Young Communist League
The Young Communist League was or is the name used for a radical organization of young people of various Communist parties around the world such as the Young Communist League in Britain, the Young Communist League, USA and the Young Communist League in Canada.
In the Soviet Union the youth organization under control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was known as the Komsomol.
The corresponding youth organization in China is usually translated as Communist Youth League.
United States
On October 17, 1943, a special convention of the Young Communist League was held at Mecca Temple, New York City. The name of the organization was changed to American Youth for Democracy. In the issue of the Communist for September, 1943, the president of the Young Communist League called for a change of the name of the group in order to enable the organization to function more efficiently for the duration of the war.
Claudia Jones was the editor of the official magazine of the American Youth for Democracy, Spotlight. She was formerly an associate editor of the official organ of the Young Communist League, Weekly Review. She was a member of the National Council of the Young Communist League.
The following (Spotlight, April, 1944) were national sponsors of American Youth for Democracy:
- Henry Armstrong
- Charlotte Hawkins Brown
- John M. Coffee
- Frank Marshall Davis
- Howard Fast
- A. Eustace Haydon
- William H. Holly
- Langston Hughes
- John Howard Lawson
- Kirtley F. Mather
- H. P. Marley
- F. Mathiessen
- Adam Clayton Powell,Jr.
- Minerva Pius
- Charles S. Seely
- William B.Spofford
- D. J. Stroik
- William Jay Schieffelin
- Teddy Wilson
- Mary E. Woolley
- Mary McLeod Bethune
Subsidiary Communist fronts created by American Youth for Democracy, include Sweethearts of Service Men, Friends of the Campus, and World Federation of Democratic Youth.
