Jackson Stitt Wilson (March 19, 1868 – August 28, 1942) was a Canadian-born American politician. He was a

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

, and held

Georgist Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—including ...

economic views. A member 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 ...

, Wilson was the mayor of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

from 1911 to 1913. He ran for Congress on a socialist platform, receiving 40 percent of the votes cast, but was defeated by the incumbent Republican Congressman.

Biography

Early years

J. Stitt Wilson was born in the small town of Auburn, Ontario in

Southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. ...

on March 19, 1868, the son of

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

parents. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1888, settling in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, where he attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. After graduation he worked as a schoolmaster and for a law firm. Wilson later decided to enter the Methodist ministry, enrolling at the theological seminary at Northwestern. Following completion of his schooling, Wilson worked for the next four years as a Methodist pastor and social worker in nearby Chicago. He later recalled that the experience of these four years were "to me a school out of which I came — a Socialist." He later recalled:

Political activity

Wilson first became involved in the organized socialist movement late in the 1890s as an active member of the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth, an organization which sought to establish socialist colonies in the new state of Washington with a view to taking over the state government and establishing a cooperative rather than profit-driven economy. Wilson continued to live in Chicago but served as one of eight official "lecturers" for the organization. Wilson was inspired by what he called "the social and economic significance of the Teachings of Jesus":

The Sermon on the Mount I saw was a code of social duties, so to speak, a revelation of the fundamental principles of Social Justice and human fellow ship for this our everyday world. Such a passage as that beginning with the phrase, "No man can serve two masters," is nothing short of a brief but comprehensive Social Program. It is almost impossible to find in the whole Sermon on the Mount anything that could give an ecclesiastical or theological colour to these sayings. They are ethical, moral, social.

From 1907, Wilson was a contributing editor to ''The Christian Socialist'' hicago a weekly newspaper that unified the

wing of the

. Wilson was a delegate from California to the 1904, 1910, and 1912 national conventions of the Socialist Party. At that 1912 gathering, Wilson joined with

Ernest Untermann Gerhard Ernest Untermann, Sr. (1864–1956) was a German-American seaman, socialist author, translator, newspaper editor. In his later life he was Director of the old Washington Park Zoo in Milwaukee, a geologist, fossil hunter, and artist. Biogr ...

, Joshua Wanhope, and Robert Hunter as a majority of the Committee on Immigration in offering a resolution on immigration which was pro-exclusionary, backing the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...

in its desire to stop manufacturers from importing cheap, non-union labor from the Far East. This proposal, primarily written by Untermann and Wanhope, was effectively killed by the convention on a motion by Charles Solomon of New York not to receive the committee's report, but rather to hold the matter open for investigation and decision by the next convention. Before he became mayor of Berkeley, Wilson ran for governor of California in 1910 on the Socialist ticket and received 12% of the votes cast. Wilson was elected mayor of Berkeley in 1911 to a two-year term but declined to run for re-election. In 1912, he ran for Congress as a Socialist and received 26,234 votes, 40% of the votes cast, but was defeated by the incumbent Republican Joseph R. Knowland. He was elected to the governing National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party in 1914. Wilson believed that there was an "impending social revolution" in the economic relations of man marked by the principle of "social ownership by the whole people of the basic equipment of land and machinery." Wilson asserted in a 1911 pamphlet that this social revolution was "now on" and declared

If God is ever to wipe away the tears from the face of man this age-long wrong apitalismmust be overthrown. If the mission of Jesus is ever to get the upper hand in human affairs, the social revolution must come to pass. There is no more good news to the poor unless there is the message and the task to abolish this age-long night of poverty. There is no deliverance for captives unless this social captivity is ended. There is no setting at liberty the people that are bruised unless this age-long bruising machinery is stopped. If we are ever to call the poor and the maimed and the halt to the banquet of creation, the program of the revolution must be inaugurated. The Heavenly Father may know we have need of all these things, and He may have provided for these needs in the limitless resources of nature, but we never can have them for the people except by seeking the kingdom of social justice and human brotherhood — which is the Kingdom of God — which is the social vision of the social revolution.

Wilson was a strong supporter of the "single tax" movement begun by

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

, arguing that land gained its value through the collective activity of humanity, not by the individual owner, and that the city, "the Social Mother in whose household we all live" should support itself by taxing this collectively created value. He gained the support of the League of California Municipalities and lead unsuccessful initiative campaigns in 1912 and 1914 to change the California constitution to allow local governments "home rule" in taxation so that they could choose to tax land separately from buildings and personal property. Not sharing the organization's staunch

anti-militarist Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First International, First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine t ...

perspective, Wilson withdrew from the Socialist Party at the outbreak of World War I. He was again writing for the party press by 1922, however. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, Wilson was appointed to the California State Relief Commission. In 1932, he was the Socialist candidate for the Congressional district which included Berkeley (7th), and in 1936 and 1940, he was a delegate to the Democratic Party convention.

Death and legacy

Wilson was married to Emma Agnew and had four children. His two sons were William Gladstone and Melnotte. His two daughters, Gladys Viola and Violette, both went into show business. Gladys took the stage name

Viola Barry Viola Barry ( – April 2, 1964) was an American silent film actress who starred in a number of films during the 1910s. Early years Gladys Viola Wilson was born in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of Rev. J. Stitt Wilson, a Methodist minister. ...

and starred in a series of silent films during the decade of the 1910s."Viola Barry (1894-1964),"
Filmography, Internet Movie Database. Violette married actor and movie director

Irving Pichel Irving Pichel (June 24, 1891 – July 13, 1954) was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career. Career Pichel was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh. He attended Pittsburgh Cent ...

. Wilson died in Berkeley, California, on August 28, 1942.

Works

"Socialism in London"
(Reprint from ''The Social Crusader.'') ''Appeal to Reason'' irard, KS whole no. 179 (May 6, 1899), pg. 2. * ''The Message of Socialism to the Church: An Address Delivered Before the Bay Association of Congregational Churches and Ministers, Oakland, September 13, 1904.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1904. * * ''The Tragic Game of Capitalism: Being an Open Letter to the People of the United States Concerning the Injustice of the Present Social Order.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1906. * ''The Message of Jesus to Our Times: An Interpretation.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, n.d. 907? * ''The Impending Social Revolution, or, The Trust Problem Solved.'' Berkeley, CA: The Social Crusade, 1911. * * ''The Hebrew Prophets and the Social Revolution.''

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

ngland J. Stitt Wilson, 1909. * * ''The Messiah Cometh: Riding Upon the Ass of Economics.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, n.d. * * ''The Bible Argument for Socialism.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1911." * * ''How I Became a Socialist.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1911. * * ''How I Became a Socialist, Part Two.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1911. * * ''The Kingdom of God and Socialism.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1911. * * ''Moses: The Greatest of Labour Leaders.'' Huddersfield, England, J. Stitt Wilson, 1909. *
"The Story of a Socialist Mayor,"
''The Western Comrade,'' vol. 1, no. 06 (Sept. 1913), pp. 186-187, 196. * ''The Harlots and the Pharisees, or, The Barbary Coast in a Barbarous Land ; also, The Story of a Socialist Mayor; Letter Declining Mayoralty Nomination.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1913. * ''The Three Great Hypnotisms.'' Westwood, MA: The Ariel Press, n.d. 91-? * ''Constructive Christian Democracy: An Outline of Fundamentals.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1922. * ''The Militant Church and Property; The Militant Church and Public Opinion.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, n.d. 923?* ''The Christ-Spirit in the Animal World.'' Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1925. Pamphlets denoted with (*) included in J. Stitt Wilson
''How I Became a Socialist and Other Papers,''
Berkeley, CA: J. Stitt Wilson, 1912.

Footnotes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, J. Stitt 1868 births 1942 deaths American anti-capitalists American Christian socialists American Methodist clergy Canadian anti-capitalists Canadian Christian socialists Canadian clergy Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian Methodists Georgists Mayors of Berkeley, California Methodist socialists Northwestern University alumni Socialist Party of America politicians from California