David Karsner
Encyclopedia
David Fulton "Dave" Karsner (1889 - 1941) was an American journalist, writer, and socialist political activist. Karsner is best remembered as a key member of the editorial staff of the New York Call
and as an early biographer of Socialist Party of America
leader Eugene V. Debs
.
Both of Karsner's parents died when David was still young and he wound up in a Baltimore orphanage
and school for underprivileged boys.
. While in Chicago Karsner made the acquaintance of a number of socialist
intellectuals, including Upton Sinclair
, Jack London
, and Carl Sandburg
. His discussions with these led Karsner himself to become an advocate of socialism and to join the Socialist Party of America
.
Karsner's journalistic career took him to Philadelphia, where he joined the staff of the Philadelphia Ledger, and to New York City
, where he worked for the New York Tribune
and the New York Post
.
In 1911 Karsner married the Romanian-born
socialist Rose Greenberg (1889-1968). The pair had a daughter, Walta Karsner, named after radical poet Walt Whitman
. Following the dissolution of their marriage, Rose Karsner married James P. Cannon
, regarded as the founder of American Trotskyism
, while David Karsner remarried to Esther Eberson.
Karsner joined the editorial board of the New York socialist daily, the New York Call
, editing that publication's weekend magazine section before gaining position of managing editor of that publication.
One of the major stories covered by Karsner during his time at The Call was the 1918 mass trial of 166 members of the Industrial Workers of the World
held in Chicago before Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis.
In April 1923 Karsner resigned from the financially struggling Call in protest over the paper's decision to publish a critique of Soviet Russia
written by Francis McCullaugh, a member of the British secret service.
Disaffected from the increasingly conservative Socialist Party, Karsner turned to writing non-fiction, authoring biographies of President Andrew Jackson
and radical abolitionist John Brown
.
Another of Karsner's biographical works, a 1932 book on Colorado businessman and politician H.A.W. Tabor was made into a motion picture by Warner Brothers. The film starred Edward G. Robinson
in the lead role and debuted in December 1932.
His papers reside at the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives
at New York University
in New York City as collection TAM 430. Additional material is held by New York Public Library
.
New York Call
The New York Call was a socialist daily newspaper published in New York City from 1908 through 1923. The Call was the second of three English-language dailies affiliated with the Socialist Party of America to be established, following the Chicago Daily Socialist while preceding the long running...
and as an early biographer of Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
leader Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
.
Early years
David Karsner was born March 13, 1889 at Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Cecil J. and Anita Karsner. The elder Karsner worked as an official at the Port of Baltimore.Both of Karsner's parents died when David was still young and he wound up in a Baltimore orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
and school for underprivileged boys.
Career
Karsner's journalistic career began about 1907 when he went to work for a newspaper in the city of ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. While in Chicago Karsner made the acquaintance of a number of socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
intellectuals, including Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
, Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
, and Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
. His discussions with these led Karsner himself to become an advocate of socialism and to join the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
.
Karsner's journalistic career took him to Philadelphia, where he joined the staff of the Philadelphia Ledger, and to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he worked for the New York Tribune
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
and the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
.
In 1911 Karsner married the Romanian-born
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
socialist Rose Greenberg (1889-1968). The pair had a daughter, Walta Karsner, named after radical poet Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
. Following the dissolution of their marriage, Rose Karsner married James P. Cannon
James P. Cannon
James Patrick "Jim" Cannon was an American Trotskyist and a leader of the Socialist Workers Party.Born on February 11, 1890 in Rosedale, Kansas, he joined the Socialist Party of America in 1908 and the Industrial Workers of the World in 1911...
, regarded as the founder of American Trotskyism
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
, while David Karsner remarried to Esther Eberson.
Karsner joined the editorial board of the New York socialist daily, the New York Call
New York Call
The New York Call was a socialist daily newspaper published in New York City from 1908 through 1923. The Call was the second of three English-language dailies affiliated with the Socialist Party of America to be established, following the Chicago Daily Socialist while preceding the long running...
, editing that publication's weekend magazine section before gaining position of managing editor of that publication.
One of the major stories covered by Karsner during his time at The Call was the 1918 mass trial of 166 members of the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
held in Chicago before Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis.
In April 1923 Karsner resigned from the financially struggling Call in protest over the paper's decision to publish a critique of Soviet Russia
Soviet Russia
Soviet Russia usually refers to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union. It may also denote:* Soviet Russia , magazine of the Friends of Soviet Russia in the United States...
written by Francis McCullaugh, a member of the British secret service.
Disaffected from the increasingly conservative Socialist Party, Karsner turned to writing non-fiction, authoring biographies of President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
and radical abolitionist John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
.
Another of Karsner's biographical works, a 1932 book on Colorado businessman and politician H.A.W. Tabor was made into a motion picture by Warner Brothers. The film starred Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
in the lead role and debuted in December 1932.
Death and legacy
David Karsner died of a heart attack on February 20, 1941. He was 51 years old at the time of his death.His papers reside at the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives
The Tamiment Library is a research library at New York University that documents radical and left history, with strengths in the histories of communism, socialism, anarchism, the New Left, the Civil Rights Movement, and utopian experiments. The Robert F. Wagner Archives, which is also housed in...
at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in New York City as collection TAM 430. Additional material is held by New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
.
Works
- Debs Goes to Prison. New York: Irving Kay Davis and Co., 1919.
- Debs: His Authorized Life and Letters from Woodstock Prison to Atlanta. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1919.
- Horace Traubel: His Life and Work. New York: E. Arens, 1919.
- Talks with Debs in Terre Haute (and Letters from Lindlahr). New York: New York Call, 1922.
- "The Passing of the Socialist Party," Current History, vol. 20, no. 2 (June 1924).
- Sixteen Authors to One: Intimate Sketches of Leading American Story Tellers. Illustrations by Esther M. Mattsson. New York: Lewis Copeland Co., 1928.
- Andrew Jackson: The Gentle Savage. New York: Brentano's, 1929.
- Silver Dollar: The Story of the Tabors. New York: Covici-Friede, 1932.
- John Brown, Terrible "Saint." Illustrated by Esther Eberson Karsner. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1934.
Further reading
- Eugene V. Debs, "Letter on Unity to David Karsner in New York City from Eugene V. Debs in Atlanta, April 30, 1920," The Chicago Socialist, whole no. 392 (May 15, 1920), pg. 2.
- Theodore Debs, "Letter of Condolences to Esther Karsner, April 2, 1941," Wabash Valley Visions & Voices: A Digital Memory Project, Indiana State University.
- J. Louis Engdahl, "An Open Letter to David Karsner," The Worker [New York], v. 6, whole no. 271 (April 21, 1923), pg. 6.
External links
- Kelli Piotrowski, "Guide to the David Karsner Papers," Tamiment Library and Robert F. Warner Labor Archives, New York University.