The John Reed Clubs (1929–1935), often referred to as John Reed Club (JRC), were an American federation of local organizations targeted towards

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

writers, artists, and intellectuals, named after the American

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

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

John Reed. Established in the fall of 1929, the John Reed Clubs were a

mass organization A mass movement denotes a political party or movement which is supported by large segments of a population. Political movements that typically advocate the creation of a mass movement include the ideologies of communism, fascism, and liberalism. Bo ...

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 ...

which sought to expand its influence among radical and liberal intellectuals. The organization was terminated in 1935.

History

1929

In October 1929, the John Reed Club was founded by eight staff members of the ''

New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both ''The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (19 ...

'' magazine to support leftist and Marxist artists and writers. They included:

Mike Gold Michael Gold (April 12, 1894 – May 14, 1967) was the pen-name of Jewish American writer Itzok Isaac Granich. A lifelong communist, Gold was a novelist and literary critic. His semi-autobiographical novel '' Jews Without Money'' (1930) was a bes ...

Walt Carmon Walt Carmon (1894–1968) was a magazine editor and writer best known for his years as managing editor of the Communist magazine the ''New Masses'' from 1929 to 1932. He also worked for a number of other magazines in smaller roles, which contributed ...

William Gropper William Gropper (December 3, 1897January 3, 1977) was a U.S. cartoonist, painter, lithographer, and muralist. A committed radical, Gropper is best known for the political work which he contributed to such left wing publications as '' The Rev ...

, Keene Wallis,

Hugo Gellert Hugo Gellert (born Hugó Grünbaum, May 3, 1892 December 9, 1985) was a Hungarian-American illustrator and muralist. A committed radical and member of the Communist Party of America, Gellert created much work for political activism in the 1920s ...

, Morris Pass, and Joseph Pass. According to Alan M. Wald, The John Reed Clubs were not founded by the Communist Party. ''New Masses'' managing editor Walt Carmon became frustrated with a group of young writers who were hanging out in the office and getting in his way. He told them to "go out and form a club" and "call it the John Reed Club." The John Reed Clubs would be a constant source of drama within the ''New Masses'' family, and members of the Clubs would eventually found the ''

Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated John ...

'', which became a main competitor to the ''New Masses''.file: New-Masses-FC-May-1926.jpg, ''

'' cover by

(May 1926), alt=, left The ''New Masses'' announced the new club in its November 1929 issue:

The radical artists and writers of New York have organized the John Reed Club. The group includes all creative workers in art, literature, sculpture, music, theater, and the movies...
The purpose of the Club is to bring closer all creative workers; to maintain contact with the American revolutionary labor movement.
In cooperation with workers groups and cultural organizations, discussion, literary evenings, and exhibits will be organized. Hopefully, the organization will be national in scope...
For the first time, a group of socially conscious creative workers has been organized in America to compare with existing groups in Europe. Steps have been taken to make immediate contact with writers, artists, and all creative workers in France, Germany, Russia, and Japan.

1930

In January 1930,

described the JRC in the ''New Masses'' as a "small group" comprising writers, artists, sculptors, musicians, and dancers "of revolutionary tendencies." They were already building a clubhouse. Harold Hickerson had a music school with 100 pupils. Gropper and Lozowick taught graphic arts to 30. Edith Siegel led a "worker's ballet" for a Lenin memorial. Em Jo Basshe directed a Jewish Workers' theatre. Others taught at the

New York Workers School The New York Workers School, colloquially known as "Workers School," was an ideological training center of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) established in New York City for adult education in October 1923. For more than two decades the facility play ...

. They cooperated with

Workers International Relief The Workers International Relief (WIR) — also known as Internationale Arbeiter-Hilfe (IAH) in German and as Международная рабочая помощь (Mezhdunarodny Rabochy Komitet Pomoshchi Golodayushchim Rossii − Mezhrabpom) in R ...

. Gold recommended that every writer-member work in industry. He cited as example Ed Falkowski (miner), Martin Russak (textile worker), H. H. Lewis (farmer), and Joe Kalar (lumberman). On May 19, 1930, the ''New York Times'' published "A protest against the imprisonment of men and women for expressing their political opinions, coupled with a warning that "Red-baiting" is rapidly becoming a permanent condition, was voiced in a statement issued yesterday by the John Reed Club. The headlines of the article ran:

'RED SCARE' PROTEST ISSUED BY LIBERALS
100 Writers, Educators and Artists Warn of Dangers in 'Hysteria' and 'Persecution'
SEE CIVIL RIGHTS AT STAKE
Statement Says 1,600 Have Been Wrongfully Arrested In 2 Months-Aid of Press Asked

Signatories included: * L. Adohmyan *

Sherwood Anderson Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...

* Emjo Basshe * Helen Black (

Helen Marie Black Helen Marie Black (June 2, 1896 – January 31, 1988) was an American cultural and civic leader, journalist, and publicist. She was a co-founder of the Denver Symphony Orchestra and served as its business manager for more than 30 years, being th ...

) *

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...

* Alter Brody * Samuel Brody * Fritz Brosius *

Jacob Burck Jacob Burck (née Yankel Boczkowsky, January 10, 1907 – May 11, 1982) was a Polish-born Jewish-American painter, sculptor, and award-winning editorial cartoonist. Active in the Communist movement from 1926 as a political cartoonist and muralist, ...

David Burliuk David Davidovich Burliuk (Давид Давидович Бурлюк; 21 July 1882 – 15 January 1967) was a Russian-language poet, artist and publicist associated with the Futurist and Neo-Primitivist movements. Burliuk has been described as ...

* Rev. R. B. Callahan *

* Ralph Cheyney * N. Cikovsky * Lydia Cinquegrana * Sarah N. Cleghorn * Ann Coles *

Malcolm Cowley Malcolm Cowley (August 24, 1898 – March 27, 1989) was an American writer, editor, historian, poet, and literary critic. His best known works include his first book of poetry, ''Blue Juniata'' (1929), his lyrical memoir, ''Exile's Return ...

* Franz E. Daniel * Miriam A. DeFord (

Miriam Allen deFord Miriam Allen deFord (August 21, 1888 – February 22, 1975) was an American writer best known for her mysteries and science fiction. During the 1920s, she wrote for a number of left-wing magazines including ''The Masses'', '' The Liberator'', a ...

) *

Adolf Dehn Adolf Dehn (November 22, 1895 – May 19, 1968) was an American artist known mainly as a lithographer. Throughout his artistic career, he participated in and helped define some important movements in American art, including regionalism, social r ...

Floyd Dell Floyd James Dell (June 28, 1887 – July 23, 1969) was an American newspaper and magazine editor, literary critic, novelist, playwright, and poet. Dell has been called "one of the most flamboyant, versatile and influential American Men of Letters ...

* L. A. De Santes * Babette Deutsch *

Carl Van Doren Carl Clinton Van Doren (September 10, 1885 – July 18, 1950) was an American critic and biographer. He was the brother of critic and teacher Mark Van Doren and the uncle of Charles Van Doren. He won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autob ...

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...

* Robert W. Dunn *

Max Eastman Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radical ...

* Charles Ellis * Fred Ellis *

Ernestine Evans Ernestine Evans (August 9, 1889 – July 3, 1967) was an American journalist, editor, author and literary agent. Life Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she lived in Elkhart, Indiana during her childhood and attended the University of Chicago, receivi ...

Kenneth Fearing Kenneth Flexner Fearing (July 28, 1902 – June 26, 1961) was an American poet and novelist. A major poet of the Depression era, he addressed the shallowness and consumerism of American society as he saw it, often by ironically adapting the lan ...

Sara Bard Field Sara Bard Field (September 1, 1882 – June 15, 1974) was an American poet, suffragist, free love advocate, Georgist, and Christian socialist. She worked on successful campaigns for women's suffrage in Oregon and Nevada. Working with Alice Paul ...

Waldo Frank Waldo David Frank (August 25, 1889 – January 9, 1967) was an American novelist, historian, political activist, and literary critic, who wrote extensively for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The New Republic'' during the 1920s and 1930s. Frank is best ...

* Harry Freeman * Al Frueh *

* Michael Gold * Floyd S. Gove *

C. Hartley Grattan Clinton Hartley Grattan (October 19, 1902 – June 25, 1980) was an American economic analyst, historian, critic, and professor emeritus, who was considered one of the leading American authorities on 20th-century Australian history. Career Bor ...

Horace Gregory Horace Gregory (April 10, 1898 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – March 11, 1982 in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts) was a prize-winning American poet, translator of classic poetry, literary critic and college professor. He was awarded the Bollingen ...

* Rose Gruening *

Carl Haessler Carl Haessler (1888–1972) was an American political activist, conscription resister, newspaper editor, and trade union organizer. He is best remembered as an imprisoned conscientious objector during World War I and as the longtime head of the Fede ...

* E. Haldeman-Julius * M. Haldeman-Julius *

Ruth Hale (feminist) Ruth Hale (1887 – September 18, 1934) was an American journalist who worked for women's rights in New York City during the era before and after World War I. She was married to journalist Heywood Broun and was an associate of the Algonquin Roun ...

* Jack Hardy * Minna Harkavy * S. R. Harlow * Charles Y. Harrison * Aline D. Hays ( Aline Davis Hays) * Arthur G. Hays (

Arthur Garfield Hays Arthur Garfield Hays (December 12, 1881 – December 14, 1954) was an American lawyer and champion of civil liberties issues, best known as a co-founder and general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union and for participating in notable ca ...

)
Lowell B. Hazzard
*

Josephine Herbst Josephine Herbst (March 5, 1892 – January 28, 1969) was an American writer and journalist, active from 1923 to near the time of her death. She was a radical with communist leanings, who "incorporate the philosophy of socialism into her ficti ...

John Herrmann John Theodore Herrmann (November 9, 1900 – April 9, 1959) was a writer in the 1920s and 1930s and is alleged to have introduced Whittaker Chambers to Alger Hiss. Biography Herrmann was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1900. He lived in Paris i ...

* Harold Hickerson *

Grace Hutchins Grace Hutchins (August 19, 1885 – July 15, 1969) was an American labor reformer and researcher, journalist, political activist and communist. She spent many years of her life writing about labor and economics, in addition to being a lifelong ded ...

Eitaro Ishigaki was an American artist. Life Eitaro Ishigaki was born in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan in 1893. At the age of sixteen he emigrated to America in to live with his father in Seattle. A year later, in 1910, they moved to California, and in 1912, Ishigaki ...

* Joseph Kaplan * Ellen A. Kennan * Rev. C. D. Ketcham * Rev. Frank Kingdon * I. Kittine * I. Klein *

Alfred Kreymborg Alfred Francis Kreymborg (December 10, 1883 – August 14, 1966) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, literary editor and anthologist. Early life and associations He was born in New York City to Hermann and Louisa Kreymborg (née Nasher), ...

* Joshua Kunizz * Melvin P. Levy *

Louis Lozowick Louis Lozowick (1892 – 1973) (ukr: Луї Лозовик) was a Ukrainian-born American painter and printmaker. He is recognized as an Art Deco and Precisionist artist, and mainly produced streamline, urban-inspired monochromatic litho ...

Grace Lumpkin Grace Lumpkin (March 3, 1891 – March 23, 1980) was an American writer of proletarian literature, focusing most of her works on the Depression era and the rise and fall of favor surrounding communism in the United States. Most important of fou ...

* Norman J.Macleod * A. B. Magil *

Jan Matulka Jan Matulka (7 November 1890 – 25 June 1972) was a Czech-American modern artist originally from Bohemia. Matulka's style ranged from Abstract expressionism to landscapes, sometimes in the same day. He has directly influenced artists like Do ...

H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

* Norma Millay * Harriet Monroe * Frank McLean *

Scott Nearing Scott Nearing (August 6, 1883 – August 24, 1983) was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, pacifist, vegetarian and advocate of simple living. Biography Early years Nearing was born in Morris Run, Tioga Coun ...

* Alfred H. Neumann * Eugene Nigob * Joseph North * Harvey O'Connor * M. J. Olgin * Joseph Pass * Morris Pass * Nemo Piccoli * Harry A. Potamkin * John Cowper Powys * Juanita Preval * Walter Quirt * Burton Rascoe *

Anton Refregier Anton Refregier (March 20, 1905 – October 10, 1979) was a painter and muralist active in Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project commissions, and in teaching art. He was a Russian immigrant to the United States. Among his best-kn ...

Philip Reisman
* Louis Ribak *

Boardman Robinson Boardman Michael Robinson (1876–1952) was a Canadian-American painter, illustrator and cartoonist. Biography Early years Boardman Robinson was born September 6, 1876 in Nova Scotia. He spent his childhood in England and Canada, before mov ...

Anna Rochester Anna Rochester (March 30, 1880 — May 11, 1966) was an American labor reformer, journalist, political activist, and Communist. Although for several years an editor of the liberal monthly '' The World Tomorrow,'' Rochester is best remembered as a ...

* Anna Rosenberg * Julius Rosenthal * Martin Russak * Samuel Russak * David Saposs * E. A. Schachner * Theodore Scheel *

Isidor Schneider Isidor Schneider (August 23, 1896 in Horodenka, Galicia, Austria–August 3, 1977 in Manhattan, New York City, New York) was an American poet, novelist and critic. Career Isidor Schneider was born in 1896 in Horodenka,"New York, Southern District ...

* Evelyn Scott * Edwin Seaver *

Edith Segal Edith Segal (November 11, 1902 – 1997) was a Jewish-American choreographer, dancer, poet and songwriter. Early life Born and raised in New York City to immigrant parents, Segal chose to pursue a professional career in dance against the wishes o ...

Esther Shemitz Esther Shemitz (June 25, 1900August 16, 1986), also known as "Esther Chambers" and "Mrs. Whittaker Chambers," was an American painter and illustrator who, as wife of ex-Soviet spy Whittaker Chambers, provided testimony that "helped substantiate" h ...

William Siegel William Siegel (1905–1990; born Wilhelm Tsiegelnitsky, later William Sanderson) was an American painter and illustrator. Early in his career, he worked as a contributing editor publishing illustrations in '' New Masses'' magazine. During the G ...

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in seve ...

* John Sloan (

John French Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...

) * Otto Soglow * A. Solataroff * Walter Snow *

Raphael Soyer Raphael Zalman Soyer (December 25, 1899 – November 4, 1987) was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter. He is identified as a Social Realist because of his interest in men ...

* Herman Spector * J. M. Stalnaker *

Genevieve Taggard Genevieve Taggard (November 28, 1894 – November 8, 1948) was an American poet. Biography Genevieve Taggard was born in Waitsburg, Washington, to James Taggard and Alta Arnold, both of whom were school teachers. Her parents were both active mem ...

* Eunice Tietjens *

Carlo Tresca Carlo Tresca (March 9, 1879 – January 11, 1943) was an Italian-American newspaper editor, orator, and labor organizer who was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World during the 1910s. He is remembered as a leading public opponent of fas ...

* Jim Tully *

Louis Untermeyer Louis Untermeyer (October 1, 1885 – December 18, 1977) was an American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor. He was appointed the fourteenth Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1961. Life and career Untermeyer was born in New Y ...

* Joseph Vogel * Keene Wallis
Frank Walts
* Prof. R. E. Waxwell * Rev. C. C. Webber * G. F. Willison * Edmund Wilson Jr. * Adolf Wolff * Charles E. S. Wood *

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 ...

* Stark Young * Avrahm Yarmonlinsky * William Zorach In July 1930, Harry Alan Potemkin, JRC secretary, reported in the ''New Masses'' that the JRC had supported

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

as well as signed a petition for the

International Labor Defense The International Labor Defense (ILD) (1925–1947) was a legal advocacy organization established in 1925 in the United States as the American section of the Comintern's International Red Aid network. The ILD defended Sacco and Vanzetti, was activ ...

for prisoners of war. The club also collaborated with "Proletpen," a Jewish proletarian writing group. It also supported the "United Front Conference Against Lynching," created by the New York district of the

. Books published by member writers included: Charles Yale Harrison's ''General Die in Bed'' and

's children's story ''Charlie Chaplin's Parde''. By November 1930, although originally politically independent, the JRC and the ''

'' officially affiliated with the Communist Party. This turn coincided with the JRC's participation in the Kharkov Conference of the International Union of Revolutionary Writers (IURW), November 6–15, 1930. The joint JRC-''New Masses'' delegation included: Mike Gold, A.B. Magil, Fred Ellis, William Gropper, Harry Potamkin, Josephine Herbst, and John Herrmann. The conference led to a ten-point "Program of Action" to promote proletarian literature as an important part of promoting Marxism.

1932

On January 1, 1932,

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

spoke before the John Reed Club's New York chapter. Later, when the JRC heard of Rivera's support for

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

, they disavowed him and returned a $100 contribution he made. The JRCs held a national conference on May 29–30, 1932, in Chicago. During the conference, the JRCs announced they were "an integral part of the "Workers Cultural Federation." Conference ("presidium") members elected included: Joseph Freeman, Jan Wittenber, Conrad Kmorowiski, Kenneth Rexroth, Charles Natterstad, Harry Carlisle, George Gay, Carl Carlsen, and Jack Walters. Honorary members included

Maxim Gorki Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and sociali ...

, Romain Rolland,

, Fujimori, Lo Hsun, Johannes Becher, Vallant-Couturier, and

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

, with Maurice Sugar as chairman and Oakley C. Johnson as secretary. Chapter reports consistently criticized the original New York City chapter of ignoring the others. Harry Carlisle of JRC Hollywood opposed Mike Gold of JRC NYC for falling down on principle when opening the JRC to non-Marxist writers and artists. Instead, Carlisle urged, the JRC should focus on "artists and writers of distinctly working class origin." The July 1932 issue of the ''New Masses'' included the "John Reed Club Resolution Against War," stating its stance against "imminent imperial war," noting that the Soviet Union "stands for peace," and calling on all writers, artists, and professionals to unite "in defense of the first workers' republic, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." In November 1932, JRC members who publicly endorsed the Communist Party's US presidential slate ( William Z. Foster and James W. Ford) included: EmJo Basshe,

Robert Cantwell Robert Emmett Cantwell (January 31, 1908 – December 8, 1978), known as Robert Cantwell, was a novelist and critic. His first novel, ''Laugh and Lie Down'' (1931) is an early example, twenty years before Jack Kerouac, of the American classic ge ...

Orrick Johns Orrick Glenday Johns (June 2, 1887 – July 8, 1946) was an American poet and playwright. He was one of the earliest modernist free-verse poets in Greenwich Village in 1913-1915 and associated with the artist's colony at Grantwood, New Jerse ...

, and

1933

In early 1933, the JRCs took a strong stance against

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

and the rising tide of

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 ...

in Europe. In mid-1933, the JRCs held a second national conference. Attendees include:

Jack Conroy John Wesley Conroy (December 5, 1899 - February 28, 1990) was a leftist American writer,"Jack Conroy." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 29 Oct. 2009, also known as a Worker-Writer,AP, . "Jack Conroy, Novelist, 91." ...

, Meridel Le Sueur, Alan Calmer, Orrick Johns, Joe Jones, Nelsen Algren,

William Phillips William Phillips may refer to: Entertainment * William Phillips (editor) (1907–2002), American editor and co-founder of ''Partisan Review'' * William T. Phillips (1863–1937), American author * William Phillips (director), Canadian film-make ...

Philip Rahv Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

, Alfred Hayes, Gilbert Rocke, Jan Wittenber, Mike Gold, Richard Wright, Alexander Trachtenberg, A.B. Magil, Jack S. Balch, Joseph North.

1934

On August 25, 1934, speakers of the Carmel citizens' committee directly accused the JRC of being a communistic organization.

Byington Ford Lewis Byington Ford (November 1, 1890 – January 19, 1985) was a Monterey Peninsula real estate developer. He was a major force in developing Pebble Beach and Carmel Woods. Ford established the Carmel Valley Airport, the first airpark of its kin ...

chairman of the committee, read reports from the national committees and showed charts seized in recently raided communist headquarters. Ford headed the citizens' committee to oppose the JRC and their activities.

Dissolution

In 1936, the John Reed Clubs dissolved into the

American Artists' Congress The American Artists' Congress (AAC) was an organization founded in February 1936 as part of the popular front of the Communist Party USA as a vehicle for uniting graphic artists in projects helping to combat the spread of fascism. During World W ...

by order of the Communist Party USA.

Organization

The John Reed Club's slogan was "Art is a weapon in the class struggle."

Headquarters

In May 1930, the headquarters for the John Reed Club was 102 West Fourteenth Street, New York City. In 1932, its location was 63 West Fifteenth Street, New York City.

Chapters

New York City and Los Angeles were the two centers of writer-members. In 1931, there were 13 JRC chapters. Chapters peaked at thirty. From New York, it spread to Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, and other cities. The Boston chapter was cofounded by writer Eugene Gordon.

John Reed Club School of Art

During the 1932 national convention, the JRCs announced the opening of a "John Reed Club School of Art" in New York City at 450

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...

. Classes were to start on November 14, 1932, for Monday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Instruction was open beyond JRC members. Instructors included

, and William Siegel. One of the students was Norman Lewis, studying from 1933–1935.

People

By 1933, the New York chapter had 380 members, of whom some 200 were artists and the rest writers. The only paid job was secretary-treasurer at $15 per week.

Officers

The 1932 national convention elected the following JRC officers from various chapters to a "National Executive Board": * Oakley C. Johnson, National Secretary (New York) *

, International Secretary (New York) * Harry Carlisle (Hollywood) *

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...

(New York) * Joseph Freeman (New York) * Eugene Gordon (Boston) *

(New York) * Conrad Komorowski (Philadelphia) * Duva Mendelsohn (Detroit) * Charles Natterstad (Seattle) * Jan Wittenber (Chicago)

Members

Audre Lorde, Meridel Lesueur, Adrienne Rich 1980

The John Reed Club had a somewhat prestigious membership in its early days among leftist circles. Later, it was sometimes used in reference as badge of shame by anti-communists. * New York: Samuel Lewis Shane,

Meyer Schapiro Meyer Schapiro (23 September 1904 – 3 March 1996) was a Lithuanian-born American art historian known for developing new art historical methodologies that incorporated an interdisciplinary approach to the study of works of art. An expert on earl ...

, Joseph Freeman,

Granville Hicks Granville Hicks (September 9, 1901 – June 18, 1982) was an American Marxist and, later, anti-Marxist novelist, literary critic, educator, and editor. Early life Granville Hicks was born September 9, 1901, in Exeter, New Hampshire, to Frank Stev ...

* Chicago: Richard Wright and the artist

Morris Topchevsky Morris Topchevsky (1899-1947) was a Chicago-based social realism, social realist artist. Biography Morris Topchevsky was born in Białystok, Poland (then a part of Russia) and immigrated to Chicago, Illinois with his family in 1910 to escape ...

were members in Chicago. (In 1944, Wright distilled his uncomfortable experience in an ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' article, "I Tried to be a Communist".) Prominent women writers who were JRC members include: Jan Wittenber,

, Tillie Lerner,

Meridel Le Sueur Meridel Le Sueur (February 22, 1900, Murray, Iowa – November 14, 1996, Hudson, Wisconsin) was an American writer associated with the proletarian literature movement of the 1930s and 1940s. Born as Meridel Wharton, she assumed the name of her mot ...

, and Clara Weatherwax. Prominent African-American writers who were JRC members include: Eugene Gordon,

, Richard Wright, and Joe Jones.

Assessment

In her 1977 work ''The John Reed Clubs'', Laurie Ann Alexandre stated:

It would be inaccurate to call the John Reed Club a
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
organization. Its charter simply stated that any member who recognized class struggle and wished to give it support would be welcomed. It cannot be said that the JRC was committed beyond that general point. Many of its members were not Marxists, and the Clubs spent little time educating its members in the theoretical underpinnings of
Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''
Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 p ...
, or
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
.

Works

Books by the JRCs

* ''Harlan Miners Speak: Report on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields'' (1932)

Books by JRC members

Between 1929 and 1936, some 46 proletarian novels were published, in no small part supported by the John Reed Club. Books published by JRC members during JRC years include (novels unless otherwise noted): * '' Jews Without Money'' by

(1930) * ''

Not Without Laughter ''Not Without Laughter'' is the debut novel by Langston Hughes published in 1930. Plot introduction ''Not Without Laughter'' portrays African-American life in Kansas in the 1910s, focusing on the effects of class and religion on the community. T ...

'' by

(1930) * '' To Make My Bread'' by

(1932) * '' Success Story'' (play) by

John Howard Lawson John Howard Lawson (September 25, 1894 – August 11, 1977) was an American writer, specializing in plays and screenplays. After starting with plays for theaters in New York City, he worked in Hollywood on writing for films. He was the first pres ...

(1932) * '' Pity Is Not Enough'' by

(1933) * ''Karl Marx's Capital in Lithographs'' (illustrations) by

(1934) * ''

The Ways of White Folks ''The Ways of White Folks'' is a collection of fourteen short stories by Langston Hughes, published in 1934. Hughes wrote the book during a year he spent living in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The collection addresses multiple dimensions of ...

'' (short stories) by

(1934) * ''

Mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

'' (play) by

(1935)

Magazines

* '' Left Front'' (1933-1935): Magazine published by JRC's Chicago chapter and featuring Richard Wright * ''Red Pen'' (later ''Left Review'') from Philadelphia * ''Cauldron'' from Grand Rapids * ''New Force'' periodical from Detroit * ''John Reed Club National Bulletin'' from Washington, DC * ''Leftward'' from Boston * ''Partisan'' from Los Angeles * ''Anvil'' from Moberly, Mississippi * ''Hammer'' from

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

* ''

'' (1934-1936, 1937-2003): Magazine launched by JRC's home New York City chapter, suspended, and then resumed by breakaway writers

Dwight Macdonald Dwight Macdonald (March 24, 1906 – December 19, 1982) was an American writer, editor, film critic, social critic, literary critic, philosopher, and activist. Macdonald was a member of the New York Intellectuals and editor of their leftist maga ...

, F. W. Dupee

Catalogs

* ''John Reed Club Art School Catalogue, 1934-1935'' (1934)

Art exhibitions

Archives of American Art - Eitaro Ishigaki - 2985

Artistic members of the John Reed Club of New York began holding art exhibitions in late 1929, shortly after the club's formation: * 1929: The first art exhibition occurred at the United Workers' Cooperative Apartments (ak
United Workers Cooperative Colony
aka "Commie Coops") on

Bronx Park East Pelham Parkway is a working- and middle-class residential neighborhood geographically located in the center of the Bronx, a borough of New York City in the United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Waring ...

in December 1929. Artists included:

, Fred Ellis,

Gan Kolski

, Morris Pass,

, Louis Leon Ribak,

, Otto Soglow, and

. * 1930: The second exhibition occurred in January 1930: 42 drawings, paintings, and lithographs that traveled from the Borough Park Workers' Club (43rd Street, Brooklyn) to other clubs in Brownsville, Williamsburg, the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. * 1931: The third exhibition occurred in April 1931 with the " Proletpen," a

Yiddish 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 ...

cultural group of the

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 ...

: it comprised some 100 paintings, drawings, and cartoons by some 30 artists. * 1932: "Twenty John Reed Club Artists on Proletarian and Revolutionary Themes" occurred at the American Contemporary Art (ACA) Gallery in November 1932: 36 paintings, drawings, and lithographs by 21 artists – Albert Abramowitz, Bard, Mark Baum, Joseph Biel,

, Dehn,

, illiam Hernandez

, Limbach,

, Moses Oley, Quirt,

, Philip Resman, Louis Leon Ribak,

, Soglow,

, and Max Spivach. Four known works comprised Gellert's "Karl Max' Capital in Lithographs" (from a set of 60 lithographs). * 1935: Another exhibition occurred again at the ACA Gallery in 1935: its theme was the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese invasion of

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

and included "Roustabouts" by Joe Jones. The last known exhibition occurred at the ACA Gallery: its theme was "The Capitalist Crisis" and gained little notice outside of Communist press organs. The site of the John Reed Club in New York held exhibitions of member work from the summer of 1930; it established a gallery there in 1932. Records are scarce for 1932–1935.

References

External sources

* James Gilbert, "Literature and Revolution in the United States: ''The Partisan Review,"'' ''Journal of Contemporary History,'' vol. 2, no. 2 (April 1967), pp. 161-176
In JSTOR
* Eric Homberger, "Proletarian Literature and the John Reed Clubs 1929-1935," ''Journal of American Studies,'' vol. 13, no. 2 (Aug. 1979), pp. 221-244
In JSTOR
* Walter B. Rideout, ''The Radical Novel in the United States: 1900-1954: Some interrelations of Literature and Society'' (New York: Hill and Wang, 1966). * Henry Hart, ed., ''The American Writers' Congress'' (New York: International Publishers, 1935).

* ttp://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=0300092202 Yale University Press ''Artists on the Left'' by
Andrew Hemingway

NYU Grey Art Gallery
The Left Front: Radical Art in the "Red Decade," 1929–1940

The Left Front: Radical Art in the "Red Decade," 1929–1940
Smithsonian Archives of American Art
Photo - Protest held by the John Reed Club and Artists' Union, 1934 {{Authority control Arts organizations established in 1929 1929 establishments in the United States 1935 disestablishments in the United States Communism in the United States Communist Party USA mass organizations