Vern Smith (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Vern Ralph Smith was an American left wing journalist who served in an editorial capacity for several publications of the Industrial Workers of the World
and the Communist Party USA
(CPUSA). Smith is best remembered as the Moscow
correspondent of the CPUSA's The Daily Worker during the middle-1930s.
and graduated as the valedictorian
of his class. Smith was also editor of his high school
newspaper, a career skill which would ultimately serve him well in life. Smith, one of 4 children, spent his youth working on the family farm in the San Joaquin Valley
, leaving for school at the age of 20.
Smith attended the University of California
at Berkeley
, from which he graduated in 1916 with a Bachelor's degree
in Economics
. While at Berkeley, Smith was the secretary of his school's chapter of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society
and president fo the California International Cosmopolitan Club.
During the years of First World War
, Smith was a Second Lieutenant
of the infantry
in the Officers' Reserve, but was never ordered to active duty. He worked variously as a farm hand, construction worker, and storekeeper.
wheat fields. In 1921 he joined the Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW) as a member of Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union, No. 110. He later followed the harvest to Canada
, before heading for Seattle, Washington
, where he became editor of the IWW's west coast newspaper, The Industrial Worker.
Smith joined the local "Marxian Club" in Seattle in 1922 — this at a time when the Communist Party of America was a secret ("underground") organization. Smith later recalled:
and Harrison George
.
When the IWW turned against the Communists in 1922, Smith remained in the union under the direction of the Workers Party in Seattle. Smith remained as editor of the paper until June 1923, at which time the IWW sent him to Chicago
to edit the organization's primary English-language newspaper, Industrial Solidarity. He was also the assistant manage of the IWW's Educational Bureau in 1924.
Smith was exposed as a secret member of the Workers (Communist) Party in 1926 and fired from his position as editor of Industrial Solidarity. He was immediately taken onto the staff of the Communist Party's daily newspaper, The Daily Worker, also published in Chicago at the time. When the paper moved to New York City
in 1927, Smith moved with it, remaining on the staff for the rest of the 1920s and throughout most of the 1930s, save for a 7 month period when he was made editor of Labor Unity, the monthly magazine of the Trade Union Unity League
, an affiliate of the Communist Party.
During the Harlan County, Kentucky
mine strikes of the early 1930s, Smith was dispatched to the area as The Daily Worker's correspondent. Smith was arrested along with a number of strike organizers and relief workers and was incarcerated for four months in the Harlan County jail, the last 31 days of which were in solitary confinement.
In August 1933, Smith was made the Moscow correspondent of The Daily Worker. During his stint there, he wrote two books highly favorable to the Soviet system
, one dealing with coal miners in the Donets Basin
and the other with workers in the Ukrainian
collective farm village of Starosellye.
Smith returned to California after his time in Moscow, as labor editor and foreign editor of the CP's California newspaper, the Daily People's World. He also taught in San Francisco at the Tom Mooney Labor School, a Communist Party educational project.
Smith was expelled from the Communist Party in 1946 during the party's crackdown on so-called anti-revisionist left wing factional dissidents. Others included in this factional expulsion were Sam Darcy, William F. Dunne
, and Smith's fellow editor at the Daily People's World, Harrison George. At least one contemporary memoirist has indicated that the core reason for this purge related to a bitter inner-Party battle among left wing members of the Machinists' Union embroiled in a bitter strike in San Francisco.
at Cornell University
in Ithaca, New York
.
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
and the Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
(CPUSA). Smith is best remembered as the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
correspondent of the CPUSA's The Daily Worker during the middle-1930s.
Early years
Smith was born May 8, 1892, in Alila, California, the son of a dairy farmer. He attended public school in Tulare CountyTulare County, California
Tulare County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Fresno. Sequoia National Park is located in the county, as are part of Kings Canyon National Park, in its northeast corner , and part of Mount Whitney, on its eastern border...
and graduated as the valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
of his class. Smith was also editor of his high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
newspaper, a career skill which would ultimately serve him well in life. Smith, one of 4 children, spent his youth working on the family farm in the San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
, leaving for school at the age of 20.
Smith attended the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
at Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, from which he graduated in 1916 with a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. While at Berkeley, Smith was the secretary of his school's chapter of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society
Intercollegiate Socialist Society
The Intercollegiate Socialist Society was the a Socialist student organization from 1905-1921. It attracted many prominent intellectuals and writers and acted as the unofficial Socialist Party of America student wing...
and president fo the California International Cosmopolitan Club.
During the years of First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Smith was a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
of the infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
in the Officers' Reserve, but was never ordered to active duty. He worked variously as a farm hand, construction worker, and storekeeper.
Journalistic career
Smith travelled east, working a job in the KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
wheat fields. In 1921 he joined the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
(IWW) as a member of Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union, No. 110. He later followed the harvest to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, before heading for Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, where he became editor of the IWW's west coast newspaper, The Industrial Worker.
Smith joined the local "Marxian Club" in Seattle in 1922 — this at a time when the Communist Party of America was a secret ("underground") organization. Smith later recalled:
Smith was one of three key members of the IWW to join the Communist movement, the others being Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
"I read Marx'sKarl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
CapitalDas KapitalDas Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
and decided that the Communists probably had the right idea and joined the Marxian Club. This club was a legal group in Seattle under the influence of the underground Communist Parties. I never got into the underground movement, but went with the club into the Workers Party when the club joined the Party in a body immediately after the organization of the Workers Party [in December 1921]."
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World . Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a visible proponent of women's rights, birth control, and women's suffrage...
and Harrison George
Harrison George
Harrison George was a senior Communist Party of the United States leader, editor of the party's West Coast newspaper, People's World, and member of the Comintern's Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat ....
.
When the IWW turned against the Communists in 1922, Smith remained in the union under the direction of the Workers Party in Seattle. Smith remained as editor of the paper until June 1923, at which time the IWW sent him to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to edit the organization's primary English-language newspaper, Industrial Solidarity. He was also the assistant manage of the IWW's Educational Bureau in 1924.
Smith was exposed as a secret member of the Workers (Communist) Party in 1926 and fired from his position as editor of Industrial Solidarity. He was immediately taken onto the staff of the Communist Party's daily newspaper, The Daily Worker, also published in Chicago at the time. When the paper moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1927, Smith moved with it, remaining on the staff for the rest of the 1920s and throughout most of the 1930s, save for a 7 month period when he was made editor of Labor Unity, the monthly magazine of the Trade Union Unity League
Trade Union Unity League
The Trade Union Unity League was an industrial union umbrella organization of the Communist Party of the United States between 1929 and 1935...
, an affiliate of the Communist Party.
During the Harlan County, Kentucky
Harlan County, Kentucky
Harlan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1819. As of 2000, the population was 33,200. Its county seat is Harlan...
mine strikes of the early 1930s, Smith was dispatched to the area as The Daily Worker's correspondent. Smith was arrested along with a number of strike organizers and relief workers and was incarcerated for four months in the Harlan County jail, the last 31 days of which were in solitary confinement.
In August 1933, Smith was made the Moscow correspondent of The Daily Worker. During his stint there, he wrote two books highly favorable to the Soviet system
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, one dealing with coal miners in the Donets Basin
Donets Basin
Donbas or Donbass , full rarely-used name Donets Basin , is a historical, economic and cultural region of eastern Ukraine. Originally a coal mining area, it has become a heavily industrialised territory suffering from urban decay and industrial pollution.-Geography:Donbas covers three...
and the other with workers in the Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
collective farm village of Starosellye.
Smith returned to California after his time in Moscow, as labor editor and foreign editor of the CP's California newspaper, the Daily People's World. He also taught in San Francisco at the Tom Mooney Labor School, a Communist Party educational project.
Smith was expelled from the Communist Party in 1946 during the party's crackdown on so-called anti-revisionist left wing factional dissidents. Others included in this factional expulsion were Sam Darcy, William F. Dunne
William F. Dunne
William Francis "Bill" Dunne was an American Marxist political activist and trade unionist. He is best remembered as the editor of the radical Butte Bulletin around the turn of the 1920s and as an editor of the daily newspaper of the Communist Party USA from the middle-1920s through the 1930s...
, and Smith's fellow editor at the Daily People's World, Harrison George. At least one contemporary memoirist has indicated that the core reason for this purge related to a bitter inner-Party battle among left wing members of the Machinists' Union embroiled in a bitter strike in San Francisco.
Death and legacy
Vern Smith's papers, primarily relating to his time as a member of the IWW, are located at the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives in the Martin P. Catherwood LibraryMartin P. Catherwood Library
The Martin P. Catherwood Library, commonly known as the Catherwood Library or simply the ILR Library, serves the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. One of 20 libraries within the Cornell University Library system, the Catherwood Library is considered the...
at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
.
Books and pamphlets
- The Frame-up System. New York: International Publishers, 1930.
- Miners in the Donbas. Moscow: Co-operative Publishing Society of Foreign Workers in the USSR, 1935.
- In a Collective Farm Village. Moscow: Co-operative Publishing Society of Foreign Workers in the USSR, 1936.
- History of the American Labor Movement, 1700-1943. San Francisco: Tom Mooney Labor School, n.d. [c. 1943].
Articles
- "The Roosevelt Program of Attack upon the Working Class," The Communist International, vol. 10 (September 15, 1933), pp. 596–603.
- "Beginnings of Revolutionary Political Action in the USA," The Communist, vol. 12, no. 10 (October 1933), pp. 1039–1054.
- "Farmer-Labour Party Developments," International Press Correspondence, vol. 16 (May 16, 1936), pp. 626–627.
- "Trotsky Will Not Win American Labour," International Press Correspondence, vol. 17 (February 27, 1937), pp. 250–251.
External links
- "Guide to the Vern Smith, Collector. Industrial Workers of the World Files, 1916-1935," Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University. Retrieved February 19, 2010.