The Abraham Lincoln School for Social Science in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

was a "broad, nonpartisan school for workers, writers, and their sympathizers," aimed at the thousands of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

workers who had migrated to Chicago from the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

during the 1930s and 1940s.

Institutional history

The Abraham Lincoln School for Social Science was founded by prominent civil rights activist and attorney

William L. Patterson William Lorenzo Patterson (August 27, 1891 – March 5, 1980) was an African-American leader in the Communist Party USA and head of the International Labor Defense, a group that offered legal representation to communists, trade unionists, and ...

, who had organized the defense of the Scottsboro Boys. The Lincoln School was among the first to offer a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

history course, taught by

Frank Marshall Davis Frank Marshall Davis (December 31, 1905 – July 26, 1987) was an American journalist, poet, political and labor movement activist, and businessman. Davis began his career writing for African American newspapers in Chicago. He moved to Atlanta ...

, in 1945. In April 1947, it sponsored “Chicago Salutes Paul Robeson” at the Civic Opera House, where Lena Horne and others paid tribute to famed singer and civil rights activist

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

. Robeson's outspoken support of civil rights and the labor movement, and criticism of American foreign policy, had led to government scrutiny and resulting in his

blacklisting Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

by many concert halls. Soon afterwards, the school was accused of being an adjunct 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 ...

by Attorney General

Tom C. Clark Thomas Campbell Clark (September 23, 1899June 13, 1977) was an American lawyer who served as the 59th United States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967. Clark ...

in December 1947, again in the 1948 by the

California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities (CUAC) was established by the California State Legislature in 1941 as the Joint Fact-Finding Committee on UnAmerican Activities. The creation of the new joint committee (with memb ...

and a target of

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 ...

during the years leading up to

McCarthy Era McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...

.United States. Congress. House of Representative. Committee on Un-American Activities
Guide to subversive organizations and publications (and appendix) (1951).
ashington, D.C. U.S. Govt. Print. Off. Page 9. Faculty members included Morris Backall, Michael Baker,

, Horace Davis, David Englestein, Morton Goldsholl, Pat Hoverder,

Alfonso Iannelli Alfonso Iannelli (February 17, 1888 – March 23, 1965) was an Italian-American sculptor, artist, and industrial designer. Based in Chicago for most of his life, Iannelli was born in Andretta, Italy on February 17, 1888. He came to America in ...

, Leon Katzen, Ludwig Kruhe, Herschel Meyer, Henry Noyes,

, Fred Ptashne, Eleanore Redwin, Boris M. Revsine, Frank Sokolik, William Rose, Herman Schendel,

Bernice Targ Bernice may refer to: Places In the United States * Bernice, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Bernice, Louisiana, a town * Bernice, Nevada, a ghost town * Bernice, Oklahoma, a town * Bernice Coalfield, a coalfield in Sullivan County, Pennsy ...

, and

Morris Topchevsky Morris Topchevsky (1899-1947) was a Chicago-based social realism, social realist artist. Biography Morris Topchevsky was born in Białystok, Poland (then a part of Russia) and immigrated to Chicago, Illinois with his family in 1910 to escape ...

. A notice appearing in a catalog of the school stated that "prominent citizens participating in our efforts" include

Rockwell Kent Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. Biography Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York. Kent was of English descent. He lived much of ...

Lee Pressman Lee Pressman (July 1, 1906 – November 20, 1969) was a labor attorney and earlier a US government functionary, publicly alleged in 1948 to have been a spy for Soviet intelligence during the mid-1930s (as a member of the Ware Group), following hi ...

Howard Fast Howard Melvin Fast (November 11, 1914 – March 12, 2003) was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E.V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson. Biography Early life Fast was born in New York City. His mother, ...

, Albert E. Kahn, and

Henrietta Buckmaster Henrietta Delancey Henkle, (10 March 1909 – 26 April 1983) better known by her pen name Henrietta Buckmaster, was an activist, journalist, and author best known for writing historical studies and novels. She was also active in the civil rights ...

Footnotes

External sources

* {{cite web , title = Defend workers education and freedom of the press! (pamphlet) , publisher = Chicago Workers School , date = 28 December 1934 , accessdate = 13 July 2016 , url = http://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/Record/3711466 Movements for civil rights Labor schools Defunct schools in Illinois

Institutional history

See also

Footnotes

External sources