For richness of historical detail on the Communist Party’s internal life, mass organizing, changing political lines and structures, nothing compares to the ‘Party Organizer’ internal bulletin. Aside from historical interest, there are many lessons, warnings, and things to emulate. Take, for example, the ‘Shop Paper Editor’ in this issue which looks at the lost world of micro-labor papers produced by shop-floor activists detailing the specific issues of specific workplaces, or the detailed look at the problems in Southern Illinois miners local of the C.P., or Communist organizing among Black southern sharecroppers, as dangerous an activity as a U.S. Communist could do.

The Party Organizer (Communist Party Internal Bulletin). Vol. 6 No. 1. January, 1933.

Contents: National Hunger March and the Next Step by I. Amter, Unemployed Council Leads Fight Against Special Assessment on Small Home Owners, A Unit Organizes and Leads Rent Strike by J.G., Organized Struggles Defeat Police Terror in Elmwood Park, Party Unit—A Leader of Unemployed, Negro Share Croppers Building Their Union, How to React to Grievances, New Member Builds Unit at Kansas City Ford, How a Unit Deals with Local Problems: From Southern Illinois Miners, Give More Personal Guidance: A Letter from Chicago Comrades, New Tasks Brought Out By Membership Study, Shop Papers: ‘The Head-Light’ Southern Pacific R.R. Unit, C.P. District 13; ‘Waterfront Worker’ Group of Longshoremen District 13; ‘Ford Worker Edgewater Plant, Ford Group District 14; ‘C&S Railroad Worker’ C& S Railroad Shop Group, District 19, Need for Political Education of Membership Greater Than Ever by S.D., For Political Clarification on Twelfth Plenum Resolutions.

The Party Organizer was the internal bulletin of the Communist Party published by its Central Committee beginning in 1927. First published irregularly, than bi-monthly, and then monthly, the Organizer was primarily meant for the Party’s unit, district, and shop organizers. The Organizer offers a much different view of the CP than the Daily Worker, including a much higher proportion of women writers than almost any other CP publication. Its pages are often full of the mundane problems of Party organizing, complaints about resources, debates over policy and personalities, as well as official numbers and information on Party campaigns, locals, organizations, and periodicals making the Party Organizer an important resource for the study and understanding of the Party in its most important years.

PDF of issue (large file): https://files.libcom.org/files/Party%20Organizer%206.pdf