Introduction
The Daily Worker was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, some attempts were made to make it appear that the paper reflected a broader spectrum of left-wing opinion. At its peak, the newspaper achieved a circulation of 35,000. Notable contributors to its pages included Robert Minor and Fred Ellis (cartoonists), Lester Rodney (sports editor), David Karr, Richard Wright, John L. Spivak, Peter Fryer, Woody Guthrie and Louis Budenz.
The Daily Worker’s ancestry goes back to the weekly Ohio Socialist published by the Socialist Party of Ohio out of Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919. The Ohio party joined the nascent Communist Labor Party at the 1919 Emergency National Convention.
The Ohio Socialist became Toiler in November 1919. In 1920, with the CLP going underground, Toiler became the party's "aboveground" newspaper published by "The Toiler Publishing Association." It remained as the Cleveland above ground publication of the CLP and its successors until February 1922.
In December 1921 the "above ground" Workers Party of America was founded and the Toiler merged with Workers Council of the Workers' Council of the United States to found the six page weekly The Worker.
This became The Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924.
The Ohio Socialist only used whole numbers. Its final issue was #94 November 19, 1919. The Toiler continued this numbering, even though a typographical error made its debut issue #85 November 26, 1919. Beginning sometime in 1921 the volume number IV was added, perhaps reflecting the publications fourth year in print, though its issue numbers continued the whole number scheme. The final edition of the Toiler was Vol IV #207 January 28, 1922. The Worker continued the Toiler’s numbering during its run Vol. IV #208 February 2, 1922 to Vol. VI #310 January 12, 1924. The first edition of The Daily Worker was numbered Vol. I #311.
—Wikipedia
This collection of The Daily Worker is limited to only the hard copies we have on hand, that is, several months for both 1924 and 1926 and limited to these years only partially. We are interested in optaining the compete editions for these two years, plus the following: 1925, 1927 and 1928. If readers of the MIA have access to original bound volumes of The Daily Worker and can donate or lend them to us, please contact us at martygoodman [at ] sbcglobal.net.
Special Note of thanks to the following individuals and institutions that made copies of The Daily Worker available and help scan and process them for this archive: Dr. Marty Goodman of the The Riazanov Library Project and David Walters from the Holt Labor Library.
Daily Worker for the years:
The Daily Worker for 1924
The Daily Worker for 1925
The Daily Worker for 1926
Special: Daily Worker Cartoons!
Pamphlets and Miscellaneous Publications
White Terrorists Ask for Mercy [A Comparison of the Persecution of Revolutionists by the White Terror and the Treatment of Counter- Revolutionists in Soviet Russia.—1925]
For more publications and documents of the CPUSA and Workers Party of America, go the Communist Party of the USA Page
Last updated on 20 December 2012