James Rorty (March 30, 1890February 26, 1973) was a 20th-century American radical writer and poet as well as political activist who addressed controversial topics that included McCarthyism, Jim Crow, American industries, advertising, and nutrition, and was perhaps best known as a founding editor of the ''

New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both ''The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (19 ...

'' magazine.

Background

James Hancock Rorty was born March 30, 1890, in Middletown, New York. His parents were Irish immigrants Octavia Churchill and Richard McKay Rorty. His father was a political refugee with

Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated ...

and anarchist affiliations from Donegal, Ireland. In 1913, he earned a BA from

Tufts College Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

. He pursued graduate studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and The New School for Social Research.

Career

In 1913, he began his career with work in the advertising industry. He also worked in settlement houses. During World War I, Rorty served as a stretcher bearer on the Argonne front, an experience that led him to become a "militant pacifist." Rorty worked as a journalist and poet for more than sixty years. He considered himself "the last of the muckrakers," as a combatant against social injustice in America. During World War I, Rorty moved to San Francisco to continue his career in advertising and to write experimental poetry. In 1925, Rorty moved to New York City, where he was a founding editor (with Michael Gold, Joseph Freeman,

Hugo Gellert Hugo Gellert (born Hugó Grünbaum, May 3, 1892 December 9, 1985) was a Hungarian-American illustrator and muralist. A committed radical and member of the Communist Party of America, Gellert created much work for political activism in the 1920s ...

John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...

, and others) of the ''

'', a Communist literary magazine, which launched the following year. However, Rorty left that next year when fellow editors rejected his publication of

Robinson Jeffers John Robinson Jeffers (January 10, 1887 – January 20, 1962) was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. Much of Jeffers's poetry was written in narrative and epic form. However, he is also known for his short ...

's poem "Apology for Bad Dreams." In 1927, Rorty was one of many arrested during protests against the execution of

Sacco and Vanzetti Nicola Sacco (; April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (; June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were Italian immigrant anarchists who were controversially accused of murdering Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parmenter, a ...

. To earn money, he also worked as an editor, journalist, advertising copy writer, and consultant for the Tennessee Valley Authority. In 1932, he supported and then quit the campaign to support William Z. Foster (

CPUSA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

) for U.S. president.

Personal life and death

Around 1919, Rorty married Maria Ward Lambin; they were divorced in 1928. The same year, he married writer Winifred Rauschenbush (daughter of Christian socialist

Walter Rauschenbusch Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918) was an American theologian and Baptist pastor who taught at the Rochester Theological Seminary. Rauschenbusch was a key figure in the Social Gospel and Georgist, single tax movements that flourished in the United ...

); they had one son, philosopher

Richard Rorty Richard McKay Rorty (October 4, 1931 – June 8, 2007) was an American philosopher. Educated at the University of Chicago and Yale University, he had strong interests and training in both the history of philosophy and in contemporary analytic ...

. He suffered from depression. Rorty died at age 82 on February 26, 1973, in

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

, Florida.

Works

In the mid-1950s, Rorty co-authored with Moshe Decter a book attacking McCarthyism called ''McCarthy and the Communists'', supported by the

American Committee for Cultural Freedom The American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF) was the U.S. affiliate of the anti-Communist Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF). Overview The ACCF and CCF were organizations that, during the Cold War, sought to encourage intellectuals to be c ...

. Books include: * ''What Michael said to the census-taker'' (1922) * ''The Intruders'' (1923) * ''Where Life is Better: An Unsentimental American Journey'' (1923/1936/2014/2015) * ''Children of the sun, and other poems'' (New York: Macmillan, 1926) * ''End of Farce'' (1933) * ''Order on the air!'' (New York: John Day Company, ca. 1934) * '' Our Master's Voice: Advertising'' (New York: John Day Company, ca. 1934/1976) * ''Where life is better : an unsentimental American journey'' (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, c1936) * ''American medicine mobilizes'' (New York, W.W. Norton, ca. 1939) * ''Brother Jim Crow'' (New York: Post War World Council, 1943) * ''Tomorrow's food; the coming revolution in nutrition'' N. Philip Norman MD (New York, Prentice Hall, 1947/1956) * ''Tennessee Valley Authority: Soil ... people and fertilizer technology'' (Washington: US GPO, 1949) * ''Engineers of world plenty'' (Washington, Public Affairs Institute, 1950) * ''McCarthy and the Communists'' with Moshe Decter (Boston : Beacon Press, 1954/1972) * ''We Open the Gates: Labor's Fight for Equality'' with

Harry Fleischman Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

(1958) Poems in '' Harper's'' include: * "Bread, and the stuff we eat" (March 1950) * "Memorandum to a tired bureaucrat" (December 1950) * "Starting from Manhattan" (October 1951) * "Return of the native (Donegal, April 1957)" Articles in '' Harper's'' include: * "Tortillas, beans, and bananas" (September 1951) * "Go slow on fluoridation!" (February 1953)

Awards

* 1918: Distinguished Service Cross * 1923: ''The Nation'' prize for poetry ("When We Dead Awaken")

References

External sources

Harper's

The Nation
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rorty, James 1890 births 1973 deaths People from New York (state) American people of Irish descent Tufts University alumni American military personnel of World War I 20th-century American writers 20th-century American journalists American male journalists American political activists American pacifists