Foreign Language Federations (1890s - 1930) - Norwegian

SCANDINAVIAN FEDERATIONS

 Early Scandinavian Press

The earliest socialist publication published in the United States seems to have been a Chicago SLP weekly published in the late 1870s called Den Nye Tid ("The New Age").
Other leading early Scandinavian Socialist newspapers included Gaa Paa ("Forward," Minneapolis, 1903-1925); and Nye Normanden (New Norwegian," Moorehead, MN, 1894-1909).

 

Skandinaviska Socialistiska Arbetarenförsbundet

(Scandinavian Socialist Labor Federation -- SSLF)

 
In 1894 , the Swedish speaking membership of the Socialist Labor Party was strong enough to start its own newspaper in New York, called Arbetaren ("The Worker"). Initial editor was Eric Nordman, succeeded by Victor Funke (at the helm during the 1899 split), who was in turn succeeded in 1904 by A.H. Lyzell when Funke returned to Sweden.
In the late 1890s, the Socialist Labor Party recognized a Danish-language newspaper, published in Chicago and called the Arbejderen ("The Worker"), as an official party organ. This paper apparently broke with the DeLeon faction and died in 1900.

One of the first Swedish Socialist orators was August Palm (b. 1849-d. 1922), who came from Sweden to America for the express purpose of lecturing in the fall of 1900. Palm later recounted his tale in a book he published himself in 1901, Ögonblicksbilder Från en tripp till Amerika. Palm came at the invitation of Scandinavian SLP branches in Providence, New York, and Brooklyn and traveled as far west as Minneapolis.

[fn. Michael Brook, footnote to Bengston, On the Left in America, pg. 193.]

The Swedish Socialist Labor Federation decided by a 6 vote majority to remain loyal to party leader Daniel DeLeon and his faction in the split of 1899-1900 and the Arbetaren continued as the official organ of the federaton. The paper and the Executive Board of the federation were based in New York. Prominent in the Chicago section was Adolf S. Carm, Einar Israelson, and Gustaf Björk.

[fn. Henry Bengston, On the Left in America: Memoirs of the Scandinavian-American Labor Movement, (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1999), pp. 31-41, passim.]



X. National Convention -- [city?], [date?], 1919
The Scandinavian Socialist Labor Federation held a convention in 1919, at which is was racked by division. The Federation reelected A.H. Lyzell as editor of its official organ, Arbetaren. The NEC of the SLP sacked him from his post in May 1920, however, due to Lyzell's outspoken support of former Weekly People editor Emil Seidel. Lyzell appealed the decision to the May 1920 convention of the SLP, at which the NEC was upheld by a vote of 42-6.
A DeLeonist loyalist named Thor Borg was placed in the role of editor of the Federation's newspaper, a role which he maintained until it ceased publication in 1928.
The NEC reorganized the Scandinavin Sociailst Federation, due probably to a narrow majority supporting Lyzell. This group departed the organization and later merged with the independent ex-Socialist Party SSF to join the Workers Party of America.


Y. Special Convention of Lyzell Faction, SSLP -- Boston, MA, July 3 - ?, 1920
The Lyzell faction held a special convention at Boston, MA, on July 3, 1920, and attempted to galvanize its forces. In response, the entire Federation was expelled and "reorganized" by the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Labor Party, a massive purge which reduced the size and strength of the de facto Swedish Federation to around 200 -- an average of 168 monthly dues stamps sold in 1923. The expelled group -- echoing the so-called Kangaroos of 1899 -- attempted to organize using the same name and producing its own edition of Arbetaren, making use of the regular subscription list. The Regular SLP responded with a law suit, subsequently dropped. In the aftermath, the Scandinavian SLF found itself in severe financial difficulty, forced to reduce the size of its newspaper and to borrow money from the Bulgarian Socialist Labor Federation to make ends meet.
The regular party was not charitable in victory, with National Secretary Arnold Petersen declaring in his 1924 report of the NEC to the 16th National Convention that "The expelled faction of the Scandinavian Federation resorted to evey conceivable method to disrupt the Party, or at least the Scandinavian SLP Federation. It seems to be the law of disruption that when an SLP member goes wrong he goes to the utterrmost extreme limit in reviling the Party and outbidding the enemies of the Party in their attempts at breaking up the organization which therefore he had professed such undying faith in. Of course it may be said that such indiviudals, acting as they did, were not fit material for the Party.... Unfortunately, however, these individuals succeed in swaying otherwise honest though sentimental members, and though these may realize later that they were in the wrong, they seem to lack the manhood and courage to acknowledge their error, preferring to sulk in their respective corners."

[fn: C.A. Forsberg: "Scandinavian Federation" in 16th National Convention, Socialist Labor Party, May 10-13, 1924: Minutes, Reports, Resolutions, Platform, Etc., pp. 25-26; 87-90.]

 
Despite its multi-national name, the Scandinavian Socialist Labor Federation was effectively a Swedish-language organization, publishing translated material in Swedish as well as distributing literature purchased from publishing houses in Sweden. Following the 1920 organizational split it published its Swedish weekly newspaper, Arbetaren [The Worker], out of the SLP's New York office. The paper was ostensibly published by the "Skandinaviska Socialistiska Arbetareförbundet." In printed advertising the publication's date of origin was dubiously post-dated back to the 1894 Danish SLP publication of the same name.

[fn. Advertisement for Arbetaren in Facklan: Svensk Almanack, 1921.]

The SLP's Scandinavian Socialist Labor Federation broke up in 1920, with Björk and other leading members of the Chicago organization declaring their loyalty to a faction which later joined the Communist Party.
Arbataren was not immune to this 1920-21 split, with editor Lyzell forced out by his collaborator on the Arbetaren editorial board, Thor Borg. The publication continued operations until folding in 1928.

 

 




Skandinaviska Socialistförbundet

(Scandinavian Socialist Federation -- SSF)

Scandinavian presence in the Socialist Party of America may be dated to the organization by Norwegian Socialists on Sept. 24, 1904 of the Skandinavisk Socialist Forening for Chicago med Omegn ("Scandinavian Socialist Association for Chicago and Vicinity"). The first chairman of this group was a bakery worker named Adolf Bay, who shortly thereafter returned to Norway where he became head of the Norwegian Bakery Workers Union.
By 1910, in addition to two Chicago organizations -- the combined Norwegian-Danish "Branch 1, Karl Marx" and the Lakeview Scandinavian Socialist Club -- there were 3 Scandinavian Socialist clubs outside Chicago, located in Kenosha, WI; Duluth, MN; and Rockford, IL. The latter had its own newspaper, Svenska Socialisten ("Swedish Socialist"). The paper was later moved to Chicago in June of 1911 and served as the official voice of the federation, before eventually being supplanted by Ny Tid (Chicago and New York) -- which followed the Scandinavian Federation into the Communist movement.
Editors of Svenska Socialisten included John Hallden (elected to Rockford City Council in April 1911, causing his resignation), Charles Sand (May 1911 to Feb. 1912), Oscar Nesvant (Feb.-March 1912), and Henry Bengston (from March 1912).

[fn. Bengston, On the Left in America, pg. 42-44; 53-54.]



1. Founding Convention -- Chicago, July 2-4, 1910.
The Scandinavian Socialist Federation was founded at a convention held in Chicago from July 2-4, 1910. The convention was attended by 32 delegates from the cities of Chicago, Rockford, Kewanee, and Evanston, IL; Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee, WI; Duluth, MN; and Kearney, NJ. Twelve of these delegates were Swedes and the other 20 a mixture of Norwegians and Danes. Attending on behalf of the national Socialist Party organization was Executive Secretary J. Mahlon Barnes and party editor J. Louis Engdahl.
The Scandinavian Socialst Federation grew as follows, according to annual reports filed on Jan. 1 of the following years:

1911 ----- 7 clubs ------- 216 members
1912 ----- 20 clubs ------ 748 members
1913 ----- 39 clubs ----- 1,010 members
1914 ----- 53 clubs ----- 1,380 members
1915 ----- 57 clubs ----- 1,839 members
1916 ----- 51 clubs ----- 1,741 members
1917 ----- 69 clubs ----- 2,297 members
1918 ----- 68 clubs ----- 3,735 members
1919 ----- 67 clubs ----- 3,377 members
1920 ----- 68 clubs ----- 2,584 members

[fn. Bengston, On the Left in America, pp. 47-48.]

The Scandinavian Federation began to maintain a benevolent association for its members in 1913, paying out sickness benefits.
In addition to the Swedish-language Svenska Socialisten, the Federation began publishing a weekly organ in Norwegian-Danish called Socialdemokraten.
In 1915 the Scandinavian Federation established its own printing plant. It subsequently distributed socialist literature of its own manufacture as well as imported titles. As editor of Svenska Socialisten Henry Bengston recounted in his 1955 memoirs:

Faced with two struggling propaganda organs, neither of which paid for itself, the Federation was forced by sheer necessity to minimize publishing costs as much as possible. In the spring of 1915, a long cherished idea came to fuition with the establishment of an in-house printing firm, which substantially reduced publishing costs. Capital was raised primarily through sales of $5 shares on the understanding that the business would be controlled by the SSF. Despite the prevailing crisis, the entire operation was carried out in the space of two months, and on May 15, 1915, the new business was launched from quarters at 2003 North California Avenue [Chicago], which also housed the new offices of Svenska Socialisten and Socialdemokraten. The printing firm was christened, in rather unwieldy fashion, "The Scandinavian Workers' Publishing Society."

[Bengston, On the Left in America, pp. 66-67.]

In 1916 the Scandinavian Federation was split into six active districts with headquarters in the following cities: Duluth, MN; Kenosha, WI; Rockford, IL; Pittsburgh, PA; New York, NY; and West Concord, NH. At that time the Federation included a paid membership of 1,161 in 51 branches, About one quarter of the organization was female.

[fn: "The Scandinavian Socialist Federation" in The American Labor Year-Book, 1916. (NY: Rand School Press, 1916), pp. 141-142.]

 

2. 2nd Convention --- Chicago --- March 25-27, 1917.
A few weeks before the 1917 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party of America, the Scandinavian Socialist Federation held its own 2nd Convention. Only 10 member clubs were represented at the gathering due to finances and the strain of approaching war. The SSF was thoroughly supportive of the anti-militarist stand of the national organization and debate on the war issue was limited to protests against the Wilson administration's war policy and demands for a peaceful solution to the conflict with Germany.

[Bengston, On the Left in America, pg. 83.]


The Protest of the Rockford Swedish Socialists
The Rockford, IL SSF club was the source of one of the bravest anti-militarist protests of the war. Some 137 young residents of Rockford, mostly young Swedish members of the Rockford SSF, were arrested for refusing to register for the draft on registration day, June 7, 1917. It seems that the group had decided upon this as the appropriate collective response to the Wilson administration's drive towards war. One member of the group had been arrested and held for failure to register, so in solidarity the others joined a hastily organized march to the Rockford jail in support of their jailed comrade. "If he's a criminal, so are we!" they shouted, and open swung the gates to engulf the group en masse to the Rockford jail. There the Swedish Socialists joined in the singing of "The Internationale" and other revolutionary songs. Some days later they were hauled to trial before hanging judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who presided sans jury as the entire group pleaded guilty as charged in a brief hearing. "You are nothing but a pack of whining, yellow-belly pups!" Landis stormed, sentencing each to the maximum term of 1 year in Chicago's Bridewell Prison.
As a historian of the Scandinavian Socialist Federation recounts:

The Rockford men's actions were the result of a lengthy and systematic campaign for peace. Many of them had been schooled in the Swedish Social-Democratic movement, while some were Young Socialists, but all had learned to abhor war as an institution. Their heroes were not the field marshals but the custodians of peace...
Unpreturbed by the judgment of posterity but rather prepared to suffer the consequences of their actions, they followed the dictates of their consciences, without faltering and without complaining when their sentences were handed down. Characteristically enough, not one of them offered any extenuating circumstances on his own behalf or tried to free himself of blame by incriminating his comrades on charges of pressure tactics. On the contrary, there were those among them whose sense of solidarity was greater than their own personal welfare; the fact that some of them were certain to secure deferments from military service for reasons of health did not diminish their loyalty to a common cause. They readily accepted prison sentences that were totally unnecessary as a means of supporting their comrades' antiwar protest.

[Bengston, On the Left in America, pp. 90-92.]



3. 3rd Convention --- Chicago --- Sept. 6-8, 1920
The 3rd convention of the Scandinavian Socialist Federation was held in the Karl Marx Club's meeting hall (Folkets Hus) in Chicago. Midwestern clubs were extensively represented, although the western affiliates did not send delegates due to high travel costs. The Left Wing faction sought a completely politically independent Scandinavian Federation, while the Right sought a return to the Socialist Party.
After the Convention, the SPA supporter Henry Bengston resigned as editor of the Svenska Socialisten, and was replaced by Oscar W. Larson, a 3rd Internationalist. The name of the publication was changed to Facklan ("The Torch"). N. Juel Christensen assumed the post of business manager of the printing office, and was replaced as Secretary of the Federation by Gustaf Larson.

A referendum after the 1920 convention determined the Scandinavian Socialist Federation's fate:

For an independent organization ................................. 521 votes
For admission in the CLP ............................................ 101 votes
For admission in the CPA ............................................ 42 votes
For readmission to the SPA ......................................... 40 votes
For admission to the IWW ........................................... 35 votes

[fn. Bengston, On the Left in America, pp. 136-137.]

Scandinavian Federation of the Communist Labor Party
Following the split of the Socialist Party of America in 1919, the Scandinavian Socialist Federation withdrew from the organization.
N. Juel Christensen, Translator-Secretary of the Scandinavian Federation during its affiliation with the SPA, joined the Communist Labor Party.
The Federation conducted a referendum of its branches in the Fall of 1919 to determine future affiliation.

[fn: Minutes of the CEC of the CPA, Nov. 15, 1919. Comintern Archive: f. 515, op. 1, d. 7, l. 8.]

 


Swedish group of the United Communist Party of America
There was only 1 primary party unit of the United Communist Party that spoke Swedish. It was located in the Seattle district.

[fn: DoJ/BoI Investigative Files, NARA M-1085, reel 940, doc. 501 -- downloadable below.]


 



United Scandinavian Socialist Federation

1. Unity Convention --- Chicago --- Feb. XX-XX, 1922
In Feb. 1922, a joint convention of the Scandinavian Socialist Labor Federation of the SLP united with the independent, pro-Communist Scandinavian Socialist Federation was held to form the United Scandinavian Socialist Federation. The convention determined to merge the two newspapers of the federation, Facklan ("The Torch" -- SSF) and Folket ("The People" -- SSLF) in forming a new publication, Ny Tid ("New Era"). The first issue of this new publication appeared March 10, 1922. Oscar W. Larson was the first editor, but he was replaced briefly from July 23, 1922 by Charles Fredzen, who also served as Federation Secretary. Larson returned to the post as editor of Ny Tid after this short absence, where he remained until Dec. 9, 1923, when he resigned and left Chicago.

[fn. Bengston, On the Left in America, pp. 140-141.]

The United Scandinavian Socialist Federation conducted a referendum vote of its members, closing on Nov. 1, 1922, in which it voted to affiliate with the Workers Party of America..

[fn. Comintern Archive, f. 515, op. 1, d. 147, l. 84.]

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