and legacy

Ed Ferguson died in February 1964. He was 75 years old at the time of his death.

Footnotes

Works

"The Political Prisoners at Dannemora: Report of Their Attorney,"
''The Communist'' (UCP), vol. 1, no. 6 (Circa August 1920), pg. 8.
''A Communist Trial: Extracts from the Testimony of C.E. Ruthenberg and Closing Address to the Jury by Isaac E. Ferguson.''
New York: National Defense Committee, 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 Byzan ...

* ''U.S. Supreme Court Transcript of Record: Ruthenberg v. People of State of Michigan.'' (1926) Gale, 2011. *Chicago Tribune June 28, 1906 page9 *Chicago Tribune Sunday Tribune February 12, 1905 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Isaac Edward 1888 births 1964 deaths Politicians from Winnipeg Canadian Jews Lawyers from Chicago University of Chicago alumni American Marxists Members of the Socialist Party of America Members of the Communist Party USA Communist Party USA politicians