Carl Haessler

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Carl Haessler managed the Federated Press, which provided weekly content to editors of American labor press (including the Daily Worker) and published a 12-page weekly newspaper (pictured)

Carl Haessler (1888–1972) was an American political activist, conscription resister, newspaper editor, and trade union organizer. He is best remembered as an imprisoned conscientious objector during World War I and as the longtime head of the Federated Press, a left wing news service which supplied content to radical and labor newspapers around the country.

Background

Carl Haessler was born August 5, 1888, in

University of Wisconsin in Madison, from which he graduated in 1911 with a bachelor's degree in Latin.[1] The linguist Luise Haessler was his aunt.[2][3]

During his early years, Haessler raised money for his education by working summers as a

Fabian socialists.[1]

Career

Upon his return to the United States in 1914, Haessler took a job teaching in the Philosophy Department of

dissertation, entitled "The Failure of Scottish Realism."[1]

Politics

Haessler joined the Socialist Party of America in 1914.[1]

With American entry into the European conflict early in 1917, the ethnic German

pacifist Haessler was dismissed from the university for his political views. He went to work for Victor L. Berger at his socialist daily newspaper, The Milwaukee Leader, remaining their for about a year.[1] During this time he joined the News Writer's Union and the delegate of that organization to the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council.[4]

In the spring of 1918, Haessler was drafted into the

presidential pardon.[4] During Haessler's time in prison, his (first) wife, Mildred Haessler (née Barnes), obtained a job as a teacher to support herself.[5]
The Haesslers raised their children in the Ravinia neighborhood of Highland Park, Illinois where they were deeply engaged in the arts and the Ravinia Woman's Club, until their divorce in 1940.[6]

During his time in prison, Haessler was removed for a brief period when he was called as a witness for the prosecution in the federal trial of Congressman

Victor Berger. The prosecution attempted to demonstrate that Haessler's position as an imprisoned conscientious objector was a product of Berger's direct influence, thereby providing proof of Berger's criminality with respect to the current conscription law. Haessler would have none of it however, replying when asked if he and Berger had had any talks about the war:

Oh yes, I had lots of talks with Berger about the war. You see, I might say that I knew Victor Berger before I was born, since he knew my mother and father. But I don't remember what he said on those talks; I remember distinctly what I said, but his views did not impress me at all. I was far more interested in my views anyhow than I was in his.[5]

Haessler characterized his views as significantly to the left of those of Berger, whom he called an "old fogey" that had told him "not to be a damned fool" and who had considered Haessler too young and rash and impulsive.[5]

Federated Press

Upon his release, Haessler returned for a time to the employ of Berger's Milwaukee Leader before joining the fledgling Federated Press news service, a press agency which provided news copy to scores of radical and labor newspapers around the country. The Federated Press was initially established by E.J. Costello, former managing editor of The Milwaukee Leader. In 1922, Haessler was named as the managing editor and secretary-treasurer of the Federated Press, positions which he retained until the end of the news service in 1956.[1]

Haessler was also named associate editor of The Federated Press Bulletin, the weekly newspaper of the Federated Press issued for subscribers across America.[7]

In his capacities with the Federated Press, Haessler was a member of the International Typographical Union.[4]

In 1937, Haessler went to work for the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) handling the union's public relations from Flint, Michigan, during its series of sitdown strikes there.[1] He also served as editor of The United Auto Worker until 1941 and was a longtime editor of Tool and Die Maker's News.

Later years

Beginning in 1963, Haessler became involved in draft counseling of conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War.[1]

Personal life and death

In 1940, Haessler married Lucy Haessler (née Whitaker ; first married name Leighton) ; they lived for many years at 39 Massachusetts Street in the Highland Park, Michigan.[citation needed]

His sister, Gertrude Haessler, married William Weinstone, a high ranking-official of the Communist Party.[8]

Carl Haessler died age 84 on December 8, 1972.[citation needed]

Legacy

Haessler's papers are housed at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wayne State University, "The Carl Haessler Collection: Papers, 1908-1972," Archived February 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University.
  2. ^ "Herman F. Haessler (1864-1924) - Find a Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  3. ^ "Carl Herman Haessler 1888-1972 - Ancestry®". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  4. ^ a b c d Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole (eds.), The American Labor Who's Who. New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 93.
  5. ^ a b c Harry Gannes, "Yipsels and the Socialist Sedition Trial," The Young Socialists’ Magazine [Chicago], v. 13, no. 3 (March 1919), pp. 10-12, 17.
  6. ^ Ravinia Woman's Club records http://highlandparkhistory.libraryhost.com/index.php/ravinia-womans-club-records
  7. ^ "Proceedings of the League Convention," The Federated Press Bulletin, v. 2, no. 19 (Feb. 11, 1922), pg. 2. Cited by Tim Davenport, "Federated Press League: Organizational History," Early American Marxism website, Corvallis, OR.
  8. ^
    ISBN 9780895269157
    . Retrieved 30 October 2018.

External links
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