Labor Activist. He was the founder of the Communist Party in the United States. He was a graduate of the Columbia School of Law where he joined the radical arm of the Socialist Party and became involved with revolutionary groups. In 1916 he ran unsuccessfully as a Socialist Party candidate from Ohio for the United States Senate. The following year he ran for Mayor of Cleveland which he also subsequently lost. He was imprisoned in 1918 on charges of obstruction, attempting to organize strikes in opposition to the U.S. military draft, in an attempt to prevent American entry into World War I. He was convicted of assault in connection with the beating death of a Cleveland police officer during the May Day rally and celebration in 1919. In 1921 he traveled to Russia with his wife where he lived over the next three years, studying Russian at Moscow State University and working in a Moscow tractor assembly plant. Upon his return to the United States he ran as a candidate of the Workers Party from Ohio's 20th Congressional District for the United States House of Representatives, again failing to win elective office. Following his death, his remains were transported to Moscow for internment in the Kremlin.
Labor Activist. He was the founder of the Communist Party in the United States. He was a graduate of the Columbia School of Law where he joined the radical arm of the Socialist Party and became involved with revolutionary groups. In 1916 he ran unsuccessfully as a Socialist Party candidate from Ohio for the United States Senate. The following year he ran for Mayor of Cleveland which he also subsequently lost. He was imprisoned in 1918 on charges of obstruction, attempting to organize strikes in opposition to the U.S. military draft, in an attempt to prevent American entry into World War I. He was convicted of assault in connection with the beating death of a Cleveland police officer during the May Day rally and celebration in 1919. In 1921 he traveled to Russia with his wife where he lived over the next three years, studying Russian at Moscow State University and working in a Moscow tractor assembly plant. Upon his return to the United States he ran as a candidate of the Workers Party from Ohio's 20th Congressional District for the United States House of Representatives, again failing to win elective office. Following his death, his remains were transported to Moscow for internment in the Kremlin.
Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.
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