Max Weiss served as "Educational Director" and/or "Secretary of the National Education Commission" 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 ...

, was a member of the Party's National Committee, edited ''

Political Affairs (magazine) ''Political Affairs Magazine'' was a monthly Marxist publication, originally published in print and later online only. It aimed to provide an analysis of events from a working class point of view. The magazine was a publication of the Communist ...

'', and wrote often for the Party's ''The Communist'' magazine during the 1930s and 1940s.

Career

Weiss served as general secretary of the Young Communist League. In 1926, he wrote for the "Spartacist Group" of Illinois in ''Young Comrade: Paper for Workers' and Farmers' Children''. Weiss served as Educational Director and/or Secretary of the "National Education Commission" of the

and was a member of the Party's National Committee. He also edited '' Political Affairs''. In February 1944, Weiss's fellow members of a sub-committee of the National Committee included:

William Z. Foster William Zebulon Foster (February 25, 1881 – September 1, 1961) was a Political radicalism, radical American labor organizer and Communism, Communist politician, whose career included serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party US ...

(chairman),

Robert Minor Robert Berkeley "Bob" Minor (15 July 1884 – 26 January 1952), alternatively known as "Fighting Bob," was a political cartoonist, a radical journalist, and, beginning in 1920, a leading member of the American Communist Party. Background Robe ...

(secretary),

James W. Ford James W. “Jim” Ford (December 22, 18931957) was an activist, a politician, and the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Communist Party USA in the years 1932, 1936, and 1940. Ford was born in Alabama and later worked as a party organizer for ...

, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn,

Israel Amter Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, Rose Wortis, Ray Hansbrough, Steve Nelson, Louis Todd, Sam Don,

Alexander Trachtenberg Alexander "Alex" Trachtenberg (23 November 1884 – 26 December 1966) was an American publisher of radical political books and pamphlets, founder and manager of International Publishers of New York. He was a longtime activist in the Socialist Part ...

, A. Landy, John Williamson, Mother Bloor (

Ella Reeve Bloor Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor (July 8, 1862 – August 10, 1951) was an American labor organizer and long-time activist in the socialist and communist movements. Bloor is best remembered as one of the top-ranking female functionaries in the Communis ...

Anita Whitney Charlotte Anita Whitney (July 7, 1867 – February 4, 1955), best known as "Anita Whitney", was an American women's rights activist, political activist, suffragist, and early Communist Labor Party of America and Communist Party USA organizer in C ...

, Charles Krumbein, Rob Hall, Pettis Perry,

Alfred Wagenknecht Alfred Wagenknecht (August 15, 1881 – August 26, 1956) was an American Marxist activist and political functionary. He is best remembered for having played a critical role in the establishment of the American Communist Party in 1919 as a leader ...

, and

V. J. Jerome Victor Jeremy Jerome (1896–1965) was an American communist writer and editor based in New York City. He is best remembered as a Marxist cultural essayist and as the long-time editor of ''The Communist'', later known as ''Political Affairs'', th ...

. In 1951, during

HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

hearings on Communist infiltration in Hollywood, "Max Weiss" received mention during discussion of Irving Henschel. Roy M. Brewer, a IATSE leader, described Henschel as "lead of the Communist faction in 1944" and "member of the Rank and File Committee which attempted to set up a revolt in our organization during the 1945 strike in Hollywood." When Henschel contacted CPUSA official Max Weiss in Ohio, Weiss reported Henschel's conduct to

Roy Hudson Roy Hudson, also known as Roy B. Hudson, served on the national executive board (also called the national committee) of the Communist Party USA and national trade union director and trade union expert. Career With Al Lannon, Hudson helped f ...

in New York. The witness mentions "Weiss was at that time a Communist Party functionary in Ohio."

Works

* "American Imperialism's Growing Parasitic Bureaucracy" (1932) * "Lenin and Proletarian Internationalism" (1941) * "Who Are the Friends of the Youth?" (1941) * "For a National Anti-Fascist Youth Front!" (1941) * "Earl Browder – Champion of U. S.–Soviet Collaboration" (1941) * "On the Occasion of Dimitroff's Sixtieth Birthday" (1942) * "Speed the Second Front" (1942) with Earl Browder, William Z. Foster, and Israel Amter * "The Nation and the Armed Forces" (1943) * "Youth in the Fight for Victory" (1943) * "Fifth-Column Diversion in Detroit" (1943) * "Toward a New Anti-Fascist Youth Organization" (1943) * "What Price Profits?" (1947) * "A Comment on State Capitalism" (1948) * "The Meaning of the XXth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union" (1956)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Max (activist) 20th-century American writers American political activists American magazine editors Members of the Communist Party USA