Martin Abern
Martin "Marty" Abern (né Martin Abramowitz) (December 2, 1898 – April 1949) was a
Background
Martin Abern was born on December 2, 1898, in
Career
Socialist
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The young man was radically inclined from an early age, joining the Socialist Party of America's youth section, the Young People's Socialist League in 1912,[2] the Socialist Party itself in 1915, as well as the Industrial Workers of the World. He attended the University of Minnesota for two years, starring on the football team.[2] The radical Abern staunchly opposed World War I and following American entry into that conflict he refused induction into the military on political grounds.[2] This refusal to join the military resulted in his expulsion from the university and ultimately led to a six-month prison term.[2]
Communist
Abern seems to have been a member of the
Abern was a delegate to the 2nd World Congress of the
Abern was also sent to Moscow to attend the
Abern also briefly was part of a three-person Secretariat running the Young Workers League in the summer and fall of 1924 before being replaced as National Secretary on October 15 by John Williamson. In 1925 Cannon became the National Secretary of
In 1926, Abern wrote a two-part, two-day article entitled "Can the Workers Write for Our Press?[6][7]
Abern then took an important leadership role in the adult Workers (Communist) Party of America, becoming the District Organizer of the party's important Chicago district in 1928 and sitting on the governing Central Executive Committee of the organization.[5] Abern was a steadfast supporter of the majority faction of Foster-Cannon-Lore during the bitter factional fighting that continued ceaselessly throughout the decade.
Trotskyist
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Trotskyism |
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Together with Jim Cannon and youth leader Max Shachtman, Abern was expelled from the Workers (Communist) Party in 1928 for supporting Leon Trotsky.[2] He was a founding member of the Communist League of America (CLA) in May 1928 and sat on the governing National Committee of that organization from 1931 to 1934. In this interval Shachtman and Cannon were increasingly at odds with one another, with Abern tending to follow Shachtman in matters of controversy.
Abern was also a founding member of
In 1938, Abern helped found the
Abern was elected to the governing National Committee of the WPUS at the time of its formation in 1940 and remained in the top leadership of that organization for the rest of his life.[2]
Death
Abern, who adopted the party name Harry Allen, was a central leader of the Workers Party and frequent contributor to its paper, Labor Action, until his death from a heart attack in April 1949.[9] Abern was 50 years old at the time of his death.
Legacy
Abern's papers comprise part of the John Dwyer Papers held by Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.[10] A small collection of his correspondence with Leon Trotsky is also housed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.[11]
References
- ^ a b Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole, The American Labor Who's Who. New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Albert Glotzer, "Martin Abern (1898-1949)," in Bernard K. Johnpoll and Harvey Klehr (eds.), Biographical Dictionary of the American Left. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986; pp. 1-2.
- ^ Martin Abern in the New York, New York, Marriage Index 1866-1937
- ^ Document in DoJ/BoI Investigative Files, NARA collection M-1085, microfilm reel 925.
- ^ a b Robert J. Alexander, International Trotskyism, 1929-1985: A Documented Analysis of the Movement. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1991; pg. 764.
- ^ Abern, Martin (18 February 1926). "Can the Workers Write for Our Press? (Article I)" (PDF). Daily Worker. p. 5. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ Abern, Martin (19 February 1926). "Can the Workers Write for Our Press? (Article II)" (PDF). Daily Worker. p. 5. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ "The Expulsion of the Shachtman-Abern Group: Resolution adopted by the Plenum Conference of the SWP held at Chicago, September 27 to 29, 1940. First published in The Socialist Appeal, October 5, 1940, reprinted in James P. Cannon, The Struggle for a Proletarian Party. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1943; pp. 253-254.
- ^ Wolfgang Lubitz and Petra Lubitz, "Martin Abern," Lubitz TrotskyanaNet. Revised edition, November 2009; pg. 3.
- ^ John Dwyer was an activist in the Trotskyist movement who frequently wrote under the pen name "John Fredericks."
- ^ Martin Abern, "Correspondence with Comrade Trotsky." OCLC 81897055.
External sources
- Max Shachtman, "Martin Abern: An Obituary," Labor Action [New York], May 9, 1949.
- Wolfgang Lubitz and Petra Lubitz, "Martin Abern," Lubitz TrotskyanaNet. Revised edition, November 2009.
- Finding Aid for the John Dwyer Papers, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University.