Carl Skoglund (April 10, 1884 – December 11, 1960) was a

Swedish-American Swedish Americans () are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arrivi ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, affectionately called ''Skogie'' by all his American friends and

comrade In political contexts, comrade means a fellow party member. The political use was inspired by the French Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Since the Russian Revolution, popular culture in t ...

s. He was born in

Dalsland Dalsland () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Götaland in southern Sweden. Lying to the west of Lake Vänern, it is bordered by Värmland to the north, Västergötland to the southeast, Bohuslän to the west, ...

and traveled to the United States in 1911, sailing in

steerage Steerage is a term for the lowest category of passenger accommodation in a ship. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, considerable numbers of persons travelled from their homeland to seek a new life elsewhere, in many cases North Amer ...

first on board the Swedish ship ''Oslo'', sailing from

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Hull, England Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

; and thence on the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...

ship '' Cymric'', sailing from Liverpool to Boston; his destination was Minneapolis. After spending some time in the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

he became one of the founders of the American Communist Party and later became a

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

and one of the co-founders of the Socialist Workers Party.

Early life in Sweden

As Carl entered his teens his father died, making it necessary for him, as the oldest child, to leave school and earn a living for the family. He found a job in a

pulp mill A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ...

. Wages were low and working conditions hard in the mill, so Skoglund organized a union and lead a strike for better conditions. Through his experience in the

class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

, he became interested in

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and joined the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...

. Later on Skoglund was called up for service in the

Swedish army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

. When the conscripts were kept in uniform beyond the legal period of compulsory service, he became one of the leaders of a soldiers' protest movement demanding that they be demobilized. For his militant political activities, Skoglund was

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

and could not find a job in Sweden. In 1911, he decided to go to the United States. His fiancée remained behind and they were never rejoined.

In America

In the United States, Skoglund joined the IWW and spent a period on a railroad construction gang after which he went into the woods working as a lumberjack. There he suffered a serious foot injury, after which the company fired him. Skoglund went to

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

where he sought medical care, maintaining himself by working as a janitor and boiler tender. As the injury mended and he could get around better, he worked as a mechanic and took job as a car repairman in the railway shop. Skoglund joined the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five-time candidate of the Socialist Party o ...

in 1914 and became one of the left-wing leaders of the Party's Scandinavian Federation. Skoglund helped translate the works of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

from German to English. In 1917, a split in the Socialist Party was caused by the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

in which the left-wing of the party provided the main force to found the American Communist Party in 1919, which became affiliated with the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

led by

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Zinoviev Zinoviev, Zinovyev, Zinovieff (), or Zinovieva (feminine; Зино́вьева), as a Russian surname, derives from the personal name Zinovi, from Greek '' Zenobios''. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Dmitrievich Zinoviev (18 ...

and

Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

. Carl Skoglund was one of the founding members of the American Communist Party. In 1922, after having been the organizer and leader of a major strike, Skoglund was blacklisted on the railroads, and he had to turn to driving a coal truck for a living.

Socialist Workers Party

Carl Skoglund was expelled from the Communist Party in 1928 for opposing

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

and supporting

and

Bolshevism–Leninism Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

. Carl Skoglund helped the American

James P. Cannon (also expelled from the CP) to found the Socialist Workers Party in 1938. Skoglund also played an important part in the great Teamsters strike in

in the 1930s together with

Farrell Dobbs Farrell Dobbs (July 25, 1907 – October 31, 1983) was an American Trotskyist, trade unionist, politician, and historian. Early years Dobbs was born in Queen City, Missouri, where his father was a worker in a coal company garage. The family ...

and Ray Dunne. Skoglund was one of the 18 SWP leaders (including Cannon, Dunne, and Dobbs) imprisoned in World War II under the

Smith Act The Alien Registration Act, popularly known as the Smith Act, 76th United States Congress, 3rd session, ch. 439, , is a United States federal statute that was enacted on June 28, 1940. It set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of ...

, receiving a 16-month sentence. The US government tried to deport Carl Skoglund in the 1950s and he was still under deportation orders on the day he died in 1960.''Carl Skoglund'' (International Socialist Review, Winter 1961)
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References

Other sources

*Ross, Carl ''Radicalism in Minnesota, 1900–1960: a survey of selected sources'' (Minnesota Historical Society Press. 1994) {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoglund, Carl 1884 births 1960 deaths People from Västra Götaland County Industrial Workers of the World members Members of the Socialist Party of America Members of the Communist Party USA Members of the Socialist Workers Party (United States) Socialist Workers Party (United States) politicians People convicted under the Smith Act Swedish emigrants to the United States Swedish communists American trade unionists of Swedish descent Minnesota socialists Trade unionists from Minnesota