Selected Bibliography

The most frequently cited sources on the history of the International were written by participants in the early socialist movement. They include Herman Schlueter's Die Internationale in Amerika: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung in den Vereinigten Staaten (1918), an article by Friedrich Sorge in Neue Zeit entitled “Die Arbeiterbewegung in den Vereinigten Staaten” (1890), and Morris Hillquit's History of Socialism in the United States (1910). Volumes considering the International in the perspective of American labor history are John R. Common's History of Labour in the United States (1918) and Philip S. Foner's History of the Labor Movement in the United States (1947). The Forging of American Socialism (1953) by Howard Quint, Socialism and American Life (1952) by Stow Persons and Donald Egbert, and American Disciples of Marx (1967) by David Herreshoff are more concerned with the evolution of socialism and socialist thought than with the relationship of the International to unionism. G. M. Stekloff in History of the First International (1928) and Hans Gerth in the First International: Minutes of The Hague Congress of 1872 (1958) consider the International in both the United States and Europe. Among the few books dealing with individuals prominent in the American International are Emanie Sachs' The Terrible Siren, Victoria Woodhull (1928) and Karl Obermann's Joseph Weydemeyer: Pioneer of American Socialism (1947). Unfortunately, there is no full length biography of Friedrich Sorge.

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin has several manuscript collections which supplement the papers of the International Workingmen's Association. Most important are the records of its successors, the Workingmen's Party of the United States and the Socialist Labor Party. The records of the Workingmen's Party are fragmentary, consisting of two financial notebooks and a brief historical sketch; but the records of the Socialist Labor Party, which also are available on microfilm, give a good picture of the party's organization, activity, and influence. The Union Cooperative Association Papers and miscellaneous biographical materials document the career of Thomas Phillips, who was active in Section 26 (Philadelphia). In addition, the Society holds the papers of Stephen Pearl Andrews, who was active in the Woodhull faction of the International.