We Called Each Other Comrade: Charles H. Kerr & Company, Radical Publisher

This is the history of the most significant translator, publisher, and distributor of left-wing literature in the United States.
Based in Chicago and still publishing, Charles H. Kerr & Company began in 1886 as a publisher of Unitarian tracts. The company's focus changed after its founder, the son of abolitionist activists, became a socialist at the turn of the century.
Tracing Kerr's political development and commitment to radical social change, "We Called Each Other Comrade" also tells the story of the difficulties of exercising the First Amendment in an often hostile business and political climate. A fascinating exploration in left-wing culture, this revealing chronicle of Charles Kerr and his revolutionary publishing company looks at the remarkable list of books, periodicals, and pamphlets that the firm produced and traces the strands of a rich tradition of dissent in America.

Freelance historian Ruff tells the story of Chicago's Charles H. Kerr & Co. and its importance as the longest-running socialist publisher in the world. Ruff describes Kerr & Co.'s development and its founder's philosophical journey from Utilitarianism through Populism to socialism and the revolutionary wing of the movement. Along the way he presents a rich view of turn-of-the-century American political history. This seemingly narrow corporate history sketches the development of labor unions, the formation of American socialism, and its factional infighting before World War I. We view the rise of Chicago and its publishing industry and look behind the scenes at seminal publications of American socialism. Ruff also includes biographical snapshots of the great figures of the Progressive era?Eugene V. Debs, Big Bill Haywood, and Clarence Darrow, among others. Recommended for academic and public libraries with comprehensive collections in American history.?Paul A. D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., Me.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.