Difference between revisions of "Intercollegiate Socialist Society"
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The ISS attracted many of the best minds of the time.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bfxu61smg2EC&pg=PA42|title=The Roots of American Communism|date=1966|publisher=Transaction Publishers|pages=42}}</ref> Initially, the ISS had difficulty making its way into colleges across the country, but they met with success through the proliferation of affiliates.{{Citation needed}} | The ISS attracted many of the best minds of the time.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bfxu61smg2EC&pg=PA42|title=The Roots of American Communism|date=1966|publisher=Transaction Publishers|pages=42}}</ref> Initially, the ISS had difficulty making its way into colleges across the country, but they met with success through the proliferation of affiliates.{{Citation needed}} | ||
===Prominent Members=== | ===Prominent Members=== | ||
| − | The group had many prominent members, such as [[liberal Christianity|liberal Christian]] minister [[Norman Thomas]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2v9aAAAAMAAJ The Intercollegiate Socialist, Volume 7]</ref> | + | The group had many prominent members, such as [[liberal Christianity|liberal Christian]] minister [[Norman Thomas]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2v9aAAAAMAAJ The Intercollegiate Socialist, Volume 7]</ref> Other prominent members included [[Walter Lippmann]] and [[W.E.B. DuBois]] |
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 22:46, September 3, 2015
The Intercollegiate Socialist Society was a leftist group founded in 1905 by writers Upton Sinclair and Jack London, both of whom were members of the Socialist Party of America. It was active until 1921, when the word "socialist" had become a liability.[1]
According to their organizing secretary, Harry W. Laidler, the group's overall purpose was to "throw light on the world wide movement toward industrial democracy known as socialism."[2][3]
In 1921, the group changed its name to the League for Industrial Democracy.
Contents
History
"The Call"
Upton Sinclair issued a call for the formation of a group:
In the opinion of the undersigned the recent remarkable increase in the Socialist vote in America should serve as an indication to the educated men and women in the country, that Socialism is a thing concerning which it is no longer wise to be indifferent. The undersigned, regarding its aims and fundamental principles with sympathy, and believing that in them will ultimately be found the remedy for many far-reaching economic evils, propose organizing an association, to be known as the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, for the purpose of promoting an intelligent interest in Socialism among college men, graduate and undergraduate, through the formation of study clubs in the colleges and universities, and the encouraging of all legitimate endeavors to awaken an interest in Socialism among the educated men and women of the country.[4]
The founding members include Upton Sinclair, Jack London, Clarence Darrow, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Graham Phelps Stokes, William English Walling, B. O. Flower, Leonard D. Abbott, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and Harry W. Laidler[4].
Purpose and Criticism
Upon its inception, the ISS faced criticism that it "aims to imbue the minds of the rising generation with socialistic doctrines"[5].
Responding to this criticism, one of the Founding members, Thomas Higginson, wrote that the purpose of the Society was to ensure that "this tendency should be studied seriously and thoughtfully, not left to demagogues alone. For this purpose our foremost universities should take the matter up scientifically, as has been done for several years at Harvard University, where there is a full course on "Methods of Social Reform - Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax." etc., given by Professor T.N. Carver."[5]
One response to this explanation noted that at an International Congress of Socialist Students and Graduates, Professor Enrico Ferri from Palermo University of Italy stated the following: "We should introduce Socialism into the students' minds as a part of science, as the logical and necessary culmination of the biological and sociological sciences. No need of making a direct propaganda which would frighten many of the listeners. Without pronouncing the word Socialism once a year I make two thirds of our students conscious Socialists."[6]
Development
The ISS attracted many of the best minds of the time.[7] Initially, the ISS had difficulty making its way into colleges across the country, but they met with success through the proliferation of affiliates.[Citation Needed]
Prominent Members
The group had many prominent members, such as liberal Christian minister Norman Thomas.[8] Other prominent members included Walter Lippmann and W.E.B. DuBois
References
- ↑ (1966) Fabian Freeway: High Road to Socialism in the U.S.A.. Belmont, Massachusetts: Western Islands, 208.
- ↑ The New York Times, January 28, 1919
- ↑ United States Congressional Serial Set, 2858.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Rand School of Social Science, [1] The American Labor Year Book, Volume 1, 1916
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 (1905) Harper's Weekly, Letters to the Editor. Harper's Weekly, 1094.
- ↑ (1905) The Origin of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society Disclosed. National Civic Federation, 11-20.
- ↑ (1966) The Roots of American Communism. Transaction Publishers, 42.
- ↑ The Intercollegiate Socialist, Volume 7
