The James Cannon Papers are an important collection for the study of twentieth century radicalism in the United States. The collection is far from complete, however, and researchers are advised to consult several related collections presented to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin by the Socialist Workers Party for additional material. The Cannon Papers are arranged into the following series: BIOGRAPHICAL AND BACKGROUND MATERIAL, CORRESPONDENCE, INTERNATIONAL FILES, SPEECHES AND WRITINGS, PARTY HISTORY files, REFERENCE FILES, and the ROSE KARSNER CANNON PAPERS.
BIOGRAPHICAL AND BACKGROUND MATERIAL
The BIOGRAPHICAL AND BACKGROUND MATERIAL consists of brief biographical information about Cannon, together with information collected to facilitate use of the papers. Included are bibliographies of Cannon's speeches and writings, inventories of his library and correspondence, obituaries, sympathy letters, and memorabilia. Especially useful is the inventory of the Cannon correspondence prepared by the SWP which lists correspondent names, together with a brief description of the subject of each letter. Researchers need to be aware, however, that not all Cannon correspondence has been included in the inventory. Also arranged here are several interviews with Cannon. Most notable is the fully transcribed conversation with Harry Ring that took place during 1973 and 1974.
CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE is divided into six subseries: letters to and from Cannon (herein referred to as the JPC correspondence file), letters to and from Trotsky, correspondence of Cannon's personal secretaries, general correspondence including letters to and from others to which Cannon was not a party, correspondence of the SWP Secretariat, and Cannon's autobiographical correspondence with historian Theodore Draper. Each of these files is chronologically arranged.
The JPC correspondence was apparently collected by the SWP from a variety of sources. In addition to letters originally in Cannon's possession, some of the correspondence appears to have come from the files of other party members (e.g. Vincent Dunne, Farrell Dobbs, Albert Glotzer, and Rose Karsner), as some original letters from Cannon to these individuals are present. (For the sake of research convenience letters from Cannon to Rose are filed in the JPC files rather than her portion of the collection which is described below. For the same reason all correspondence between Cannon and Trotsky has been filed in the Trotsky subseries described below.) Other letters in the collection appear to have been copied by the SWP from the holdings of the Tamiment Library and Harvard University Archives. Unfortunately, some material of this type consists of reader-printer copies which were virtually illegible at the time the papers were microfilmed at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
The bulk of the JPC correspondence covers the period 1929 to 1959 and includes material of the following types: political correspondence with national party leaders such as Vincent Dunne, Farrell Dobbs, and Arne Swabeck; correspondence with local party organizations (especially the San Francisco and Minneapolis branches); readers of The Militant; and personal correspondence with Rose Karsner, his father, his brother Joseph, Rose's daughter Walta, his daughter Ruth and his son Carl, his grandchildren (Lista, or “Lissie,” and Susie), and personal friends (including party members). Most of the correspondence covers Cannon's years with the Socialist and Socialist Workers parties. Only a few scattered letters cover Cannon's early years in the Communist Party and Communist League of America, although there is some material relating to his tenure as secretary of the party's national Labor Defense Fund (including some exchanges with Eugene V. Debs, 1925-1926). The absence of early letters is attributed to the theft of this material in 1928 allegedly by the Stalinist leadership of the CP.
Cannon's political correspondence is both official (e.g. letters written as secretary of the International Labor Defense Fund and national secretary of the Socialist Workers' Party to local organizations) and more informal exchanges with party leaders. Also included are lengthy discussions of the political and philosophical issues and factional disputes that confronted the Socialist and Socialist Workers parties. Within the overall chronological arrangement there are two distinct special categories: the Russian Discussion, a 1939-1940 dispute over the proper party stance toward Russia in the context of World War II, and the Cochran Discussion, a 1953 dispute over the party's view of Stalinism. Both provide insight into the internal politics of the party and the political philosophies of Cannon and other party members.
The JPC file also contains observations about the direction of the party and life in general. For example, Cannon's letters from prison (as well as the letters he received from Rose) are full of philosophical reflections on the nature of man and society. (A slightly altered version of this correspondence appeared in Letters from Prison and is filed with the writings.) Another theme is Cannon's past life and the history of radical politics in the United States. These accounts begin to appear during the 1950s, and they range from family anecdotes told to Carl Cannon to moments in radical political history recounted to young comrades, interested students, old comrades, and former Wobblies.
Personal letters comprise a relatively small amount of the JPC file. Most deal with family matters -- his children's stay at camp, Carl's career, Rose and Jim's loneliness during absences, the latest accomplishments of the grandchildren, that great box of cigars received for Christmas, etc. Some of the personal exchanges take place with friends: compliments on his egg nog, the sharing of a cartoon clipped from a magazine, observations on the weather, disappointment in the younger generation of comrades, etc. From the 1950s on, the personal correspondence frequently contains brief glimpses of Cannon's youth.
A good deal of Cannon's later correspondence was not actually written by him but instead consists of responses prepared by a secretary. Whenever the Cannon home address, 1902 Hyperion Avenue in Los Angeles, appears as the return address, it has been assumed that the letter was from Cannon regardless of who actually signed the document.
Topics of the later JPC correspondence fall into three categories: party business, correspondence with friends and family, and research inquiries. These distinctions are not precise, and the writings of friends often concerned party business and party business was often conducted in correspondence with friends. Over time a growing proportion of the social letters are to and from former party activists and aging friends. A sense of optimism fills many of the letters written by Cannon and his friends as the Socialist Workers Party grew during the ferment of the 1960s. Letters from the older activists written during this period indicate their satisfaction over the protest movements of the 1960s. At the same time many younger activists contacted Cannon to express their admiration for his career and writings. The correspondence of this period provides a record of Cannon's continued involvement with the SWP leadership. Frequent letters between Farrell Dobbs and Cannon cover many of the important issues the party faced during the period. Yet, it is clear that as Cannon grew older his participation in policy discussions became secondary to his historical work and writing, and many letters detail the creation of works such as Letters from Prison, The First Ten Years of American Communism, and Speeches for Socialism. Inquiries from scholars, researchers, and students increased in quantity as Cannon became one of the few surviving individuals who recalled the Wobblies and the early days of the Communist Party. Requests for information, interviews, and confirmation of facts appear often, especially as interest renewed in the Sacco and Vanzetti Case arose in 1963. Research requests increased dramatically in the very last years of Cannon's life, with the letter writers often seeking the most obscure types of information. By the 1970s, Cannon answered very few of these because his efforts were primarily focused on his own work.
A unique and intimate glimpse of James Cannon emerges from the ongoing correspondence that took place with Carl Cannon. Carl's two daughters, Lista and Susi, also wrote frequently to their grandfather as they attended school, entered the world of work, and eventually established independent lives. Cannon's deteriorating health is also a recurring theme in the later correspondence.
The Trotsky-Mexican correspondence dates from 1929 to 1950, but it primarily covers the late 1930s and 1940s. Except for a file on David Siqueros, the Mexican painter, who planned and participated in the first assassination attempt on Trotsky's life in May 1940, and a translation of a 1932 Trotsky speech that has not been filmed because of possible restrictions imposed by Harvard, the file consists entirely of chronologically-arranged correspondence. It begins with several drafts of a bibliography of the Cannon-Trotsky correspondence compiled by SWP secretaries Peggy Brundy, Judy White, and Reba Hansen (1969-1971) as part of a proposed publishing project. (It is this project which probably explains the presence of numerous typed letters, the originals of which are thought to be held by other institutions.) This correspondence consists of two distinct sections: letters exchanged between Cannon and Trotsky, together with, after Trotsky's death in 1940, correspondence with his widow Natalia Sedova, and general correspondence about the party's support of her household.
The letters between Trotsky and Cannon in the 1930s are of particular interest because they involve important discussions of politics and party building and examples of Trotsky's support of the SWP. While the correspondence provides enlightening information about Trotsky's influence within the SWP, the collection is sketchy about his life in Mexico and the Soviet Union, his relationship with Stalin, or his involvement in the Mexican workers movement. This correspondence also highlights the esteem and affection felt by Cannon and others in the SWP towards Trotsky, whom they termed “the Old Man.”
While this correspondence includes a great deal of direct, personal interactions between the two men, after Trotsky's death the majority of the correspondence involves other SWP members such as Dobbs and Morris Stein, who travelled to Mexico, and various guards who lived in Natalia's household. Many letters, however, are to and from Natalia, who maintained ties with Rose Karsner, Grace Carlson, and others in the party.
The Secretarial correspondence dates from 1952 to 1962 and from 1965 to 1975. Overall, this file consists of letters to and from personal secretaries who worked with Cannon after he and Karsner moved to Los Angeles. These secretaries included Jeanne Morgan, Julia Houdek, Della Rossa, Angela Davis, Bea Hansen, Peggy Brundy, Jessica Star, and Suzanne Weiss. Sometimes the secretaries prepared letters for Cannon's signature; such letters have been filed above in the JPC file. This file, however, consists of correspondence that the secretaries carried out in their own names.
The secretarial files contain three types of letters. The first deals with the day-to-day aspects of the household, such as balancing the petty cash fund with the National Office in New York, renewing magazine subscriptions, and work on Cannon's personal library. Secondly, much of the correspondence addresses Cannon's writing projects. This portion consists of letters to and from editors and publishers at Merit, Pioneer Press, and Pathfinder Press, particularly George Weissman and Jack Barnes. Although Cannon engaged in little original writing during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, he was actively involved in the publication of his collected letters and speeches in such works as Notebook of an Agitator, The First Ten Years of American Communism, and Letters From Prison. Finally, several items in the correspondence consist of personal letters from the secretaries to Cannon's friends and family about his health, the progress of his work, and his daily activities. This section of the correspondence, in particular, reveals much about Cannon's household and the role his secretaries assumed as organizers and caretakers of his daily life. Overall, the secretarial correspondence provides an interesting glimpse into Cannon's life and work in Los Angeles. The researcher should take note that the secretarial files from 1963 and 1964 are missing.
The fourth subseries of correspondence in the Cannon Papers, the general correspondence , consists of letters for which Cannon was neither sender nor recipient. This section was apparently collected from several sources. Some of the letters are clearly reference copies of correspondence written by James Burnham, Farrell Dobbs, Vincent R. Dunne, Tom Kerry, Arne Swabeck, and other party leaders that were circulated to Cannon for his information. Other letters contain references to Cannon, and it is thought that they may have been interfiled in the Cannon Papers by the SWP as part of a biographical publishing project. The extensive correspondence between Max Shachtman, Arne Swabeck, and Albert Glotzer seems in particular to have been collected for such a project. (The Glotzer letters, which were apparently copied, 1977-1978, can be identified by the “Received” stamp on the back of each item. It is likely they are from a collection of Glotzer papers at Stanford University.)
Because of its artificial, collected provenance the content of this section is diverse, although the coverage roughly parallels the events and intellectual currents prominent in Cannon's life. Prior to 1929 the documentation is fragmentary. Beginning in that year the content is dominated by exchanges between Shachtman, Glotzer, and Swabeck. The letters dating from the period that Cannon was in prison consist primarily of the correspondence of Morris Stein and Vincent R. Dunne, both of whom acted in leadership positions during Cannon's absence. Also dating from this period are original letters written in prison by Dunne, Grace Carlson, and Max Goldman. Stein's correspondence with branch leaders dominates the 1945-1946 letters, which is also notable for its many references to the Goldman-Morrow dispute over reunification with the Workers Party. There is no coverage of the years between 1947 and 1950. Correspondence dating from the period after Cannon moved to California consists largely of convenience copies of letters to and from Farrell Dobbs.
Even more obscure in provenance than the general correspondence is the Secretariat correspondence , which dates from 1938 to 1971. While a substantial portion is made up of letters signed for the Secretariat by William F. Warde (George Novack), Morris Stein, Farrell Dobbs, Murry Weiss, and other party leaders there are also many items which more properly fell within the purview of the Political Committee, of which the Secretariat was a subcommittee. Other material here (including frequent letters to and from Cannon) possesses no obvious connection to either the PC or the Secretariat. This section can best be understood, as a result, as a file that was identified and defined by the SWP itself. Cannon's career is prominently represented, although his connection to its custodianship is unclear. It has been placed as a part of the Cannon Papers rather than as part of the SWP records because the SWP so arranged it.
Although the Secretariat was essentially responsible for routine day-to-day management of party affairs there is much material here that is of great value. Throughout the file there is information concerning planning for conventions and meetings, as well as reports on factional disputes and other news of the branches. The 1944 correspondence contains many typed transcripts or excerpts from the SWP prisoners. The file for the post-war period is dominated by exchanges between Cannon and Max Shachtman concerning the proposed reunification with the Workers Party. The year 1953 is extensively represented, and Cannon is present in the documentation about the Morrow-Goldman dispute which took place during that period. Unfortunately, correspondence dating from the following two years is missing. Correspondence from the late 1960s contains useful information on the branches and their relationship with the Young Socialists.
The final correspondence section, the Draper correspondence , consists of exchanges (1954-1963) between Cannon and historian Theodore Draper, that were used as the basis for the book The First Ten Years of American Communism (1962). This correspondence is not an exact manuscript of the 1962 book, as the file includes not only Cannon's extended, highly autobiographical letters which appeared in the book, but also several unpublished Cannon letters and Draper's equally lengthy half of the correspondence. Also filed here for research convenience is a folder of background material Cannon used during the course of the exchange and a few printed reviews. (There are no other files on this volume in the SPEECHES AND WRITINGS portion of the Cannon Papers.)
INTERNATIONAL FILES
The INTERNATIONAL FILES contain correspondence, clippings, and original documents such as resolutions, mimeographed circular letters, minutes, and articles in English, French, German, Spanish, and Russian. The files reflect the discussions and activities of international Trotskyist organizations and their foreign affiliates. In particular, the files demonstrate the relationship between the SWP and the international organizations and their affiliates. For instance, in the late 1930s the SWP received regular reports on the situation in the International Secretariat in Paris and French Trotskyist parties from Sherry Magnan (Phelan), an American magazine editor/critic who had been introduced to the IS by Cannon.
The files are divided into two subseries. First is a general section dealing with the activities and discussions within and about the Third International, the Fourth International, and the foreign affiliates of the Third and Fourth internationals, and the activities of the Communist League, the Workers' Party, and the Socialist Workers Party abroad. The second section consists of materials related to the Pablo Discussion.
The first subseries of the International Files, the General file , is further subdivided into three parts: 1) a chronological arrangement of correspondence concerning matters not specific to any single country, including routine business between the SWP and the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, reports of events and Trotskyist activities in a number of countries, and discussions concerning the general policies and activities of the Fourth International; 2) a chronological file of documents related to the Fourth International and the International Left Opposition including minutes, statutes, resolutions, and open letters; and 3) an alphabetically-arranged file of documents and correspondence dealing with the national affiliates of the Fourth International.
From 1930 to 1933 the general material relates to the Communist League of America and the International Left Opposition. In August, 1933 the Fourth International was founded and thus the subsequent material in this series concerns the Fourth International and its affiliates. During the 1930s, the IS of the Fourth International was based in Paris, and, as a result, many of its documents and letters are in French although some items include English translations.
This correspondence includes exchanges between SWP officials and the International Secretariat of the Fourth International concerning routine business such as financial donations and the publication of articles and political activities such as meetings problems or controversies involving individual foreign sections, and debates within the movement. There is also correspondence from foreign sections or SWP agents abroad to SWP officials in the United States reporting on the debates and activities of the IS and its affiliated sections and parties. In addition, the documents include minutes of the International Secretariat, internal bulletins, resolutions, and mimeographed communications.
The national files are similar to the materials described above, except that they relate to Trotskyist organizations and activities in particular countries. The bulk concern France and England.
The second major subseries, the Pablo Discussion files , document a philosophical split within the Socialist Workers Party and the Fourth International that began in 1953. At this time Michel Pablo asserted that the decline of Stalinism in the USSR was inevitable. In a continuation of the earlier Cochran Discussion, Pablo argued that as the Soviet Union freed itself from Stalinism, the Trotskyite movement should adjust its official antagonism. As Pablo's argument advanced through the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, Cannon and his majority followers alleged that Pablo was attempting to sell out the Trotskyist movement.
The Pablo Discussion records are divided into two parts: 1) general correspondence and documents related to the Pablo split within the Fourth International (including Cannon's handwritten notes, resolutions of the IS, the International Committee and Fourth International, and articles by Michel Pablo) and 2) an alphabetical file of correspondence and documents detailing the Pablo split in specific countries. All of the material in this section except for one folder of later writings by Pablo date from the period 1953 to 1955.
The general Pablo material reflects the discussion and debate among the leadership of the Fourth International and the majority of the material here consists of mimeographed form letters, articles, and resolutions of individuals and bodies within the Fourth International. For instance, the “Rise and Decline of Stalinism” is an interpretation of Soviet history approved by the IS, which supported Pablo. Led by Cannon, the majority group produced a number of critiques of this document.
The second part of the Pablo files contains correspondence and documents which reflect the issue within particular countries. These files are alphabetically arranged.
SPEECHES AND WRITINGS
Speeches , which were originally (and somewhat more accurately) described by the SWP as “Speech Notes,” includes notes, transcripts, and fragments of speeches made by Cannon at party conventions, membership meetings, retreats, and public mass meetings, as well as a few scattered clippings in which Cannon is quoted. Several speeches dating from 1942 to 1966 are also available in recorded form as part of the tape library in the collection of SWP records, also held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Some of the material consists of lectures about the early history of the Communist, Trotskyist, and Socialist movements in the United States. For instance, a series of annual lectures delivered at the West Coast Workers' Vacation School and Camp in Los Angeles during the 1950s and early 1960s include such titles as “Lectures on I.W.W. History,” “American Radicalism: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” “Main Achievements of the Early Communist Party,” and “The Pre-Communist Revolutionary Movement in the United States.” Many of the speeches deal with party unity and include debates over ideology and the direction of the party organization. Finally, there are speeches about strikes, trials, and the coming of World War II.
The chronologically-arranged speech files are most complete for the years 1931 to 1959, with only scattered documentation representing Cannon's earlier career. There are also only a few speeches for 1943, and none for 1944--the period when Cannon was in prison. After 1959 this type of documentation is also limited, with only a small amount of material for the years between 1960 and 1967 and one folder for 1974.
Prior to 1940 the files contain only rough outlines or notes on the main points to be addressed. After 1940, the files tend to contain a combination of notes, variant drafts, and transcripts. Dating from the early 1950s the files generally contain multiple drafts and transcripts. Throughout the speeches there are scattered fragments and groupings of notes lacking both title and precise date. Generally, these materials have been arranged by the year or time period provided by SWP staff. Although bracketed page numbers have been added to the fragments in preparing the documents for filming, this numbering should not be understood to indicate that a coherent order was discovered, but rather to indicate the order in which the pages were found. It is possible that some of the undated fragments included here were not directly related to any speeches; instead they may be merely random thoughts, reminders for topics of future articles, etc.
Access to the speeches is facilitated by the bibliography prepared by SWP that is filed with the BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL. This list of Cannon speeches seems to be virtually complete. With the exception of the pre-1930 materials (for which only three speeches are listed), every item on the list appears in the files. However, the collection includes a few scattered speeches which are not included in the bibliography. The bibliography does not include fragments.
The Writings are a smaller assemblage of manuscripts, variant drafts of published books, and typescripts of articles Cannon wrote for early labor periodicals. This section of the collection is by no means a complete representation of Cannon's writing career, as it contains only draft writings that differ from published sources or writings that appeared in obscure publications. There are draft materials for only one book, Letters from Prison. However, virtually all of Cannon's books, pamphlets, newspaper writings, and collected speeches are available in the SHSW Library.
Researchers will no doubt be disappointed by the scantiness of original manuscripts in the writing file, and scholars interested in original manuscripts may do well to examine the Speeches in the collection, as many of Cannon's writings originated as speeches or lectures. Researchers are also advised to consult the bibliography “James P. Cannon Published Articles and Speeches, 1912-1957” at the beginning of the collection which contains a chronological listing of all Cannon's writings.
With one exception, none of the materials on Cannon's early articles for magazines such as the Labor Defender, The Toiler, and Communist were original manuscripts, but instead transcripts made from the final printed text. It is thought that the staff of the SWP or Cannon's publisher surveyed the party's periodicals and then prepared transcripts as a first step in compiling a collection of Cannon writings. The only transcribed articles of this type which have been retained here are those in which the periodicals themselves are not easily obtainable. The sole original draft in the entire section is a single article from a 1940 edition of the Socialist Appeal.
The largest item in the writings file is a typescript draft of Letters From Prison, which was published in 1968. While the typed text is an exact transcription of the letters Cannon wrote from Sandstone Prison in 1944 and 1945, the manuscript indicates numerous pencilled clarifications and embellishment made before publication. The most notable example can be found at the end of letter #148, December 15, 1944, in which a new conclusion was added. Also present is an unpublished draft introduction to the letters thought to have been written by Joseph Hanson while Cannon was still in prison.
A particularly interesting portion of the writings may be found in the section “Reply to Munis and manuscripts, 1942,” also titled by Cannon “A Defense of Marxism.” In this section, Cannon defended his testimony during the Smith Act trial on ideological grounds, elaborating on the role of the Marxist within a democratic state, especially during wartime.
Researchers should be aware that several works without page numbers could not be precisely ordered; they have been left in the order in which they were received or arranged only to the section level.
PARTY HISTORY
The PARTY HISTORY files contain documents collected and organized by Cannon for use in his writing on the American Trotskyist movement. The files document the Socialist Workers Party and its Trotskyist predecessors, beginning with the Communist Party in 1919 and ending with the Socialist Workers Party in 1974, and they include information on a wide variety of causes with which the various party organizations were associated or whose activities Cannon followed. The files do not document the complete history of the SWP and American Trotskyism; rather they cover selected topics, presumably those of interest to Cannon.
In general, the Party History files provide very good documentation of internal party business, especially the plenums, conventions, elections, and National Committee meetings. At a minimum, these files contain minutes, as well as the most important resolutions considered. Financial statements, membership recruitment information, and correspondence are present in some files.
The Party History files are especially thorough in documenting factional disputes, internal debates, and unity discussions with other organizations. The most extensive files in the entire series concern such events as the Oehlerite dispute over continued participation in the Second International; the discussions proceeding the unification of the Workers Party and the SP in 1936; the establishment of the Trotskyist Socialist Appeal minority faction within the SP; the Russian Discussion following the Soviet invasion of Poland; the Goldman-Morrow dispute over reunification with the Workers Party following World War II; the Cochran Fight over the future of the SWP; and the split within the International over Pabloism. Because of the preponderance of material on factional fights and relations with other Leftist organizations, these files may be most beneficial to researchers interested in the politics of the Left. However, the prominence of political documents should in no way diminish the fact that the files contain documents on a wide variety of topics useful for understanding the inner workings and public activities of the SWP in the period from 1925 to 1961.
Among the files may be found, for example, documents on the civil rights movement, the unemployed leagues of the 1930s, labor defense cases, union activism, socialism in China and Cuba, and much more. The quality and quantity of the files varies. Researchers should note that while the files contain some information on events as early as 1919 and as late as 1974, the collection is richest for the period from the mid-1920s through the early 1960s.
The files are arranged largely as they were by Cannon into chronological periods. Before 1937, each section is also subdivided by organizational name. The earliest file deals solely with the Communist Party, 1919-1928. It is followed by documents of the Trotskyist offshoot of the CP, the Communist League of America, 1929-1933. The third section begins with the commencement of unity discussions between the CLA and Workers' Party in 1934. The Oehler dispute has its own section, which is followed by the commencement of unity discussions between the WP and Socialist Party. The two years in which the Trotskyists were in the SP also has its own separate file.
After 1937 all sections pertain to the SWP, and, with several exceptions described below, all are in chronological order. Within the documentation about the Cochran Fight there are two subfiles covering similar time periods. This apparent anomaly is explained by the fact that the Cannon papers included a file of documents about the incident which had been photocopied from an unidentified source. Because of their uncertain provenance, these documents were not combined with the other Cochran records in the collection.
Following the 1954-1959 section, there are three subject headings which do not strictly maintain the chronology: “YSL, 1957-1959,” “Plenums and Conventions, 1954-1961,” and “Twin Cities Branch, 1958-1962.” These three files are followed by the remainder of the Party History documents for the years 1959 to 1972. While the content of the “Youth” and “Plenum and Convention” files is self-explanatory, the Twin Cities materials needs a brief description. These files are comprised of the correspondence, reports, and minutes of a SWP branch which experienced internal conflicts during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The earliest files contain materials on the Communist Party, several state Farm-Labor parties, and the National Farm Labor Party. The material on the Communist Party is rather sparse, consisting of a few broadsides, handbills, and letters and these chiefly concern the CP's Workers Education League. The Farm-Labor Party materials are more complete, although still limited, including committee reports, resolutions, and convention reports. After 1925 the materials on the Communist Party are more substantial. Of particular interest is a 1925 document, “Comintern American Commission, Moscow, Stenographic Proceedings.” This rare document discussed the future of the American Communist Party from the perspective of the Third International. The rest of the files are predominantly resolutions, speeches, and strategy documents dealing with such topics as the nature of Communism in America, the question of whether to “Bolshevize” the American worker movement by imposing centralized authority over ethnic federations, the relation of the CP to the trade unions, the association with Russian Communists and the Comintern, and the campaign to form an American Labor Party.
Files for the years 1929 to 1936 are rich and especially so with regard to union activity. In addition the documentation of the famous Minneapolis truck drivers strike, there are useful documents on the needleworker, coal, auto, food worker and maritime worker unions. Particularly valuable is the material on the efforts to organize the unemployed during the period 1933 to 1935. In addition to drafts of bills, correspondence, and resolutions, this period is represented by proceedings of the Second and Third National Unemployed Convention and several works of fiction derived from the unemployed movement, including Humpty Dumpty, a complete play. Also here are materials on attempts by the Communist League of America and the Worker's Party to organize American youth.
The files of the late thirties are dominated by discussions on the Soviet Union, Europe, and the position the party should take in the event of war. A common topic is the rise of European fascism and the failure of the German and Italian Left to stop it. Another discussion of great importance followed the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union in 1939. This heated debate, known as the “Russian Discussion,” questioned whether American Marxists should support the Soviet Union. The Socialist Workers Party majority followed Trotsky's position which argued for the continued defense of the Soviet Union because of its planned economy and nationalized industry. A minority of the SWP felt that the invasion of Poland confirmed the end of the Soviet Union as a true worker state.
In the period after World War II, large portions of the records are devoted to three factional fights: the Goldman-Morrow dispute, the Cochran Fight, and the International split. The Goldman-Morrow dispute was a split over whether to reunite with the Workers Party. Albert Goldman and Felix Morrow led the minority fight for reunification, while the majority held out for independent action. During the Cochran Fight a minority faction maintained that the SWP should cease electoral activity and focus on propaganda directed toward unions and other socialists and Stalinists. The Cannon majority, on the other hand, insisted on maintaining an independent party, and they ultimately expelled the Cochran group.
For researchers interested in the youth movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the Party History files document the rise of the Young Socialists League, an effort by numerous socialist organizations to bring young people into a unified Socialist youth movement. Included here are documents focusing on the creation of the Young Socialist Forum and the Young Socialist Alliance, as well as records from the newspaper edited by Tim Wolforth, The Young Socialist.
Several less well documented subjects also merit discussion. A few notable examples are the 1947 “Case of Comrade S.” which concerned reports of an FBI agent within the Socialist Workers Party headquarters, the “Kiss Case” and Monroe Freedom Riders Case which illustrate the involvement of the SWP with the civil rights movement, and the Wendell Phillips Civil Liberties Case. Likewise, the discussion on Chinese communes from the late 1950s and early 1960s provides an interesting forum for examining applied Marxism. The Twin Cities records offer a brief account of a local SWP branch experiencing internal conflict. Here, regular reports and letter from Carl Feingold, the SWP organizer working in Minneapolis, to Dobbs and Cannon provide useful details about branch work. There are also internal documents from the Twin Cities branch and minutes of membership and executive committee meetings.
REFERENCE FILES
The REFERENCE FILES contain a wide variety of documents saved by Cannon for his writing or for other purposes. Several of the files contain clippings and fragmentary notes in Cannon's handwriting. These notations usually criticize the position stated in the clipping or cite the clippings as sources. The files are arranged alphabetically by name or subject, and they cover numerous subjects and time periods, although the majority date from 1930 to 1955. There is no single theme unifying the subjects represented in the reference files and most contain only a small number of documents. The term “reference” seem to have been used as a catch-all for documents which could not be filed elsewhere.
The following reference files appear linked to Cannon's writings either as sources or as inspiration: Boxing, Catholic Church, Whitaker Chambers-Alger Hiss, Isaac Deutscher, Free enterprise, Graft and corruption, Jack London, Maritime Union, Moon Gaffney, Press, Schools/Colleges, Social Democrats and Teamsters. Several of the files clearly provided the basis for published articles. For example, “Murder in the Garden” and “A Dead Man's Decision” are two articles printed in The Militant in September 1951 which were based on the articles in the “Boxing” file. Additional Militant articles on the Catholic Church, Whitaker Chambers, and the Teamsters probably also found their source in the material in the Reference Files.
The Sacco and Vanzetti scrapbook is a large assemblage of newspaper clippings which concern the court case and legal defense of the two Italian anarchists accused of robbery and murder who were tried for their radical political beliefs. The collection of clippings, which probably was compiled by Cannon as part of his work for the International Labor Defense, is quite interesting, although there is little in the scrapbook which could not be found by surveying newspapers and magazines from the 1920s. Unfortunately, the scrapbook does little to document the role James Cannon played in organizing popular support for the two men, nor does it contain documents which might provide a unique perspective on the events surrounding the celebrated case.
ROSE KARSNER CANNON PAPERS
Rose Karsner's papers include some brief biographical information, correspondence, a few speeches and speech notes, as well as research notes and an accumulation of newspaper clippings. While not as extensive as the papers of her husband or other SWP leaders held by SHSW, these papers provide clues about her personality and background, and indicate her distinct interests as a feminist and Marxist.
The biographical information includes an obituary, several memorial letters, and a transcript of an oral history interview conducted by The Militant. Aside from a few early items, such as two personal letters to Eugene V. Debs written in 1921 (and one to Theodore Debs after his brother's death in 1926), two handwritten letters from Theodore Dreiser (1928), and several letters documenting her support of Grace Carlson during the latter's imprisonment in 1944, the majority of the correspondence dates from the 1950s and 60s, the period after the Cannons moved to California. Much of this correspondence is incoming and personal and includes notes and letters from the wives of other SWP leaders: Reba Hansen, Evelyn Novak, Marvel Dobbs, and Connie Weissman. The letters that she exchanged with Cannon, however, have been filed in his portion of the collection. Few letters written by Rose are actually included here, the largest concentration of these having been filed under the heading “not mailed.” Neither are there any papers dealing with her marriage to David Karsner (although her 1921 letters to Debs allude to him), her early years in the United States, or her work in the International Defense Fund.
Her correspondence deals with a wide variety of topics, such as the Camp Spring School, which was a country retreat where party members discussed politics and Marxist ideological issues, SWP conventions held annually in New York and the constant efforts made by Reba Hansen and others to get Rose to attend, and opposition to the Vietnam War. While most of the letters are social, several discuss politics, Marxism, and feminism. Of particular interest is a series of letters from Hansen and Novak dating from 1953 to 1962 which provide insight into the day-to-day operations of the SWP office in New York and the activities of George Hansen, Farrell Dobbs, and other party leaders. A constant theme in the later correspondence is illness and old age and this theme was articulated more and more as party members and friends such as Carl Skoglund, Cannon and Rose herself required medical care. Cannon is often mentioned, at least in passing, and many letters deal with his medical condition. Some letters refer to his party activities and political writing. The general content of most of these letters, however, is much more social than political.
Rose Karsner's notes and newspaper clippings date from approximately 1949 to 1968, and they relate to various issues that she considered interesting and important to the feminist and socialist cause. In general, Karsner focused on women's issues and economic questions and the notes and clippings in this section are much more political than is her correspondence. The researcher should be aware that these papers were received in a disorganized condition, and it was difficult to accurately identify and arrange individual items. Since few items were dated, an effort has been made to order the notes topically and to gather sections that concerned a specific subject such as marriage and family, John Maynard Keynes, Marxist ideology, and cybernation.
