Description
Book SynopsisAdding to the growing body of scholarship on the long civil rights struggle.
Trade Review"Andor Skotnes' argument—that the labor and freedom movements in Baltimore were connected in interesting and complex ways during the critical period under discussion—is intellectually sound and quite innovative. Well researched and cogently argued,
A New Deal for All? details and analyzes the political relationships between these two movements with enormous skill. Skotnes demonstrates that it was the most radical elements of the workers' movement who pressed a principled antiracist agenda, thereby creating a wedge into the pervasive racism of the time."—
Linda Shopes, coeditor of
The Baltimore Book: New Views of Local History"In this creative account, Andor Skotnes convincingly places Baltimore in the 'long civil rights movement' as he deftly unravels the complex connections between race and class in an urban setting. His original use of oral history enriches his narrative and enhances our understanding of the compelling struggles for freedom and justice in the 1930s."—
Jo Ann E. Argersinger, author of
Making the Amalgamated: Gender, Ethnicity, and Class in the Baltimore Clothing Industry, 1899–1939“
A New Deal for All? is an insightful…study of obscure but influential activism in the Depression…. Skotnes reminds us that scarcity can produce vibrant activism and a new sense of the possible.” -- Will Cooley * History: Reviews of New Books *
"The arguments persuasively advanced in
A New Deal for All? will be of particular interest to historians of the 'long civil rights movement,' trade union development, and radical politics." -- Roger Biles * Journal of American History *
“[T]his book… contributes to the body of scholarship illuminating the early years of the “long civil rights movement”…. Among the book’s distinctions is its use of oral history, and the interviews Andor Skotnes conducted especially enliven descriptions of the people and events that comprised the Baltimore freedom movement.” -- Eben Miller * American Historical Review *
" . . .
A New Deal for All provides an important contribution to the study of race and labour during the Depression." -- Christopher Powell * Labour/Le Travail *
"Through effective uses of sources, especially oral histories, Skotnes interweaves fascinating individual and organizational historical narratives . . . what is most useful is Skotnes's ability to make visible the multiple lines connecting these campaigns and organizations." -- Keona Ervin * Journal of Southern History *
“The most significant contribution of A New Deal for All? is its detailed accounting of the groups that engendered early 1930s activism…. The book is well written and keeps the reader's interest with its arresting accounts of local activists.”
-- Theodore Rosenof * History Teacher *
"
A New Deal for All? is a valuable and important study of race, labor, and social activism that fills a significant gap by meticulously charting the critically important, but previously overlooked, history of Baltimore's freedom struggle. Well written and provocative." -- David Goldberg * Journal of African American History *
Table of ContentsAbout the Series vii
Illustrations ix
Abbreviations xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 3
I. The Context
1. Communities, Culture, and Traditions of Opposition 11
II. Emergences, 1930–1934
2. Disrupting the Calm: The Communist Party in Baltimore, 1930–1933 45
3. The City-Wide Young People's Forum, 1931–1933 69
4. Garment Workers, Socialists, and the People's Unemployment League, 1932–1934 92
III. Transitions, 1933–1936
5. The Lynching of George Armwood, 1933 119
6. Buy Where You Can Work, 1933–1934 140
7. The Baltimore Soviet, the ACW, and the PUL, 1933–1935 163
8. Seeking Directions, 1934–1936 187
IV. Risings, 1936–1941
9. The CIO and the First Wave, 1936–1937 215
10. The CIO, the AFL, and the Baltimore Workers' Movement: The Second Wave, 1938–1941 245
11. The New Baltimore NAACP and the Metropolitan Region, 1936–1941 269
12. The New Baltimore NAACP and the State and the Country, 1936–1941 290
Epilogue 313
Notes 319
Bibliography 353
Index 365
