1. Rosenberg, Harold, The Tradition of the New (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965), p. 250.Google Scholar

2. Howe, Irving, Decline of the New (New York: Horizon Press, 1970), p. 222.Google Scholar

3. Gilbert, James, Writers and Partisans (New York: Wiley, 1968)Google Scholar; Podhoretz, Norman, Making It (New York: Bantam, 1969)Google Scholar; Kazin, Alfred, Starting Out in the Thirties (Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1965)Google Scholar; Halper, Albert, Good-bye Union Square (New York: Quadrangle, 1970)Google Scholar; Roskolenko, Harry, When I Was Last on Cherry Street (New York: Stein & Day, 1965)Google Scholar; Novack, George, “Radical Intellectuals in the 1930's,” International Socialist Review, 29, No. 2 (03–04 1968), 21–34Google Scholar; MacDonald, Dwight, Memoirs of a Revolutionist (New York: Meridian, 1963)Google Scholar; Trilling, Lionel, “Afterword,” in The Unpossessed by Tess Slesinger (New York: Avon, 1966), pp. 311–33Google Scholar; McCarthy, Mary, “My Confession,” On the Contrary (New York: Noonday, 1962), pp. 75–106.Google Scholar

4. This essay continues the effort I have made in that direction with “The Menorah Group Moves Left,” Jewish Social Studies (Summer-Fall 1976).Google Scholar

5. See, for example, Cochran, Bert, Adlai Stevenson: Patrician Among Politicians (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1969), pp. 341–98Google Scholar; Kostelanetz, Richard, The End of Intelligent Writing: Literary Politics in America (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1974)Google Scholar; Lasch, Christopher, The Agony of the American Left (New York: Vintage, 1969), pp. 63–113.Google Scholar

6. Letter from Farrell, James to Wald, , 07 30, 1975.Google Scholar

7. This memoir was reprinted as the “Afterword” to The Unpossessed, pp. 315–16.Google Scholar

8. Information on Solow's family background was obtained in an interview with Sylvia Salmi in June, 1975; the details on his college matriculation and graduation are contained in his Columbia College transcripts (copies of which are in the Solow Papers).

9. Van Doren, Mark, “Jewish Students I Have Known,” Menorah Journal, 13, No. 3 (06 1927), 264–68Google Scholar. See also Chambers, Whittaker, “Morningside,” Cold Friday (New York: Random House, 1964), pp. 91–144.Google Scholar

10. This description was contained in an undated letter from Solow to John McDonald, preserved in the Solow Papers.

11. Letter from Morrow, Felix to Wald, , 10 2, 1975.Google Scholar

12. However, in a letter from Schapiro, Meyer to Wald, , 12 24, 1975Google Scholar, Schapiro emphasizes the importance of both The Unpossessed and Van Doren's recollection as valuable documents in relation to understanding Solow.

13. Letter from Hook, Sidney to Wald, , 10 20, 1975.Google Scholar

14. Margaret De Silver was the widow of American Civil Liberties Union founder Albert De Silver. Independently wealthy, she continued his civil liberties work during the 1930s and 1940s, and ran a salon whose regulars included John Dos Passes, Edmund Wilson, the Nation's book review editor Margaret Marshall, and the Italian anarchist Carlo Tresca (who was her second husband and one of Solow's closest friends). The reminiscences that follow are from the pamphlet entitled Herbert Solow: Memorial Service at the Community Church, November 30, 1964. It was published as a tribute by the Luce Foundation. Similar remarks are contained in a letter from Clark, Eleanor to Wald, , 08 13, 1974.Google Scholar

15. The above information was gathered from the Solow Papers.

16. The review of the Beards' book is contained in The Literary Review, 04 30, 1927, p. 2Google Scholar. For other articles by Solow see The Literary Review issues of 11 27, 1926Google Scholar; December 4, 1926; December 11, 1926; December 18, 1926; January 8, 1927; January 15, 1927; January 22, 1927; January 29, 1927; February 5, 1927; February 12, 1927; February 19, 1927; February 26, 1927; March 5, 1927; March 12, 1927; March 19, 1927; March 26, 1927; April 2, 1927; April 23, 1927; May 7, 1927; May 14, 1927; May 21, 1927; May 28, 1927.

17. Letter from Beard, Charles to Solow, , 05 9, 1927Google Scholar, preserved in the Solow Papers. Solow attempted to have this and other letters from Beard published, but without success.

18. In a letter from Hook, Sidney to Wald, , 08 1, 1974Google Scholar, Hook describes Solow as a close follower of his in the anti-Stalinist struggle, only more extreme; and he characterizes Solow as a good lieutenant but a poor leader.

19. These sentiments are expressed in a letter from Solow, to Cohen, Elliot, 12 23, 1929Google Scholar, preserved in the Solow Papers.

20. Letter from Morrow, Felix to Wald, , 07 14, 1975.Google Scholar

21. This was recorded in the Luce pamphlet, Herbert Solow.

22. Solow's changing sentiments are recorded in two letters written in Jerusalem on November 21, 1929. One is addressed to Tess Slesinger, and the other (never sent) to the editors of the Menorah Journal. The anti-Zionist Menorah Journal articles are “The Sixteenth Zionist Congress,” 17, No. 1 (10 1929), 23–40Google Scholar; “The Era of the Agency Begins,” 17, No. 2 (11 1929), 111–25Google Scholar; “The Realities of Zionism,” 19, No. 2 (11–12 1930), 97–127Google Scholar; “Camouflaging Zionist Realities,” 19, No. 3 (03 1931), 223–41.Google Scholar

23. Born in San Francisco in 1877, Magnes had achieved notoriety among American radicals for his militant opposition to World War I. Praised by pro-Bolshevik writers like Max Eastman and Joseph Freeman, Magnes went on to become sympathetic to the Russian Revolution during its early years. Arriving in Palestine in 1922, Magnes began to organize the Hubrew University, of which he served first as Chancellor and then as president. During the time that Solow was briefly in Palestine (late 1929), Magnes had begun to achieve notoriety of a new kind. Sparked by the violence of 1929, he openly opposed official Zionist policy and began agitating for a binational cultural state iri Palestine based on Arab-Jewish cooperation, joint ownership of the land, and the restriction of Jewish immigration. Though Solow's first encounter with Magnes erupted in a personal conflict—due probably io a misunderstanding by Magnes of Solow's motives in interviewing him—as late as the 1940s Solow remained attracted to Magnes' ideas and identified with the Ihud (Union) Association formed by Magnes in 1942. A summary of Magnes' political activities during World War I is contained in the chapter “The Pacifism of Judah L. Magnes” in Szajkowski, Zosa, Jews, Wars, and Communism (New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1972) I, 79–102Google Scholar. Magnes' views on Palestine can be found in the following: Buber, Martin, Magnes, Judah L., and Smilansky, Moses, Palestine: A Bi-National State (New York: Ihud Association, 1946)Google Scholar; and Buber, Martin, Magnes, J. L., and Simon, E., Towards Union in Palestine (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1972).Google Scholar

24. Solow wrote the Board of Directors informing them that Hurwitz was trying to lead the magazine back to its conservative days before the advent of Cohen. He also charged Hurwitz with having spread the false story that Cohen had quit the Menorah Journal because he could not print material exclusively of his own viewpoint. See the following correspondence in the Solow Papers: Hurwitz, Henry to Solow, , 06 18, 1931Google Scholar; Solow, to Hurwitz, , 06 19, 1931Google Scholar; Solow, to Hurwitz, , 06 21, 1931Google Scholar; Hurwitz, to Solow, , 06 23, 1931Google Scholar; Solow, to the Board of Directors, The Menorah Journal, 10 12, 1931Google Scholar; Hurwitz, to Solow, , 11 12, 1931.Google Scholar

25. Howe, , Decline of the New, p. 222.Google Scholar

26. Interview with Felix Morrow conducted at Princeton in the early 1950s. Authenticated by and used with the permission of Felix Morrow.

27. “Modern Education,” The Nation, 04 27, 1932, p. 1932.Google Scholar

28. The article, “The Crisis on the Campus,”New Masses, 7 (06 1932), 12–14Google Scholar, was published under a pseudonym (“Henry Storm”) because Solow still had doubts about the party and he did not want to be publicly identified with it. Information about Solow's relations with Chambers and the use of the pseudonym are contained in Solow's notarized statement of November 28, 1938, preserved in the Solow Papers.

29. Letter from Hook, Sidney to Wald, , 08 1, 1974.Google Scholar

30. Letter from Hook, Sidney to Wald, , 08 1, 1974Google Scholar. The review appears in the New York Evening Post, 10 6, 1928, p. 9.Google Scholar

31. Undated memo (probably from the late 1940s) preserved in the Solow Papers. The stenographer's notes from the interview between Solow and Trotsky are in the possession of Pathfinder Press and will be published in a forthcoming collection of Trotsky's writings for the year 1932.

32. Letter from Schapiro, Meyer to Wald, , 12 24, 1975.Google Scholar

33. Letter from Morrow, Felix to Wald, , 10 2, 1975Google Scholar. In a letter of April 18, 1976, to Wald, John McDonald expresses the opinion that, if this incident occurred as described, it was more likely that Solow faltered from psychological depression than from any attempt to appease the Stalinists.

34. The above is summarized from the Morrow Princeton interview; a letter from McDonald, John to Wald, , 11 18, 1974Google Scholar; the May 8, 1933, letter of resignation, addressed to Dr. Joshua Kunitz; a letter from Kunitz to Albert Margolies, May 19, 1933; a copy of a resolution passed by the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners meeting on April 28, 1933; and a letter from Solow, to Charles, and Walker, Adelaide, 05 16, 1933Google Scholar. The last four items are in the Solow Papers.

35. Interview with Novack, George, 08, 1975, Oberlin, Ohio.Google Scholar

36. For the text of the letter and dispute in the New Masses, see the following issues: “To John Dos Passos,” 10, No. 12 (03 20, 1934), 6Google Scholar; “A United Front—With Whom?” ibid., p. 6; “The Splitting Tactic,” 10, No. 13 (03 27, 1934), 6Google Scholar. The Trotskyist newspaper, The Militant, responded with two articles on the situation, probably written by Solow on March 10, 1934, p. 4; and March 17, 1934, p. 3.

37. Letter from Solow, to Thomas, Norman, 05 16, 1934Google Scholar; letter from Thomas, to Solow, , 05 26, 1934Google Scholar; letter from Solow, to Baldwin, Roger, 12 13, 1935Google Scholar; memorandum on discussion of labor defense, September 25, 1934. All in Solow Papers.

38. Articles and leaflets on the Bellussi case are contained in the Solow Papers. Also included is a leaflet stating that, when the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners was asked to support the case, William Patterson, National Secretary of International Labor Defense, responded in the negative and described Solow as an enemy of the working class. Other clippings in the Solow Papers include articles from the Communist press accusing him of protecting the Nazis.

39. Interview with Novack, August 1975.

40. In the Solow Papers are the following: an undated NPLD leaflet announcing that Carlo Tresca, James Rorty, Bertram Wolfe, Arne Swabeck, and others will speak against the use of the National Guard against strikers in Minnesota and Toledo; an undated leaflet by the NPLD protesting the deportation of four German refugees from Holland, and a Militant article on the protest; an article dated May 19, 1935, (publication not named) concerning an NPLD demonstration against a pro-Hitlerrally at Madison Square Garden, plus a letter from Solow protesting the arrests made and an article from the New York Post, 06 21, 1934Google Scholar, on Solow's protest of treatment of demonstrators at night court.

41. Cannon, James, The History of American Trotskyism (New York: Pioneer, 1944), pp. 154–55Google Scholar; Dobbs, Farrell, Teamster Rebellion (New York: Monad Press, 1972), pp. 105–106Google Scholar; letter from Brown, William to Solow, , 09 14, 1934Google Scholar, designating Solow an honorary member of Teamster local 544 and praising him for services during the strike. The letter is in the Solow Papers.

42. The committee published Solow's pamphlet Union-Smashing in Sacramento: The Truth About the Criminal Syndicalism Trial. In the Solow Papers there is an undated letter from Norman Mini to the NPLD, praising Solow's work.

43. Cannon's version of the dispute with the Oehlerites is given in American Trotskyism, pp. 189–216.Google Scholar

44. Letter from McDonald, John to Wald, , 11 18, 1974.Google Scholar

45. Undated letter from Solow to Margaret De Silver, Solow Papers. In a letter of April 18, 1976, to Wald, John McDonald offers the opinion that Solow's posture was more one of taunting the Trotskyists from the left rather than opposing them from the left, and that Solow was at this point beginning to redefine completely his political self.

46. Letter from McDonald, John to Wald, , 11 18, 1974.Google Scholar

47. Interview with Novack, 1975; letter from Stamm, to Solow, , 06 6, 1936Google Scholar, Solow Papers; two letters dated June 9, 1936, from Louis Berg to all members of the NPLD executive board and all members of the organization, Solow Papers.

48. Interview with Novack, 1975.

49. Letter from Felix Morrow to all branches of the NPLD, June 17, 1936, Solow Papers.

50. Interview with Novack, 1975. See also the following letters in the Solow Papers: Solow, to Mooney, Tom, 02 4, 1937Google Scholar; Solow, to Fadiman, Clifton, 02 19, 1937Google Scholar; Solow, to Mumford, Lewis, 02 10, 1937Google Scholar; Mumford, to Solow, , 02 20, 1937Google Scholar; Solow, to Mumford, , 02 24, 1937Google Scholar; Mumford, to Solow, , 02 25, 1937Google Scholar; Solow, to Mooney, , 03 2, 1937Google Scholar; Mumford, to Solow, , 03 18, 1837.Google Scholar

51. Letter from Naville, Pierre to Solow, , 03 1, 1937, in Solow Papers.Google Scholar

52. Interview with Novack, 1975.

53. Letters from Solow to Margaret De Silver are marked Tuesday; April 2; April 10. All are in Solow Papers.

54. Letter from McDonald, John to Wald, , 11 18, 1974.Google Scholar

55. “A Memoir of Trotsky,” University of Kansas City Review, 23 (Summer 1957), 293–98Google Scholar. Solow is not mentioned by name.

56. Photograph provided by Sylvia Salmi.

57. Letter from Wolfe, [Trotsky] to Harold Isaacs, 06 12, 1937Google Scholar, copy in the James Cannon Papers (Library of Social History), Socialist Workers party.

58. Letter from Farrell, James to Wald, , 12 24, 1975.Google Scholar

59. “Discussions with Trotsky: II—Defense Organization and Attitude Toward Intellectuals,” in Writings of Leon Trotsky 1937–38, ed. Allen, Naomi and Breitman, George (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1976), pp. 294–99.Google Scholar

60. Notarized statement by Solow. Trotsky's attitude in favor of public exposure for GPU defector Ignace Reiss may have influenced his approach.

61. Partisan Review, 4, No. 4 (03 1938), 59–62Google Scholar; ibid., 4, No. 5 (April 1938), 62–64. Solow's quips were recalled for me by his friends.

62. Phillips, William, “Sleep No More,” A Sense of the Present (New York: Chilmark Press, 1967), pp. 164–65.Google Scholar

63. Letter from Hook, Sidney to Wald, , 10 20, 1975.Google Scholar

64. “Stalin's American Passport Mill,” American Mercury, 47, No. 187 (07 1939), 302–309Google Scholar. The Socialist Appeal articles are based upon Solow's research and appear under the name “Junius.” Some of the New Leader articles appeared under the names “W. C. Hambers” and “Walter Hambers,” which Solow used as an attempt to signal Whittaker Chambers that he wanted to talk to him about the matter. This information is contained in Solow's notarized statement. Carlo Tresca also participated in research and publicity on these matters.

65. “Stalin's Great American Hoax,” American Mercury, 47, No. 192 (12 1939), 394–402.Google Scholar

66. An unpublished manuscript called “Where Is Juliet Stuart Poyntz?” is in the Solow Papers, as well as undated articles by Solow from Carlo Tresca's II Martello on the Poyntz case.

67. This is reported in the Luce pamphlet, Herbert Solow.

68. This was noted in a memo in the Solow Papers. See “Refugee Scholars in the United States,” American Scholar, 11, No. 3 (Summer 1942), 374–78.Google Scholar

69. Notes on the case are in the Solow Papers; there is also the brochure Who Killed Carlo Tresca? by the Tresca Memorial Committee.

70. Cannon, James, Notebook of an Agitator (New York: Pioneer, 1958), p. 160.Google Scholar

71. These views are not only expressed in the Luce pamphlet, Herbert Solow, but they are the theme of letters of recommendation contained in the Solow Papers from John Dewey, Charles Walker, and Irwin Edman, all dated in early 1942.

72. The document is in the Solow Papers. Further information is contained in the remarks of Ralph D. Paine in the Luce pamphlet, Herbert Solow.

73. Letter from Hook, Sidney to Wald, , 12 30, 1975.Google Scholar

74. This goal was stated in a policy meno from Luce; available in the Solow Papers.

75. Notes in the Solow Papers.

76. See Ralph D. Paine's comment on Solow's position in the Luce pamphlet, Herbert Solow. Also see “The Nüenberg Novelty,” Fortune, 32, No. 6 (12 1945), 140–41Google Scholar; “The Nürenberg Confession,” Fortune, 34, No. 6 (12 1946), 120–21, 256, 259, 260, 263, 264.Google Scholar

77. Noted in Solow Papers.

78. Solow, to Novack, George, 03 5, 1954, in Solow Papers.Google Scholar

79. The exchange is in the Solow Papers. Solow's claims about Trotsky are disputable and should be checked against the original statements. See Leon Trotsky Speaks (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1972), pp. 277–94Google Scholar; and Writings of Leon Trotsky 1939–40 (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1973), pp. 94–97.Google Scholar

80. Statement contained in Solow Papers.

81. Ibid.

82. Details about Solow's last years were provided by Sylvia Salmi. The description of Solow's death is based on Hook's remarks in the Luce pamphlet, Herbert Solow.

83. Commentary, 41 (09 1967), 63.Google Scholar

84. Trilling, Diana, Claremont Essays (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1964), pp. 73–74.Google Scholar

85. This is not to say that Hook didn't have significant differences with the Trotskyists. In a letter to Wald of December 30, 1975, he recollects his position at the time as one completely opposed to the dictatorship of any political party and stressing socialism as an extension of democracy. He believes that “The Trotskyists spoke with double tongue about our conception of worker's democracy and the negotiations were stymied for a time until they professed agreement on this point—which turned out to be a factional maneuver on their part.”

86. Letter from Hook, Sidney to Wald, , 12 30, 1975.Google Scholar

87. Trilling's introduction was printed in The New York Review of Books (04 17, 1975), pp. 18–24Google Scholar. Solow's corroboration is in his notarized statement. After the party Chambers was unhappy that he had been rebuffed by Cohen and others. Some information on Schapiro's relations with Chambers can be found in Cold Friday (New York: Random House, 1964)Google Scholar in which Chambers describes a 1923 trip through parts of Europe that he and Schapiro took together. Also, Schapiro gave important testimony during the trial of Alger Hiss for perjury.

88. “The Life of the Novel,” Kenyan Review 8 (08 1946), 662.Google Scholar