The John Reed Clubs (1929–1935), often referred to as John Reed Club (JRC), were an American federation of local organizations targeted towards

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

writers, artists, and intellectuals, named after the American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

John Reed. Established in the fall of 1929, the John Reed Clubs were a mass organization 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 Rev ...

which sought to expand its influence among radical and liberal intellectuals. The organization was terminated in 1935.

History

1929

In October 1929, the John Reed Club was founded by eight staff members of the '' New Masses'' magazine to support leftist and Marxist artists and writers. They included: Mike Gold,

Walt Carmon Walt Carmon (1894–1968) was a magazine editor and writer best known for his years as managing editor of the Communist magazine the ''New Masses'' from 1929 to 1932. He also worked for a number of other magazines in smaller roles, which contribute ...

, William Gropper, Keene Wallis, Hugo Gellert, Morris Pass, and Joseph Pass. According to

Alan M. Wald Alan Maynard Wald (born June 1, 1946) is an American professor emeritus of English Literature and American Culture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and writer of 20th-century American literature who focuses on Communist writers; he is an ...

, The John Reed Clubs were not founded by the Communist Party. ''New Masses'' managing editor Walt Carmon became frustrated with a group of young writers who were hanging out in the office and getting in his way. He told them to "go out and form a club" and "call it the John Reed Club." The John Reed Clubs would be a constant source of drama within the ''New Masses'' family, and members of the Clubs would eventually found the ''

Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated Joh ...

'', which became a main competitor to the ''New Masses''.file: New-Masses-FC-May-1926.jpg, '' New Masses'' cover by Hugo Gellert (May 1926), alt=, left The ''New Masses'' announced the new club in its November 1929 issue:

The radical artists and writers of New York have organized the John Reed Club. The group includes all creative workers in art, literature, sculpture, music, theater, and the movies...
The purpose of the Club is to bring closer all creative workers; to maintain contact with the American revolutionary labor movement.
In cooperation with workers groups and cultural organizations, discussion, literary evenings, and exhibits will be organized. Hopefully, the organization will be national in scope...
For the first time, a group of socially conscious creative workers has been organized in America to compare with existing groups in Europe. Steps have been taken to make immediate contact with writers, artists, and all creative workers in France, Germany, Russia, and Japan.

1930

In January 1930, Mike Gold described the JRC in the ''New Masses'' as a "small group" comprising writers, artists, sculptors, musicians, and dancers "of revolutionary tendencies." They were already building a clubhouse. Harold Hickerson had a music school with 100 pupils. Gropper and Lozowick taught graphic arts to 30. Edith Siegel led a "worker's ballet" for a Lenin memorial. Em Jo Basshe directed a Jewish Workers' theatre. Others taught at the New York Workers School. They cooperated with Workers International Relief. Gold recommended that every writer-member work in industry. He cited as example Ed Falkowski (miner), Martin Russak (textile worker), H. H. Lewis (farmer), and Joe Kalar (lumberman). On May 19, 1930, the ''New York Times'' published "A protest against the imprisonment of men and women for expressing their political opinions, coupled with a warning that "Red-baiting" is rapidly becoming a permanent condition, was voiced in a statement issued yesterday by the John Reed Club. The headlines of the article ran:

'RED SCARE' PROTEST ISSUED BY LIBERALS
100 Writers, Educators and Artists Warn of Dangers in 'Hysteria' and 'Persecution'
SEE CIVIL RIGHTS AT STAKE
Statement Says 1,600 Have Been Wrongfully Arrested In 2 Months-Aid of Press Asked

Signatories included: * L. Adohmyan *

Sherwood Anderson Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...

* Emjo Basshe * Helen Black ( Helen Marie Black) *

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...

* Alter Brody * Samuel Brody * Fritz Brosius * Jacob Burck * David Burliuk * Rev. R. B. Callahan *

* Ralph Cheyney * N. Cikovsky * Lydia Cinquegrana * Sarah N. Cleghorn * Ann Coles *

Malcolm Cowley Malcolm Cowley (August 24, 1898 – March 27, 1989) was an American writer, editor, historian, poet, and literary critic. His best known works include his first book of poetry, ''Blue Juniata'' (1929), his lyrical memoir, ''Exile's Return' ...

* Franz E. Daniel * Miriam A. DeFord (

Miriam Allen deFord Miriam Allen deFord (August 21, 1888 – February 22, 1975) was an American writer best known for her mysteries and science fiction. During the 1920s, she wrote for a number of left-wing magazines including ''The Masses'', '' The Liberator'', a ...

) * Adolf Dehn * Floyd Dell * L. A. De Santes *

Babette Deutsch Babette Deutsch (September 22, 1895 – November 13, 1982) was an American poet, critic, translator, and novelist. Background Babette Deutsch was born on September 22, 1895, in New York City. Her parents were of Michael Deutsch and Melanie Fish ...

Carl Van Doren Carl Clinton Van Doren (September 10, 1885 – July 18, 1950) was an American critic and biographer. He was the brother of critic and teacher Mark Van Doren and the uncle of Charles Van Doren. He won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autob ...

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...

* Robert W. Dunn * Max Eastman * Charles Ellis * Fred Ellis * Ernestine Evans * Kenneth Fearing *

Sara Bard Field Sara Bard Field (September 1, 1882 – June 15, 1974) was an American poet, suffragist, free love advocate, Georgist, and Christian socialist. She worked on successful campaigns for women's suffrage in Oregon and Nevada. Working with Alice Paul ...

* Waldo Frank * Harry Freeman * Al Frueh * Hugo Gellert * Michael Gold * Floyd S. Gove * C. Hartley Grattan * Horace Gregory * William Gropper * Rose Gruening * Carl Haessler *

E. Haldeman-Julius Emanuel Haldeman-Julius (''né'' Emanuel Julius) (July 30, 1889 – July 31, 1951) was a Jewish-American socialist writer, atheist thinker, social reformer and publisher. He is best remembered as the head of Haldeman-Julius Publications, the cr ...

* M. Haldeman-Julius *

Ruth Hale (feminist) Ruth Hale (1887 – September 18, 1934) was an American journalist who worked for women's rights in New York City during the era before and after World War I. She was married to journalist Heywood Broun and was an associate of the Algonquin Roun ...

* Jack Hardy * Minna Harkavy * S. R. Harlow * Charles Y. Harrison * Aline D. Hays ( Aline Davis Hays) * Arthur G. Hays ( Arthur Garfield Hays)
Lowell B. Hazzard
* Josephine Herbst *

John Herrmann John Theodore Herrmann (November 9, 1900 – April 9, 1959) was a writer in the 1920s and 1930s and is alleged to have introduced Whittaker Chambers to Alger Hiss. Biography Herrmann was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1900. He lived in Paris i ...

* Harold Hickerson *

Grace Hutchins Grace Hutchins (August 19, 1885 – July 15, 1969) was an American labor reformer and researcher, journalist, political activist and communist. She spent many years of her life writing about labor and economics, in addition to being a lifelong ded ...

Eitaro Ishigaki was an American artist. Life Eitaro Ishigaki was born in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan in 1893. At the age of sixteen he emigrated to America in to live with his father in Seattle. A year later, in 1910, they moved to California, and in 1912, Ishigaki ...

* Joseph Kaplan * Ellen A. Kennan * Rev. C. D. Ketcham * Rev. Frank Kingdon * I. Kittine * I. Klein *

Alfred Kreymborg Alfred Francis Kreymborg (December 10, 1883 – August 14, 1966) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, literary editor and anthologist. Early life and associations He was born in New York City to Hermann and Louisa Kreymborg (née Nasher), ...

* Joshua Kunizz * Melvin P. Levy *

Louis Lozowick Louis Lozowick (1892 – 1973) (ukr: Луї Лозовик) was a Ukrainian-born American painter and printmaker. He is recognized as an Art Deco and Precisionist artist, and mainly produced streamline, urban-inspired monochromatic lithogr ...

Grace Lumpkin Grace Lumpkin (March 3, 1891 – March 23, 1980) was an American writer of proletarian literature, focusing most of her works on the Depression era and the rise and fall of favor surrounding communism in the United States. Most important of fou ...

* Norman J.Macleod * A. B. Magil *

Jan Matulka Jan Matulka (7 November 1890 – 25 June 1972) was a Czech Americans, Czech-American modern artist originally from Bohemia. Matulka's style ranged from Abstract expressionism to Landscape painting, landscapes, sometimes in the same day. He has di ...

* H. L. Mencken * Norma Millay *

Harriet Monroe Harriet Monroe (December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936) was an American editor, scholar, literary critic, poet, and patron of the arts. She was the founding publisher and long-time editor of ''Poetry'' magazine, first published in 1912. As a ...

* Frank McLean * Scott Nearing * Alfred H. Neumann * Eugene Nigob * Joseph North * Harvey O'Connor * M. J. Olgin * Joseph Pass * Morris Pass * Nemo Piccoli * Harry A. Potamkin * John Cowper Powys * Juanita Preval * Walter Quirt * Burton Rascoe * Anton Refregier
Philip Reisman
* Louis Ribak *

Boardman Robinson Boardman Michael Robinson (1876–1952) was a Canadian-American painter, illustrator and cartoonist. Biography Early years Boardman Robinson was born September 6, 1876 in Nova Scotia. He spent his childhood in England and Canada, before movin ...

Anna Rochester Anna Rochester (March 30, 1880 — May 11, 1966) was an American labor reformer, journalist, political activist, and Communist. Although for several years an editor of the liberal monthly '' The World Tomorrow,'' Rochester is best remembered as a ...

* Anna Rosenberg * Julius Rosenthal * Martin Russak * Samuel Russak * David Saposs * E. A. Schachner * Theodore Scheel * Isidor Schneider * Evelyn Scott * Edwin Seaver * Edith Segal * Esther Shemitz * William Siegel *

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in sever ...

* John Sloan (

John French Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...

) * Otto Soglow * A. Solataroff * Walter Snow * Raphael Soyer * Herman Spector * J. M. Stalnaker * Genevieve Taggard *

Eunice Tietjens Eunice Tietjens (July 29, 1884 – September 6, 1944) was an American poet, novelist, journalist, children's author, lecturer, and editor. Early years and education Eunice Strong Hammond was born in Chicago on July 29, 1884. She was educated in ...

Carlo Tresca Carlo Tresca (March 9, 1879 – January 11, 1943) was an Italian-American newspaper editor, orator, and labor organizer who was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World during the 1910s. He is remembered as a leading public opponent of fas ...

* Jim Tully *

Louis Untermeyer Louis Untermeyer (October 1, 1885 – December 18, 1977) was an American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor. He was appointed the fourteenth Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1961. Life and career Untermeyer was born in New Y ...

* Joseph Vogel * Keene Wallis
Frank Walts
* Prof. R. E. Waxwell * Rev. C. C. Webber * G. F. Willison * Edmund Wilson Jr. * Adolf Wolff * Charles E. S. Wood *

Art Young Arthur Henry Young (January 14, 1866 – December 29, 1943) was an American cartoonist and writer. He is best known for his socialist cartoons, especially those drawn for the left-wing political magazine '' The Masses'' between 1911 and 1917. ...

* Stark Young * Avrahm Yarmonlinsky * William Zorach In July 1930, Harry Alan Potemkin, JRC secretary, reported in the ''New Masses'' that the JRC had supported

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

as well as signed a petition for the International Labor Defense for prisoners of war. The club also collaborated with "Proletpen," a Jewish proletarian writing group. It also supported the "United Front Conference Against Lynching," created by the New York district of the

. Books published by member writers included: Charles Yale Harrison's ''General Die in Bed'' and Mike Gold's children's story ''Charlie Chaplin's Parde''. By November 1930, although originally politically independent, the JRC and the '' New Masses'' officially affiliated with the Communist Party. This turn coincided with the JRC's participation in the Kharkov Conference of the International Union of Revolutionary Writers (IURW), November 6–15, 1930. The joint JRC-''New Masses'' delegation included: Mike Gold, A.B. Magil, Fred Ellis, William Gropper, Harry Potamkin, Josephine Herbst, and John Herrmann. The conference led to a ten-point "Program of Action" to promote proletarian literature as an important part of promoting Marxism.

1932

On January 1, 1932,

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

spoke before the John Reed Club's New York chapter. Later, when the JRC heard of Rivera's support for

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

, they disavowed him and returned a $100 contribution he made. The JRCs held a national conference on May 29–30, 1932, in Chicago. During the conference, the JRCs announced they were "an integral part of the "Workers Cultural Federation." Conference ("presidium") members elected included: Joseph Freeman, Jan Wittenber, Conrad Kmorowiski, Kenneth Rexroth, Charles Natterstad, Harry Carlisle, George Gay, Carl Carlsen, and Jack Walters. Honorary members included Maxim Gorki, Romain Rolland,

, Fujimori, Lo Hsun, Johannes Becher, Vallant-Couturier, and

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, H ...

, with Maurice Sugar as chairman and Oakley C. Johnson as secretary. Chapter reports consistently criticized the original New York City chapter of ignoring the others. Harry Carlisle of JRC Hollywood opposed Mike Gold of JRC NYC for falling down on principle when opening the JRC to non-Marxist writers and artists. Instead, Carlisle urged, the JRC should focus on "artists and writers of distinctly working class origin." The July 1932 issue of the ''New Masses'' included the "John Reed Club Resolution Against War," stating its stance against "imminent imperial war," noting that the Soviet Union "stands for peace," and calling on all writers, artists, and professionals to unite "in defense of the first workers' republic, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." In November 1932, JRC members who publicly endorsed the Communist Party's US presidential slate ( William Z. Foster and

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 t ...

) included: EmJo Basshe,

Robert Cantwell Robert Emmett Cantwell (January 31, 1908 – December 8, 1978), known as Robert Cantwell, was a novelist and critic. His first novel, ''Laugh and Lie Down'' (1931) is an early example, twenty years before Jack Kerouac, of the American classic gen ...

, Orrick Johns,

, Mike Gold, and

1933

In early 1933, the JRCs took a strong stance against

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and the rising tide of

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...

in Europe. In mid-1933, the JRCs held a second national conference. Attendees include:

Jack Conroy John Wesley Conroy (December 5, 1899 - February 28, 1990) was a leftist American writer,"Jack Conroy." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 29 Oct. 2009, also known as a Worker-Writer,AP, . "Jack Conroy, Novelist, 91." ...

, Meridel Le Sueur, Alan Calmer, Orrick Johns, Joe Jones, Nelsen Algren,

William Phillips William Phillips may refer to: Entertainment * William Phillips (editor) (1907–2002), American editor and co-founder of ''Partisan Review'' * William T. Phillips (1863–1937), American author * William Phillips (director), Canadian film-make ...

, Philip Rahv, Alfred Hayes, Gilbert Rocke, Jan Wittenber, Mike Gold, Richard Wright, Alexander Trachtenberg, A.B. Magil, Jack S. Balch, Joseph North.

1934

On August 25, 1934, speakers of the Carmel citizens' committee directly accused the JRC of being a communistic organization. Byington Ford chairman of the committee, read reports from the national committees and showed charts seized in recently raided communist headquarters. Ford headed the citizens' committee to oppose the JRC and their activities.

Dissolution

In 1936, the John Reed Clubs dissolved into the

American Artists' Congress The American Artists' Congress (AAC) was an organization founded in February 1936 as part of the popular front of the Communist Party USA as a vehicle for uniting graphic artists in projects helping to combat the spread of fascism. During World W ...

by order of the Communist Party USA.

Organization

The John Reed Club's slogan was "Art is a weapon in the class struggle."

Headquarters

In May 1930, the headquarters for the John Reed Club was 102 West Fourteenth Street, New York City. In 1932, its location was 63 West Fifteenth Street, New York City.

Chapters

New York City and Los Angeles were the two centers of writer-members. In 1931, there were 13 JRC chapters. Chapters peaked at thirty. From New York, it spread to Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, and other cities. The Boston chapter was cofounded by writer Eugene Gordon.

John Reed Club School of Art

During the 1932 national convention, the JRCs announced the opening of a "John Reed Club School of Art" in New York City at 450

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...

. Classes were to start on November 14, 1932, for Monday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Instruction was open beyond JRC members. Instructors included Hugo Gellert, William Gropper,

, and William Siegel. One of the students was Norman Lewis, studying from 1933–1935.

People

By 1933, the New York chapter had 380 members, of whom some 200 were artists and the rest writers. The only paid job was secretary-treasurer at $15 per week.

Officers

The 1932 national convention elected the following JRC officers from various chapters to a "National Executive Board": * Oakley C. Johnson, National Secretary (New York) *

, International Secretary (New York) * Harry Carlisle (Hollywood) *

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Workers Party of America, Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet Union, Soviet spy (1932–1938), defe ...

(New York) * Joseph Freeman (New York) * Eugene Gordon (Boston) * William Gropper (New York) * Conrad Komorowski (Philadelphia) * Duva Mendelsohn (Detroit) * Charles Natterstad (Seattle) * Jan Wittenber (Chicago)

Members

Audre Lorde, Meridel Lesueur, Adrienne Rich 1980

The John Reed Club had a somewhat prestigious membership in its early days among leftist circles. Later, it was sometimes used in reference as badge of shame by anti-communists. * New York: Samuel Lewis Shane,

, Meyer Schapiro,

, Kenneth Fearing,

, Joseph Freeman, Mike Gold Granville Hicks * Chicago:

Richard Wright Richard Wright may refer to: Arts * Richard Wright (author) (1908–1960), African-American novelist * Richard B. Wright (1937–2017), Canadian novelist * Richard Wright (painter) (1735–1775), marine painter * Richard Wright (artist) (born 19 ...

and the artist Morris Topchevsky were members in Chicago. (In 1944, Wright distilled his uncomfortable experience in an ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' article, "I Tried to be a Communist".) Prominent women writers who were JRC members include: Jan Wittenber,

, Tillie Lerner,

Meridel Le Sueur Meridel Le Sueur (February 22, 1900, Murray, Iowa – November 14, 1996, Hudson, Wisconsin) was an American writer associated with the proletarian literature movement of the 1930s and 1940s. Born as Meridel Wharton, she assumed the name of her mot ...

, Josephine Herbst, and Clara Weatherwax. Prominent African-American writers who were JRC members include: Eugene Gordon,

, and Joe Jones.

Assessment

In her 1977 work ''The John Reed Clubs'', Laurie Ann Alexandre stated:

It would be inaccurate to call the John Reed Club a
Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...
organization. Its charter simply stated that any member who recognized class struggle and wished to give it support would be welcomed. It cannot be said that the JRC was committed beyond that general point. Many of its members were not Marxists, and the Clubs spent little time educating its members in the theoretical underpinnings of Engels,
Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
, or
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
.

Works

Books by the JRCs

* ''Harlan Miners Speak: Report on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields'' (1932)

Books by JRC members

Between 1929 and 1936, some 46 proletarian novels were published, in no small part supported by the John Reed Club. Books published by JRC members during JRC years include (novels unless otherwise noted): * '' Jews Without Money'' by Mike Gold (1930) * ''

Not Without Laughter ''Not Without Laughter'' is the debut novel by Langston Hughes published in 1930. Plot introduction ''Not Without Laughter'' portrays African-American life in Kansas in the 1910s, focusing on the effects of class and religion on the community. Th ...

'' by

(1930) * '' To Make My Bread'' by

(1932) * '' Success Story'' (play) by John Howard Lawson (1932) * '' Pity Is Not Enough'' by Josephine Herbst (1933) * ''Karl Marx's Capital in Lithographs'' (illustrations) by Hugo Gellert (1934) * ''

The Ways of White Folks ''The Ways of White Folks'' is a collection of fourteen short stories by Langston Hughes, published in 1934. Hughes wrote the book during a year he spent living in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The collection addresses multiple dimensions of r ...

'' (short stories) by

(1934) * ''

Mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...

'' (play) by

(1935)

Magazines

* '' Left Front'' (1933-1935): Magazine published by JRC's Chicago chapter and featuring

* ''Red Pen'' (later ''Left Review'') from Philadelphia * ''Cauldron'' from Grand Rapids * ''New Force'' periodical from Detroit * ''John Reed Club National Bulletin'' from Washington, DC * ''Leftward'' from Boston * ''Partisan'' from Los Angeles * ''Anvil'' from Moberly, Mississippi * ''Hammer'' from

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

* ''

'' (1934-1936, 1937-2003): Magazine launched by JRC's home New York City chapter, suspended, and then resumed by breakaway writers Philip Rahv,

Dwight Macdonald Dwight Macdonald (March 24, 1906 – December 19, 1982) was an American writer, editor, film critic, social critic, literary critic, philosopher, and activist. Macdonald was a member of the New York Intellectuals and editor of their leftist mag ...

, F. W. Dupee

Catalogs

* ''John Reed Club Art School Catalogue, 1934-1935'' (1934)

Art exhibitions

Archives of American Art - Eitaro Ishigaki - 2985

Artistic members of the John Reed Club of New York began holding art exhibitions in late 1929, shortly after the club's formation: * 1929: The first art exhibition occurred at the United Workers' Cooperative Apartments (ak
United Workers Cooperative Colony
aka "Commie Coops") on Bronx Park East in December 1929. Artists included: Jacob Burck, Fred Ellis, William Gropper,

Gan Kolski

, Morris Pass, Anton Refregier,

Louis Leon Ribak Louis Leon Ribak (3 December 1902 – 1979) was an American Social realism, social realist and Abstract art, abstract painter who was a member of the "Taos art colony#Taos Moderns, Taos Moderns" group of artists. Biography Born in the Grodno ...

, Esther Shemitz, Otto Soglow, and

. * 1930: The second exhibition occurred in January 1930: 42 drawings, paintings, and lithographs that traveled from the Borough Park Workers' Club (43rd Street, Brooklyn) to other clubs in Brownsville, Williamsburg, the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. * 1931: The third exhibition occurred in April 1931 with the " Proletpen," a

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

cultural group of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

: it comprised some 100 paintings, drawings, and cartoons by some 30 artists. * 1932: "Twenty John Reed Club Artists on Proletarian and Revolutionary Themes" occurred at the American Contemporary Art (ACA) Gallery in November 1932: 36 paintings, drawings, and lithographs by 21 artists – Albert Abramowitz, Bard, Mark Baum, Joseph Biel, Jacob Burck, Dehn, Hugo Gellert, William Gropper, illiam Hernandez

, Limbach,

, Moses Oley, Quirt, Anton Refregier, Philip Resman,

, William Siegel, Soglow, Raphael Soyer, and Max Spivach. Four known works comprised Gellert's "Karl Max' Capital in Lithographs" (from a set of 60 lithographs). * 1935: Another exhibition occurred again at the ACA Gallery in 1935: its theme was the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese invasion of

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

and included "Roustabouts" by Joe Jones. The last known exhibition occurred at the ACA Gallery: its theme was "The Capitalist Crisis" and gained little notice outside of Communist press organs. The site of the John Reed Club in New York held exhibitions of member work from the summer of 1930; it established a gallery there in 1932. Records are scarce for 1932–1935.

References

External sources

* James Gilbert, "Literature and Revolution in the United States: ''The Partisan Review,"'' ''Journal of Contemporary History,'' vol. 2, no. 2 (April 1967), pp. 161-176
In JSTOR
* Eric Homberger, "Proletarian Literature and the John Reed Clubs 1929-1935," ''Journal of American Studies,'' vol. 13, no. 2 (Aug. 1979), pp. 221-244
In JSTOR
* Walter B. Rideout, ''The Radical Novel in the United States: 1900-1954: Some interrelations of Literature and Society'' (New York: Hill and Wang, 1966). * Henry Hart, ed., ''The American Writers' Congress'' (New York: International Publishers, 1935).

* ttp://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=0300092202 Yale University Press ''Artists on the Left'' by
Andrew Hemingway

NYU Grey Art Gallery
The Left Front: Radical Art in the "Red Decade," 1929–1940

The Left Front: Radical Art in the "Red Decade," 1929–1940
Smithsonian Archives of American Art
Photo - Protest held by the John Reed Club and Artists' Union, 1934 {{Authority control Arts organizations established in 1929 1929 establishments in the United States 1935 disestablishments in the United States Communism in the United States Communist Party USA mass organizations