The Revolutionary Communist Vanguard was a
Far Left group in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It broke off from the
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 ...
section of the
Revolutionary Workers League. Originally known as the "Social Science Circle", it became the Revolutionary Communist Vanguard when the group made its final break with
Hugo Oehler Edward Hugo Oehler (1903–1983) was an American communist.
Biography
An active trade unionist, Oehler joined the Communist Party USA in its early days, and by 1927 was a district organizer for the party in Kansas. He was also known for his abilit ...
. It was "led by a lad named Fleming" and, according to
Max Shachtman
Max Shachtman (; September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He went from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL–CIO President George Meany.
Beginnings
S ...
, had a membership of only 2 people in December 1938. The member or members of the group used a variety of inventive
pseudonyms
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
in their bulletins, i.e., Don Quickshot, Obadiah Fairfax, Robin Redbreast, Jerome Rembrandt, and Esther Paris.
It published at least 18 issues of a periodical called ''Creative Communism'' and engaged in polemics with the
Leninist League.
Walter Goldwater
Walter Goldwater (July 29, 1907 – June 24, 1985) was an American antiquarian bookseller, who worked briefly at International Publishers before founding University Place Book Shop in Manhattan, part of "Book Row". He was also a co-founder and p ...
doesn't list ''Creative Communism'' in his bibliography of radical periodicals, but lists ''Truth'', a Philadelphia paper published by the Revolutionary Communist Vanguard in 1940. He only located one issue, the May 5- June 1, 1940 issue.
[Goldwater, Walter ''Radical periodicals in America 1890-1950'' New Haven, Yale University Library 1964 p.36]
References
External links
''On the question of the workers state''a polemic with the Revolutionary Communist Vanguard by a rival splinter group.
Creative Communism No. 16, August 1939 Defunct communist parties in the United States
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