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Rand School of Social Science

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The Rand School of Social Science was formed in 1906 in New York City by adherents of the Socialist Party of America . The school aimed to provide a broad education to workers, imparting a politicizing class-consciousness, and additionally served as a research bureau, a publisher, and the operator of a summer camp for socialist and trade union activists.

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79-544: The school changed its name to the "Tamiment Institute and Library" in 1935 and it was closely linked to the Social Democratic Federation after the 1936 split of the Socialist Party. Its collection became a key component of today's Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives at New York University in 1963. The idea of establishing new schools for the promotion of socialist ideas in

158-478: A belief in spirituality and towards philosophical materialism , he came into contact with socialist literature, being particularly impressed with the 1886 utopian novel, Looking Backwards , by Edward Bellamy . In 1886, he moved to San Francisco and where he established a local Nationalist Club , dedicated to attempting to put Bellamy's ideas into practice in America. Later, Harriman came into contact with

237-621: A circulation running into hundreds of thousands and with reserve funds amounting to millions. There was The New Leader, a weekly newspaper published in English; there was the Rand School of Social Science which, together with Camp Tamiment, had enormous property value, not to speak of their importance as propaganda and educational instruments. Control of the Forward alone also meant probable control of fraternal and labor organizations such as

316-642: A faction immediately after the close of the Detroit conclave, establishing the Committee for the Preservation of the Socialist Party . Pamphlets were published and distributed alleging the Declaration of Principles was a "culminating point of a deep seated antagonism" within the Socialist Party — the proverbial "straw that breaks or threatens to break the camel's back." A stern warning was issued that it

395-498: A feeling of dissatisfaction with social democratic tactics which had failed in Germany" as well as "the socialist estimate of Russia; and the possibility of cooperation with communists on certain specific matters." Still, he held that "those of us who believe that an inclusive socialist party is desirable, and ought to be possible, hope that the growing friendliness of socialist groups will bring about not only joint action but ultimately

474-618: A letter to Morris Hillquit, Herron harmonized the use of the Rand fortune to finance the New York socialist school with the thinking of the elder Carrie Rand back in Iowa in the 1890s: Mrs. Rand originally had under consideration the establishment of school of Social Science in connection with Iowa College. But when she became aware that it would be impossible to establish such foundation, especially following my enforced resignation, she gave up

553-590: A member of the Democratic Party but, as he became conscious of socialist ideas, he left that organization and joined the Socialist Labor Party (SLP). He was a gubernatorial candidate for California on the SLP ticket in 1898 . Harriman broke with the SLP during the acrimonious split of 1899, which was largely linked to the SLP's insistence on establishing competing socialist dual unions with

632-513: A new faith" in which they would go forth "not to fat parishes and prosperous careers, but to hardship, maybe to martyrdom." As such, the school drew close scrutiny during the years of World War I as part of government efforts to suppress opposition to the European war effort. American participation in World War I did not dampen the level of participation in the Rand School. The institution saw

711-521: A profit for the school of about $ 10,000. The size and success of the bookstore allowed the school to enter the market as a publisher of political books and pamphlets, launching a labor almanac called the American Labor Year Book in 1916 and publishing material by Morris Hillquit, Scott Nearing, Louis Waldman , Harry W. Laidler , Albert Rhys Williams , and N. Lenin among others. The school also sought to expand participation through

790-493: A record enrollment of about 4,000 students for one or more classes in the 1918 academic year and an additional gain of up to 50% was projected by Executive Secretary Bertha Mailly for 1919-20. Of these all but 30 were part-time students, with an additional 70 taking a full complement of courses spread out over a longer period, attending classes only 2 or 3 nights a week. Following the end of hostilities in Europe on November 7, 1918,

869-473: A satisfactory reunion on the basis of sufficient agreement for harmonious support of a socialist program." This speedy reunification failed after Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 revealed the threat of a coalition of two totalitarian states. The threat revealed by this pact reduced the influence of pacifists in the Federation, the Socialist Party, and the labor movement. During the years of World War II through

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948-668: A self-sufficient community upon socialist principles. Together with a group of like-minded investors, he purchased a 2,000-acre (8.1 km ) parcel of land in Antelope Valley in California, which the group named Llano del Rio . The land included water rights — a critical factor due to the location of the land in an oasis in the Mojave Desert . Advertisements were taken in the socialist press and shares sold to interested families for $ 500 cash. In addition, each family

1027-406: A similar building down the block at 140 East 19th Street in 1912. Beginning in 1911–12, the Rand School implemented a full-time training course, in which students devoted themselves to the study of history, economics, public speaking, and socialist theory without interruption for a period of six months. During the first four years of the existence of the full-time course, 38 men and 8 women completed

1106-471: A tactic which smacked of quasi-Communist tactics to the members of the Old Guard faction. The "Old Guard" faction was further provoked by the adoption of a policy document known as the "Declaration of Principles" by the Socialist Party's 1934 national convention, held in Detroit. The 1934 Declaration of Principles was merely the result of a long process, in the view of the Old Guard leadership, its call for

1185-548: A very definite object — that of providing an auxiliary or specialized agency to serve the Socialist and Trade Union Movement of the United States in an educational capacity — to offer to the outside public an opportunity for studying the principles, purposes, and methods of this movement; and to offer to the adherents of the movement instruction and training along the lines calculated to make them more efficient workers for

1264-513: A whole... In due time, organizations of students, youths, tenants, housewives, and the unemployed formed by the Socialist group entered United Fronts with like organizations under Communist auspices. The fronts became transmission belts for the Communists... Most of the fronts sought to carry out the objectives of Soviet foreign policy, to glorify the Soviet system, and to spread confusion in

1343-727: Is not related to the: Social Democratic Federation (U.S.) The Social Democratic Federation of the United States of America (SDF) was a political party in the United States , formed in 1936 by the so-called "Old Guard" faction of the Socialist Party of America . The SDF later merged again with the Socialist Party in 1957 to form the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation (SP-SDF). Social Democratic Federation leader Louis Waldman noted in his memoirs that while

1422-501: The Democratic Socialist Federation . The SDF published a monthly, Social Democrat edited by Algernon Lee, August Claessens and Liston Oak . It ran from Vol. I #1 July 1944 to Vol XII #5 December 1955. Job Harriman Job Harriman (January 15, 1861 – October 26, 1925) was an American ordained minister who later became an agnostic and a socialist . In 1900 , he ran for vice president of

1501-606: The Furrier's Union , the Amalgamated Knit Goods Workers , and other unions centered in New York. In 1935, the Rand School changed its name to the "Tamiment Institute and Library," although it continued to use the imprint "Rand School Press" for its printed publications. During the Socialist Party split of 1936, the Rand School of Social Science followed the Old Guard faction out of the party and into

1580-521: The Workmen's Circle , with its millions of dollars in property and tens of thousands of members throughout the United States... After Detroit it was obvious that the militant Socialists controlled the Socialist Party. I saw that all they had to do in order to gain control of the valuable property in New York was to revoke the New York State charter and expel all state organizations controlled by

1659-448: The "development of the dictatorship of workers and peasants" particularly galling to the faction's anti-communist sensibilities. In closing the debate on the matter for the Old Guard at the Detroit convention, New York state party chairman Waldman had condemned the Declaration in no uncertain terms, accusing the Declaration of advancing "dangerous, provocative proposals" which advanced an " anarchistic , illegal, Communist doctrine." After

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1738-642: The Cause." Starting in 1913, the Rand School established a Correspondence Department, conducting coursework by mail with socialists and sympathetic unionists around the country. Some 5,000 people took courses by mail from the Rand School by 1916. In addition to classes and public lectures, the Rand School also maintained a reading library. Instructors and occasional lecturers at the school included Algernon Lee, Scott Nearing, Morris Hillquit , Charles A. Beard , John Spargo , Lucien Sanial , James Maurer , David P. Berenberg , Anna A. Maley , and August Claessens . In

1817-534: The Commonwealth Center, Inc., owners of the Rand School building, and removed additional documents contained therein. The Rand School was prosecuted for alleged violation of the Espionage Act for publishing the radical anti-militarist pamphlet, "The Great Madness," written by Scott Nearing . In a sensational trial, conducted in 1919 after conclusion of the war itself, Nearing was acquitted of

1896-476: The Herrons moved to New York City, where George became a prominent figure in the fledgling Socialist Party. The school was established in 1906, made possible by a $ 200,000 endowment by Mrs. Rand at the time of her sudden death in 1905. The fund was administered by Rand's daughter, Carrie Rand Herron, and Morris Hillquit . A total of about 250 students were enrolled for courses during the school's first year. In

1975-561: The Josephson Library was made a part of the special collections library at New York University , known today as the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives . The pamphlet The Rise and Decline of Christian Civilization by Scott Nearing includes mention of "Instructors and Lecturers. 1915–1916": The Case for the Rand School (July 26, 1919) lists the following "noted lecturers and teachers": The Rand School

2054-611: The Militant faction. The marriage had already broken up long before this divorce was finalized, however. In the interim, the "Old Guard" socialists organized themselves as the People's Party of New York and affiliated for electoral purposes with the American Labor Party , which retained a ballot line in New York state. This continued until the decision was made to disband and reorganize as an "educational organization for

2133-507: The Rand School has noted, "the School's continued existence was possible only as long as the Camp continued to pay the bills.: In 1956, the economically failing school was purchased by the operators of Camp Tamiment, who formally terminated its educational operations while continuing to maintain its library, renamed after the camp's managing director, Ben Josephson. This status ended in 1963, when

2212-637: The Rand School was the target of a series of four mob attacks involving demobilized soldiers. The first such incident came on November 25, 1918, during which a Canadian soldier led an organized group of his uniformed fellows in an effort to gain control of the building. Windows in the building were broken in the assault, which followed a mass rally at Madison Square Garden calling for the freedom of radical California labor leader Tom Mooney . The violent raiders were ultimately halted and dispersed by police reserves. Two more lesser incidents followed, neither of which gained sufficient critical mass to seriously threaten

2291-471: The SDF more amenable to reunification with the Socialist Party , which lost members while maintaining its opposition to communism and critical support for the U.S. policy of containment . After several years of negotiations, a merger was finally accomplished in 1957 to form the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation (SP-SDF). A small group of holdouts refused to reunify, establishing a new organization called

2370-685: The SPA as James Maurer of Pennsylvania, Algernon Lee and Louis Waldman of New York, George Roewer of Massachusetts (Chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee), George Goebel of New Jersey, and Mayor Jasper McLevy of Bridgeport, Connecticut . Louis Hendin was engaged as Executive Secretary of the faction, which had already in 1934 taken the form of a "party within the party." In his 1944 memoir, Socialist Party of New York State Chairman Louis Waldman freely acknowledged that he and his New York Old Guard comrades disregarded

2449-473: The Social Democrats or the Old Guard. Since there was always a minority of militant Socialists in each of these corporate institutions, these properties involving millions of dollars in property value and cash reserves would quickly fall into the hands of the militants... All during 1935 and the early part of 1936 my office was converted into a meeting place for the various committees and members of

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2528-587: The Socialist Party to establish the SDF. In New York, the SDF supported Franklin Delano Roosevelt and American Labor Party candidates, but the takeover of the ALP by the Communist Party USA drove the SDF's adherents from that organization. Executive Secretary of the SDF was August Claessens , who later served as National Chairman of the group until his death in 1954. Reunification with

2607-543: The United States on the Social Democratic Party of America ticket along with presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs. Harriman twice ran for mayor of Los Angeles on the Socialist ticket during the 1910s. In the 1911 primary , he came in first with 44% of the vote. Harriman was one of the lawyers for the McNamara Brothers , along with Clarence Darrow . He was unaware of their guilt, and thus

2686-514: The United States along with Eugene Debs on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America . He later twice ran for mayor of Los Angeles , drawing considerable attention and support. He also founded a socialist utopian community called Llano del Rio in California , later relocated to Louisiana . Harriman was born on January 15, 1861, in Frankfort , Clinton County, Indiana . He lived on

2765-577: The United States emerged at the end of the 19th century, when a group of Christian socialists , organized as the Social Reform Union, established the correspondence school, College of Social Science in Boston in 1899. Another similarly short-lived institution called the "Karl Marx School" was established in the city at the same time. Neither managed to leave much of a mark upon the historical record. A more successful effort at worker education

2844-484: The authority of the 1934 National Convention and immediately attempted to lock up party assets in his faction's control: Back from Detroit, I was immediately confronted with a problem which involved millions of dollars of property controlled by subsidiaries of the Socialist Party. In New York alone there were such institutions as the Jewish Daily Forward, the leading Jewish newspaper in the world with

2923-540: The building and its occupants. The fourth and final mob incident, and one of the most serious, occurred on May Day 1919. Several hundred demobilized soldiers, many of whom were in uniform, attacked a series of Socialist Party and Industrial Workers of the World headquarters buildings in New York City, including among their targets the Rand School. Doors to the building were locked against them, but raiders ascended

3002-557: The charges against him, but the Rand School was found guilty for having distributed Nearing's work and was fined $ 3,000. The Rand School was also raided in the summer of 1919 by the New York State Legislature's Lusk Committee , searching for evidence of connection to the Communist Party of America . No prosecution followed from this raid although records were seized providing the names of students through

3081-538: The corresponding office for this 1905 effort. The idea of a permanent socialist school in New York City, which took form as the Rand School of Social Science, began with the Christian socialist minister, George D. Herron , and his mother-in-law and financial patron, the widowed lumber heiress Caroline (Carrie) A. Rand. After marrying Mrs. Rand's daughter (also named Carrie) in 1901 — regarded as scandalous owing to his divorce and abandonment of his first wife and family —

3160-504: The day and pushed through a new Declaration of Principles , leading the SPA's right wing faction, known as the "Old Guard" to abandon the organization. Throughout the 1930s the Socialist Party had achieved moderate growth, its paid membership returning to the 25,000 level and its candidate for President of the United States Norman Thomas polling nearly a million votes in the election of 1932. Waldman recounted

3239-768: The dissemination of socialist ideals" at two-day convention was held during the weekend of March 27–28, 1937, at the Rand School of Social Science in New York City. This new organization was to be known as the Social Democratic Federation of the State of New York. The SDF went on to formally organize itself on a national basis at a convention held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on May 29–30, 1937. This foundation gathering elected Mayor Jasper McLevy of Bridgeport, Connecticut as National Chairman of

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3318-513: The dissident Social Democratic Federation was long a goal of the Socialist Party regulars, with initial attempts beginning as early as 1937. In his 1938 book, Socialism on the Defensive, SP leader Norman Thomas acknowledged that a number of issues had been involved in the split which led to the formation of the SDF, including "organizational policy, the effort to make the party inclusive of all socialist elements not bound by communist discipline;

3397-666: The existing trade unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor . Harriman thereafter was affiliated with the East Coast-based variant of the Social Democratic Party of America (SDP), a group whose members included Henry Slobodin and Morris Hillquit . In 1900 during unity negotiations between the Eastern and Midwestern SDP organizations, Harriman ran for vice presidency of

3476-529: The fall of 1917, with the assistance of a significant financial gift from international gem merchant A.A. Heller , the Rand School moved into a new headquarters facility located a 7 East 15th Street in Manhattan 's Union Square neighborhood — a building which it purchased from the YWCA . The new "People's House," as it was called, was a six-storey rectangular building about 75 feet wide by 100 feet long. The lease

3555-414: The family farm until he was 18. Harriman's early life was filled with religious influences by his parents. After graduating from Butler University in 1884, he went on into the ministry. He gradually came to doubt the ability of the church to fundamentally affect the lives of common people and to see organized religion as a trap. He recalled in 1902: "It is in doubt and not in faith that the salvation of

3634-442: The fire escapes outside and entered the 2nd floor Rand School library through the windows. Those who had gained entrance were dissuaded from violence by those inside the building and they peacefully exited without further incident. On June 21, 1919, mob action was replaced by a legal raid on the Rand School premises, in which representatives of New York's Lusk Committee , appointed by the state legislature to investigate radicalism in

3713-496: The first half of the 1950s, the SDF's paid membership drastically declined. Its influence on New York politics and labor unions similarly dropped. These declines corresponded with a general decline in the prestige of socialist organizations in the Cold War period, as well as the growth of Americans for Democratic Action and other liberal organizations, which tapped the SDF's support among sympathetic progressives. This decline made

3792-491: The initiative of party founders Morris Hillquit and Henry L. Slobodin , party newspaper editor Algernon Lee , and ex- Haverhill, Massachusetts mayor John C. Chase , the training school conducted evening courses in history, economics, and philosophy over a 21-week period, offering lectures one night per week. Secretary of this "Board of Instructors" was prominent socialist writer John Spargo , who used his home in Yonkers as

3871-412: The latter position. In its early years, the school conducted regular lectures and night courses. The first location of the school was at 112 East 19th Street — a one family house converted to use as a school. To help reduce overhead costs some of the rooms of this dwelling were rented out to tenants. The school remained in this brownstone for six years, before losing the lease and being forced to move to

3950-438: The main points of departure between the radical youth of the party and the staid older elements: It all began with the formation of groups in the Socialist Party that wanted to commit it to direct action . "Direct action" means that an organized group will take any action, illegal as well as legal, that it believes will bring about the reform, changes, or objective it seeks. The general strike for political purposes, sabotage,

4029-442: The new Social Democratic Federation . During this final interval the school was supported by an increasing percentage of the profits generated by Camp Tamiment, the SDF's country summer camp for trade union workers. by the late 1930s more than half of the Rand School's operating expenses were generated from the proceeds of Camp Tamiment, rising to more than 75% during the last years of the school's existence. Indeed, as one historian of

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4108-624: The new organization. The gathering passed a resolution of support to the Loyalist government of Spain and supporting an anti-Nazi boycott. The convention also voted to apply to the Labour and Socialist International as an affiliate. The SDF chose to seek international affiliation immediately with the Socialist International , over the objections of some delegates like William Karlin of New York, who urged his fellows to wait

4187-476: The official split of the Socialist Party that resulted in the creation of the Social Democratic Federation took place in 1936, "the crucial events occurred at the party's national convention in Detroit in 1934." It was at this national gathering that the ongoing factional war between a youthful "Militant" faction favoring aggressive advocacy of revolutionary tactics and joint action with the Communist Party won

4266-576: The opening extension offices in the Bronx and Brownsville as well as across the Hudson River in Newark, New Jersey during this period. The Rand School's annual operating budget for the 1918-19 academic year was approximately $ 45,000, of which tuition and fees covered about half. Business operations, donations, and the small and diminishing legacy of Carrie Rand covered the rest of the deficit, which

4345-627: The organizations threatened by the militants. Constitutions and bylaws were modified in such a way as to prevent control falling into the hands of Norman Thomas ' super-revolutionists. It was not until January 1936 that the National Executive Committee finally revoked the charter of the Old Guard-dominated Socialist Party of New York and reorganized the state under the leadership of an alliance of forces loyal to Norman Thomas and members of

4424-412: The party coin flamboyant slogans, organize street demonstrations, arrange great protest rallies, and in general, do the things that the Communists had made popular in their day-to-day activities. The Militants also proposed that, as the Communists had done, we form separate organizations for the unemployed, youth, tenants, and housewives, as if those groups had interests distinct from those of the workers as

4503-525: The party." The Social Democratic Federation was not organized as an electoral political organization but rather as an interest group seeking to establish connection with the trade union movement in a broader labor party. At the time of its creation the organization did incorporate the former SPA state locals in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The influential municipal parties in Reading, Pennsylvania and Bridgeport, Connecticut also left

4582-484: The passage of the Declaration of Principles and the closing of the convention, the Old Guard returned home. On behalf of the Socialist Party of New York, chairman Waldman immediately issued a statement disavowing the actions of the Detroit convention: We repudiate the essential features of the Declaration of Principles adopted at the Socialist National Convention insofar as they depart from

4661-657: The program, with 15 others withdrawing before graduation. The Rand School maintained a close relationship not only with the Socialist Party of America proper, but also with the Intercollegiate Socialist Society and such trade unions as the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union . The school's Labor Research Department declared: "The school had

4740-467: The ranks of society. We were convinced that by engaging in United Front activities, we, who were opposed to Communist aims, would soon become witting or unwitting parties to the furtherance of those aims and to the destruction of democracy. The National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party also established a department aimed to direct the activities of Socialists in the trade unions ,

4819-504: The scene without leaving more than the faintest trace in the contemporary socialist press. A more serious and official effort at establishing a New York socialist training school came late in 1904, when the City Central Committee of Local Greater New York announced that between the first of the year and May 30, 1905 a socialist school would be established "especially for the instruction of speakers." Established through

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4898-466: The school was conducted by a Secretary, originally author and publicist W. J. Ghent . Ghent was succeeded late in 1909 by Algernon Lee. A reorganization in about 1911 replaced the position of Secretary with an Education Director and an Executive Secretary, both responsible to the Board of Directors. Lee was retained in the former role, while Cornell University graduate Bertha Howell Mailly was employed in

4977-400: The short time until "the Trotsky Communists who call themselves the Socialist Party" joined the Fourth International before seeking admission. This theme of communist influence in the Socialist Party from whence they sprung was echoed by Louis Waldman, who declared to the press than Norman Thomas had come under "communist influence" and that "rather than lose our identity as Americans, we left

5056-464: The socialist community was consuming more than its fair share of precious water, resulting in a stream of lawsuits over the issue. Worse yet, the community proved incapable of advancing beyond a very basic economic level, causing discontent among its members. A new location was found in Leesville, Louisiana , in 1918, but the new environs did not suit Harriman and he soon returned home to Los Angeles. The Llano community survived in difficult conditions into

5135-403: The state, obtained a search warrant that was served by 10 members of the state constabulary, assisted by 55 former members of the American Protective League . A large number of books, papers, and documents were removed by the raiders — material which served to further the course of the Lusk Committee's investigation. Two days later, police officials returned and drilled open the safe belonging to

5214-539: The thought of what she had in mind at Iowa College ... The school is, in fact, some such thing as Mrs. Herron and I had planned and talked about for many years, and to which I expected at the time, to give my own life personally, as a teacher and organizer of the same. Operations of the Rand School were governed by an entity called the American Socialist Society , which included as board members Algernon Lee, Job Harriman , Benjamin Hanford , William Mailly , Leonard D. Abbott , and Henry Slobodin. Formal direction of

5293-420: The three were directly responsible for the establishment of the Rand School. Shortly after the establishment of the Socialist Party of America in August 1901 an effort was made to establish an institution called the Workmen's Educational League in New York City. This was soon renamed the Socialist Educational League, but the change of moniker did nothing to aid the school's survival and it, too, soon passed from

5372-445: The traditional socialist position and commit the Socialist Party to the use of violence and extralegal means. As between the program of orderly, peaceable, constructive, and intelligent political action and the insurrectionary , destructive, and violent methods proposed by the left wing, Socialists will have no difficulty in making their choice." The Old Guard opponents of the Detroit decisions formally organized themselves as

5451-430: The use of violence, the spread of fear, the paralysis of industry, trade, commerce, and even government are examples... The direct-action groups in the Socialist Party called themselves Militants; some formed the Revolutionary Policy Committee ; others used other names. When they first appeared on the scene, they wore blue shirts and adopted the upraised arm and the clenched fist as a form of salute. They insisted that

5530-469: The world is to be found. Faith is a delusion and a snare: a pitfall, a prison. It intimidates the intellect. With fear of eternal damnation religion crushes intellectual activity; with hero worship it destroys individuality; with hopes for the beyond it prevents the growth of ideals for the present. It makes of us a race of intellectual cowards; it changes but little if any our daily conduct toward each other. But doubt sets us free." As Harriman moved away from

5609-402: The writings of Karl Marx , which turned his early Christian socialist inclinations towards Marxism . Harriman married the sister of a college roommate, Mary Theodosia Gray. In 1895, the couple had twins, a girl and a boy, with the girl dying as a young child. Harriman left the church and took up the study of law, becoming a lawyer and establishing his own law firm. Harriman was initially

5688-513: The years were Norman Thomas , Jessie Wallace Hughan , and Stuart Chase . By 1924, the Rand School boasted a library with over 6,000 bound volumes, as well as a wide array of pamphlets , magazines, and newspapers. The school was responsible for the publication of an annual almanac of the labor movement entitled The American Labor Year Book and was instrumental in the establishment of the Labor Education Council, together with

5767-626: The years. In 1921, individuals close to the Rand School opened a summer school in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania called " Camp Tamiment ." The summer camp idea, pioneered by the Fabian socialist movement in Great Britain , allowed socialists and trade unionists the opportunity to escape the summer heat in the city and to attend courses with their fellows in a pastoral setting. Among those teaching classes at Camp Tamiment over

5846-478: Was "not enough" to merely defeat the Detroit Declaration of Principles in the party referendum held for their ratification, but that "the Socialist Party must be made safe for Socialism, for social democracy." Names of sympathizers were gathered, funds collected, and an office established in New York City. A "Provisional Executive Committee" of the faction was named, including such long-time members of

5925-609: Was asked to contribute a minimum of $ 2,000 in personal property to a "common storehouse" established for the benefit of the entire community. Beginning with just five families, by 1914 the Llano community had grown to over 1,000 people. Tents were replaced by adobe buildings and various enterprises, such as a sawmill, kiln, cannery and bakery, were established. The group issued its own monthly magazine, The Western Comrade (later changing its name to The Llano Colonist ) with Harriman acting as editor. Local farmers began to complain that

6004-520: Was formally held by the Society of the Commonwealth Center, which sublet all of the 2nd and 3rd floors, as well as parts of the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 6th floors to the school. A restaurant and a bookstore said to be the largest radical bookstore in New York City were closely affiliated with the project, with proceeds from each churned back into the school to help offset its expenses. In 1918 the bookstore did more than $ 50,000 in gross sales, thereby generating

6083-491: Was further minimized by comparatively low rates of compensation for teachers and staff. Beyond its general educational purposes, the Rand School was envisioned as a mechanism for the training of dedicated cadres for the Socialist and trade union movements. An article in the Socialist New York Call likened the school to a "sociological seminary" in which "men and women prepare themselves to be evangelists of

6162-569: Was made in England with the establishment of Ruskin College in Oxford , England, also in 1899. Three Americans were instrumental in the formation of this entity, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Vrooman and Charles A. Beard , the latter a young graduate student at Oxford University . The trio soon returned to America, where they continued their interest and activity in adult worker education, although none of

6241-500: Was taken by surprise by a plea bargain negotiated by Darrow, which, unfortunately for Harriman, was announced after the primary but before the general election. His association with the widely reviled McNamaras proved fatal to his campaign and George Alexander won the election. He ran again in 1913 , earning 26% of the vote in the primary. Following the narrow defeat in his second bid for mayor of Los Angeles, Harriman turned his back on electoral politics. He instead sought to establish

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