As today, in the 1930s left wing and anti-war students were attacked by fascists from both on and off campuses. As today, a reactionary media-sphere, led by the Hearst papers, were accused of fomenting violence. Here the Secretary of the Student League for Industrial Democracy, associated with the Socialist Party, at the University of Wisconsin in Madison describes an attack by ‘Silver Legion’ thugs in 1935.

‘Fascists Invade Campus’ by Dorothy Smith from Socialist Call. Vol. 1 No. 10. May 25, 1935.

Silver Shirt Mob Raise Lynch Law To Attack SLID

MADISON, Wis.Mob hysteria broke out on the University of Wisconsin campus this week as a mob of 150 fascist students, members of the Silver Shirts, attacked a regular meeting of the Student League for Industrial Democracy here Wednesday night, disrupted the meeting by violence, carried the speaker, national SLID Organizer Monroe Sweetland, half a mile away and threw him into Lake Mendota, and violently handled all who attempted to interfere, injuring among others, Robert Gunderson of the Progressive (LaFollette) Club.

Stanley Fried, a member of the Young People’s Socialist League of New York, was likewise pushed off the dock for having rushed over to a meeting of the National Student League and warned them of the mob’s approach.

The following morning Lola Lebow, who had been released from the University infirmary that morning, was attacked without warning by a prominent athlete on a central part of the campus and slugged so badly that she had to be taken back to the infirmary and treated for fractured ribs.

Mass Protest

On Friday night the outraged sentiment of the whole University was expressed at an overflow protest meeting called by President Glenn Frank and attended by more than 2,000 students and faculty members. Among the speakers were President Frank, Dean Sellery of the College of Letters and Sciences, Dean Garrison of the Law School, the president of the athletic letter men’s club, the editor of the school paper, and many others.

The climax of the evening was the appearance of Monroe Sweetland, who was greeted by a five-minute ovation.

Telegrams of protest were received from Norman Thomas, Daniel Hoan, the Milwaukee, trades council, and other prominent sources. A resolution has been introduced in the Wisconsin assembly by Assemblyman Kiefer (Socialist) and Groves (Progressive) calling for vigorous action against leaders of the mob by the University and the District Attorney’s office. Seven of the leaders were subpoenaed by the District Attorney Thursday afternoon.

The Milwaukee Leader, Socialist daily, and President, Frank both charged that the mob had been inspired by the legislative investigation of “seditious” activities at the University, sponsored by Hearst’s Milwaukee News. Observers believe the outbreak will silence this, investigating committee for all time.

The Wisconsin chapter of the Student League for Industrial Democracy was one of the first branches of its forerunner, the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, founded by Jack London, and the first president of the chapter, more than 30 years ago, was Dan Hoan, now Socialist Mayor of Milwaukee. It continued to meet even during the furious repression of war days, but was never attacked as viciously as on this occasion, a result of the present Hearst-led nation-wide assault on student rights.

Socialist Call began as a weekly newspaper in New York in early 1935 by supporters of the Socialist Party’s Militant Faction Samuel DeWitt, Herbert Zam, Max Delson, Amicus Most, and Haim Kantorovitch, with others to rival the Old Guard’s ‘New Leader’. The Call Education Institute was also inaugurated as a rival to the right’s Rand School. In 1937, the Call as the Militant voice would fall victim to Party turmoil, becoming a paper of the Socialist Party leading bodies as it moved to Chicago in 1938, to Milwaukee in 1939, where it was renamed “The Call” and back to New York in 1940 where it eventually resumed the “Socialist Call” name and was published until 1954.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/socialist-call/Call%201-10.pdf