Intercollegiate League for Industrial Democracy

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The Intercollegiate League for Industrial Democracy (known from 1933 as the Student League for Industrial Democracy) was the official youth section of the

Communist Party, USA in 1935 to form the American Student Union
.

Organizational history

Background

In 1921 the

University of Texas,[3]
and elsewhere, but the emphasis of the national organization remained on building a non-campus movement in tangent with the Socialist Party.

By 1929 student members of the LID were outnumbered by non-student members. An Intercollegiate Student Council existed within the group to coordinate the activities of college students, but this was "poorly organized and somewhat inactive," according to historian Robert Cohen.[4]

Depression era activity

The coming of the

Communist-led National Student League
.

In 1932 the student members of the LID held their own national convention which abolished the old Intercollegiate Student Council of the LID and elected instead a new National Executive Committee and national chairman, Maurice Newfield.

The new independent organization began to issue a new national magazine, Revolt, (later named Student Outlook) and in 1933 formally adopted for itself the name "Student League for Industrial Democracy" (SLID).[5]

Between 1933 and 1935 SLID participated in protests over violations of student

Communist Party-led National Student League (NSL).[6][7]

One of the group's most dramatic activities was organizing the

Oxford Pledge, in which students pledged "We will not support the government of the United States in any war it may conduct."[9]

Principles

The Student League for Industrial Democracy proclaimed its goal to be the establishment of "a classless cooperative society in which men will have an equal opportunity to achieve the good things of life."

R.O.T.C."[10]

Merger

With the Student League for Industrial Democracy and the Communist-led National Student League working together so often, there arose sentiment in favor of amalgamating the two organizations. The NSL proposed this first in December 1933, and again the next year. The leadership of the SLID, however, was weary of the NSL uncritical view of the Soviet Union and less than democratic nature of the NSL.

Due to the unprecedented size of the April 1935 student strike, however, pressure from within the SLID ranks became difficult for its more cautious leadership to contain. This was especially true on the West Coast, were the local SLID members felt it that anti-fascist unity was a pressing need in the wake of a local red scare. With its California chapters already planning an amalgamation conference for the fall, in June 1935 the SLID National Executive Committee relented buy appointed a committee to discuss the merger with representatives from the NSL.

By October they arrived at an agreement to merge the two organizations at a convention that December into a new group to be named the American Student Union.[11]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Students in Revolt: The Story of the Intercollegiate League for Industrial Democracy. New York: League for Industrial Democracy, 1933; pg. 6.
  2. ^ a b Students in Revolt, pg. 7.
  3. ^ a b c Students in Revolt, pg. 8.
  4. ^ Robert Cohen, When the Old Left was Young. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 31-33 and pg. 351, fn. 31 and 33.
  5. ^ Cohen, When the Old Left was Young, pg. 361, fn.11.
  6. ^ Cohen, When the Old Left was Young, pp. 116, 136, 211.
  7. ^ "Outbreaks Greet Fascist Students: Visiting Group Ushered Out of City College Hall After Free-for-All Begins," New York Times, October 10, 1934.
  8. ^ Cohen, When the Old Left was Young, pp. 92-93.
  9. ^ Cohen, When the Old Left was Young, pg. 73.
  10. ^ a b Students in Revolt, pg. 10.
  11. ^ Cohen, When the Old Left was Young, pp. 138-139.

Publications

External links

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