Introducing The Masses / The Liberator Series
The Masses / The Liberator front covers
The Masses (1911-1917) was one of the most iconic political magazines to emerge from the early 20th century socialist movement. It was renowned not only for its featured articles, which pushed a socialist, feminist, and anti-war political messaging to tens of thousands of readers, but also its prolific and cutting edge literary and artistic contributions. Closely linked to the milieu around the Socialist Party of America, the Masses remained an independent publisher for a variety of perspectives within the socialist movement from leading radicals of the age.
The vision for a cooperatively owned illustrated socialist monthly emerged in 1911, and quickly attracted a circle of young activists, artists, and writers in Greenwich Village. Writer Max Eastman, then studying for a doctorate at Columbia University, was invited on to edit the magazine. The history of the Masses was intricately linked to the contemporary metropolitan artistic culture of the city of the time, and in Eastman’s words, "the birth of The Masses coincided with the birth of 'Greenwich Village' as a self-conscious entity, an American Bohemia or…Latin Quarter, but its relations with that entity were not simple."
The featured illustrations were mainly from the realist “Ashcan School,” and later turned to embrace modernist art in its later years, as well as producing a slew of diverse political cartoons. Featuring artists like John Sloan and Alice Beach Winter, The Masses’ illustrations depicted working class life, with an additional focus on the lives of immigrants and women, and satirized the lifestyle of the upper class. As the publication shifted in its aesthetic orientation, the largely crayon drawings of realist images were joined by artistically modernist depictions of women clad in the contemporary style. Crucially, the publication sought to advance literature and art for its own aesthetic sake in addition to the importance of making a political point.
The publication’s print run was ultimately ended by its stance against U.S. militarism and its entry into the First World War. As Masses contributors railed against the imperialist war, its artistic style increasingly featured “grotesque” depictions of the European banker class commanding workers into the mincing machine of war. Anti-war illustrations in the August 1917 issue resulted in NYC’s Postmaster refusing to mail it under guidelines recently established in the Espionage Act. Though the publication nominally won the right to continue publication in Masses v. Patten, an appeal upheld the Postmaster’s right to deny postage. In 1918, Masses editors were further charged with conspiracy to obstruct military recruitment in United States v. Eastman et. al, though the charges were ultimately dropped.
This abrupt end to publication resulted in the creation of The Liberator (1918-1922) which continued in the tradition of the Masses and as its spiritual successor, also founded by Eastman. The magazine continued to include political art, poetry, and fiction alongside a wide variety of political essays, peaking at a circulation of 60,000. From late 1922, it operated as the political organ of the Communist Party of America, and in 1924 it was merged with two other publications to form The Workers Monthly. Though operating as an official party organ, it continued to publish a variety of perspectives on the social question in America, especially those sympathetic to the radical and independent sections of the labor movement. In the international sphere it featured regular war correspondence from Communist Labor Party founder John Reed, who reported on the situation in Soviet Russia after the October Revolution.
We draw inspiration from these earlier socialist publication efforts as we chart a course for a party-movement with an increasingly creative and diverse public-facing presence, and we hope to highlight New York City’s long and storied history of left-wing publications as we feature a selection of Masses and Liberator art in The Socialist Tribune. For further access, archives for both The Masses and The Liberator can be found online.
Warmly,
The Marxist Unity NYC Editorial Committee
We would like to give special thanks to MUG comrade Jean Allen, and to D. Silverman of the Village View in "Masses, Messes and Anarchy in the Village," for introducing our editors to the political and artistic work of The Masses.