Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
Reassessing the Historical UAW: Walter Reuther's Affiliation with the Communist Party and Something of Its Meaning: A Document of Party Involvement, 1939
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
Reassessing the Historical UAW: Walter Reuther's Affiliation with the Communist Party and Something of Its Meaning: A Document of Party Involvement, 1939
Do you wish to request the book?
Reassessing the Historical UAW: Walter Reuther's Affiliation with the Communist Party and Something of Its Meaning: A Document of Party Involvement, 1939
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
Reassessing the Historical UAW: Walter Reuther's Affiliation with the Communist Party and Something of Its Meaning: A Document of Party Involvement, 1939
2002
Overview
Although Reuther successfully eliminated the US Communist Party (CP) from the UAW beginning in 1947, which became a precursor to the purge of the eleven CP-led unions from the CIO in 1949-1950, Reuther's relationship with the CP in the early tumultuous years of the UAW is a topic that has generated controversy among UAW scholars and Reuther biographers for more than five decades. Reuther's earliest involvement with radical politics dates back to the fall of 1930 as a student at Detroit City College (DCC), now Wayne State University, where he helped to organize the DCC Social Problems Club, a League for Industrial Democracy (LID) affiliate, which was, in essence, a branch of the Socialist Party (SP). Considering himself a Socialist at this time, Reuther actively campaigned throughout the nation for the SP presidential candidate, Norman Thomas, in 1932. Reuther's first exposure to CP politics may have come while working at Ford in 1931 when he joined the Auto Workers Union (AWU), a radical group that functioned within the CP milieu. Beginning at this time, Reuther developed an enthusiasm for the Soviet experiment, which may have been originally inspired by his close friendship with John Rushton, an older tool and die maker who was a Communist and had traveled to the Soviet Union in 1930. This enthusiasm for the construction of Soviet socialism resulted in Reuther, and his brother Victor, traveling to the Soviet Union and working in the toolroom of the Gorky Auto Works from November 1933 until June 1935. Upon returning to the US in 1935, over a period of several months, Reuther spoke quite favorably about his Soviet experience at meetings sponsored by either the Friends of the Soviet Union or the SP.(3) Clearly the most comprehensive and intellectually rigorous Reuther biography, The Most Dangerous Man In Detroit, discusses the issue of Reuther's possible membership in the CP in much more detail than other biographies. There Lichtenstein cites Nat Ganley's claim that he collected Reuther's membership dues when Reuther was in the CP, as outlined in the Glaberman article. In addition, Lichtenstein reports that in the fall of 1935, William Weinstone, the CP district organizer for Detroit, stated that Maurice Sugar brought Reuther to a weekly district CP meeting. Shortly thereafter, Weinstone asked Reuther to join the party, which he did. In January 1936, Reuther attended a twelfth anniversary commemoration of Lenin's death where CP leader Robert Minor spoke and Lichtenstein notes that Reuther made plans \"to listen to an Earl Browder radio broadcast in early February 1936.\" Finally, at this time, Reuther began to speak on behalf of the Friends of the Soviet Union and he visited with Anna Louise Strong when she lectured in Detroit. In spite of these activities, Lichtenstein claims only that Reuther may have had \"a possible brief membership\" in the CP.(13) Still, the existence of this document does not fully explain all of Reuther's political behavior during the period when he was secretly affiliated with the Communists. In spite of being a party member, Reuther still exhibited an independent streak in response to various party decisions. For example, although the Unity Caucus nominated Victor Reuther for the Michigan CIO council secretary-treasurer at the state CIO convention in April 1938, Frankensteen, a new recruit to the Unity Caucus, huddled with the leading UAW Communists, who decided to abandon Victor Reuther in favor of Richard Leonard, a previous supporter of Martin's Progressive Caucus. Walter Reuther felt betrayed by this action and argued that these tactics of the UAW Communists would destroy the Unity Caucus. When Michigan CP State Secretary William Weinstone stated that they knew what they were doing, Reuther replied, \"If you carry through this double-cross, then count me on the other side, not only in this fight, but from here on out!\"(39) While a number of Reuther biographies indicate that this incident was decisive in Reuther's ideological break from the CP but not the Unity Caucus, Reuther's behavior may be explained, purely and simply, by family loyalty to his brother whom he felt had been mistreated by the party.
