The League of American Writers was an association of American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

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 journalism ...

s, and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

s launched by 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 ...

(CPUSA) in 1935. The group included Communist Party members, and so-called "

fellow travelers The term ''fellow traveller'' (also ''fellow traveler'') identifies a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member of that o ...

" who closely followed the Communist Party's

political line Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

without being formal party members, as well as individuals sympathetic to specific policies being advocated by the organization. The League's policy objectives changed over time in accord with the shifting party line of the CPUSA. Beginning as an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

organization in 1935, the League turned to an

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

position following the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 and to a pro-war position after the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) * G ...

of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The organization was prominent in the defense of

Republican Spain The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

and in providing financial and moral support to writers in need in the United States and internationally. The organization ended its activities in 1943, with its members moving on to others with similar objectives.

Organizational history

Formation

The League of American Writers was established by the First American Writers Congress, a gathering held from April 26–28, 1935."League of American Writers," in Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, ''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX, Communist Front Organizations, Second Section.'' Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1944; pg. 967. (According to member

Myra Page Dorothy Markey (born Dorothy Page Gary, 1897–1993), known by the pen name Myra Page, was a 20th-century American communist writer, journalist, union activist, and teacher. Background Page was born Dorothy Page Gary on October 1, 1897, ...

, it started on May 1, 1935–

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. T ...

. ) The organization was affiliated with the International Union of Revolutionary Writers (IURW) as well as the International Association of Writers for the Defense of Culture and was the American equivalent of the British League of Writers.

Franklin Folsom Franklin Brewster Folsom (21 July 1907 – 30 April 1995) was an American writer of popular books, many for children and young people, on archaeology, anthropology, and other subjects – he had over 80 titles published both under his own name a ...

, ''Days of Anger, Days of Hope: A Memoir of the League of American Writers, 1937–1942.'' Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1994; pg. 29. Initial members included:

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 ...

International Publishers International Publishers is a book publishing company based in New York City, specializing in Marxism, Marxist works of economics, political science, and history. Company history Establishment International Publishers Company, Inc., was founded ...

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 ...

, Bromfelds,

I.F. Stone Isidor Feinstein "I. F." Stone (December 24, 1907 – June 18, 1989) was an American investigative journalist, writer, and author. Known for his politically progressive views, Stone is best remembered for ''I. F. Stone's Weekly'' (1953–1971), ...

Millen Brand Millen Brand (January 19, 1906 – March 19, 1980) was an American writer and poet. His novels, ''The Outward Room'' (1938) and ''Savage Sleep'' (1968), addressed mental health institutions and were bestsellers in their day. Personal life B ...

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...

, and

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

, and

In an article in the magazine of the IURW, ''International Literature,'' League of American Writers member Alan Calmer noted that the new organization sprung from a decision made at the 1934 convention of the Communist Party's

John Reed Clubs The John Reed Clubs (1929–1935), often referred to as John Reed Club (JRC), were an American federation of local organizations targeted towards Marxist writers, artists, and intellectuals, named after the American journalist and activist John ...

The chief malady of the revolutionary culture movement was characterized at the second national conference of the John Reed Clubs in 1934 as the old malady of
sectarianism Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...
. ... Pointing to these handicaps, the delegates to the conference instructed their executive committee to take the initiative in sponsoring a broad conference of left-wing authors ... A new organization committee was formed, which gradually involved more and more sympathetic writers into the leadership of the committee which issued the "Call for an American Writers Congress" at the beginning of 1935.

The convention call for establishing the first Congress of American Writers declared that

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

was rapidly crumbling and sought to gather the "hundreds of poets, novelists, dramatists, critics, short story writers and journalists" who recognized "the necessity of personally helping to accelerate the destruction of capitalism and the establishment of a workers' government." The founding convention of the League was called to order at the

Mecca Temple New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and th ...

in New York City, attended by 400 invited "writer-delegates" in front of a total audience of nearly 5,000.Milton Howard, "5,000 Greet Writers Who Pledge Fight on Fascism, War: 400 Authors Gather in Parley to Discuss Their Role in Fight" ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 12, no. 102 (April 29, 1935), pg. 3. Although later called a "

front group A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gr ...

," the Communist Party's role in the League of American Writers was never secret.

Earl Browder Earl Russell Browder (May 20, 1891 – June 27, 1973) was an American politician, communist activist and leader of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Browder was the General Secretary of the CPUSA during the 1930s and first half of the 1940s. Duri ...

, General Secretary of the CPUSA, delivered the keynote address to the delegates of the First Congress of the League of American Writers at its opening session.Earl Browder, "Text of Speech by Browder at American Writers Congress," ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 12, no. 102 (April 29, 1935), pg. 3. Browder acknowledged that writers were typically "skeptical of all political parties, if not contemptuous." He continued:

They find, however, in the new life in which they participate, there is a political party which plays an increasingly influential role, the Communist Party. They find it necessary to define their attitudes towards this Party which actively participates in their chosen world. They see that this Party is a force in fine literature, as well as in strikes, in unemployment struggles, in battling for Negro rights, even in reactionary Congress ... Yes, the Communist Party is a force, in every phase of the life of the masses, even that of poets, dramatists, novelists, and critics.

Joining Browder in addressing the delegates to the organization's founding convention was CPUSA political committee member

Clarence Hathaway Clarence A. "Charlie" Hathaway (8 Jan 1892 – 23 January 1963) was an activist in the Minnesota trade union movement and a prominent leader of the Communist Party of the United States from the 1920s through the early 1940s. He is best remembered ...

, who greeted the Congress in the name of "the entire staff of ''The Daily Worker,''" the official newspaper of the Communist Party.''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 969. Other leading CPUSA activists addressing the gathering included Moissaye Olgin of the Yiddish-language '' Morning Freiheit,'' Joseph Freeman of ''

The New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both ''The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (19 ...

,'' and

, part of the CPUSA's publishing arm.Alexander Bloom, ''Prodigal Sons: The New York Intellectuals and Their World.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1987; pg. 400, footnote 56. The group declared itself to be "a voluntary association of writers dedicated to the preservation and extension of a truly democratic culture."

Waldo Frank Waldo David Frank (August 25, 1889 – January 9, 1967) was an American novelist, historian, political activist, and literary critic, who wrote extensively for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The New Republic'' during the 1920s and 1930s. Frank is best ...

was elected the first president of the new organization.

, ''Days of Anger, Days of Hope: A Memoir of the League of American Writers, 1937–1942.'' Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1994. The governing Executive Council elected by the first Congress included Frank, Freeman, Trachtenberg,

Michael Gold Michael Gold (April 12, 1894 – May 14, 1967) was the pen-name of Jewish American writer Itzok Isaac Granich. A lifelong communist, Gold was a novelist and literary critic. His semi-autobiographical novel '' Jews Without Money'' (1930) was a b ...

Granville Hicks Granville Hicks (September 9, 1901 – June 18, 1982) was an American Marxist and, later, anti-Marxist novelist, literary critic, educator, and editor. Early life Granville Hicks was born September 9, 1901, in Exeter, New Hampshire, to Frank Stev ...

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 ...

Josephine Herbst Josephine Herbst (March 5, 1892 – January 28, 1969) was an American writer and journalist, active from 1923 to near the time of her death. She was a radical with communist leanings, who "incorporate the philosophy of socialism into her ficti ...

Albert Maltz Albert Maltz (; October 28, 1908 – April 26, 1985) was an American playwright, fiction writer and screenwriter. He was one of the Hollywood Ten who were jailed in 1950 for their 1947 refusal to testify before the US Congress about their invol ...

Kenneth Burke Kenneth Duva Burke (May 5, 1897 – November 19, 1993) was an American literary theorist, as well as poet, essayist, and novelist, who wrote on 20th-century philosophy, aesthetics, criticism, and rhetorical theory. As a literary theorist, Burke ...

Harold Clurman Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an American theatre director and drama critic. In 2003, he was named one of the most influential figures in U.S. theater by PBS.

, Hart, Josephson, Lawson, Scheider, Seaver,

Genevieve Taggard Genevieve Taggard (November 28, 1894 – November 8, 1948) was an American poet. Biography Genevieve Taggard was born in Waitsburg, Washington, to James Taggard and Alta Arnold, both of whom were school teachers. Her parents were both active mem ...

and

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), ...

Development

The League of American Writers was a dues based organization, with annual dues set at $5 per year, payable in advance on January 1 of each year.''The Bulletin of the League of American Writers,'' vol. 3, no. 3 (January 1938), pg. 3. Participants who were members of local or regional chapters paid dues to that organization, with $2 of the $5 remitted to the National Office; others stood as members at large and paid dues directly to New York. Although the League of American Writers was technically a "mass organization" of the CPUSA in the sense that it sought to unite party members with non-party individuals sharing the general Communist Party orientation, membership in the organization was limited by design to the literary elite. Several months after the April 1935 founding congress, membership in the group was reported as only 125 — far fewer than the 400 who had attended the founding convention as delegates.Harvey Klehr, ''The Heyday of American Communism: The Depression Decade.'' New York: Basic Books, 1984; pg. 353. "Applications for membership flow in, but the standard is kept high, membership is granted only to creative writers whose published work entitles them to a professional status," noted Isidor Schneider. According to the group's formal membership application, membership in the League was "open to all writers whose work has been published or used with reasonable frequency in channels of communication of more than local scope, including magazines, newspapers, the radio, the stage, and the screen.""Application for Membership" in ''The Bulletin of the League of American Writers,'' vol. 3, no. 3 (January 1938). In addition, members had to accept and observe a set of 7 membership aims:

1. To enlist writers in all parts of the United States in a national cultural organization for peace and democracy and against fascism and reaction. 2. To defend the political and social institutions that guarantee a healthy atmosphere for the perpetuation of culture ... 3. To stimulate the interest of other writers in our program ... 4. To support progressive trade union organization, especially among professionals and in the liberal arts. 5. To effect an alliance, in the interest of culture, between American writers and all progressive forces in the nation. 6. To support the People's Front in all countries. 7. To cooperate with similar organizations of writers in other countries.

The League of American Writers was governed by Congresses held every two years. The organization also had a number of local chapters which conducted various fundraising activities and events designed to raise public awareness about matters of concern to the League. Chapters were maintained in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

.''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 978. The organization published an official newsletter, ''The Bulletin of the League of American Writers.'' A number of prominent writers were enlisted in the cause over the next several years, including

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...

, James Farrell, Archibald MacLeish,

Nathanael West Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American writer and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: ''Miss Lonelyhearts'' (1933) and '' The Day of the Locust'' (1939), set ...

Elsa Gidlow Elsa Gidlow (29 December 1898 – 8 June 1986) was a British-born, Canadian-American poet, freelance journalist, philosopher and humanitarian. She is best known for writing ''On a Grey Thread'' (1923), the first volume of openly Lesbian litera ...

and

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

. The participation of many of these literary luminaries in League affairs was often nominal, limited to signature of an occasional petition. This effort at gathering prominent figures was assisted by a muting the explicitly revolutionary language and communist tone of the organization by the time of its June 1937 second convention. The 1937 convention was a more subdued affair than the high-profile 1935 launch, with its opening at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

attended by 50 "writer-delegates.""Writers to Open Congress: Rep. Bernard, Stewart Will Speak at Carnegie Hall," ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 14, no. 133 (June 4, 1937), pg. 1. The keynote speech was delivered by Ernest Hemingway, newly returned from the

. Hemingway denounced fascism as "a lie told by bullies" and declared that "a writer who will not lie cannot live or work under fascism."Klehr, ''The Heyday of American Communism,'' pg. 355. Excerpts from the film ''

The Spanish Earth ''The Spanish Earth'' is a 1937 anti-fascist film made during the Spanish Civil War in support of the democratically elected Republicans, whose forces included a wide range from the political left like communists, socialists, anarchists, to moder ...

'' were shown to the audience. Communist Party General Secretary Earl Browder again spoke to the 1937 convention, emphasizing the CPUSA's "

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

" analysis that the world was divided into "two great warring camps, democracy against fascism" and leaving it to writers to "adjust their own work to the higher discipline of the whole struggle for democracy."Earl Browder, "Speech of Earl Browder: Second Congress of American Writers," ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 14, no. 135 (June 5, 1937), pg. 1. Gone was talk of the collapse of capitalism and the duty of writers to speed its demise as participants in the class struggle; now the task at hand, in Browder's view, was the building of "broad unity of all democratic and progressive forces ... against the menace of fascist barbarism." Frank was replaced as President of the League in 1937, owing to his questioning of the evidence and verdicts being rendered at the great "Show Trials" in Moscow.''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 970. He was replaced as President by

Donald Ogden Stewart Donald Ogden Stewart (November 30, 1894 – August 2, 1980) was an American writer and screenwriter best known for his sophisticated golden age comedies and melodramas such as '' The Philadelphia Story'' (based on the play by Philip Barry), ''T ...

. The professional head of the organization as Executive Secretary from 1937 to 1942 was Communist Party stalwart

. The League touted seven prominent Vice-Presidents during the last years of the 1930s, including

Van Wyck Brooks Van Wyck Brooks (February 16, 1886 in Plainfield, New Jersey – May 2, 1963 in Bridgewater, Connecticut) was an American literary critic, biographer, and historian. Biography Brooks graduated from Harvard University in 1908. As a studen ...

Erskine Caldwell Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (1 ...

, Paul DeKruif,

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, Hug ...

Meridel LeSueur 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 ...

, and

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 seve ...

.Letterhead from July 1939 in ''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 976. The 3rd Congress of the League of American Writers, held in New York City in June 1939, once again opened with a Friday night public session at Carnegie Hall. Poet

delivered the keynote address, in which he likened the situation of American blacks to that of the Jewish minority in Germany, with but one difference: "Here we may speak openly about our problems, write about them, protest, and seek to better our conditions. In Germany the Jews may do none of those things." Hughes' speech was broadly democratic and did not include revolutionary sloganeering.

Publications

The League of American Writers somewhat irregularly published a mimeographed newsletter for its members, ''The Bulletin of the League of American Writers.'' Circulation was small, with a press run of 700 copies cited in an issue from November 1937, and few specimens seem to have survived. In 1937 the League of American Writers sent out surveys to over 1,000 American writers asking their position on the

. Some 418 returned the survey forms, with 410 supporting the Loyalists to the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

, 7 professing neutrality, and only one —

Gertrude Atherton Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton (October 30, 1857 – June 14, 1948) was an American author. Paterson, Isabel, "Gertrude Atherton: A Personality" The Bookman'', New York, February 1924, (pgs. 632-636) Many of her novels are set in her home sta ...

— supporting General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

and his nationalist forces.Folsom, ''Days of Anger, Days of Hope,'' pp. 30–31. In accord with the CPUSA's political line, no effort was made to contact writers known to be sympathetic to

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 ...

. When

Max Eastman Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radical ...

, a translator of Trotsky and opponent of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

, was inadvertently mailed a survey form, Eastman's reply was excluded at the insistence of Communist Party newspaper editor Moissaye Olgin. The other replies were distilled into a pamphlet published by the League of American Writers, entitled ''Writers Take Sides.''

Decline and dissolution

With the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact in the fall of 1939, the League of American Writers turned its official policy from one of advocacy of

collective security Collective security can be understood as a security arrangement, political, regional, or global, in which each state in the system accepts that the security of one is the concern of all, and therefore commits to a collective response to threats t ...

against

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 an ...

in Europe to one of opposition to the so-called "imperialist war," in accord with a change in the political line of the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

and the CPUSA. This abrupt reversal was not cost-free to the organization, however, as a series of prominent members of the League of American Writers left the group's ranks. Those exiting during this " Yanks Are Not Coming" period included Archibald MacLeish,

, and

, among others.''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 971. In January 1940, the League formed a ''Keep America Out of War Committee.'' This group's members included:

, Lawrence A. Goldstone,

Eleanor Flexner Eleanor Flexner (October 4, 1908 – March 25, 1995) was an American distinguished independent scholar and pioneer in what was to become the field of women's studies. Her much praised ''Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Movement in the Unite ...

, Len Zinberg,

Shaemas O'Sheel Shaemas O'Sheel (September 19, 1886 – April 2, 1954) was an Irish American poet and critic. Born James Shields,O'Sheel, Shaemas, and Sophocles. ''Antigone'', University of Pennsylvania Press, 1961, p.8 he changed his name to an anglicized spell ...

, and Sonia Raiziss, among others. A number of the League's members were placed under surveillance by the United States government.

was honorary president of the League of American Writers in 1941.

"Notes on Writergate: Harassment against League of American Writers
''Monthly Review,'' May 1995. Published online by CBS MoneyWatch.com In the summer of 1941, the League again abruptly shifted its political position, ending its anti-war stance, with the

German invasion of the USSR Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

in the summer of 1941. Echoing another abrupt change of the political line of the CPUSA, the League of American Writers became advocates of American entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in defense of the Soviet Union. In another development in 1941, Attorney General

Francis Biddle Francis Beverley Biddle (May 9, 1886 – October 4, 1968) was an American lawyer and judge who was the United States Attorney General during World War II. He also served as the primary American judge during the postwar Nuremberg Trials as well a ...

began tracking what were deemed to be subversive Soviet-controlled organizations, and in February 1943 the League of American Writers was placed on the Biddle List, which later became the

Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations The United States Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO) was a list drawn up on April 3, 1947 at the request of the United States Attorney General (and later Supreme Court justice) Tom C. Clark. The list was intended to be a co ...

. This effectively terminated it.Folsom, ''Days of Anger, Days of Hope,'' pg. 265 The condemnation of it was confirmed in May 1948 and again in 1953 by

Executive Order 10450 President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450 on April 27, 1953. Effective May 27, 1953, it revoked President Truman's Executive Order 9835 of 1947, and dismantled its Loyalty Review Board program. Instead it charged the heads of f ...

. Once the communist domination of the League of American Writers had been publicly declared, its Hollywood branch renamed itself as the Hollywood Writers’ Mobilization, led by

John Howard Lawson John Howard Lawson (September 25, 1894 – August 11, 1977) was an American writer, specializing in plays and screenplays. After starting with plays for theaters in New York City, he worked in Hollywood on writing for films. He was the first pres ...

. The archive of the League is housed at the

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. The collection has been

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either photographic film, films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the origin ...

ed, with the master negative held by the Rare Books and Special Collections Department at the university.Guide to the League of American Writers archives: Scope and Content
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved August 25, 2010.

Footnotes

Conventions

* 1st Congress of American Writers — New York, April 26–28, 1935 * 2nd Congress of American Writers — New York, June 4–6, 1937 * 3rd American Writers' Congress — New York, June 2–4, 1939 * 4th American Writers' Congress — New York, June 6–8, 1941

External links

Guide to the League of American Writers archives
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

''The New Masses,'' January 22, 1935, pg. 20. {{DEFAULTSORT:League Of American Writers American writers' organizations Communist Party USA mass organizations The arts and politics Arts organizations established in 1935 Arts organizations disestablished in the 20th century 1935 establishments in the United States 1943 disestablishments in the United States

Organizational history

Formation

Development

Publications

Decline and dissolution

Footnotes

Conventions

Further reading

See also

External links