As an example to others, the C.P.’s internal bulletin prints a page from the veteran organizer’s diary of a week of work in a place with loads of working class history, the anthracite district of Eastern Pennsylvania.

‘Page from a Report of a Field Organizer’ by Pat Devine from The Party Organizer. Vol. 2 No. 3-4. March-April, 1928.

PAT DEVINE, National Field Organizer, reporting. Comrade Devine, National Field Organizer of the Party has had extensive experience in organization work, and has done much to “pep-up” the work in the Philadelphia District in his month’s tour. Comrade Devine was formerly the District Daily Worker Agent in New York and is a member of the Political Committee of the New York District. Comrade Devine will now work for the next month or two in the Chicago District.

THE following is a report of the lower anthracite.

Dec. 13. Luzerne. 28 members. 20 present at meeting. Good meeting. Almost everyone took part in discussion. Labor Party enthusiastically taken up. Question of mine nucleus taken up. Up to date nothing had been done. The meeting after discussion unanimously decided to organize mine nucleus and set about preparing for publication of mine papers. Considering classes in English and Fundamentals. Decided to begin Daily Worker Drive. Sold $11.00 literature.

Dec. 14. Wilkes-Barre. 13 members present. Same enthusiasm as above. Concentrating on mine nucleus. Forming Labor Party committee. One new member. Sold $1.00 in literature.

Dec. 15. Pittston. New unit of 5 members. Spirit very good. Set organization in motion. Very good meeting. Splendid possibilities. Sold $2.40 literature.

Dec. 16. Scranton. 18 present. Prevailed upon comrades to reorganize. Labor Party possibilities good. Made good contact with group of Scotch miners. One new member two more at next meeting.

Dec. 17. Mass meeting in Luzerne. 50 present. Very good meeting, raised good Labor Party sentiment. Likely to get some new members at next Party meeting. I.L.D. meeting afterwards. Many new members.

Dec. 18. Pittston, at 2:00 p.m. Miners Relief Meeting. 83 present.

Fine response and splendid possibilities for building good committee.

Hanover, 7 p.m. Mass meeting. 60 present. Many Socialists. Very good questions. Well received; expect many new members. Sold $2.80 literature.

Met with members afterwards. Just newly formed unit. Received a very necessary impetus. All were enthusiastic at the treatment of Socialists who had previously been causing trouble. Comrades optimistic about future and determined to do big things.

Luzerne, 9:00 a.m. Meeting with comrades to set about forming mine nucleus. Two comrades left in charge of each of 5 mines with instructions to form nucleus at each one. Also decided to act at once and prepare for factory paper. Question of classes also taken up and plans made for future.

Dec. 19. Lucerne. Mass meeting for women. Over 500 leaflets distributed at mill gates. About 30 present. First women’s meeting held in district. Chief of police in attendance…was called on phone and advised to be present. Very good meeting. Prospects of a few joining our Women’s Club. (Am sending special report of this to Daily).

Recommendations

a) If subdistrict is to function it must have a subdistrict organizer with one or two exceptions all are in favor of such action.

b) Two or three comrades should be colonized in order to give foreign-speaking units an American outlook and guidance. Such comrades should be prepared to work hard.

c) Definite instructions should be sent to all units on function of our members in fraternal and auxiliary organizations and clubs. This because much of our activity is dissipated in the above organizations without any results for the Party. In fact in many places instead of these organizations helping the Party they in many instances “kill” many of our comrades, because of their continued appeals for financial assistance. This is a burning question in many units.

d) Ensure that all organizers sent out by language bureaus first of all report to Party units for information on activities of their language comrades in units. This is necessary because many of such comrades just attend to language work in clubs to the exclusion of all other Party work.

e) Do something regarding the work among women. Many of our comrades still have the idea that woman’s place is in the kitchen. Women’s Councils or such like should be propagated with a view of starting work among the numerous girls in mills around this section.

f) So far as miners’ union is concerned, the Italian Bureau should try to give more attention to this section which is thickly populated by Italians.

g) Unemployment as a problem should be tackled organizationally. Most of the miners are working half time.

h) The role of the laborer in the union should be emphasized. In many places I found a tendency among the laborers for a new union for themselves. The situation is that miners hire laborers at about $6.00 per day whilst they secure in many cases twice as much. This is causing dissatisfaction. Something concrete on this question should be sent to the comrades here. Slogan “Equal Rights”…bearing in mind not to antagonize the miners.

Special Note: Polish situation here. Polish organizer when last in Anthracite, made many good contacts and secured many subscriptions for Polish paper. He did good work and was invaluable to comrades for work among his language workers. The Polish and Italian dominate the situation. An effort should be made to have some Polish comrade come to work in the mines here. Such comrade should receive all contacts made by the Polish organizer. In any event the contacts should be sent to the subdistrict for working purposes.

My general remarks in previous report also apply here and should be attended to as tightening of connection, etc., etc.

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: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/party-organizer/v02n03-04-mar-apr-1928-Party%20Organizer.pdf