American Youth for Democracy
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Template:TOCnestleft American Youth for Democracy
Communist Party youth wing
In the late 1940s, American Youth for Democracy was the youth wing of Communist Party USA.
American Youth for Democracy (AYD) replaced the Young Communist League during World War II. The AYD was a step backward from a Marxist-Leninist youth organization, instead of being a broad anti-fascist organization. The AYD did campaign for youth rights and battled racism, the cold war and anti-communism, but did not meet the needs of youth in the post-war era.[1]
AYD sponsonsors
The following were national sponsors of American Youth for Democracy:[2]
- Henry Armstrong
- Charlotte Hawkins Brown
- John M. Coffee
- Frank Marshall Davis
- Howard Fast
- A. Eustace Haydon
- William H. Holly
- Langston Hughes
- John Howard Lawson
- Kirtley Mather
- H. P. Marley
- F.O Mathiessen
- Adam Clayton Powell,Jr.
- Minerva Pius
- Charles S. Seely
- William B. Spofford
- D. J. Struik
- William Jay Schieffelin
- Teddy Wilson
- Mary E. Woolley
- Mary McLeod Bethune
Officers
The following officers and council members were elected at the June 1946 convention of the AYD: [3]
National Officers
- Cochairmen :Winifred Norman, Vincent Fieri
- Vice chairmen : Louis Burnham, Mayer Frieden, John Gallo, Frances Gullotta, Ruth Jett, Mollie Lieber
- Executive secretary : Herbert Signer
- Secretary-treasurer : Julie Lowitt
- Education and teen-age director : Vivian Levin
- Intercollegiate director : Lee Marsh
National Council Members
- Michigan: Abel Lee Smith, Anabel Barahal, Rolf Cahn, John Gallo,Erma Henderson (State president), Bob Purdy, Phil Schatz, Robert Cummings (State secretary).
- New Jersey: Douglas Barrett, Evelyn Gordon,Willie Mae Gordon, Mary Adanatzias (director, Essex County).
- New York State: Leo Rifkin, Warren Brown, Paul Robeson, Jr., Joe Buckholt, Henry Cooperstock, Roslyn Emerine, Ann Johnston, Bob Kaufman, Buelah Kramer, Burl Michelson, Herb Nalibow, Teddy Schwartz, Fitz Squires, Bill Villa, Rose Stamler (chairman. New York intercollegiate section)
- Massachusetts : Barbara Bennet, Ruby Flum, Ginny Kougias, Bob McCarthy
- Wisconsin : Rubel Lucero
- California: Bob Zakow, Chuck Bruck, Ralph Johnson, Vicki Landish, Henry Leland, Elaine Rose, Betty McCandless, (chairman, Los Angeles Youth Council).
- Illinois: Iz Cheifetz, Evelyn Fargo, Sam Freidman, Delores Gerrard, Leon Gurley, Pat Hoverder, Vernon Jarrett
- Pennsylvania: Werner Marx, Harry Dubin, Cynthia Isenberg, Marcella Sloan, Lauren Taylor, Leon Weiner
- Washington State : Cyril Guis
- Maryland : Whitey Goodfriend, Wallace Jefferson
- Ohio : Frank Hashmall, Marvin Lukin, Nathan Marks, Catherine McCastee
- Minnesota : Alma Hester
- Connecticut : Al Marder
- District of Columbia : Mary Willoughby
- Missouri : Ray Wolverson
References
- ↑ History of Young Communist League USA
- ↑ Spotlight, April, 1944
- ↑ [Testimony of Walter S. Steele regarding Communist activities in the United States. Hearings before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first session, on H. R. 1884 and H. R. 2122, bills to curb or outlaw the Communist Party in the United States. Public law 601 (section 121, subsection Q (2) July 21, 1947, pages 75.76]]