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Daily Worker

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This article is about the American newspaper. For the British newspaper formerly of this name, see Morning Star (British newspaper).

The Daily Worker was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists.[1] Publication began in 1924.[2] It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the 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.

Daily Worker
No. 254 of the Daily Worker (November 7, 1927)
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet and tabloid
Founded1924; 100 years ago (1924)
Political alignmentCommunist; socialist
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publicationJanuary 1958
Headquarters
CirculationVarious

History

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Origins

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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.[3]

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.[citation needed]

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.[3]

In 1927, the newspaper moved from Chicago to New York.[4]

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May Day parade float with statue reading the Daily Worker

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.[citation needed]

Post-World War II

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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.[citation needed]

Two newspapers and a merger

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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.[citation needed]

Contemporary claims of successors

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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.[citation needed] As of 2012, 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.[5]

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.[6][7]

Masthead

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1920s

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1930s

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1940s

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1950s

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Pamphlets

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

Further reading

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Articles

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  • 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

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  • 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

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  • Chambers, Whittaker (1952). Witness. New York: Random House. pp. 218–229, 252–259. ISBN 978-0-89526-789-4. LCCN 52005149.
  • 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.
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See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Admin (August 25, 2009). "About People's World". People's World. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  2. ^ Pederson, Vernon (January 11, 2008). "Take It As Red". On The Media for National Public Radio. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Founded in 1924, the Daily Worker – which ceased to be a daily 50 years ago – was the de facto house organ of American Communism.
  3. ^ a b Goldwater, Walter Radical periodicals in America 1890-1950 New Haven, Yale University Library 1964 pp.10, 30, 42, 46
  4. ^ "Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection". Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive. September 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "About the People's World". People's World. August 25, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  6. ^ "About Us". The Worker. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  7. ^ "Home". The Worker. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Chambers, Whittaker (1952). Witness. New York: Random House. pp. 206–207, 218–229, 252–259. ISBN 978-0-89526-789-4. LCCN 52005149.
  9. ^ Morris, George (1952). A Tale of Two Waterfronts. Daily Worker. p. 31. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
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