PARTY OFFICIALS

1919 Communist Labor Party of America (CLP)

The CLP originated as that part of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party loyal to the newly-elected National Executive Committee headed by Alfred Wagenknecht. This group consisted to a relatively large extent of non-Federation members, with particular strength coming from the state of Ohio and various state parties of the Western United States. The group sought to win control of the 1919 Emergency National Convention and left to establish their own organization when defeated on the floor of that body.

 

National Executive Secretary:

Alfred Wagenknecht (Former SPA State Secretary, Ohio)

 

National Executive Committee (5):

Max Bedacht (San Francisco, CA)

Alexander Bilan (Cleveland, OH)

Jack Carney (Duluth, MN)

L.E. Katterfeld (Cleveland, OH)

Edward Lindgren (Brooklyn, NY)

 

Alternate National Executive Committee Members: L.K. England (Moline, IL); Edgar Owens (Moline, IL)

In January 1920 this list of alternates was extended with the names of Finkelberg, Benjamin Gitlow, and A. Pauly.

 

 

Editorial Board (3):

Edward Lindgren (Brooklyn, NY)

Ludwig Lore (New York, NY)

A. Raphailoff (???)

 

The Editorial Board was named at the Oct. 25-27, 1919, session of the National Executive Committee, held in New York City.

At the time of the January raid on the CLP's New York headquarters, it was occupied by L.E. Katterfeld as "Organization Director."

 

Organization Director:

L.E. Katterfeld

 

Labor Committee (5):

Charles Baker (Ohio)

L.K. England (Illinois)

Benjamin Gitlow (New York)

R.E. Richardson (Utah)

Arne Swabeck (Washington)

 

International Delegates (2):

John Reed (Editor of Voice of Labor, New York)

Alfred Wagenknecht (Former SPA State Secretary, Ohio)

 

Instead of Wagenknecht, the Lithuanian-born and Russian-speaking Alexander Bilan was sent to Soviet Russia as an International Delegate of the party.

 


Communist Party of America ("old CPA")

The "old CPA" was the organization formed primarily by the Language Federations suspended by the Socialist Party of America during the faction fight of the summer of 1919 as well as those who had given up on the strategy of winning control of the SPA and who sought immediate creation of an American Communist Party affiliated with the Third International in Moscow.

The party was to be governed by an Executive Council of Seven, automatically including the Executive Secretary and Editor of Party Publications, plus five others. All of the members of the Executive Council were to live in the headquarters city of the organization (Chicago) or adjacent cities thereof so that they might meet in person frequently and regularly.

The Executive Council and party headquarters of the old CPA was initially based in Chicago, with headquarters located at 1219 Blue Island Avenue.

First officers of the organization with their former organizational affiliation and hometown appear below. Name in parentheses is first 1920 pseudonym of each.

 

 

National Secretary:

C.E. Ruthenberg ["David Damon"] (Cleveland, OH)

 

Editor of Party Publications:

Louis Fraina ["F."] (New York, NY)

 

Associate Editor:

elected by the Sept. 7, 1919 meeting of the CEC.

I.E. Ferguson ["Caxton"] (Chicago, IL)

 

 

International Secretary:

Louis Fraina (New York, NY)

Alternate International Secretary: I.E. Ferguson

 

International Delegates (4):

C.E. Ruthenberg (Cleveland, OH)

Nicholas Hourwich (New York, NY) -- Russian Federation

Alexander Stoklitsky (Chicago, IL) -- Russian Federation

I.E. Ferguson (Chicago, IL)

Alternate International Delegates: D. Elbaum, A. Bittelman, J. Ballam, J. Lovestone.

Hourwich and Stoklitsky were in Moscow in time for the 2nd Congress of the Comintern in July-Aug. 1920.

 

 

Executive Council (2 automatic + 5):

C.E. Ruthenberg ["David Damon"] (Cleveland, OH)

Louis Fraina ["F."] (New York, NY)

 

Charles Dirba ["D. Bunte"] (Minneapolis, MN)

I.E. Ferguson ["Caxton"] (Chicago, IL)

K.B. Karosas (Philadelphia, PA) -- Lithuanian Federation

John Schwartz (Boston, MA) -- Latvian Federation

Harry Wicks (Portland, Oregon)

Wicks came under suspicion for alleged conduct in collaboration with the authorities at the Jan. 20, 1920 meeting of the Central Executive Committee. He was accused of denouncing a rival in the Socialist Party of Oregon, Victor Saulit, to the authorities early in 1919.

 

Additional Central Executive Committee Members (8):

John J. Ballam (Boston, MA)

Alexander Bittelman ["A. Raphael"] (New York) -- Jewish Federation

Maximilian Cohen ["Charles Bernstein"] (New York, NY)

Daniel Elbaum (Detroit, MI) -- Polish Federation

Nicholas Hourwich ["Andrew"] (New York, NY) -- Russian Federation

Jay Lovestone ["John Langley"] (New York, NY)

Oscar Tyverovsky ["Baldwin"] (New York, NY) -- Russian Federation

Paul Petras (Chicago, IL) -- Hungarian Federation

On Nov. 17, 1919, Petras resigned from the Central Executive Committee and was replaced by Rose Pastor Stokes. The Hungarian Federation left the CPA altogether after the January 1920 raids.

Rose Pastor Stokes ["Sascha"] (New York City)

 

Alternate Executive Committee Members: Rose Pastor Stokes, Meyer Lunin, Georgian, Bixby, Kravsevitch.

Unidentified early 1920 pseudonym from this group: "Black."

 

Language Federation Secretaries (7)

Fritz "Fred" M. Friedman (German)

Joseph Stilson (Lithuanian)

Joseph Kowalski (Polish)

Alexander Stoklitsky (Russian)

xxxx (Jewish)

xxxx (Latvian)

xxxx (Ukrainian)

 


 

A new Executive Council was elected by the CEC at its meeting of Jan. 20, 1920. Although not formally stated in the meeting minutes, this action was a byproduct of a decision to move the national headquarters of the organization from Chicago to New York City. There was a factional implication to this move, as the center of gravity shifted away from the former National Left Wing Council members Ruthenberg and Ferguson on the new New York-based EC.

 

Executive Council (2 automatic + 5):

C.E. Ruthenberg (CPA National Executive Secretary) ["David Damon"]

I.E. Ferguson (Acting Editor of Party Publications) ["Caxton"]

 

Maximilian Cohen ["Charles Bernstein"]

Charles Dirba ["D. Bunte"]

Jay Lovestone ["John Langley"/"Isaacs"]

????? --- ["Leopold Brown" / "Braun"]

Alexander Bittelman ["A. Raphael"]

Nicholas Hourwich was actually elected insted of Bittelman, but he resigned the post the day after the election.

 

In April of 1920, a split developed in the CPA over the fundamental question of unity with the CLP. C.E. Ruthenberg, I.E. Ferguson, and Jay Lovestone left the organization with a group of their supporters (and no small amount of the party treasury!) to pursue unity with the CLP. The anti-unity majority of the CPA continued its active organizational existence.

 

Acting Executive Secretary:

Charles Dirba ["D. Bunte"] -- Latvian Federation

 

The meeting of the Central Executive Committee of July 20, 1920, elected a new Executive Secretary. Charles Dirba (now using the pseudonym "C. Dobin") was to serve as the new Executive Secretary's Assistant for at least one month to ease the transition.

Executive Secretary:

Louis Shapiro ["Lawrence Bain"] -- Jewish Federation

 

It is unclear how this resolved itself, as at the Jan. 11-16 plenum of the CEC, Dirba was serving again as Executive Secretary and Shapiro sat as a member of the CEC.

 

At the end of 1920, the following were the top officials of the old CPA:

Central Executive Committee (9):

Maximilian Cohen ["Henry Allen"] -- Jewish Federation

Alfred Edwards ["J. Sullivan"] -- Latvian Federation

Louis Shapiro ["Lawrence Bain"] -- Jewish Federation

Oscar Tyverovsky ["Oscar Baldwin"] -- Russian Federation

J. Wilenkin ["J. Morris"] -- Russian Federation

??? ["M. Greenwald"] -- Jewish Federation

??? ["James J. Johnson"] -- ??? Federation

??? ["Klints"] -- Jewish Federation

??? ["B. Leon"] -- Lithuanian Federation

 

Editor of Party Publications:

Maximilian Cohen ["Henry Allen"]

 

CPA Delegates to the 2nd Comintern Congress (July-Aug. 1920)

Louis C. Fraina

Alexander Stoklitsky

 

Language Federation Secretaries (6)

Morris Kushinsky ["Hoffman"] (Jewish)

Joseph Stilson??? ["Kalnas"] (Lithuanian)

xxxx (Polish)

xxxx ["Kartash"] (Russian)

xxxx ["Brown"] (Latvian)

xxxx (Ukrainian)

 

 

In January of 1921, Maximilian Cohen was subjected to a party trial answering charges preferred by Louis Shapiro ["L. Bain"] and J. Wilenkin ["Morris"]. Cohen had been an outspoken critic of factional bickering and did not spare his colleagues on the CEC of the CPA from his harsh criticism. Cohen was charged with having "divulged private conversation and discussions of CEC members" and "created dissension and confusion among the Party membership." Cohen was expelled from the CPA at a meeting held Jan. 15, 1921, but appealed this decision to the Executive Committee of the Communist International, which was generally supportive of his position and seems to have moved him to other party work.

 

Another CEC election was held at the meeting of Feb. 20, 1921, following the 3rd Convention of the CPA.

Executive Secretary:

Charles Dirba ["C. Dobin"] -- Latvian Federation

 

Assistant Secretary:

Louis Shapiro ["Lawrence Bain"] -- Jewish Federation

 

Editorial Committee (3):

John J. Ballam ["John Moore"]

??? "B. Leon"/"Leonas"] -- Lithuanian Federation

Louis Shapiro ["Lawrence Bain"] -- Jewish Federation

In mid-July 1921, Louis Shapiro {"L. Bain"] died while en route to the United States on a trip back from Soviet Russia.

 

Technician:

??? ---- ['Leopold Brown"]

 

Assistant Technician:

??? ---- ['Schneider"]

 

District Organizers:

I [Boston]: "J. Collins"

II [New York City]: George Ashkenuzi ["George Henry"]

III [Philadelphia]: "Gilbert"

IV [Western NY/OH]: "Larsen"

V [Detroit]: "Jackson"

VI [Chicago]: "Greenwald"

 

 

Unity Committee (c. Feb. 1921)

Charles Dirba ["Dobin"]

Oscar Tyverovsky ["Baldwin"]

J. Wilenkin ["Morris"]

 


 

At the time of the merger with the UCP to form the (unified) Communist Party of America in May 1921, the paid officials of the (old) CPA were:

Executive Secretary:

Charles Dirba ["C. Dobin"] -- Latvian Federation

 

General Assistant in Secretarial and Technical Department:

??? ["A. Dales"]

 

Technician:

??? ["J. Klein"] -- Latvian Federation

 

Assistant Technician:

??? ["Schneider"]

 

Editor:

John J. Ballam ["John Moore"]

 

Assistant Editor:

??? ["A. McLean"]

 

District Organizers (6):

I [Boston]: "J. Collins" -- Latvian Federation

II [New York City]: George Ashkenuzi ["George Henry"] -- Russian Federation

III [Philadelphia]: "C. Markus"

IV [Western NY/OH]: "J. Anders";

V [Detroit]: "Johnson"

VI [Chicago]: "Greenwald" -- Jewish Federation

 

There were also paid Assistant DOs in Districts I, II, III, and V. Total payroll of the CEC was 16.

The Federations also had paid officials and District Organizers of their own.

 

 


 

United Communist Party of America (UCP)

The UCP was the product of the unification of the Communist Labor Party with a breakaway faction of the old CPA featuring prominently Charles Ruthenberg, Isaac Ferguson, and other non-Language Federation members. The organization was formed at the first Bridgman, Michingan Convention, held May 26-31, 1920.

 

 

Executive Secretary:

Alfred Wagenknecht ["A.B. Meyer"] (ex-CLP)

 

International Secretary:

Isaac E. Ferguson ["Caxton"] (ex-old CPA)

Alternate: Max Bedacht ["Brown"] (ex-CLP)

 

Central Executive Committee Members (10):

C.E. Ruthenberg ["David Damon"] (ex-old CPA)

XXXXX ["Scott"] (ex-old CPA)

XXXXX ["Reinhart"] (ex-old CPA)

Louis Hendin ["Delion"] (ex-old CPA) - resigned Nov. 10, 1920

Isaac E. Ferguson ["Caxton"] (ex-old CPA)

Max Bedacht ["Brown"] (ex-CLP)

(not to be confused with "Leopold Brown" of the CEC of the old CPA)

James P. Cannon ["Dawson"] (ex-CLP)

Ludwig Katterfeld ["J. Klein"] (ex-CLP)

Edward Lindgren ["James Flynn"] (ex-CLP)

Alfred Wagenknecht ["A.B. Meyer"] (ex-CLP)

Alternate Central Executive Committee Members (in order of votes received): S.M. Krunislav "Zemlin" (ex-CPA); A. Jakira ["Dubner" ] (ex-CLP); "Stone" (ex-CPA) promoted 11/20/20 to replace Hendin; "Jones" (ex-CLP); "Korker" (ex-CPA); "Malcolm" (ex-CLP); Schwartz ["Kazbeck"] (ex-CPA); "Logan" (ex-CLP)

 

UCP Delegates to the 2nd Comintern Congress (July-Aug. 1920)

Alexander Bilan

Eadmonn MacAlpine

John Reed - Died Oct. 1920

Edward Lindgren -last to arrive

 

Executive Secretary:

Alfred Wagenknecht ["Paul Holt"]

 

Central Executive Committee Members (9):

Walter Brustor ["Milner"] (Educational Director, in Cleveland)

James P. Cannon ["Cook"] (Press Service)

A. Jakira ["Duboff"] (Russian Editor)

Ludwig E. Katterfeld ["Elk"] (Educational & Legal Propaganda)

Joseph Zack Kornfeder ["J.P. Collins"] (Industrial Department)

Edward Lindgren ["James Flynn"] (National Organizer)

Alfred Wagenknecht ["Paul Holt"] (Executive Secretary)

xxxx ["Grove"] (English Editor -- not to be confused with Grove=Amter '22)

xxxx ["Webber"] (District Organizer 2 [NYC])

 

Representative to ECCI :

Max Bedacht ["Marshall"]

 

Technical Department:

xxxx ["Ehrhart"] (Bookkeeper and tech work)

xxxx ["Logan"] (Shipper)

xxxx ["Smith"] (Editor, Jewish Legal Organ)

xxxx ["Davis"] (Editorial Work)

 


(unified) Communist Party of America

The "unified CPA" was a new organization born of the coerced union of the UCP and the old CPA. The official name of the organization was "Communist Party of America (Section of the Communist International)." As was the case with the two component organizations, the unified CPA was an underground political organization, attempting to avoid state repression by conducting meetings and distributing communications to members in secret and making use of pseudonyms for participants.

The unified CPA was governed by a Central Executive Committee consisting of five members hailing from each of the two constituent organizations. After a short period of time, two of the former members of the old CPA began voting with the five fromer members of the UCP as a bloc, contributing to a shift in orientation which resulted in a new split by the so-called "Central Caucus" late in November of 1921.

 

Executive Secretaries of the unified CPA:

Charles Dirba ["C. Dow"] -- May 31, 1921 to July 27, 1921.

L.E. Katterfeld ["J. Carr"] -- July 27, 1921 to Oct. 15, 1921.

William Weinstone ["G. Lewis"] -- Oct. 15, 1921 to Feb. 22, 1922.

Jay Lovestone ["L.C. Wheat"] -- Feb. 22, 1922 to Bridgman Convention, Aug. 1922.

Abram Jakira ["J. Miller"] -- from Bridgman Aug. 1922 to dissolution in April 1923.

 

 

Central Executive Committee Members (10):

elected at the May 1921 Joint Unity Convention, Woodstock, NY.

George Ashkenuzi ["Kelly"] -- ex-old CPA

John J. Ballam ["Curtis"] -- ex-old CPA

Charles Dirba ["C. Dow"] -- ex-old CPA

Joseph Stilson ["Ray"] -- ex-old CPA

J. Wilenkin ["Paul"] -- ex-old CPA

 

James P. Cannon ["James Cook"] -- ex-UCP

Abram Jakira ["Post"] -- ex-UCP

Ludwig E. Katterfeld ["J. Carr"] -- ex-UCP

Joseph Zack Kornfeder ["A.C. Griffith"] -- ex-UCP

Jay Lovestone ["L.C. Wheat"] -- ex-UCP

 

replacing Jakira was

William W. Weinstone ["Turner"] -- ex-UCP

 

 

After the Dec. 1921 split of the Central Caucus faction (marked by the departure of Ashkenuzi, Ballam, and Dirba to the new organization) and through the first half of 1922, the 10 member CEC included the following:

 

Central Executive Committee Members (10):

(from December 1922)

Max Bedacht ["Brown"/"Braun"]

Alexander Bittelman ["A. Raphael"]

James P. Cannon ["Golden"/"James Cook"]

Joseph Zack Kornfeder ["A.C. Griffith"]

Meyer Loonin??? ["M. Green"]

Jay Lovestone ["L.C. Wheat"]

Joseph Stilson ["Edward Ray"]

Arne Swabeck ["J. Lansing"]

William Weinstone ["G. Lewis"]

J. Wilenkin ["Paul"]

 

 

At the meeting of the Central Executive Committee of April 17, 1922, it was decided to reorganize the CEC by coopting Robert Minor ["Ballister"], Earl Browder ["Dixon"], and Alfred Wagenknecht ["Duffy"]. To make room for these individuals, three sitting members of the CEC would resign. Offers to resign were tendered by Loonin, Weinstone, Lovestone, Cannon, Bedacht, Zack-Kornfeder, and Bittelman. After a series of votes, the resignations of Weinstone, Loonin, and Zack-Kornfeder were accepted. This resulted in the following CEC:

Central Executive Committee Members (10):

(from April 17, 1922)

Max Bedacht ["Braun"/"Brown"]

Alexander Bittelman ["A. Raphael"]

Earl Browder ["Joseph Dixon"/"W. Ward"]

James P. Cannon ["Golden"/"James Cook"]

Jay Lovestone ["L.C. Wheat"]

Robert Minor ["James Ballister"]

Joseph Stilson ["Edward Ray"/"Edward Riley"]

Arne Swabeck ["J. Lansing"]

Alfred Wagenknecht ["U.P. Duffy"]

J. Wilenkin ["Paul"/"J. Morris"]

 


 

1921-22 Central Caucus faction's "Communist Party of America"

The "Central Caucus" was organized by the three suspended members of the CEC of the unified CPA -- Charles Dirba, John Ballam, and George Ashkenuzi. The group had strong support amongst various Language Federation groups in the east -- about 95% of which came from the Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Russian, Latvian, Polish, and Jewish Federations. The group sought to preserve the underground nature of the party against what was viewed as a suicidal opening and to preserve the independent existence of the affiliated Language Federations in the face of their emasculation.

The Central Caucus faction had an affiliated Legal Political Party called the "United Toilers Party."

The three members of the CEC who formed the factional leadership provisionally took up the following roles:

 

Executive Secretary:

John J. Ballam ["Curtis"/"Moore"]

 

Treasurer / Accounting Department:

Charles Dirba ["Dow"]

 

Press / Technical Department:

George Ashkenuzi ["Kelly"/"Henry"]

 

The organization formally established itself and conducted elections of a 7 member Central Executive Committee were held at the "Emergency Convention" of Jan. 7-11, 1922.

 

Executive Secretary:

/Charles Dirba???/ -- "J. Davis"

 

Special International Delegate:

John J. Ballam ["Curtis"/"Moore"]

 

Central Executive Committee (7):

John Ballam ["John Moore"]

"Nicols" -- Ukrainian Federation

"Leopold Brown"

George Ashkenuzi ["George Henry"]

"Golos" -- Russian Federation

"Wilson" -- Boston District

"Singer" -- Philadelphia District

(other pseudonyms used, Jan. 20, 1922: "A. Frick," "John Harris," S. Flory," "Taylor," "Austin," "Jim Smith.")

 

Alternates: A.S. Edwards ["Sullivan"], "Kain," "Mars," "B. Leon," "Benjamin."

 

Auditing Committee (3):

"Shovin"

"Lidock"

"Stock"

 


1922-23 unified Communist Party of America

The August 1922 Bridgman Convention saw the election of new officers of the CPA -- complete with a new set of pseudonyms. The main part of the Central Caucus faction rejoined the CPA in a group, although a dissident minority centered in the Latvian Federation stayed outside of the party organization.

The Political, Industrial, and Editorial work of both the CPA and WPA were combined by the action of the CPA's CEC on Jan. 26, 1923. While underground work was formally to continue, in practical terms the two parties began unification on an "overground" basis from that date.

The business between the periodic meetings of the Executive Council was handled by four specialized subcommittees: Political, Organizational, Industrial, and Editorial. The composition of each of these committees is noted bolow

Executive Secretary:

Abram Jakira ---- ("J. Miller")

 

International Delegates (5):

Max Bedacht ---- ("Marshall")

Arne Swabeck ----- ("Lansing")

??? -- ["Dan"]

??? -- ["Pullman"]

??? -- ["Star"] - Reporter on YCI Congress

 

Secretariat (3):

Secretaries of three main committees: Legal Political Party, Party, and Political.

Abram Jakira ["J. Miller"] -- Party

C.E. Ruthenberg ["Brenton"] -- LPP

John Pepper ["Short"] -- Political

 

Executive Council (17) & CEC (13):

Israel Amter ["Grove"] - CEC

Max Bedacht ["Marshall"/"Sterling"] - Political Committee

James P. Cannon ["James Cook"] - CEC, Industrial Committee

William Z. Foster ["Blake"] - CEC, Industrial Committee

Benjamin Gitlow ["John Pierce"] - CEC, Political & Industrial Committees

A. Jakira ["J. Miller"] - CEC, Organization Committee, LPP Chairman

Ludwig Lore ["Young"] - Political Committee

Jay Lovestone ["John Robertson"] - Organization Committee

John Pepper ["Short"] - CEC, Political Committee Chairman

C.E. Ruthenberg ["Brenton"] - CEC, Organization Committee, Party Chairman

??? -- ["Albers"] - CEC, Editorial Committee, Editor of "L" and official organ

??? -- ["Blair"] - CEC, Organization Committee

 

??? -- ["Dally"] - Editorial Committee

??? -- ["Lloyd"] - CEC, Political Committee, Editor of "B" and publicist

??? -- ["McLeod"] - CEC

??? --- ["Summers"] - CEC

??? --- ["Thomas"] - Organization Committee

??? --- ["Edwin Trent"] - Industrial Committee (ex-Central Caucus)

??? --- ["Woodin"] - CEC, Editorial Committee

 

 

pseudonyms above likely include:

Alexander Bittelman

William F. Dunne

Marion Emerson

J. Louis Engdahl

Ludwig Katterfeld

Edward Lindgren

Theo Maki

Joseph Manley

M.J. Olgin

Alfred Wagenknecht

Harry M. Wicks

 

Industrial Organizer (1):

??? -- ["Mathews"]

 

Industrial Department:

??? -- ["Grant"]

??? -- ["Mathews"]

??? -- ["Schaffer"]

 


Workers Party of America (WPA)

The WPA was an open organization formed between the bulk of the unified CPA and various individuals and left-wing groups coming from the Socialist Party of America. Eventually the underground CPA was replaced in full by the WPA, which changed its name to Workers (Communist) Party of America.

 

1922 Workers Party of America

CEC elected at the Founding Convention, New York, Dec. 24-26, 1921. Officers elected at the first meeting of the CEC, New York, Dec. 27, 1921-Jan.4, 1922. Daily operations were conducted by a subset of the officers and CEC called the "Administrative Council.

 

National Chairman:

James P. Cannon

 

Executive Secretary:

Caleb Harrison (to May 1922)

Early in May 1922, Caleb Harrison stepped aside to become a travelling "National Organizer" for the WPA, making way for C.E. Ruthenberg, who was released from prison in New York on bail April 24, 1922. This decision was made by the WPA's Administrative Council and confirmed by a unanimous mail ballot of the Central Executive Committee. While at a glance this sudden insertion of Ruthenberg as Executive Secretary may seem "unconstitutional," in actuallity Art. VII, Sec. 3 of the WPA Constitution does not state that the Executive Secretary must necessarily come from the ranks of the CEC, only that the CEC is responsible for electing the Executive Secretary.

While in the first few months of the organization it seems that Cannon and Harrison shared the role of Chief Executive, from the time of Ruthenberg's arrival on the scene, there is no doubt that the Executive Secretary was the position handing day-to-day operations of the WPA. William Kruse remained active in the role of Assistant Executive Secretary, taking the helm when Ruthenberg periodically departed to make speaking engagements.

 

Executive Secretary:

C.E. Ruthenberg (from May 1922)

 

Assistant Executive Secretary:

William F. Kruse

 

Director, Lyceum and Literature:

Elmer T. Allison

 

Agrarian Organizer:

Harold L. Ware

 

Editors:

William F. Dunne

J. Louis Engdahl

Jay Lovestone

 

Central Executive Committee (17):

xxx

xxx

xxxx

xxx

xxx

xxxx

xxx

xxx

xxxx

xxxx

xxx

xxx

xxxx

xxx

xxx

xxx

xxx

 


 

1923 Workers Party of America

Elected at the 2nd Convention, New York, Dec. 24-26, 1922.

 

Executive Secretary:

(Elected by Central Executive Committee)

C.E. Ruthenberg

 

Executive Council (11):

(Elected by Central Executive Committee "to function between the sessions of the CEC)

Alexander Bittelman

James P. Cannon

William F. Dunne

Marion Emerson

J. Louis Engdahl

Edward Lindgren

Ludwig Lore

Theo Maki

M.J. Olgin

C.E. Ruthenberg

Harry M. Wicks

 

Central Executive Committee (25):

(One member elected by the NEC of the YWL)

Israel Amter

Max Bedacht

Alexander Bittelman

B. Borisoff

Fahle Burman

James P. Cannon

William F. Dunne

Marion Emerson

J. Louis Engdahl

Abraham Jakira

Ludwig E. Katterfeld

William F. Kruse

Edward Lindgren

Jay Lovestone

Robert Minor

A. Nastasievsky

M.J. Olgin

John Pepper

C.E. Ruthenberg

Rose Pastor Stokes

Alexander Trachtenberg

Alfred Wagenknecht

William W. Weinstone

Harry M. Wicks

XXXXXXXXX (YWL)

 


 

1924 Workers Party of America

Elected at the Third Convention of the WPA, Chicago,Dec. 30, 1923 to Jan. 2, 1924. Officers elected by CEC at plenum of Jan. 3, 1924.

 

Executive Secretary:

C.E. Ruthenberg

 

Chairman:

James P. Cannon

Cannon resigned and was replaced by William Z. Foster at the Feb. 15-16, 1924 CEC plenum.

 

Moscow Representative of WPA to ECCI:

Israel Amter

 

Moscow Representative of TUEL to Profintern:

Charles E. "Charlie" Scott [Karlis E. Jansons]

 

CEC Representative to the CEC of the YWL:

J. Louis Engdahl

 

Central Executive Committee Members (13):

Alexander Bittelman *

Earl Browder *

Fahle Burman *

James P. Cannon *

William F. Dunne *

J. Louis Engdahl

William Z. Foster *

[temporarily replaced by George Halonen when Foster in Moscow -- May]

Benjamin Gitlow

Ludwig Lore *

Jay Lovestone

John Pepper

[temporarily replaced by Max Bedacht when Foster in Moscow -- May]

C.E. Ruthenberg

Martin Abern (YWL) *

 

* -indicates Foster-Cannon faction member or supporter (Lore). The Chicago-based members were constituted an "Executive Council" to meet periodically in between the regular monthly meetings of the CEC.

 

Political Committee (7):

Earl Browder *

James P. Cannon *

William F. Dunne *

William Z. Foster *

Jay Lovestone

John Pepper

C.E. Ruthenberg

 

Organization Committee (5):

Martin Abern *

James P. Cannon *

William Z. Foster *

John Pepper

C.E. Ruthenberg

 

Secretariat (3):

James P. Cannon *

John Pepper

C.E. Ruthenberg

 

Education Committee (3):

Max Bedacht

Alexander Bittelman *

James P. Cannon *

The Education Committee was formed in May 1924.

 

Daily Worker Management Committee (5):

Earl Browder *

William Dunne *

Moritz Loeb

C.E. Ruthenberg

Matti Tenhunen

The Daily Worker Management Committee was formed in May 1924.

 

Director, Literature Department:

Nicholas Dozenberg

 

 

 


 

1925-26 Workers (Communist) Party

The Officials of the WPA elected at the 4th National Convention of Aug. 21-30, 1925 were allocated according to faction with the Comintern Representative Sergei Gusev breaking deadlocks.

 

National Executive Secretary:

Charles E. Ruthenberg

 

"Independent Chairman":

Sergei Gusev ["P.Green"] (Comintern Rep)

 

Central Executive Committee Members (20):

Martin Abern (majority group)

Philip Aronberg (majority group)

Earl R. Browder (majority group)

Fahle Burman (majority group)

James P. Cannon (majority group)

William F. Dunne (majority group)

William Z. Foster (majority group)

Bud Reynolds (majority group)

Jack Stachel (majority group)

 

John J. Ballam (minority group)

Max Bedacht (minority group)

Louis J. Engdahl (minority group)

Benjamin Gitlow (minority group)

Jay Lovestone (minority group)

Robert Minor (minority group)

Charles E. Ruthenberg (minority group)

H. Schmies (minority group)

William W. Weinstone (minority group)

Charles White (minority group)