BOOK CLUB#3: The Many Worlds of American (and Michigan) Communism

We talk with Dr. Joshua Morris about their recent book "The Many Worlds of American Communism," a sprawling and essential historical text that looks at the history of both grassroots and political institutions of the communist and pan-Socialist left from the early 20th century through the post-war years and McCarthyism.

 

We unearth lost grassroots histories, closely examine the victories and contradictions of American communism, chart the party and the American left's decline through both its internal contradictions and the onslaught of anti-communism and McCarthyism, and spend some time talking about some important organizing and events that are Pure Michigan.

 

SOURCES/ FURTHER READING

 

The Many Worlds of American Communism
By Dr. Joshua Morris

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793631961/The-Many-Worlds-of-American-Communism

 

Ideas They Cannot Jail
The Autobiography of Eugene Dennis
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the United States

https://archive.org/details/ideastheycannotj0000euge/page/n3/mode/2up

 

Communist Councilman from Harlem
Autobiographical Notes Written in a Federal Penitentiary
By Benjamin J. Davis

https://www.amazon.com/Communist-Councilman-Harlem-Autobiographical-Penitentiary/dp/0717806804

 

Trotskyists on Trial
Free Speech and Political Persecution Since the Age of FDR
By Donna T. Haverty-Stacke

https://nyupress.org/9781479851942/trotskyists-on-trial/

 

The Narrative of Hosea Hudson
His Life as a Negro Communist in the South
By Nell Irvin Painter

https://archive.org/details/narrativeofhosea0000huds

 

Red Feminism
American Communism and the Making of Women's Liberation
By Kate Weigand

https://press.jhu.edu/books/title/2245/red-feminism

 

Joy in the Struggle
My Life and Love
By Beatrice Lumpkin

https://www.intpubnyc.com/browse/joy-in-the-struggle/