John Calvin Chase (1870–1937) was an American

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

activist and

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. Chase was elected to two terms as mayor of Haverhill,

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, on the Social Democratic ticket. He is considered the first

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 ...

to elected mayor of an American city. He later ran without success as a Socialist candidate for Governor of Massachusetts and New York, and as a Congressional candidate in Ohio and West Virginia.

Early life

John Calvin Chase was born in

Gilmanton, New Hampshire Gilmanton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,945 at the 2020 census. Gilmanton includes the villages of Gilmanton Corners and Gilmanton Ironworks. The town became well known in the 1950s after it was ...

, on May 27, 1870, to a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

family. When John was just 1 year old the family moved to the small town of Ossipee, where his father Levi M. Chase met with an accident that caused his death.Frederic C. Heath, ''Social Democracy Red Book.'' Terre Haute, IN: Debs Publishing Co., 1900; pg. 108. John and his four siblings were left in the care of his mother Lynthia, who relocated to yet another small New Hampshire town, this time Milton Mills to work in the

woolen mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods s ...

s there. John followed his mother into the mills, going to work for the first time at the age of just 9 years old. The family relocated frequently in search of steady work, living also in

Sanford Sanford may refer to: People *Sanford (given name), including a list of people with the name *Sanford (surname), including a list of people with the name Places United States * Sanford, Alabama, a town in Covington County * Sanford, Colorado ...

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, and Barnstead, New Hampshire. At the age of 13 he went to work in a

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from cultur ...

factory for the first time.William D.P. Bliss (ed.), "John C. Chase," in ''The New Encyclopedia of Social Reform, Including All Social-Reform Movements and Activities, and the Economic, Industrial, and Sociological Facts and Statistics of All Countries and All Social Subjects.'' New Edition. New York: Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1908; pg. 161. He joined the Boot and Shoe Workers' Union in 1888 and was subsequently elected as a delegate to that organization's annual convention. Chase moved to the town of Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1890 to work in a shoe factory there. Chase's trade union activities soon lead to his being made unemployable in the shoe industry, so he instead helped to establish a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

grocery store in Haverhill, which provided him a source of work.

Political career

Chase was a member of the People's Party (the so-called "Populists") during the first half of the 1890s.Henry F. Bedford, ''Socialism and the Workers in Massachusetts, 1886-1912.'' Amherst, MA:

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts a ...

, 1966; pg. 27. In 1894, Haverhill's Populists joined a broad reform coalition with the

Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

, the

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, and other unaffiliated progressives, running a slate of candidates for city office. John Chase was one of the nominees of this coalition for city office. In the aftermath of the 1894 campaign Chase himself joined the Socialist Labor Party, joining a new Haverhill local established by the organization. Chase was soon a committed member of that

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

party, running for

Massachusetts Attorney General The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder al ...

on the SLP ticket in the election of 1896. Local Haverhill SLP had objections to the national organization's policy of dual unionism towards the established unions of 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 mutua ...

. In February 1898 Chase returned Section Haverhill's SLP charter to the national office in

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, thereby ending its connection with the party. The following month Chase was acting as organizer of a new Haverhill local of the

Social Democratic Party of America The Social Democratic Party of America (SDP) was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1898. The group was formed out of elements of the Social Democracy of America (SDA) and was a predecessor to the Socialist Party o ...

, an organization headed by

Victor L. Berger Victor Luitpold Berger (February 28, 1860August 7, 1929) was an Austrian–American socialist politician and journalist who was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party of America and its successor, the Socialist Party of America. Born i ...

and Eugene V. Debs. Chase quickly accumulated 60 membership applications for the new organization, thereby transforming the former Section Haverhill SLP into Local Haverhill SDP.

Mayor of Haverhill

Following a defeat in the November 1898 campaign for the Massachusetts State Senate, in which he finished second in a field of four candidates, the next month Chase headed the SDP ticket as the party's candidate for mayor of Haverhill, emerging victorious by a plurality of 356 votes. Chase thus became the first socialist elected mayor of an American city. Chase was joined in elected office by three newly elected Socialist aldermen as members of the Haverhill Common Council. This success was tempered by the fact that the Haverhill Common Council had 21 members at the time, relegating the socialists to a minority position in the civic government.Ira Kipnis, ''The American Socialist Movement, 1897-1912.'' New York: Columbia University Press, 1952; pg. 76. The 1898 SDP program for Haverhill called for establishment of the

initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...

and

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

, municipal ownership of public utilities, public works jobs for unemployed workers, elimination of unguarded railway crossings, and free clothing for poor children so that they would be able to attend school. Chase's mayoral victory as the first socialist mayor in America captured the imagination of the left wing press. Julius Wayland, editor of the weekly '' Appeal to Reason'' declared that "the mere casting of these 2500 votes has done more to direct attention to Socialism than could have been done with any other means." Paul Tyner of the news magazine ''

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'' offered the hope that Chase's victory would usher in a series of local victories for the socialist movement in the country. Chase was re-elected as mayor of Haverhill in 1899, defeating a so-called "fusion" candidate jointly nominated by the Democratic and Republican Parties. He was defeated in another bid for reelection in the 1900 election, however.

Socialist Party

In the summer of 1901 the Social Democratic Party merged with another organization of the same name and smaller groups to form 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 ...

(SPA). Chase was elected the first Secretary of Local Haverhill SPA at the time of its formation. Not long after, Chase was named a national organizer and lecturer for this organization, traveling the country and speaking on the new party's behalf. In 1902 and 1903 Chase was named the Socialist Party's candidate for

governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachuset ...

.Lawrence Kestenbaum
"Index to Politicians: Chase,"
The Political Graveyard, www.politicalgraveyard.com/ Chase captured more than 8.4% of the votes cast during the first of these campaigns and almost 6.4% in the second effort.

Later political activity

Chase was later elected State Secretary of the Socialist Party of New York, the

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state affiliate of the SPA. In 1906 Chase was selected to head the Socialist Party ticket as its candidate for

governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor h ...

. He received 21,751 votes in this effort, nearly 1.5% of the total ballots cast. Chase ran for U.S. Congress three times as a Socialist, running in the 14th District of

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

in 1920, and the 2nd District of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

in 1922 and 1924.

Death and legacy

John C. Chase died January 27, 1937, at New Brighton, Pennsylvania. Some of Chase's papers reside in the Socialist Party of New York records located at the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Warner Labor Archives at Bobst Library on the campus of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

."Guide to the Socialist Party of New York State Records,"
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York University, New York City.

Footnotes

Works

* "Municipal Socialism in America," ''The Outlook,'' January 24, 1900, pp. 249–257. * "Millennium Dawn in Massachusetts," ''Wilshire's Magazine,'' January 1903, pp. 61–63. * "How I Became a Socialist," ''The Comrade'' ew York 1903, pg. 109.