Review of the Socialist Party’s National Woman’s Committee meeting of May 11, 1914, the consisting of Anna A. Maley, May Wood-Simons, Lena Morrow Lewis, Bertha Howell Mailly, Gertrude Reilly, and Gertrude Braslau Fuller. With sections on press, leaflets, organization, foreign relations, suffrage, International Women’s Day, and children.

‘Report of the National Woman’s Committee’ from Party Builder. No. 82. May 30, 1914.

The Woman’s National Committee of the Socialist party desires to record its belief that never was the opportunity so great in the industrial and political fields to secure the naturalization of foreign women, to train them in the use of the rapidly approaching universal right of franchise, in bettering the conditions of the working class, and to educate the working women of this country in the principles of Socialism. It therefore believes the work of the committee should be pushed with greater vigor than ever before, and it submits to the National Committee and the incoming Woman’s National Committee the following suggestions and recommendations:

Press.

The National Woman’s Committee recognizes the necessity for greater publicity for Socialist and labor news. It therefore recommends that the national correspondent send through the National Office Press Service articles bearing on the industrial, political and Socialist activity of women in either this country or abroad. Such service should be at least twice a month and oftener if found practicable and shall be organized by the members of the Woman’s National Committee and the general correspondent. We believe the Socialist and labor press, both English and foreign-speaking, would gladly avail themselves of such opportunity for publication.

We recommend that Socialist women in all localities send items of labor and Socialist news to the National Office for transmission to the general news services, and that they use every effort to secure the publication of such news in all local papers.

This committee repeats the indorsement made by the former committee of “Toveritar,” “Life and Labor,” “The Forerunner” and “The Young Socialist Magazine” as publications valuable for propaganda among women and the young.

Leaflets and Pamphlets.

We recommend that a series of leaflets be prepared developing progressively different aspects of Socialism, for house-to-house distribution and follow-up.

We recommend the incoming committee to take steps to secure the writing and publication of one or more pamphlets relating to woman and the Socialist movement. We indorse the pamphlet “Woman and Freedom,” by Comrade Theresa Malkiel, and recommend its use by locals.

Organization and Propaganda.

1. The Woman’s National Committee submits sections for incorporation in a general plan of work for the use of locals, including methods:

(a) For distribution of literature.
(b) For collection of dues.
(c) For propaganda in trades unions; and
(d) Suggestions for study courses in Socialism.

2. Special instructions to women’s committees, including:

(a) Official relation of women’s committees to general organization.
(b) Specific suggestions for work among women, including attention to industrial groups, teachers, farmers’ wives, suffrage states and states where suffrage amendments are pending. Detailed plans for literature for use in work here outlined have been formulated.

3. Printed forms for collection of statistics by women’s correspondents relative to women’s membership and activities.

4. Recommends attention to provision for attendance by state correspondents at regular state committee meetings.

5. Calls attention to the fact that experience proves that state correspondents can do practically no effective work unless they have direct personal access to the state office. Postage expense is thus saved and the necessary opportunity for consultation upon state work afforded.

Foreign Relations Committee.

1. We recommend that a sub-committee of the Woman’s National Committee be again elected to carry on propaganda work among foreign-speaking women in the United States. That this committee be given power to conduct agitation through the foreign press and in other ways except when expenditure of money is involved, in which case proposed action must be submitted to the Woman’s National Committee and the National Executive Committee. We further recommend that this committee submit monthly reports of its activity to the general correspondent, which reports shall be printed in the Party Builder.

2. We recommend the foreign language groups to provide more leaflets for women, to promote their distribution through the branches of their respective groups, to instruct their speakers, both men and women, to urge women to join the Socialist party.

We further recommend the incoming Woman’s Committee, through the sub-committee on foreign relations, to supply the foreign papers with plenty of press matter, especially on naturalization, and to see that periodicals not now conducting a department for propaganda among women do so, and that especially the Jewish Daily Forward be requested to take advantage of its wonderful opportunity of reaching masses of Jewish working women and devote a proper amount of its space to this important field.

3. That the women’s committees in all of the industrial centers, and, where such women’s committees do not exist, then the party locals, make a vigorous campaign through the press, leaflets, and especially through labor organizations in trades employing women, to promote the naturalization of women non-citizens and to encourage and assist in every way the establishment of naturalization bureaus for both women and men.

Woman’s Suffrage.

During the past year the number of states granting full suffrage to women has been increased to ten. Alaska has also granted women the suffrage. The National Socialist Woman’s Committee recommends that in every state where the suffrage does not yet exist, the Socialist party make a determined effort to secure the vote for women, introducing bills to that effect wherever Socialist legislators have been elected and taking the necessary steps to bring this question before the people in those states where the initiative and referendum exist.

We recommend that at all Socialist meetings the position of the Socialist party as the largest world organization working for woman suffrage be made clear.

The enfranchising of a large number of women unacquainted with Socialism means that the educational work among women must be carried on with even greater energy than heretofore. This education should be along the lines of the economic class struggle, bringing clearly to women who are not yet even in economic organizations the reasons why they should vote the Socialist ticket.

We recommend that the women of the party bring this question more carefully to the attention of the men of the party, and invite and utilize the assistance of the men comrades in all suffrage meetings and propaganda.

Woman’s Day.

We recommend that the International Women’s Conference be asked to decide upon some definite Sunday of the year for general observance as International Woman’s Day. The preference of this committee is for the selection of the last Sunday in February. We advise our woman’s committees everywhere to enlist the co-operation of all organized unions of women workers in making the International Woman’s Day a day for demonstration of the solidarity of women in the political and industrial fields.

Children’s Day.

We recommend that National Children’s Day shall be observed on the Sunday following Christmas; that Socialist schools, Young People’s Socialist Leagues, union organizations and Socialist locals shall co-operate in this annual celebration.

ALMA M. KRIGER, BERTHA H. MAILLY, ANNA A. MALEY, Committee. MAY WOOD-SIMONS.

For a variety of reasons, the national Socialist Party of America did not have an official publication until May 1904 when the national convention mandated the monthly Socialist Party Official Bulletin as a way for the Party to communicate to its members. The name was changed to Socialist Party Monthly Bulletin in October 1911. The Party Builder became the name in 1913 and also became a subscription paper and a weekly. In 1914 the Socialist Party replaced The Party Builder with a regular propaganda newspaper, The American Socialist. These Party paper contain National Committee and National Executive Committee minutes, National Secretary reports, membership figures, financial statements, letters from party members, articles by prominent party leaders, and the figures for election of party officers and internal questions.

PDF of issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/spa-bulletins/140530-partybuilder-w82-reportstonc.pdf