{"product_id":"1938-american-communism","title":"1938 AMERICAN COMMUNISM. First Black Presidential Candidate and 20 Other Early Communists Sign!","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eAn extraordinary, premier artifact of early 20th century American radical left-wing history. The physical volume functions as something of a microcosm of the \"Popular Front\" era, as the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) attempted to integrate its anti-fascist, labor, and anti-racist organizing. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe text itself is foundational, written by James W. Ford, the first African American to run on a presidential ticket (as the CPUSA Vice Presidential candidate in 1932, 1936, and 1940), and represents the party’s official theoretical pivot toward building a broad democratic front against fascism while championing Black liberation. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe true significance of this specific copy lies in its unmatched, overlapping provenance. Apparently a copy inscribed by the attendees to Robert \"Fighting Bob\" Minor, a legendary political cartoonist and top-tier CPUSA leader. And it is an astonishing roster of signatures, comprised of Spanish Civil War veterans from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Harlem organizers, targeted Smith Act and HUAC defendants, radical cultural figures, and key labor union infiltrators. Take together, these transform the book into an intimate, living network graph of mid-century American radicalism. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis example is a museum-grade piece of Marxist-Leninist print culture and early-mid twentieth-century African American political history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe signatories include:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRobert Klonsky, born in 1918 to a Brooklyn emigrant family, he became a leading young Communist, was a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who travelled to fight in Spain, and was arrested in 1954 for violating the Smith Act. His son Michael was later head of the Communist Party in America. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJoe Taylor, a young Communist leader from Harlem who also was a Lincoln Brigadista in Spain and investigated as part of the HUAC. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMendy Shain, who would later by the Choral Directer at Camp Kinderland with its ties to the Communist Party and Yiddish speaking labor movements. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHarry Hakkam, born 1913. Also a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (Lincoln Brigadista)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMollie Townsend, later Communications Secretary for the American Communications Association, including during the period where the organization was brought to court as a Communist organization looking to infiltrate the telecommunications infrastructure. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBetty Smith, later Editor of the CPUSA publishing house, International Publishers. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlorence Cook, Secretary of the Communist Party who was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Commission\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohn P. Caldwell, Communist Politician and Candidate from New York for the House of Representatives in the 1930's\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJordan Pola, whose name shows up in the Daily Worker Newspaper in London during the 1930's and 1940's; Grace Wylie, one of the founders of 1930's left wing activist theatre and dance organization \"New Dance Group;\" Kurt Strom, Organizer of the East Side Unemployment Council in New York during the 1930's and 40's; Left Wing activist Sam Rosenbaum; Smith Hopkins was a seaman and labor organizer investigated as a Communist by the HUAC in the 1930's;  Susan Warren, and more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf course, also signed by the author, James W. Ford. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA final inscription on the fly leaf reads, \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\"From the District Party Committee to County School. Next the Revolution.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFord, James W. The Negro and the Democratic Front. Introduction by A. W. Berry. New York. International Publishers. 1938. First Edition. 222pp. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood + condition in original green cloth; some generally dulling and light dust-soil at extremities, textblock with a small stain at the foredge for one inch square, not evident on the open pages. Textually crisp, solid and clean. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Specs Fine Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51001578356772,"sku":null,"price":850.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0093\/3910\/9435\/files\/07-03-2026SpecsFineBooks-4.jpg?v=1783104433","url":"https:\/\/specsfinebooks.com\/products\/1938-american-communism","provider":"Specs Fine Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}