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Wikipedia / Daily Worker

The Daily Worker was a leftist newspaper published in Chicago and later New York City, founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. The publication generally promoted the prevailing views of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA); it also reflected a broader spectrum of left-wing opinion.

At its peak, the newspaper achieved a circulation of 35,000. Contributors to its pages included Robert Minor and Fred Ellis (cartoonists), Lester Rodney (sports editor), David Karr, Richard Wright, John L. Spivak, Peter Fryer, Woody Guthrie, and Louis F. Budenz. The newspaper ceased daily publication in 1958 and transitioned to weekly publication under various names until 2010. Several online news and opinion outlets now claim to be the legitimate successor to The Daily Worker.

All works of the Daily Worker prior to 1964 are now in the public domain due to the nonrenewal of their copyright status.

History

Origins

The origins of the Daily Worker were with the weekly Ohio Socialist published by the Socialist Party of Ohio in Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919. The Ohio party joined the nascent Communist Labor Party of America (CLP) at the 1919 Emergency National Convention.

The Ohio Socialist only used whole numbers. Its final issue was #94 November 19, 1919. The Toiler continued this numbering, even though a typographical error made its debut issue #85 November 26, 1919. Beginning sometime in 1921 the volume number IV was added, perhaps reflecting the publications fourth year in print, though its issue numbers continued the whole number scheme. The final edition of the Toiler was Vol IV #207 January 28, 1922. The Worker continued the Toilers numbering during its run Vol. IV #208 February 2, 1922 to Vol. VI #310 January 12, 1924. The first edition of Daily worker was numbered Vol. I #311.

The Ohio Socialist became Toiler in November 1919. In 1920, with the CLP going underground, Toiler became the party's "aboveground" newspaper published by "The Toiler Publishing Association." It remained as the Cleveland aboveground publication of the CLP and its successors until February 1922.

In December 1921 the "aboveground" Workers Party of America was founded and the Toiler merged with Workers Council of the Workers' Council of the United States to found the six page weekly The Worker.

This became the Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924.

In 1927, the newspaper moved from Chicago to New York.

Popular front changes

Beginning in the popular front period of the 1930s, the paper broadened its coverage of the arts and entertainment. In 1935, it established a sports page, with contributions from David Karr, the page was edited and frequently written by Lester Rodney. The paper's sports coverage combined enthusiasm for baseball with the usual Marxist social critique of capitalist society and bourgeois attitudes. It advocated the desegregation of professional sports.

Post-World War II

After a short hiatus, the party published a weekend paper called The Worker from 1958 until 1968. A Tuesday edition called The Midweek Worker was added in 1961 and also continued until 1968, when production was accelerated.

Two newspapers and a merger

In 1968, the publication was resumed as a New York daily paper, now titled The Daily World. In 1986, the paper merged with the West Coast weekly paper, the People's World. The new People's Daily World published from 1987 until 1991, when daily publication was abandoned.

Contemporary claims of successors

The new paper was cut back to a weekly issue and was retitled People's Weekly World (later retitled to People's World as to de-emphasize the weekly component). Print publication of the People's World ceased in 2010 in favor of an online edition. , People's World claims that, "Peoplesworld.org is a daily news website of, for and by the 99% and the direct descendant of the Daily Worker." Its publisher is Long View Publishing Company. The online newspaper is a member of the International Labor Communications Association and is indexed in the Alternative Press Index. Its staff belong to the Newspaper Guild/CWA, AFL–CIO.

Another publication, both in print as The Worker and online as Daily Worker USA states that it is "Continuing The Daily Worker, Founded in 1924." The Worker is the Publication of the Central Committee of the Party of Communists USA, which itself claims to be the continuing the legacy of the old CPUSA, and The Worker has been printed and distributed since at least 2020.

Leadership

Editors

Staff

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

Pamphlets

Before the Party established the Workers Library Publishers in late 1927, the party used the Daily Worker Publishing Company imprint to publish its pamphlets.

  • The state and revolution: Marxist teaching on the state and the task of the proletariat in the revolution by Vladimir Lenin Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1924

  • Chicago; Published for the Workers Party of America by the Daily Worker Pub. Co. Feb 1925

  • by William Z. Foster, Earl Browder and James Cannon Chicago: Published for the Trade Union Educational League by the Daily worker 1925 (Little red library #1) alternate link

  • . by Earl Browder Chicago: Published for the Workers Party of America by the Daily worker publishing company, 1925 (The little red library #2) alternate link

  • translated by Max Bedacht Chicago: Published for the Workers Party of America by the Daily worker 1925. (Little Red Library #3) alternate link

  • by William F. Dunne Chicago: Published for the Workers Party of America by the Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1925 (The Little red library #4) alternate link

  • edited by Manuel Gomez Chicago: Published for Workers Party of America by Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1925 (Little Red Library #5)

  • by Joseph Stalin Chicago: Published for the Workers Party of America by the Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1925

  • . Chicago: Published for the Workers (Communist) Party by the Daily Worker Publishing Co. 1925

  • by Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamenev, and Grigory Zinovyev Chicago: Published for the Workers Party of America by the Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1925

  • by Yemelyan Yaroslavsky Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1925

  • . by Tom Bell Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1925

  • by Shapurji Saklatvala Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1925

  • by Hermynia Zur Mühlen, trans. by Ida Dailes Chicago, Ill., Daily Worker Pub. Co. 1925

  • . Chicago: Daily Worker Publishing Co., 1925

  • by Charles E. Ruthenberg Chicago: Published for the Workers (Communist) Party of America by the Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1925

  • The international: words and music. [New York]: Daily Worker New York Agency, Dec 1925

  • by Heinz Neumann Chicago : Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1926 (The little red library #6) alternate link

  • . by Michael Gold Chicago : Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1926 (The little red library #7) alternate link

  • by Max Shachtman Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co. 1926 (The little red library #8) alternate link

  • by Bertram David Wolfe Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co. 1926 (The little red library #9) alternate link

  • . by Max Bedacht Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1926

  • by William F. Dunne Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1926

  • . by Albert Weisbord Chicago; Published for the Workers (Communist) Party by the Daily Worker Pub. Co., November 1926.

  • Red cartoons from the daily worker, the workers monthly and the liberator: Communist publications Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1926

  • by James Dolsen Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1926

  • Labor conditions in China and its labor movement by James H Dolsen Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1926

  • Lenin on organization. by Vladimir Lenin Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1926

  • by Nikolai Bukharin, A. Berdnikov, and F. Svetlov Chicago: Daily Worker, 1926

  • by Fred Ellis Chicago: Daily Worker, 1927 alternate link

  • by V. Yarotsky and N. Yekovsky Chicago: Daily Worker, 1927 (The little red library #10) alternate link

  • by G. Schüller Chicago: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1926 (The little red library # 11) alternate link

  • Red cartoons of 1927 from the daily worker and the workers monthly Chicago; New York: Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1927

  • by Executive Committee of the Communist International New York, Daily Worker Pub. Co., 1927 The little red library #12 Alternate link

  • . by Jay Lovestone New York: Daily Worker Publishing Co., 1927.

  • Red cartoons from the Daily Worker 1928 New York: Daily Worker, 1928

  • 1929 Red cartoons: reprinted from the daily worker New York: Comprodaily Pub. Co., 1929

  • How to sell the Daily Worker. New York, Daily Worker, 1920s

  • Burning Daylight by Jack London New York, Daily Worker, 1930s

  • "Soviet dumping" fable: speech by Litvinov New York: Published for Daily Worker by Workers Library Publishers, 1931

  • Anti-soviet lies and the five-year plan: the "Holy" capitalist war against the Soviet Union by Max Bedacht New York: Published for Daily Worker by Workers Library Publishers, 1931

  • Dimitroff accuses by Georgi Dimitrov New York, Daily Worker, 1934

  • The Iron Heel by Jack London New York, Daily Worker, 1934

  • The ruling clawss by A. Redfield New York, Daily Worker, 1935 (cartoons)

  • Hunger and revolt: cartoons, by Jacob Burck New York, Daily Worker, 1935

  • Martin Eden by Jack London New York, Daily Worker, 1937

  • William Z. Foster and William Z Foster New York: The Daily Worker, 1937

  • The Daily worker, heir to the great tradition, by Morris Schappes New York, Daily Worker, 1944

  • by Harry Raymond; intro. by Benjamin Davis New York, Daily Worker, 1946

  • The killing of William Milton by Art Shields New York, Daily Worker, 1948

  • The Ingrams shall not die!: story of Georgia's new terror by Harry Raymond; intro. by Benjamin J. Davis New York, Daily Worker, 1948

  • A tale of two waterfronts by George Morris (1952))

  • "Throw the bum out": official Communist Party line on Senator McCarthy. New York, Daily Worker, 1953–1954

See also

References

Further reading

Articles

  • Fetter, Henry D. "The Party Line and the Color Line: The American Communist Party, the Daily Worker and Jackie Robinson." Journal of Sport History 28, no. 3 (Fall 2001).

  • Gottfried, Erika, "Shooting Back: The Daily Worker Photographs Collection," American Communist History, vol. 12, no. 1 (April 2013), pp.41–69.

  • Lamb, Christopher and Rusinack, Kelly E. "Hitting From the Left: The Daily Worker's Assault on Baseball's Color Line". Gumpert, Gary and Drucker, Susan J., eds. Take Me Out to the Ballgame: Communicating Baseball. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2002.

  • Rusinack, Kelly E. "Baseball on the Radical Agenda: The Daily and Sunday Worker Journalistic Campaign to Desegregate Major League Baseball, 1933-1947". Dorinson, Joseph, and Woramund, Joram, eds. Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream. New York: E. M. Swift, 1998.

  • Smith, Ronald A. "The Paul Robeson-Jackie Robinson Saga and a Political Collision". Journal of Sport History 6, no. 2 (1979).

Theses

  • Evans, William Barrett. "Revolutionist Thought in the Daily Worker, 1919-1939". Ph.D. diss. University of Washington, 1965.

  • Jeffries, Dexter. "Richard Wright and the ‘Daily Worker’: A Native Son’s Journalistic Apprenticeship". Ph.D. diss. City University of New York, 2000.

  • Rusinack, Kelly E. "Baseball on the Radical Agenda: The Daily and Sunday Worker on Desegregating Major League Baseball, 1933-1947". M.A. Thesis, Clemson University, South Carolina, 1995.

  • Shoemaker, Martha Mcardell. "Propaganda or Persuasion: The Communist Party and Its Campaign to Integrate Baseball". Master’s thesis. University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1999.

Books

  • Hemingway, Andrew. Artists on the Left: American Artists and the Communist Movement, 1926-1956. New Haven, Yale University Press, 2002.

  • Schappes, Morris U. The Daily Worker: Heir to the Great Tradition. New York: Daily Worker, 1944.

  • Silber, Irwin. Press Box Red: The Story of Lester Rodney, the Communist Who Helped Break the Color Line in American Sports. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2003.