Communist Party of Maryland: Difference between revisions
GreenC bot (talk | contribs) Move 1 url. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#articles.baltimoresun.com |
|||
(17 intermediate revisions by 12 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Infobox |
{{Infobox political party |
||
| |
| name = Communist Party of Maryland |
||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
| party_logo = |
|||
| chairman = |
|||
| senateleader = |
|||
| houseleader = |
|||
⚫ | |||
| dissolution = |
|||
| colors = |
|||
| ideology = [[Communism]]<br /> |
|||
[[Marxism–Leninism]]<br /> |
|||
[[Trade unionism]] |
|||
| position = [[Far-left politics|Far-left]] |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
Baltimore, MD 21212 |
Baltimore, MD 21212 |
||
| ideology = [[Communism]]<br>[[Marxism–Leninism]]<br>[[Trade unionism]] |
|||
| website = |
|||
⚫ | |||
| footnotes = |
|||
| country = the United States |
|||
⚫ | |||
}} |
}} |
||
The '''Communist Party of Maryland''' is the regional party of the [[Communist Party USA]] in the state of [[Maryland]]. Maryland's Communist Party was founded in 1919, the same year as the national party was founded, and is still in operation with its headquarters in Downtown Baltimore. |
The '''Communist Party of Maryland''' is the regional party of the [[Communist Party USA]] in the state of [[Maryland]]. Maryland's Communist Party was founded in 1919, the same year as the national party was founded, and is still in operation with its headquarters in Downtown Baltimore. |
||
Line 44: | Line 34: | ||
[[Image:Chinatown Baltimore 02.jpg|thumb|200px|408 [[Park Avenue (Baltimore)|Park Avenue]] in Baltimore's Chinatown, February 2019. The building on the right with the Chinese dragon artwork was once the headquarters of the Communist Party of Maryland.]] |
[[Image:Chinatown Baltimore 02.jpg|thumb|200px|408 [[Park Avenue (Baltimore)|Park Avenue]] in Baltimore's Chinatown, February 2019. The building on the right with the Chinese dragon artwork was once the headquarters of the Communist Party of Maryland.]] |
||
During the 1920s, [[Lithuanian Hall (Baltimore, Maryland)|Lithuanian Hall]] in the [[Hollins Market, Baltimore|Hollins Market]] neighborhood was used as a venue for speeches by prominent members of the [[Communist Party USA]], such as [[William Z. Foster]] and [[Juliet Stuart Poyntz]]. On October 13, 1929, a [[History of the Jews in Baltimore|Jewish]] branch of the CPUSA hosted a speech by Sol Hurwitz, the editor of the ''[[The Forward|Jewish Daily Forward]]'', and the speech was interrupted by a mob of [[Anti-communism|anti-Communists]]. The Communists inside of the hall defended themselves with chairs until the police arrived to disperse the mob.<ref name="Communist Party in Maryland">{{cite book |last=Pedersen |first=Vernon L. |date=2001 |title=The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXDXcpEjYdoC& |
During the 1920s, [[Lithuanian Hall (Baltimore, Maryland)|Lithuanian Hall]] in the [[Hollins Market, Baltimore|Hollins Market]] neighborhood was used as a venue for speeches by prominent members of the [[Communist Party USA]], such as [[William Z. Foster]] and [[Juliet Stuart Poyntz]]. On October 13, 1929, a [[History of the Jews in Baltimore|Jewish]] branch of the CPUSA hosted a speech by Sol Hurwitz, the editor of the ''[[The Forward|Jewish Daily Forward]]'', and the speech was interrupted by a mob of [[Anti-communism|anti-Communists]]. The Communists inside of the hall defended themselves with chairs until the police arrived to disperse the mob.<ref name="Communist Party in Maryland">{{cite book |last=Pedersen |first=Vernon L. |date=2001 |title=The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXDXcpEjYdoC&q=The+Communist+Party+in+Maryland,+1919-57 |location=Urbana ; Chicago |publisher=University of Illinois Press |page=45 |isbn=0252023218 }}</ref> |
||
A number of Russians in Baltimore were involved in the party during the 1920s. The Communist Party in Baltimore had a Russian branch. With the approval of the national Russian-language organization of the [[Communist Party USA]], members of Baltimore's Russian Communist branch often attended the Independent Russian Orthodox Church in Baltimore. Prokope Suvorov, the leader of the Russian Communist branch, taught the Russian language at the church. Another Russian Communist staged the congregation's plays, while other members sold Communist literature at the church. The Russian-American Communist [[Alex Bail]] was concerned by the religiosity of Baltimore's Russian Christian Communists, but his concerns were somewhat abated due to the portrait of [[Vladimir Lenin]] hanging inside the Russian Orthodox church.<ref>Vernon L. Pedersen ''The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-1957'' (2001) p 34</ref> |
|||
Samuel Parker, an unemployed African-American [[Stevedore|longshoreman]], was the Communist candidate for governor in 1930. Parker had been involved in politics for many years, but was inspired to run for governor after becoming disillusioned with the two major parties after the defeat of [[Al Smith]] in the [[1928 United States presidential election|1928 presidential election]]. His campaign focused on bread-and-butter issues, particularly the elimination of unemployment. Receiving only 616 votes, he was overwhelmingly outvoted by supporters of [[Albert Ritchie]]. As Maryland state law dictates that candidates for governor must be at least 30 years of age, the 26 year old Parker would not have been legally allowed to become governor even if he had won the popular vote.<ref name="Communist Party in Maryland"/> |
Samuel Parker, an unemployed African-American [[Stevedore|longshoreman]], was the Communist candidate for governor in 1930. Parker had been involved in politics for many years, but was inspired to run for governor after becoming disillusioned with the two major parties after the defeat of [[Al Smith]] in the [[1928 United States presidential election|1928 presidential election]]. His campaign focused on bread-and-butter issues, particularly the elimination of unemployment. Receiving only 616 votes, he was overwhelmingly outvoted by supporters of [[Albert Ritchie]]. As Maryland state law dictates that candidates for governor must be at least 30 years of age, the 26 year old Parker would not have been legally allowed to become governor even if he had won the popular vote.<ref name="Communist Party in Maryland"/> |
||
Line 50: | Line 42: | ||
In 1934, the lawyer [[Bernard Ades]] ran for Governor of Maryland on the Communist Party ticket and received less than 8,000 votes.<ref>"Bernard Ades Promises Something". The Afro American. 13 October 1934. Retrieved 24 April 2019.</ref> Despite the support of the [[History of the African Americans in Baltimore|African American community]], he lost by a significant margin.<ref>"Bernard Ades to Speak at Forum" (November 24, 1934). ''Baltimore Afro-American''. Retrieved 24 April 2019.</ref> |
In 1934, the lawyer [[Bernard Ades]] ran for Governor of Maryland on the Communist Party ticket and received less than 8,000 votes.<ref>"Bernard Ades Promises Something". The Afro American. 13 October 1934. Retrieved 24 April 2019.</ref> Despite the support of the [[History of the African Americans in Baltimore|African American community]], he lost by a significant margin.<ref>"Bernard Ades to Speak at Forum" (November 24, 1934). ''Baltimore Afro-American''. Retrieved 24 April 2019.</ref> |
||
From 1937 until the 1940s, the CP of Maryland ran a communist bookstore called the Free State Bookshop. Alexander Munsell and his wife Louise Ellen Munsell ran the bookstore adjacent to the Communist Party headquarters in [[downtown Baltimore]]. The Free State Bookshop and another communist bookstore, the Frederick Douglass Bookshop, were monitored by FBI agents and informants. The Frederick Douglass Bookshop was described by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] as a “Communist Party literature distribution point in the Negro section of [West] Baltimore.” For a decade these two communist bookstores served as central meeting places for the Baltimore's Communist Party, hosting meetings for party officials and new members.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/08/communist-party-cpusa-bookstore-fbi |title=The Forgotten World of Communist Bookstores |publisher=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin Magazine]] | |
From 1937 until the 1940s, the CP of Maryland ran a communist bookstore called the Free State Bookshop. Alexander Munsell and his wife Louise Ellen Munsell ran the bookstore adjacent to the Communist Party headquarters in [[downtown Baltimore]]. The Free State Bookshop and another communist bookstore, the Frederick Douglass Bookshop, were monitored by FBI agents and informants. The Frederick Douglass Bookshop was described by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] as a “Communist Party literature distribution point in the Negro section of [West] Baltimore.” For a decade these two communist bookstores served as central meeting places for the Baltimore's Communist Party, hosting meetings for party officials and new members.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/08/communist-party-cpusa-bookstore-fbi |title=The Forgotten World of Communist Bookstores |publisher=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin Magazine]] |access-date=2019-04-22}}</ref> |
||
During his time at the [[Baltimore School for the Arts]] in the late 1980s, the rapper [[Tupac Shakur]] was affiliated with the Baltimore branch of the Young Communist League USA. The Baltimore Young Communist League is now also known as the ''Tupac Shakur Club'' in his honor.<ref name="People's World Protests">{{cite |
During his time at the [[Baltimore School for the Arts]] in the late 1980s, the rapper [[Tupac Shakur]] was affiliated with the Baltimore branch of the Young Communist League USA. The Baltimore Young Communist League is now also known as the ''Tupac Shakur Club'' in his honor.<ref name="People's World Protests">{{cite news|first=Jordan|last=Farrar|url=http://www.peoplesworld.org/baltimore-students-protest-cuts|title=Baltimore students protest cuts|newspaper=[[People's World]]|publisher=Long View Publishing Co.|location=Chicago, Illinois|date=May 13, 2011|access-date=May 10, 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818155101/http://www.peoplesworld.org/baltimore-students-protest-cuts |archive-date=August 18, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Alexander|last=Billet|url=http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/49132|title='And Still I See No Changes': Tupac's legacy 15 years on|website=greenleft.org|date=May 10, 2019|access-date=April 27, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526020345/http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/49132 |archive-date=May 26, 2012}}</ref> He began dating the daughter of the director of the Communist Party of Maryland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bastfield |first=Darrin Keith Bastfield |date=2002 |title=Back in the Day: My Life and Times with Tupac Shakur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wna2MAiFpgEC&q=Back+in+the+Day:+My+Life+and+Times+with+Tupac+Shakur |location=Cambridge, Mass. : Da Capo ; London |publisher=Kluwer Law International |isbn=0306812959 }}</ref> |
||
In 1991, the ''Baltimore Sun'' ran an article that assessed the state of the Communist Party of Maryland at that time: <blockquote> Baltimore's Communist Party traces it origins to a strike against the [[B&O Railroad]] in 1877... <br> In the 1930s, Baltimore was designated by national party leaders as District 4 and was made up of about 20 "cells"... <br> The party focused its recruiting on companies with many blue-collar workers... Often, national leaders such as [[Earl Browder]] and William Z. Foster were guest speakers. The party held rallies... and fielded candidates in local elections... <br> After World War II... most of Baltimore's communists went underground. They maintained low-profile headquarters, successively, on Eutaw Street, Franklin Street and in the 200 block Liberty Street... <br> The communist witch hunts of the late 1940s and early '50s were not among the city's shining hours. In 1949, complying with laws requiring loyalty oaths and federal acts that effectively outlawed the party, city, state and federal authorities began to arrest known communists and to sentence them to jail, often for minor or fabricated crimes. Among those who served time were [[Maurice Braverman]], the party's lawyer; [[Leroy H. Wood]], its treasurer and [[George A. Meyers]], a long-time local and national party leader. In 1952, Meyers spent 30 days in jail for refusing to name others in the party. One Evening Sun headline of the time: "FBI Informer Calls Meyers Key State Red." <br> What was left of the membership lacked the resources to carry on. Postwar prosperity and ideological differences with Soviet communism proved too much for Baltimore's communists, and the local party all but disappeared...1970s, and winning restatement in Maryland (1974) and federal courts (1975).<ref> |
In 1991, the ''Baltimore Sun'' ran an article that assessed the state of the Communist Party of Maryland at that time: <blockquote> Baltimore's Communist Party traces it origins to a strike against the [[B&O Railroad]] in 1877... <br /> In the 1930s, Baltimore was designated by national party leaders as District 4 and was made up of about 20 "cells"... <br /> The party focused its recruiting on companies with many blue-collar workers... Often, national leaders such as [[Earl Browder]] and William Z. Foster were guest speakers. The party held rallies... and fielded candidates in local elections... <br /> After World War II... most of Baltimore's communists went underground. They maintained low-profile headquarters, successively, on Eutaw Street, Franklin Street and in the 200 block Liberty Street... <br /> The communist witch hunts of the late 1940s and early '50s were not among the city's shining hours. In 1949, complying with laws requiring loyalty oaths and federal acts that effectively outlawed the party, city, state and federal authorities began to arrest known communists and to sentence them to jail, often for minor or fabricated crimes. Among those who served time were [[Maurice Braverman]], the party's lawyer; [[Leroy H. Wood]], its treasurer and [[George A. Meyers]], a long-time local and national party leader. In 1952, Meyers spent 30 days in jail for refusing to name others in the party. One Evening Sun headline of the time: "FBI Informer Calls Meyers Key State Red." <br /> What was left of the membership lacked the resources to carry on. Postwar prosperity and ideological differences with Soviet communism proved too much for Baltimore's communists, and the local party all but disappeared...1970s, and winning restatement in Maryland (1974) and federal courts (1975).<ref> |
||
{{cite news |
{{cite news |
||
| first1 = Mike |
| first1 = Mike |
||
Line 62: | Line 54: | ||
| title = Hewing to the Party Line Wasn't Always Easy |
| title = Hewing to the Party Line Wasn't Always Easy |
||
| publisher = Baltimore Sun |
| publisher = Baltimore Sun |
||
| url = https://www.baltimoresun.com/1991/09/24/hewing-to-the-party-line-wasnt-always-easy/ |
|||
| pages = |
|||
| url = http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-09-24/news/1991267137_1_communist-party-national-party-party-line |
|||
| date = 21 September 1991 |
| date = 21 September 1991 |
||
| |
| access-date = 11 May 2019}}</ref></blockquote> (Note that the ''Sun'' calls Braverman a Party lawyer.) |
||
==Organizing== |
==Organizing== |
||
The Communist Party of Maryland maintains the Baltimore Young Communist League (Tupac Shakur Club), the local Baltimore affiliate of the [[Young Communist League USA]].<ref name="People's World Protests"/> |
The Communist Party of Maryland maintains the Baltimore Young Communist League (Tupac Shakur Club), the local Baltimore affiliate of the [[Young Communist League USA]].<ref name="People's World Protests"/> |
||
In 2019, the Communist Party of Maryland held a celebration in 2019 to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the CPUSA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/baltimore-crowd-celebrates-100-years-of-the-communist-party-usa/ |title=Baltimore crowd celebrates 100 years of the Communist Party USA |publisher=[[People's World]] |accessdate=2023-09-17}}</ref> |
|||
==Members== |
==Members== |
||
[[Image:WikiPress 3 Hip Hop (page 188 crop).jpg|thumb|200px|[[Tupac Shakur]], a rapper who was affiliated with the Communist Party of Maryland's Young Communist League, now named the ''Tupac Shakur Club'' in his honor.]] |
|||
*[[Bernard Ades]], a lawyer who fought for the rights of African Americans and ran for Governor of Maryland on the Communist Party ticket. |
*[[Bernard Ades]], a lawyer who fought for the rights of African Americans and ran for Governor of Maryland on the Communist Party ticket. |
||
*[[Albert Blumberg]], a philosopher and political activist who was an official of the Communist Party for several years before joining the Democratic Party as a district leader. |
*[[Albert Blumberg]], a philosopher and political activist who was an official of the Communist Party for several years before joining the Democratic Party as a district leader. |
||
*[[Maurice Braverman]], a civil rights lawyer and Party lawyer who was convicted in 1952 under the Smith Act, served 28 of 36 months, then immediately faced disbarment, against which he fought in the 1970s and won reinstatement in Maryland (1974) and federal courts (1975). |
*[[Maurice Braverman]], a civil rights lawyer and Party lawyer who was convicted in 1952 under the Smith Act, served 28 of 36 months, then immediately faced disbarment, against which he fought in the 1970s and won reinstatement in Maryland (1974) and federal courts (1975). |
||
*[[Harold Buchman]], an attorney who was also a member of [[Progressive Citizens of America]] (founded by former vice president [[Henry A. Wallace]]) who was [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted by Hollywood]] and served as the state director of the Maryland [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive Party]]. |
*[[Harold Buchman]], an attorney who was also a member of [[Progressive Citizens of America]] (founded by former vice president [[Henry A. Wallace]]) who was [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted by Hollywood]] and served as the state director of the Maryland [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive Party]]. |
||
*[[Tupac Shakur]], a rapper, writer, and actor who is considered |
*[[Tupac Shakur]], a rapper, writer, and actor who is widely considered to be one of the most influential rappers of all time. |
||
==See also== |
==See also== |
||
*[[ |
*[[Communist Party USA and African Americans]] |
||
⚫ | |||
*[https://www.facebook.com/Communist-Party-of-MD-Baltimore-Club-757633974337516/ Baltimore CPUSA official Facebook page] |
|||
⚫ | |||
==References== |
==References== |
||
Line 96: | Line 84: | ||
*Pedersen, Vernon L. ''The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-57'', University of Illinois Press, 2001. |
*Pedersen, Vernon L. ''The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-57'', University of Illinois Press, 2001. |
||
*Skotnes, Adnor. ''A New Deal for All?: Race and Class Struggles in Depression-era Baltimore'', Duke University Press, 2013. |
*Skotnes, Adnor. ''A New Deal for All?: Race and Class Struggles in Depression-era Baltimore'', Duke University Press, 2013. |
||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Party Of Maryland}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Party Of Maryland}} |
||
[[Category:1919 establishments in Maryland]] |
[[Category:1919 establishments in Maryland]] |
||
[[Category:African-American history of Maryland]] |
[[Category:African-American history of Maryland]] |
||
⚫ | |||
[[Category:Communist Party USA by state|Maryland]] |
[[Category:Communist Party USA by state|Maryland]] |
||
[[Category:Downtown Baltimore]] |
[[Category:Downtown Baltimore]] |
||
Line 105: | Line 97: | ||
[[Category:Political parties in Maryland]] |
[[Category:Political parties in Maryland]] |
||
[[Category:Politics of Maryland]] |
[[Category:Politics of Maryland]] |
||
⚫ |
Latest revision as of 03:00, 9 October 2024
Communist Party of Maryland | |
---|---|
Founded | 1919 |
Headquarters | P.O. BOX : 39463 Baltimore, MD 21212 |
Ideology | Communism Marxism–Leninism Trade unionism |
National affiliation | Communist Party USA |
The Communist Party of Maryland is the regional party of the Communist Party USA in the state of Maryland. Maryland's Communist Party was founded in 1919, the same year as the national party was founded, and is still in operation with its headquarters in Downtown Baltimore.
History
[edit]Gubernatorial candidates | ||
---|---|---|
Candidate | Year | Number |
Samuel Parker | 1930 | 855 (0.17%) |
Bernard Ades | 1934 | 776 (0.15%) |
Samuel Gordon | 1938 | 616 (0.11%) |
During the 1920s, Lithuanian Hall in the Hollins Market neighborhood was used as a venue for speeches by prominent members of the Communist Party USA, such as William Z. Foster and Juliet Stuart Poyntz. On October 13, 1929, a Jewish branch of the CPUSA hosted a speech by Sol Hurwitz, the editor of the Jewish Daily Forward, and the speech was interrupted by a mob of anti-Communists. The Communists inside of the hall defended themselves with chairs until the police arrived to disperse the mob.[1]
A number of Russians in Baltimore were involved in the party during the 1920s. The Communist Party in Baltimore had a Russian branch. With the approval of the national Russian-language organization of the Communist Party USA, members of Baltimore's Russian Communist branch often attended the Independent Russian Orthodox Church in Baltimore. Prokope Suvorov, the leader of the Russian Communist branch, taught the Russian language at the church. Another Russian Communist staged the congregation's plays, while other members sold Communist literature at the church. The Russian-American Communist Alex Bail was concerned by the religiosity of Baltimore's Russian Christian Communists, but his concerns were somewhat abated due to the portrait of Vladimir Lenin hanging inside the Russian Orthodox church.[2]
Samuel Parker, an unemployed African-American longshoreman, was the Communist candidate for governor in 1930. Parker had been involved in politics for many years, but was inspired to run for governor after becoming disillusioned with the two major parties after the defeat of Al Smith in the 1928 presidential election. His campaign focused on bread-and-butter issues, particularly the elimination of unemployment. Receiving only 616 votes, he was overwhelmingly outvoted by supporters of Albert Ritchie. As Maryland state law dictates that candidates for governor must be at least 30 years of age, the 26 year old Parker would not have been legally allowed to become governor even if he had won the popular vote.[1]
In 1934, the lawyer Bernard Ades ran for Governor of Maryland on the Communist Party ticket and received less than 8,000 votes.[3] Despite the support of the African American community, he lost by a significant margin.[4]
From 1937 until the 1940s, the CP of Maryland ran a communist bookstore called the Free State Bookshop. Alexander Munsell and his wife Louise Ellen Munsell ran the bookstore adjacent to the Communist Party headquarters in downtown Baltimore. The Free State Bookshop and another communist bookstore, the Frederick Douglass Bookshop, were monitored by FBI agents and informants. The Frederick Douglass Bookshop was described by the FBI as a “Communist Party literature distribution point in the Negro section of [West] Baltimore.” For a decade these two communist bookstores served as central meeting places for the Baltimore's Communist Party, hosting meetings for party officials and new members.[5]
During his time at the Baltimore School for the Arts in the late 1980s, the rapper Tupac Shakur was affiliated with the Baltimore branch of the Young Communist League USA. The Baltimore Young Communist League is now also known as the Tupac Shakur Club in his honor.[6][7] He began dating the daughter of the director of the Communist Party of Maryland.[8]
In 1991, the Baltimore Sun ran an article that assessed the state of the Communist Party of Maryland at that time:
Baltimore's Communist Party traces it origins to a strike against the B&O Railroad in 1877...
In the 1930s, Baltimore was designated by national party leaders as District 4 and was made up of about 20 "cells"...
The party focused its recruiting on companies with many blue-collar workers... Often, national leaders such as Earl Browder and William Z. Foster were guest speakers. The party held rallies... and fielded candidates in local elections...
After World War II... most of Baltimore's communists went underground. They maintained low-profile headquarters, successively, on Eutaw Street, Franklin Street and in the 200 block Liberty Street...
The communist witch hunts of the late 1940s and early '50s were not among the city's shining hours. In 1949, complying with laws requiring loyalty oaths and federal acts that effectively outlawed the party, city, state and federal authorities began to arrest known communists and to sentence them to jail, often for minor or fabricated crimes. Among those who served time were Maurice Braverman, the party's lawyer; Leroy H. Wood, its treasurer and George A. Meyers, a long-time local and national party leader. In 1952, Meyers spent 30 days in jail for refusing to name others in the party. One Evening Sun headline of the time: "FBI Informer Calls Meyers Key State Red."
What was left of the membership lacked the resources to carry on. Postwar prosperity and ideological differences with Soviet communism proved too much for Baltimore's communists, and the local party all but disappeared...1970s, and winning restatement in Maryland (1974) and federal courts (1975).[9]
(Note that the Sun calls Braverman a Party lawyer.)
Organizing
[edit]The Communist Party of Maryland maintains the Baltimore Young Communist League (Tupac Shakur Club), the local Baltimore affiliate of the Young Communist League USA.[6]
In 2019, the Communist Party of Maryland held a celebration in 2019 to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the CPUSA.[10]
Members
[edit]- Bernard Ades, a lawyer who fought for the rights of African Americans and ran for Governor of Maryland on the Communist Party ticket.
- Albert Blumberg, a philosopher and political activist who was an official of the Communist Party for several years before joining the Democratic Party as a district leader.
- Maurice Braverman, a civil rights lawyer and Party lawyer who was convicted in 1952 under the Smith Act, served 28 of 36 months, then immediately faced disbarment, against which he fought in the 1970s and won reinstatement in Maryland (1974) and federal courts (1975).
- Harold Buchman, an attorney who was also a member of Progressive Citizens of America (founded by former vice president Henry A. Wallace) who was blacklisted by Hollywood and served as the state director of the Maryland Progressive Party.
- Tupac Shakur, a rapper, writer, and actor who is widely considered to be one of the most influential rappers of all time.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Pedersen, Vernon L. (2001). The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-57. Urbana ; Chicago: University of Illinois Press. p. 45. ISBN 0252023218.
- ^ Vernon L. Pedersen The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-1957 (2001) p 34
- ^ "Bernard Ades Promises Something". The Afro American. 13 October 1934. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ "Bernard Ades to Speak at Forum" (November 24, 1934). Baltimore Afro-American. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ "The Forgotten World of Communist Bookstores". Jacobin Magazine. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
- ^ a b Farrar, Jordan (May 13, 2011). "Baltimore students protest cuts". People's World. Chicago, Illinois: Long View Publishing Co. Archived from the original on August 18, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
- ^ Billet, Alexander (May 10, 2019). "'And Still I See No Changes': Tupac's legacy 15 years on". greenleft.org. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
- ^ Bastfield, Darrin Keith Bastfield (2002). Back in the Day: My Life and Times with Tupac Shakur. Cambridge, Mass. : Da Capo ; London: Kluwer Law International. ISBN 0306812959.
- ^ Bowler, Mike; Sandler, Gilbert (21 September 1991). "Hewing to the Party Line Wasn't Always Easy". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^ "Baltimore crowd celebrates 100 years of the Communist Party USA". People's World. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
Bibliography
[edit]- Browder, Earl * Browder Hits Anti-Soviet Plot speech of Earl Browder, at Aperion Manor, Brooklyn, NY, April 1, 1943. Baltimore? : Communist Party and Young Communist League of Baltimore?, 1943.
- Committee to Defeat the Smith Act. The Baltimore Smith Act Case: A Constitutional Crossroad, Baltimore, [1952?]
- Meyers, George A. An Indictment of the Baltimore City Jail, Communist Party of Maryland and Washington, D.C., [195-?]
- Pedersen, Vernon L. The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-57, University of Illinois Press, 2001.
- Skotnes, Adnor. A New Deal for All?: Race and Class Struggles in Depression-era Baltimore, Duke University Press, 2013.