Leon Greenbaum (1866-1925) was an American socialist official, writer, lecturer, union organizer and political candidate from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He is best remembered as the first National Executive Secretary 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 ...

, serving in that capacity from 1901 to 1902.

Biography

Early years

Leon Greenbaum was born in 1866 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

."First Nominee for the Position in St. Louis of World's Fair Mayor,"
''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' Dec. 14, 1900, pg. 9. He took a variety of jobs as a youth and a young man, working successively as an office boy, retail clerk, stenographer, and traveling salesman. Greenbaum had little formal education, but was a voracious reader and followed the path of self-education. Greenbaum moved to the city of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

in 1891 to take a job in a mill. A resident of

, Leon Greenbaum married Nettie Steinberg in that city in April 1894.

Political career

In 1896, while on a business trip, Greenbaum read the popular populist propaganda tract ''Coin's Financial School,'' by W. H. Harvey, later meeting the author. Greenbaum later attributed his attraction to radical politics to the experience. Greenbaum became active in progressive reform politics during the last years of the 1890s, joining an effort to bring the system of

initiative and referendum Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are represen ...

to Missouri in 1899. By 1900 he had joined 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 of ...

, for which he was active as a public speaker. He wrote an "economical romance" called ''Last Days of the Nineteenth Century'' He also became involved in the

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 ( ...

movement, gaining election as the Secretary-Treasurer of the St. Louis Central Trades and Labor Union in July 1900. Greenbaum was a multi-time candidate of the short-lived

; in 1900, he was the nominee for Lieutenant Governor and in 1901 for mayor of St. Louis. Upon the formation of the

in 1901, party headquarters were located in St. Louis and Greenbaum was the party's first Executive Secretary. During this time, he was also an organizer for 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 ...

.Ira Kipnis, ''The American Socialist Movement, 1897-1912.'' New York: Columbia University Press, 1952; pg. 144. During his time as Executive Secretary, Greenbaum oversaw the difficult task of merging 23 loosely affiliated state parties into a national organization. For example, the Social-Democratic Party of Wisconsin refused to apply for a national charter and remained in the party "with all of the privileges but none of the obligations". There was also often conflict in deciding how to engage with the existing trade union and labor party movements.Kipnis, ''The American Socialist Movement, 1897-1912,'' pg. 138. Greenbaum was removed from office by a vote of 16-6 following his encouragement of the

Socialist Party of California The Socialist Party of California (SPCA) was a socialist political party in the U.S. state of California. Founded in the early 1900s, it had been the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA since being re-chartered in 2011. As of July 2020, it was ...

's fusion with the Union Labor Party in the 1902 local and state elections.Kipnis, ''The American Socialist Movement, 1897-1912,'' pg. 147. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Religious activity

In later years, Greenbaum was greatly involved with an offshoot of the

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

movement, writing numerous pamphlets on behalf of the religion.

Footnotes

Works

* ''Last Days of the Nineteenth Century.'' . 1900 —Novel. * ''The Trade Union Movement and the Socialist Party: A Comparative Study.'' St. Louis: Greeley Printery, 1903. * ''Follow Christ.'' St. Louis: Primitive Publishing Co., 1916. * ''The Spirit of a New-Old Religion.'' St. Louis: Primitive Publishing Co., 1916. * ''Primitive Christianity.'' St. Louis: Primitive Publishing Co., 1916. * ''The Two Churches.'' St. Louis: Primitive Publishing Co., 1916. * ''Church Manual.'' St. Louis: Primitive Publishing Co., 1916. * ''The Signs Following; or, Spiritual Law and Material Evidences.'' St. Louis: Primitive Publishing Co., 1917. * ''How Christian Science Heals the Sick.'' St. Louis: Primitive Publishing Co., 1917. * ''Mind and Money: A Text-book on Spiritual Economics; or, The Cosmic Laws of Wealth and Success.'' Los Angeles: Open Vision School of Truth, 1923. {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenbaum, Leon 1866 births Year of death missing Politicians from St. Louis Social Democratic Party of America politicians Socialist Party of America politicians from Missouri Executive Secretaries of the Socialist Party of America