From the Bronx to StalingradHarry Eisman and the Young Pioneers of America in New York City Jack Hodgson (bio) On November 17, 1930, shortly after being released from New York’s Hawthorne Institute sixteen-year-old Harry Eisman set sail for the Soviet Union via Germany. As a high-profile member of the Communist children’s organization the Young Pioneers of America (YPA) who was well-known for his role in school-based organizing and episodes of public disorder, Eisman’s release was particularly controversial, not least because he was only a fraction of the way through a nearly six-year custodial sentence. He stoked controversy by telling a Brooklyn Daily Eagle reporter that his goal was to “overthrow the capitalist yoke” and that while he hoped to achieve this peacefully he was also open to potential violence; he then made the cryptic comment, “Well, dead men tell no tales.” Various out-of-state newspapers expressed anger that Communists were being permitted to send their “prize bad boy” for a “post-graduate course in Revolution” courtesy of Moscow.1 His release followed a prolonged “Free Harry” campaign orchestrated by his fellow YPA members. Their victory was celebrated by American Communists young and old, and Eisman gave speeches at events across New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in the week prior to his departure.2 This success was remarkable, particularly in the wider context of efforts to suppress Communism. Legal minority differentiated Eisman from many other political activists, dictated [End Page 68] authorities’ efforts to control him, and was fully embraced by the YPA’s triumphant campaign to free “America’s youngest political prisoner.”3 The Young Pioneers of America The YPA was active in the United States between 1922 and 1934 under a variety of names before being absorbed into other Communist Party USA (CPUSA) affiliated organizations. It was unique in catering exclusively to children aged seven to seventeen and was active nationwide, although it was strongest in northeastern industrial cities. Nationally, membership was dominated by Finnish Americans, but in New York City the dominant demographic were Eastern European Jewish Americans. Despite the backgrounds of most members meetings were routinely conducted in English, even if all in attendance were Finnish or Yiddish speakers, reflecting a desire to be a group for the children of the American proletariat. The YPA also worked hard to attract African American youths through unsegregated leisure opportunities and they constituted a notable minority of YPA members. For example, Leslie Boyd, a Black former Boy Scout wrote of his defection to the YPA in the YPA’s periodical Young Pioneer. He reflected on his differing experiences of Boy Scout and YPA summer camps. Boyd wrote that as a Scout he was “not permitted to be with the other children, because I am a Negro,” whereas “in the YPA camp we are all the same, white children and Negro children. I like the camp for that reason. I know they are really my friends.”4 Logistically the YPA required adult assistance, particularly in sourcing transportation and finding venues to hold meetings. Members of the Young Communist League (YCL) were often assigned to assist branches that were organized around neighborhoods or individual schools. The Pioneer movement in the United States sought to emulate the Young Pioneers in the Soviet Union and, as such, the expectation was that the children were to be as self-governing as possible. Every level of leadership from local branches to the National Pioneer Bureau at the top included children. The YPA by its nature was distinctively child-focused and this was reflected in its activities. They emulated typical CPUSA stances in opposing lynching and supporting striking workers but paid most of their attention to advocating for child-specific measures such as free hot school lunches. Their activities [End Page 69] included holding political protests but also focused on offering leisure opportunities like the summer camp Leslie Boyd attended and entering local baseball, basketball, and swimming championships.5 Scholarship on the YPA is confused and fragmentary. For instance, Alex Goodall’s contribution to the edited volume Little “Red Scares”: Anti-Communism and Political Repression in the United States, 1921–1946 (2014) features the incorrect...
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Oct 25, 2024
Ruolan Zhang 
Open Access
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