''Labor Age'' was a monthly political magazine published from 1922 to 1933. The publisher was by the Labor Publication Society.

History

Establishment

''Labor Age'' succeeded the ''Socialist Review'', journal of the

Intercollegiate Socialist Society The Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS) was a socialist student organization active from 1905 to 1921. It attracted many prominent intellectuals and writers and acted as an unofficial student wing of the Socialist Party of America. The Society ...

. It advocated

industrial unionism Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...

economic planning Economic planning is a resource allocation mechanism based on a computational procedure for solving a constrained maximization problem with an iterative process for obtaining its solution. Planning is a mechanism for the allocation of resources b ...

, and workers' education (especially the activities of

Brookwood Labor College Brookwood Labor College (1921 to 1937) was a labor college located at 109 Cedar Road in Katonah, New York, United States. Founded as Brookwood School in 1919 and established as a college in 1921, it was the first residential labor college in the co ...

). It reported extensively on innovative tactics for organizing nonunion workers in mass production industries, identifying tactics that would become standard procedure for union organizers in the 1930s and 1940s. The ''Socialist Review'' and ''Labor Age'' were the official publications of the

League for Industrial Democracy The League for Industrial Democracy (LID) was founded as a successor to the Intercollegiate Socialist Society in 1921. Members decided to change its name to reflect a more inclusive and more organizational perspective. Background Intercollegiate So ...

from 1921–1929. In May 1929, the editors of ''Labor Age'' helped to form the

Conference for Progressive Labor Action The Conference for Progressive Labor Action (CPLA) was a left-wing American political organization established in May 1929 by A. J. Muste, the director of Brookwood Labor College. The organization was established to promote industrial unionism an ...

(CPLA) in order to counter what they considered growing pro-business tendencies in 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 ...

Demise

In 1932, the CPLA voted to supplement the monthly ''Labor Age'' with a daily newspaper, called ''Labor Action'', but that was never realized. ''Labor Age'' ceased publication after the February-March 1933 issue.

Contributors

Important figures associated with ''Labor Age'' were

A. J. Muste Abraham Johannes Muste ( ; January 8, 1885 – February 11, 1967) was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. He is best remembered for his work in the labor movement, pacifist movement, antiwar movement, and civil rights movemen ...

James Maurer James Hudson Maurer (April 15, 1864 – March 16, 1944) was a prominent American trade unionist who twice ran for the office of Vice President of the United States on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America. Biography Early years James H. ...

Harry W. Laidler Harry Wellington Laidler (February 18, 1884 – July 14, 1970) was an American socialist writer, magazine editor, and politician. He is best remembered as executive director of the League for Industrial Democracy, successor to the Intercollegiate ...

Fannia Cohn Fannia Mary Cohn (April 5, 1885 – December 24, 1962) was a leading figure in the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) during the first half of the 20th century. She is remembered as one of the pioneers of the workers' education ...

, and

Louis Budenz Louis Francis Budenz (pronounced "byew-DENZ"; July 17, 1891 – April 27, 1972) was an American activist and writer, as well as a Soviet espionage agent and head of the ''Buben group'' of spies. He began as a labor activist and became a member ...

. Other contributors of the December 1931 issue included: Judson King, Bruce Crawford,

Benjamin Mandel Benjamin Mandel (October 2, 1891 – August 8, 1973) "Bert Miller" was a New York city school teacher and communist activist who later became an ex-communist director of research for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and the Senate ...

, Sam Bakely,

J.B. Matthews Joseph Brown "Doc" Matthews Sr. (1894–1966), best known as J. B. Matthews, was an American linguist, educator, writer, and political activist. A committed pacifist, he became a self-described " fellow traveler" of the Communist Party USA i ...

Ludwig Lore Ludwig Lore (June 26, 1875July 8, 1942) was an American socialist magazine editor, newspaper writer, lecturer, and politician, best remembered for his tenure as editor of the socialist ''New Yorker Volkszeitung'' and role as a factional leader in ...

, David J. Saposs, and P atrick L. Quinlan.

References

Sources

* Jon Bloom and Paul Buhle, "Intercollegiate Socialist Society and Successors," in ''Encyclopedia of the American Left.'' Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990; pp. 362–363. *Labor Age via the Marxists Internet Archive (full, complete and high resolution): https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/laborage/index.htm *Labor Age via HathiTrust Digital Library: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000058992 Monthly magazines published in the United States Defunct political magazines published in the United States 1922 establishments in the United States Magazines established in 1929 Magazines disestablished in 1933 Socialist magazines 1933 disestablishments in the United States {{US-poli-mag-stub

History

Establishment

Demise

Contributors

See also

References

Sources