Arnold Petersen, Socialist Labor Party leader, was born in Odense, Denmark, on April 16, 1885, the son of a tailor. He studied at a high school and attended commercial college for four years, studying history, German, and English. He immigrated to the United States in 1905. In 1908, while working in a paper-box factory in the Bronx, he was admitted to membership in the Socialist Labor Party. He agreed to succeed the party's retiring secretary, Paul Augustine, in 1914 only after a personal appeal by Daniel De Leon, famed socialist and the party's apostle.
National conventions re-elected Petersen as national secretary every four years, and the national membership ratified the choice by referendum. In addition to writing books and pamphlets, he wrote articles for the party's official newspaper, Weekly People. Since 1916, he had also written reports to the national conventions and to the annual sessions of the national executive committee. During his tenure as national secretary, he frequently served as a public speaker.
After holding the post of national secretary of the Socialist Labor Party for fifty-five years, Arnold Petersen retired in 1969. He had lived in Teaneck, New Jersey, with his wife Rae for many years. Arnold Petersen died in Paterson, New Jersey, on February 5, 1976, survived by a son, Arnold Petersen, Jr., and two grandchildren.
