From Popular Front to Cold War: The Interracial Left and the International Workers Order, 1930â "1954

ISBN 10: 1501785176 / ISBN 13: 9781501785177

Published by ILR Press, 2026

Cover and edges may have some wear. Seller Inventory # mon0004147860

Synopsis:

From Popular Front to Cold War tells the story of the International Workers Order (IWO), an organization founded in 1930 to provide life, burial, and health insurance to its members. But as the essays gathered by Elissa Sampson and Robert M. Zecker make clear, the IWO broadened its mission to promote interracial solidarity, support labor unions, combat racism and antisemitism, and champion progressive social programs from the Great Depression into the postwar era.

At its height, the IWO had almost two hundred thousand members drawn from a broad ethnic and racial spectrum of the working class―Jews, Blacks, Poles, Slovaks, Italians, Hispanics, and others. It operated summer camps, published foreign-language newspapers, and supported a wide range of cultural activities. An early advocate for the United States' entry into World War II, the IWO was also ahead of its time in championing the nascent civil rights movement. After the war, it was declared a subversive organization due to its ties to the Communist Party and disbanded in 1954, though its legacy as a model for working-class cooperation across racial and ethnic differences endures to this day.

Contributors: Felicia Bevel, Paul Buhle, Matthew Calihman, Annabel Gottfried Cohen, Dylan Kaufman-Obstler, Paul C. Mishler, Ben Ratskoff, Elissa Sampson, Henry Srebrnik, Lauren B. Strauss, Nerina Visacovsky, Jennifer Young, Robert M. Zecker

About the Author:

Elissa Sampson is an urban geographer and Lecturer in the Jewish Studies Program at Cornell University.

Robert M. Zecker is Professor of History at St. Francis Xavier University and the author of four books, including a history of the IWO, "A Road to Peace and Freedom."

Bibliographic Details

Title: From Popular Front to Cold War: The ...
Publisher: ILR Press
Publication Date: 2026
Binding: paperback
Condition: Very Good