The League of American Writers was an association of American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

s, and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

s launched by the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

(CPUSA) in 1935. The group included Communist Party members, and so-called " fellow travelers" who closely followed the Communist Party's political line without being formal party members, as well as individuals sympathetic to specific policies being advocated by the organization. The League's policy objectives changed over time in accord with the shifting party line of the CPUSA. Beginning as an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

organization in 1935, the League turned to an

anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

position following the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 and to a pro-war position after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The organization was prominent in the defense of

Republican Spain The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and in providing financial and moral support to writers in need in the United States and internationally. The organization ended its activities in 1943, with its members moving on to others with similar objectives.

Organizational history

Formation

The League of American Writers was established by the First American Writers Congress, a gathering held from April 26–28, 1935."League of American Writers," in Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, ''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX, Communist Front Organizations, Second Section.'' Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1944; pg. 967. (According to member Myra Page, it started on May 1, 1935–

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

. ) The organization was affiliated with the International Union of Revolutionary Writers (IURW) as well as the International Association of Writers for the Defense of Culture and was the American equivalent of the British League of Writers. Franklin Folsom, ''Days of Anger, Days of Hope: A Memoir of the League of American Writers, 1937–1942.'' Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1994; pg. 29. Initial members included: Alexander Trachtenberg of

International Publishers International Publishers is a book publishing company based in New York City, specializing in Marxism, Marxist works of economics, political science, and history. Company history Establishment International Publishers Company, Inc., was founde ...

, Franklin Folsom, Louis Untermeyer, Bromfelds, I.F. Stone, Millen Brand,

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, Prose, prose writer, Memoir, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was black ...

, and

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( ; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade ('' The Ma ...

, and Myra Page. Portrait_of_Waldo_Frank

In an article in the magazine of the IURW, ''International Literature,'' League of American Writers member Alan Calmer noted that the new organization sprung from a decision made at the 1934 convention of the Communist Party's John Reed Clubs:

The chief malady of the revolutionary culture movement was characterized at the second national conference of the John Reed Clubs in 1934 as the old malady of
sectarianism Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or Religious violence, religious conflicts between groups. Others conceiv ...
. ... Pointing to these handicaps, the delegates to the conference instructed their executive committee to take the initiative in sponsoring a broad conference of left-wing authors ... A new organization committee was formed, which gradually involved more and more sympathetic writers into the leadership of the committee which issued the "Call for an American Writers Congress" at the beginning of 1935.

The convention call for establishing the first Congress of American Writers declared that

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

was rapidly crumbling and sought to gather the "hundreds of poets, novelists, dramatists, critics, short story writers and journalists" who recognized "the necessity of personally helping to accelerate the destruction of capitalism and the establishment of a workers' government." The founding convention of the League was called to order at the Mecca Temple in New York City, attended by 400 invited "writer-delegates" in front of a total audience of nearly 5,000.Milton Howard, "5,000 Greet Writers Who Pledge Fight on Fascism, War: 400 Authors Gather in Parley to Discuss Their Role in Fight" ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 12, no. 102 (April 29, 1935), pg. 3. Although later called a "

front group A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...

," the Communist Party's role in the League of American Writers was never secret. Earl Browder, General Secretary of the CPUSA, delivered the keynote address to the delegates of the First Congress of the League of American Writers at its opening session.Earl Browder, "Text of Speech by Browder at American Writers Congress," ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 12, no. 102 (April 29, 1935), pg. 3. Browder acknowledged that writers were typically "skeptical of all political parties, if not contemptuous." He continued:

They find, however, in the new life in which they participate, there is a political party which plays an increasingly influential role, the Communist Party. They find it necessary to define their attitudes towards this Party which actively participates in their chosen world. They see that this Party is a force in fine literature, as well as in strikes, in unemployment struggles, in battling for Negro rights, even in reactionary Congress ... Yes, the Communist Party is a force, in every phase of the life of the masses, even that of poets, dramatists, novelists, and critics.

Joining Browder in addressing the delegates to the organization's founding convention was CPUSA political committee member Clarence Hathaway, who greeted the Congress in the name of "the entire staff of ''The Daily Worker,''" the official newspaper of the Communist Party.''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 969. Other leading CPUSA activists addressing the gathering included Moissaye Olgin of the Yiddish-language '' Morning Freiheit,'' Joseph Freeman of '' The New Masses,'' and Alexander Trachtenberg of

, part of the CPUSA's publishing arm.Alexander Bloom, ''Prodigal Sons: The New York Intellectuals and Their World.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1987; pg. 400, footnote 56. The group declared itself to be "a voluntary association of writers dedicated to the preservation and extension of a truly democratic culture." Waldo Frank was elected the first president of the new organization. Franklin Folsom, ''Days of Anger, Days of Hope: A Memoir of the League of American Writers, 1937–1942.'' Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1994. The governing Executive Council elected by the first Congress included Frank, Freeman, Trachtenberg,

Michael Gold Michael Gold (April 12, 1893 – May 14, 1967) was the pen-name of Jewish-American writer Itzhok Isaak Granich. A lifelong communist, Gold was a novelist, journalist, magazine editor, newspaper columnist, playwright, and literary critic. His semi ...

, Granville Hicks,

Malcolm Cowley Malcolm Cowley (August 24, 1898 – March 27, 1989) was an American writer, editor, historian, poet, and literary critic. His best known works include his first book of poetry, ''Blue Juniata'' (1929), and his memoir, ''Exile's Return'' ( ...

, Josephine Herbst, Albert Maltz,

Kenneth Burke Kenneth Duva Burke (May 5, 1897 – November 19, 1993) was an American literary theorist, as well as poet, essayist, and novelist, who wrote on 20th-century philosophy, aesthetics, criticism, and rhetorical theory. As a literary theorist, Burke ...

, Harold Clurman, Hart, Josephson, Lawson, Scheider, Seaver, Genevieve Taggard and Alfred Kreymborg.

Development

The League of American Writers was a dues based organization, with annual dues set at $5 per year, payable in advance on January 1 of each year.''The Bulletin of the League of American Writers,'' vol. 3, no. 3 (January 1938), pg. 3. Participants who were members of local or regional chapters paid dues to that organization, with $2 of the $5 remitted to the National Office; others stood as members at large and paid dues directly to New York. Although the League of American Writers was technically a "mass organization" of the CPUSA in the sense that it sought to unite party members with non-party individuals sharing the general Communist Party orientation, membership in the organization was limited by design to the literary elite. Several months after the April 1935 founding congress, membership in the group was reported as only 125 — far fewer than the 400 who had attended the founding convention as delegates.Harvey Klehr, ''The Heyday of American Communism: The Depression Decade.'' New York: Basic Books, 1984; pg. 353. "Applications for membership flow in, but the standard is kept high, membership is granted only to creative writers whose published work entitles them to a professional status," noted Isidor Schneider. According to the group's formal membership application, membership in the League was "open to all writers whose work has been published or used with reasonable frequency in channels of communication of more than local scope, including magazines, newspapers, the radio, the stage, and the screen.""Application for Membership" in ''The Bulletin of the League of American Writers,'' vol. 3, no. 3 (January 1938). In addition, members had to accept and observe a set of 7 membership aims:

1. To enlist writers in all parts of the United States in a national cultural organization for peace and democracy and against fascism and reaction. 2. To defend the political and social institutions that guarantee a healthy atmosphere for the perpetuation of culture ... 3. To stimulate the interest of other writers in our program ... 4. To support progressive trade union organization, especially among professionals and in the liberal arts. 5. To effect an alliance, in the interest of culture, between American writers and all progressive forces in the nation. 6. To support the People's Front in all countries. 7. To cooperate with similar organizations of writers in other countries.

The League of American Writers was governed by Congresses held every two years. The organization also had a number of local chapters which conducted various fundraising activities and events designed to raise public awareness about matters of concern to the League. Chapters were maintained in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and

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 ...

.''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 978. The organization published an official newsletter, ''The Bulletin of the League of American Writers.'' A number of prominent writers were enlisted in the cause over the next several years, including

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalism (literature), naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despi ...

, James Farrell,

Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

Nathanael West Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American writer and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: '' Miss Lonelyhearts'' (1933) and '' The Day of the Locust'' (1939), set ...

Elsa Gidlow Elsa Gidlow (29 December 1898 – 8 June 1986) was a British-born, Canadian-American poet, freelance journalist, philosopher and humanitarian. She is best known for writing ''On a Grey Thread'' (1923), the first volume of openly Lesbian litera ...

and

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...

. The participation of many of these literary luminaries in League affairs was often nominal, limited to signature of an occasional petition. This effort at gathering prominent figures was assisted by a muting the explicitly revolutionary language and communist tone of the organization by the time of its June 1937 second convention. The 1937 convention was a more subdued affair than the high-profile 1935 launch, with its opening at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

attended by 50 "writer-delegates.""Writers to Open Congress: Rep. Bernard, Stewart Will Speak at Carnegie Hall," ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 14, no. 133 (June 4, 1937), pg. 1. The keynote speech was delivered by Ernest Hemingway, newly returned from the

. Hemingway denounced fascism as "a lie told by bullies" and declared that "a writer who will not lie cannot live or work under fascism."Klehr, ''The Heyday of American Communism,'' pg. 355. Excerpts from the film ''

The Spanish Earth ''The Spanish Earth'' is a 1937 anti-fascist film made during the Spanish Civil War in support of the democratically elected Republicans, whose forces included a wide range from the political left like communists, socialists, anarchists, to mode ...

'' were shown to the audience. Communist Party General Secretary Earl Browder again spoke to the 1937 convention, emphasizing the CPUSA's " Popular Front" analysis that the world was divided into "two great warring camps, democracy against fascism" and leaving it to writers to "adjust their own work to the higher discipline of the whole struggle for democracy."Earl Browder, "Speech of Earl Browder: Second Congress of American Writers," ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 14, no. 135 (June 5, 1937), pg. 1. Gone was talk of the collapse of capitalism and the duty of writers to speed its demise as participants in the class struggle; now the task at hand, in Browder's view, was the building of "broad unity of all democratic and progressive forces ... against the menace of fascist barbarism." Frank was replaced as President of the League in 1937, owing to his questioning of the evidence and verdicts being rendered at the great "Show Trials" in Moscow.''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 970. He was replaced as President by Donald Ogden Stewart. The professional head of the organization as Executive Secretary from 1937 to 1942 was Communist Party stalwart Franklin Folsom. The League touted seven prominent Vice-Presidents during the last years of the 1930s, including

Van Wyck Brooks Van Wyck Brooks (February 16, 1886 – May 2, 1963) was an American literary critic, biographer, and historian. Biography Brooks was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1886 and graduated from Harvard University in 1908. As a student he publi ...

Erskine Caldwell Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (19 ...

, Paul DeKruif, Langston Hughes, Meridel LeSueur, and

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

.Letterhead from July 1939 in ''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 976. The 3rd Congress of the League of American Writers, held in New York City in June 1939, once again opened with a Friday night public session at Carnegie Hall. Poet Langston Hughes delivered the keynote address, in which he likened the situation of American blacks to that of the Jewish minority in Germany, with but one difference: "Here we may speak openly about our problems, write about them, protest, and seek to better our conditions. In Germany the Jews may do none of those things." Hughes' speech was broadly democratic and did not include revolutionary sloganeering.

Publications

The League of American Writers somewhat irregularly published a mimeographed newsletter for its members, ''The Bulletin of the League of American Writers.'' Circulation was small, with a press run of 700 copies cited in an issue from November 1937, and few specimens seem to have survived. In 1937 the League of American Writers sent out surveys to over 1,000 American writers asking their position on the

. Some 418 returned the survey forms, with 410 supporting the Loyalists to the Spanish Republic, 7 professing neutrality, and only one — Gertrude Atherton — supporting General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

and his nationalist forces.Folsom, ''Days of Anger, Days of Hope,'' pp. 30–31. In accord with the CPUSA's political line, no effort was made to contact writers known to be sympathetic to

Leon 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 ...

. When

Max Eastman Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy, and society, a poet, and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radica ...

, a translator of Trotsky and opponent of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, was inadvertently mailed a survey form, Eastman's reply was excluded at the insistence of Communist Party newspaper editor Moissaye Olgin. The other replies were distilled into a pamphlet published by the League of American Writers, entitled ''Writers Take Sides.''

Decline and dissolution

With the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact in the fall of 1939, the League of American Writers turned its official policy from one of advocacy of

collective security Collective security is arrangement between states in which the institution accepts that an attack on one state is the concern of all and merits a collective response to threats by all. Collective security was a key principle underpinning the Lea ...

against

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

in Europe to one of opposition to the so-called "imperialist war," in accord with a change in the political line of 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 ...

and the CPUSA. This abrupt reversal was not cost-free to the organization, however, as a series of prominent members of the League of American Writers left the group's ranks. Those exiting during this " Yanks Are Not Coming" period included

, and Granville Hicks, among others.''Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX,'' pg. 971. In January 1940, the League formed a ''Keep America Out of War Committee.'' This group's members included:

, Lawrence A. Goldstone, Eleanor Flexner, Len Zinberg, Shaemas O'Sheel, and Sonia Raiziss, among others. A number of the League's members were placed under surveillance by the United States government.

was honorary president of the League of American Writers in 1941. Franklin Folsom
"Notes on Writergate: Harassment against League of American Writers
''Monthly Review,'' May 1995. Published online by CBS MoneyWatch.com In the summer of 1941, the League again abruptly shifted its political position, ending its anti-war stance, with the German invasion of the USSR in the summer of 1941. Echoing another abrupt change of the political line of the CPUSA, the League of American Writers became advocates of American entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in defense of the Soviet Union. In another development in 1941, Attorney General

Francis Biddle Francis Beverley Biddle (May 9, 1886 – October 4, 1968) was an American lawyer and judge who was the United States Attorney General during World War II. He also served as the primary American judge during Nuremberg trials following World War I ...

began tracking what were deemed to be subversive Soviet-controlled organizations, and in February 1943 the League of American Writers was placed on the Biddle List, which later became the

Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations The United States Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO) was a list drawn up on April 3, 1947 at the request of the United States Attorney General (and later Supreme Court justice) Tom C. Clark. The list was intended to be a co ...

. This effectively terminated it.Folsom, ''Days of Anger, Days of Hope,'' pg. 265 The condemnation of it was confirmed in May 1948 and again in 1953 by Executive Order 10450. Once the communist domination of the League of American Writers had been publicly declared, its Hollywood branch renamed itself as the Hollywood Writers’ Mobilization, led by

John Howard Lawson John Howard Lawson (September 25, 1894 – August 11, 1977) was an American playwright, screenwriter, arts critic, and cultural historian. After enjoying a relatively successful career writing plays that were staged on and off Broadway in the 192 ...

. The archive of the League is housed at the

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. The collection has been

microfilm A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original d ...

ed, with the master negative held by the Rare Books and Special Collections Department at the university.Guide to the League of American Writers archives: Scope and Content
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved August 25, 2010.

Footnotes

Conventions

* 1st Congress of American Writers — New York, April 26–28, 1935 * 2nd Congress of American Writers — New York, June 4–6, 1937 * 3rd American Writers' Congress — New York, June 2–4, 1939 * 4th American Writers' Congress — New York, June 6–8, 1941

External links

Guide to the League of American Writers archives
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

''The New Masses,'' January 22, 1935, pg. 20. {{DEFAULTSORT:League Of American Writers American writers' organizations Communist Party USA mass organizations The arts and politics Arts organizations established in 1935 Arts organizations disestablished in the 20th century 1935 establishments in the United States 1943 disestablishments in the United States